Ontario manufactured Case XX USMC knives

B

bigeard09

Joined
Sep 8, 2016
Messages
251
It is my understanding that Ontario ( OKC ) are the manufacturers of the Case XX USMC Fighting / Utility knife . Firstly can any of the members here explain how this came about aas I understand they are both separate companies ? Next , Is it true that Case were the company that in 1942 during WW2 designed and made the prototype what became known as the Mk 2 US Navy / Marines combat/utility knife ?
Can we see some of the members Case XX USMC Combat / Utility knives , maybe mods etc
 
Yes Ontario did make these for Case in the late 80's early 90's. (1989-1993?)

In the late 80's Case wanted to release a commemorative of this knife. (Not sure why as they only made two prototypes during ww2)
However Case did not have the tooling to make it, so contracted Ontario to make them.
(This outsourcing of manufacturing is common, eg. Camillus and Buck made most of the early ColdSteel.
ColdSteel have no manufacturing facility of there own.)

Yes Case made two prototypes during ww2, but never made any production versions.
They were busy making just about everything else.
Were these the "original" prototypes, I don't think so, just prototypes for the Case company.

Boker was also given a contract to produce the 1219c2, but never made any.
Hope this helps.
 
zanussi01 said:
Yes Ontario did make these for Case in the late 80's early 90's. (1989-1993?)

In the late 80's Case wanted to release a commemorative of this knife. (Not sure why as they only made two prototypes during ww2)
However Case did not have the tooling to make it, so contracted Ontario to make them.
(This outsourcing of manufacturing is common, eg. Camillus and Buck made most of the early ColdSteel.
ColdSteel have no manufacturing facility of there own.)

Yes Case made two prototypes during ww2, but never made any production versions.
They were busy making just about everything else.
Were these the "original" prototypes, I don't think so, just prototypes for the Case company.

Boker was also given a contract to produce the 1219c2, but never made any.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Thankyou for that explanation zanussi01 , helps me to understand better how things work in this knife manufacturing game .
 
bigeard09 said:
Thankyou for that explanation zanussi01 , helps me to understand better how things work in this knife manufacturing game .
Click to expand...
Been doing a little research and now apparently the Case XX USMC knives are manufactured at the " Zippo lighter company" in Bradford PA ! Dont know if this means that Zippo have bought them out ?
 
One other question if you can help me out , what do the different date Numbers designate on the Case XX USMC knives ? mine is 1992 but Ive seeen photos of other knives stating 1989 and 1982 ?? Are these the dates the knives were manufactured ?.......Thanks
 
bigeard09 said:
One other question if you can help me out , what do the different date Numbers designate on the Case XX USMC knives ? mine is 1992 but Ive seeen photos of other knives stating 1989 and 1982 ?? Are these the dates the knives were manufactured ?.......Thanks
Click to expand...
My understanding is Case is owned, or part owned, by the Zippo company in Bradford PA.
Yes the dates on the blade will indicate the year of manufacture.
These dates will range from 1989-1993, I haven't seen any later.
Don't know about 1982,maybe its 1992?
 
zanussi01 said:
My understanding is Case is owned, or part owned, by the Zippo company in Bradford PA.
Yes the dates on the blade will indicate the year of manufacture.
These dates will range from 1989-1993, I haven't seen any later.
Don't know about 1982,maybe its 1992?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info zanussi
 
bigeard09 said:
Firstly can any of the members here explain how this came about aas I understand they are both separate companies ?
Click to expand...

Also just to expand on this a little, a lot of the old northeast cutlery companies have long connections through extended family connections or shared work. For instance, Camillus subcontracted for on Case's scout knife. Queen made the Case Classics line in the early 90's, etc.....

Subcontracting is a huge quiet part of the knife business. You could probably fill a few books tracking down the subcontracting work that went and goes on between companies. It was a very small and tight knit industry.
 
tltt said:
Also just to expand on this a little, a lot of the old northeast cutlery companies have long connections through extended family connections or shared work. For instance, Camillus subcontracted for on Case's scout knife. Queen made the Case Classics line in the early 90's, etc.....

Subcontracting is a huge quiet part of the knife business. You could probably fill a few books tracking down the subcontracting work that went and goes on between companies. It was a very small and tight knit industry.
Click to expand...
Interesting to get a handle on how it all worked . As a knife collector rather than a user these days its good to know the history of the knives you buy or what youve already got .
 
Mr. titt is absolutely correct about subcontracting of knives among the knife companies of the northeast. I have seen subcontracting in every knife company I worked at including Camillus and Ontario.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top