Ka-Bar and Ka-lones

[snow and steel]

I recently acquired a Ka-Bar USMC after being without one for quite a few years. I gave my last one to a friend [well... sold it to him for $0.01] who really needed a knife to take into harm's way, and have been without one ever since.

I love the style, something "old world" about it in a way. Very classic.

Anyways, although this my first Ka-Bar in quite a while, I have several other knives "in the style", if you will. There's some good and some not so good in all of it.

So now that I've got the whole gang together I thought I'd take the time to post about it. I thought I'd post a pic with some info and let everyone discuss their thoughts on Ka-Bars, Ka-lone [clones], and their feelings on the subject.

From left to right;
Ka-Bar USMC, the one we all know. The grinds on this knife were horribly uneven, un-centered and the tip looked like it had been ground a second time to make it meet and sharp. The handle is the classic handle that has a very natural feel. tough epoxy type finish. I sharpened it to make it useable, but ultimately I will have to get Richardj to reprofile and sharpen it to make it right. All in all though, this is the knife we all know and love.

Cass XX "marine combat knife". Parkerized finish, which is a nice touch, but also much harder to take care of, and will show wear quickly. Sharpened false edge, which is nice, but all edges were very dull - not nice. The handle is slightly skinner than a traditional Ka-Bar, and the fit of the cap is... well, poor. The leather was also very rough and dry and I actually needed to sand it with some 800 grit to make smooth to grip and get some neets foot oil into it - the USMC is still WAY better in this department. The sheath is very loose fitting, although the leather appears good quality. I wouldn't trust the blade to be secure in it though. A good sharpening by Richardj brought this knife into good use, although the skinny handle, poor fit cap and parkerized finish set it apart from the traditional Ka-Bar. after Richard's sharpening and my touch ups on the handle, its quite serviceable. so I like the sharpened false edge, can't make up my mind on the finish, dislike the fit of the handle pieces.

Cold Steel "leatherneck SF". This is one of the very early ones made with a full flat grind blade in SK-5 steel. While the logo built into the handle is somewhat gaudy, the handle is actually quite comfortable, with good fit and finish throughout. The full flat grind is either a love it or hate it - we'll leave that to you to decide. Good coating. This requires very little in regard to the edge - nice and even and sharp right out of the box! I stropped it on a leather belt and very satisfied! The sheath is kydex - solid and won't rot, but again this is a love it or hate it thing. A great knife, but perhaps not for the traditionalist. Tough knife, excellent edge and steel but non-traditional.

Keith nelson custom fighter. only loosely base do the ka-bar concept, but outstanding fit, finish, and attention to detail. Sharpened false edge, beautiful lines and excellent edge. Made from ATS-34, so it holds an edge very well. excellent sheath. unique form fitted one piece "U shaped" handle with fitted palm swells. A beautiful piece, and my personal prize of my collection, but virtually irreplaceable.

some others I'm missing form the collection;
a Mk 1, an Ontario, and a big brother. others?

Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on these knives, their agreement/disagreement with m assessment, thoughts on clones, and what else should be part of the collection.

 

[wildmanh]

The "Ka-Bar" F/U that we all know and love is actually a USMC Mark II Fighting Utility knife. Designed during WWII, based off popular hunting knives of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Some say that it is a longer version of the Marbles Ideal hunter, that was modified to be less expensive and faster to make and would be more fighter like [Sharp radiused clip]. Doesn't really matter. The Mark II/MK2 etc., is a good knife. Camillus was the first to ship Mark II's to our troops. [said info is available by searching this forum and the Camillus collectors club and others]. Camillus, Case, Western, Ontario, and many other companies made the Mark II and Variations of it during and after the war. I have two Western WWII 6" Versions known as Baby shark knives.

I have not played with the modern designs that are inspired by the Mark II, but I have used a few modern production version of it. Aside from the serrations, I liked my old Black handled Ka-Bar, and my Camillus. The Ontario which I have came dull from the factory. I got both the Camillus and Ontario from a guy who started to mod them, but never finished. I hope to put handles on them this spring.

Recently I've been considering getting a Pilots survival knife to play with. I feel that it's a variant of the Mark II so it classifies for this thread. Some versions with the almost scandi grind don't appeal to me, but others with higher grinds do.

The Cold Steel knife inspired by the Mark II looks really nice. But I have no experience with it. Same with the customs and other inspired by designs. I tend to stick to the modern production Mark II's and the occasional good deal on an old one for some reason. If I had the money, I'd spring for one of those Parkerized Case models. Some one did a polished version a few years back with brass hardware that looked really nice, but was way out of my price range for a Mark II, but this Parkerized Case, interests me. By the way, the Mark II's came Parkerized or Blued during WWII. Parkerizing them was much more common.

I hope you get lots of feed back!

 

[sac troop]

First, I like all 4 knives.
It seems to me that a lot of what your asking boils down to the conjecture of personal opinion.
IMHO I personally prefer parkerizing to powder coating or epoxy type finishes. I do agree that the parkerizing is not as robust as the above but I don’t like the way those coating so often negatively effect the cutting action of the blades they are applied to. Of the various coating available today I lean towards TINI as a tough coating that seems to have minimum negative effects on cutting action.

It’s always tough to discuss this specific pattern knife due to there being so many names associated with it. Personally I’ve chosen to refer to them as the (1219C2 pattern knife), although even that name will be debated among collectors and others. I’m not going to argue with a Marine Corp veteran who shows me his KABAR knife made by Camillus.

During WW2 the 1219C2 knife was made by four companies.
Union Cutlery, (KABAR)
Camillus Cutlery
Robeson Cutlery
PAL Cutlery
(Case did make at least 2 1219C2 pattern knives during WW2 but never supplied any contract 1219C2 knives for U.S. Government contract. The 2 knives were not even commonly known to exist for about 30 years. If you want to own one of those knives the reported prices have been in the 10’s of thousands of dollars.)
The reproduction Case U.S.M.C. knife is still available as a NIB item and they can be had in the $50-$60 range pretty easily. I think that the present parkerizing on them tends to be on the darker side than the example in the OP.