Military Issue Knife Question

According to Andrew North at Nothing But Knives, Blue Ridge only purchased Ontario's remaining knife inventory, not the Ontario factory or branding. That actually makes sense, since Blue Ridge has only ever been a knife wholesaler. Apparently, the town of Franklinville and Cattaraugus County are still trying to preserve the factory and the equipment, which unfortunately won't save the 134-year-old Ontario Knife Company or its fifty-six employees who will be out of a job next Friday.

This is incredibly sad news to me. I hate seeing the demise of yet another American cutlery icon, particularly one so integral to the U.S. military's knife history.


-Steve

P.S. - thebrain thebrain , I really appreciate your sharing that Tactical Hyve video. It was quite informative and interesting and not something I was likely to find on my own. Thanks!
 
Blue Ridge probably isn't going to build a stand alone factory for the government orders and those have to stay in the US. They didn't want to take over the Ontario factory and run it onsite. I can't see subcontracting to Case, the cost would be too high. Same with Ka-Bar. I also can't see either of those two taking over the Spec-Plus line for similar reasons.

I think if we do see American made Ontario products, they be subcontracted mainly to Bear and Son. Blue Ridge has a good relationship with them, and when the original Camillus sold off, they bought the equipment, and have been making Camillus/Western patterns at reasonable prices for a few years now. I could see BRK offering them Ontario's patterns. Bear gets an established well though of line, Blue Ridge gets an established bigger cutlery maker that can keep costs down, and we still get American knives at maybe a not too big price jump.
 
Personally I would say that if you're looking for a military knife because you like the historical aspect of it, sweet, if you're looking for one because of a sentiment along the lines of 'it's good enough for the military!' then you're probably misspending your money, or misunderstanding your own purchasing impulses, but it's cool, and if it's because you think military issue gear is going to be pretty tip top kit then you are wasting money and should try to look around a bit at the alternatives before springing for that item.
 
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