Ontario vs. Kabar utilitarian bowie/fighter question

[mc5aw]

Is there any significant difference between the basic bowie/fighting knife offerings from Ontario and Ka-bar? I'm not talking about OKC's SP line or Ka-bar's higher end D2, just the standard "Marine Corps" type of blade. Both are made in the USA, and I think both are 1095. Just looking to pick up a solid & durable cost effective bowie to throw in the pack. Thanks in advance.

 

[Silvanus]

When I was in the Marine Corps, we were issued the Ontario version as our combat knife in Iraq. I also already had a Ka-bar USMC that was my personal knife. The difference that I saw between the two as far as I saw was the fit and finish. The Ka-bar has the nice brown epoxied leather washers while the Ontario has a black paint on the handle. The Ka-bar has the powder coat and the Ontario has a rougher matte black finish. The pommel on the Ontario is thinner than the Ka-bar's, but its the same shape. All in all, they are essentially the same knife and perform equally well, but with more aesthetics on the Ka-bar version.