I'm a fan of both Cold Steel and KA-BAR. And IIRC, Camillus was one of the biggest producers of "Ka-bar" knives. Ka-bar just got the marketing down, much as people complain about Cold Steel doing. In fact, the first "KA-BAR" knives were designed based on the Mark I trench knife (also not designed by Union Cutlery), and done in collaboration between some military officers, and Camillus.
Furthermore, as has been pointed out, Union Cutlery was not the biggest producer of the Ka-Bar knife; Camillus was. And I think Camillus even shipped the very first shipment of the knife we know know as the KA-BAR. So why do we call them KA-BAR's today? Perhaps because of the KA-BAR stamp, which was much larger and more obvious than the Camillus mark (and, perhaps, like the Cold Steel trademark). As the single most ubiquitous knife of its time, and with 1 million copies having that big trademark, small wonder that the company has now become the KA-BAR Cutlery Company.
Given that history, I hardly think this is reason to hate Cold Steel. If anything, it's a tribute to the mighty USMC knife that has become known as the KA-BAR. It's one of the most common fighting knife designs in modern history. Honestly, if Cold Steel DIDN'T have their own rendition, I would be very disappointed. On a semi-related note, I really like my new CS Kobun. Heck of a good concealable blade for $25.
