Ka Bar USMC vs. Ontario 498 and SP1

Freddyb said:
You thought what was union cutlery ? Union cutlery was one not the 4 manufacturers who picked up the orders camillus couldn't fill. United cutlery was the second biggest manufacturer during the war after Camillus, but they only manufactured like 20% of the knives if that, While camillus manufactured like 60-70%. The soldiers had called the USMC mark 5 fighting knife "ka-bar" and united cutlery later changed their companies name to "kabar" banking on the name of the USMC fighting knife... The company "kabar" now makers their whole company around the name, and even takes credit for a knife they only played a small part in manufacturing for the U.S military... United cutlery, only manufactured knives for the military for maybe 2-3 years, And they only made about 20% of the knives during that time lol... Camillus and Ontario are/we're the two main manufactures of the USMC mark 5 for the U.S military... Ontario has been the only knife company to have a contract with the U.S military to produce the USMC mark 5 fighting knife (the Ontario 498) for the past 5 decades... All the ka-bars issued to the military during the Vietnam war were the Ontario 498... The military had issues in the past with other ka-bar brands leather handles dry rotting but the Ontario 498 has a black tar like coating on the leather preventing weathering and dry rotting which was important over in Vietnam in the wet jungle... consider this, with all the testing our governments military puts these knives through, the Ontario 498 must be doing something right considering they have been the soul contractor of the U.S military for so long now... The ka-bar or USMC knife made by united cutlery (who later changed the companies name to kabar) were short lived in the military, and they weren't even the main manufacturer at the time... I mean Case designed the original mark 5, camillus was the original maufacturer and the largest manufacturer in early military history, and Ontario is the largest manufacturer of the USMC mark 5 "ka-bar" in the history of military with them holding the soul U.S military contract for over 5 decades now... I mean all these manufacturers have made the same design knife, and all have met the military's specifications and or standards as far as quality and durability,no guess some have just done a better job in testing then others..
Click to expand...

Union Cutlery is parent company of the KaBar line? Correct?


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Comments:

1. thank you for the historic perspective.
2. the complaints about dull knives are based upon ignorance. The conventional "wisdom" is that a combat knife should be razor sharp and be able to double as a razor. People watched too many war movies wherein soldiers (actors) were issued dull, low bidder knives and thus had to sharpen the knife. The combat knife is issued dull because it is designed to rip a person open and not to filet fish. The air force survival knife was designed to cut open bodies of airplanes and not to filet fish or work as a striker in starting a fire. Ok, so you buy a knife designed to cut open an airplane body and complain? Want it sharper? Then sharpen it! And think about this. If you were issuing a knife to cut open metal, why would you bother sharpening it to the point of cutting hair off someone's arm or face??
3. In my view, the sp2 is better than the 499 because of the material. Just cut off the top part of the guard. Now let's assume you want a knife about the same size, but sharp and without the top part of the guard. Then buy a Cold Steel SRK (srk - survival/rescue knife). It is only double the price. Want an ergo metrically superior knife about the same size, then buy the Ontario TFI. Want a bigger knife than the last two and about the same price, then an Ontario Rat7
 
I have seen the Ka-bar in action during a field op and its sturdy. To be honest though I much rather have an Ontario.
 
bdcochran said:
Comments:

1. thank you for the historic perspective.
2. the complaints about dull knives are based upon ignorance. The conventional "wisdom" is that a combat knife should be razor sharp and be able to double as a razor. People watched too many war movies wherein soldiers (actors) were issued dull, low bidder knives and thus had to sharpen the knife. The combat knife is issued dull because it is designed to rip a person open and not to filet fish. The air force survival knife was designed to cut open bodies of airplanes and not to filet fish or work as a striker in starting a fire. Ok, so you buy a knife designed to cut open an airplane body and complain? Want it sharper? Then sharpen it! And think about this. If you were issuing a knife to cut open metal, why would you bother sharpening it to the point of cutting hair off someone's arm or face??
3. In my view, the sp2 is better than the 499 because of the material. Just cut off the top part of the guard. Now let's assume you want a knife about the same size, but sharp and without the top part of the guard. Then buy a Cold Steel SRK (srk - survival/rescue knife). It is only double the price. Want an ergo metrically superior knife about the same size, then buy the Ontario TFI. Want a bigger knife than the last two and about the same price, then an Ontario Rat7
Click to expand...

Goodness, what utter nonsense.
 
Yikes, this entire thread was a dumpster fire.
 
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