kabar

C

CJB2019

Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
4
hello. i was given a kabar looking knife from my uncle. he was in the ROTC program in the 60s. Kabar is not stamped on the knife. the only thing i can see is maybe japan on the blade close to the grip. black leather grip the whole way. no plastic. ill try and post a pic if i can figure out how. any ideas
 
The Japanese made a lot of cheap knockoffs of the USMC combat knife in that period. I remember more than one guy in the 82nd Airborne unit I was in carrying them.
 
To my knowledge, the Kabar Fighting/Utility knife was always made in the US. More experienced members here can correct me, if I'm wrong.
 
Reitwagen said:
To my knowledge, the Kabar Fighting/Utility knife was always made in the US. More experienced members here can correct me, if I'm wrong.
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You might be right but that doesn’t appear to be what the op has. We’ll have to see pics.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
The Japanese made a lot of cheap knockoffs of the USMC combat knife in that period. I remember more than one guy in the 82nd Airborne unit I was in carrying them.
Click to expand...

Japanese knockoffs of the USMC FU/K were all ordered by American Importers. Kabar copies were ordered by Guttman, Kiffe, Valor, Compass Industries, maybe others. There is a report that Kiffe Ka-bars were bought by the US military. Don't know if correct, but many of these knives ended up in Vietnam as private PX purchases.

This is the big difference with today's clones/counterfeits produced in China.
Kabar itself had knives made in Japan such as the Cleveland OH 1237 hunting knife. Today Kabar's imports are from Taiwan and China.
EKBG4i.jpg
 
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KaBar knives are great - often copied but never duplicated.
 
CJB2019,
Unfortunately your Knife is a Kabar knock off. If you were to hold a true Kabar fighting knife next to the one you have, the differences in fit/finish would be readily noted. Issue "Kabars" were made by several US manufacturers to include Cammillus. I carried a Cammillus made Kabar for many years on active duty and then finally purchased a real Kabar before going overseas for my final tour. There was nothing wrong with the Cammillus knife but the Kabar made knife felt a lot better in the hand. They are a good solid knife for the money.
 
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