WINNER ANNOUNCED -- USMC Ka-Bar Contest -- Fact Finding Mission -- KREW MEMBERS ONLY

Guyon

Guyon

Biscuit Whisperer
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I have a brand-new, in-the-box 1217 USMC Ka-Bar Fighting Knife with stacked leather handles. It will be given to a lucky Ka-Bar Krew Member at the end of June.

Here are the rules:

1. To enter, you should post one and only one historical fact about this iconic blade. One entry only per person.
2. Historical means historical. Posting specs does not constitute historical unless there was some sort of change or decision about the specification that you can couch in historical terms.
3. Your fact cannot repeat a previously posted fact. Thus, the longer you wait, the harder it will be to find and post new historical info.
4. Please do not chat. Moderators will smite thee. If you want to chat about the contest, there is a Ka-Bar chat thread here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/873515-KA-BAR-Chat-thread-Come-on-in-the-house
5. After June is up, a winner will be chosen via Random Number Generation. Your post number will be your entry number.
6. The winning fact will be confirmed with the powers-that-be at Ka-Bar. If it rings true, you're golden. If not, you're out, and I'll generate another number.
7. To win, the knife must be legal to ship to your state. If you are under 18, you can still enter and win, but in such case, the knife must ship to a guardian.

Again, one fact only, or disqualification results. This is not about how much information you can cut and paste, and you should leave some meat on the bones for your fellow contestants. Good luck. If you're not a Krew member yet, you have no one to blame but yourself. There's still time!

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It was designed to serve our troops during World War II and is still doing its job, with honors, 70 years later.
 
An early design developed by Union Cutlery with guidance from USMC Colonel John M. Davis and Major Howard E. America was adopted as the 1219C2 and first production run was shipped by Camillus Cutlery Company in 1943.
 
The pommels of the first versions produced by Camillus were held in place using a slit nut.

ETA::: Finally got around to adding the pic of the slit nut...
WW2 Cam Screw Pommel.jpg
 
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The USMC KaBar knife became so popular that "KaBar" became the common name for that style of knife, regardless of who manufactured it.
 
Union Cutlery Company manufactured nearly 1 million of the Mk 2 knife, fighting utility, commonly known as the Kabar in WWII
 
To date all production has been made from carbon steel. Coatings varied through the generations.
 
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The USMC KA-BAR was adopted by not only the Marines, but also the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Underwater Demolition Teams.
 
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In 1952 Union Cutlery renamed itself KA-BAR Cutlery Inc. due to the recognition of the "Ka-Bar" name and the popularity of THIS knife!
 
The knife was designed as a multi-purpose knife to be good for both combat situations as well as more general utility applications, distinguishing it from at least one of it's predecessors, the Marine Raider Stiletto, which while good for "silent killing" was considered by many to be "too frail for general utility tasks."
 
Wanting a knife borrowing traits from the USN Mark 1 and the Western L77, USMC Colonel John M. Davis and Major Howard E. America are credited with having the design contributions that shaped the prototype into the knife we all recognize today. Those design contributions include:
- Stacked Leather Handle
- Peened pommel
- Longer blade with a fuller (for weight and balance)
- Steel cross guard
 
On December 9, 1942, after the start of World War II, KA-BAR submitted a knife to the United States Marine Corps in hopes that it would become general issue to that branch of the military. Working with the Marine Quartermaster Department the original design was revised and production began of an improved fighting and utility knife for the Marines.
 
http://www.kabar.com/knives/detail/199

Eugene Stone went down in history after making custom aluminum cast handles to combat the harsh marine environments the knives found themselves in

surviving examples while not rare, are hard to come by

kabar has brought us back a treasure

get some!
 
The Kabar Fighting/Utility knife changed the fighting style that were being taught to new soldiers. With the earlier fairbairn-sykes style stilettos and Mark II's, the knife was primarily a stabbing weapon. With the fighting/Utility knife, soldiers were trained to use slashing motions at the beginning of combat.

Neat contest idea, it spurred some research, and some nice history that I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. I had no idea about many of the facts posted here before this.
 
When Master Chief, SEAL Team 2, USN (Ret.) Thomas H. Keith was fighting in the Vietnam War, he used to cut a notch, with his KA-BAR, on its leather sheath after each Op. that he'd do. After his first tour he had accumulated over 90 notches which resulted in his sheath nearly falling apart..
 
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The Mark II combat knife design was finished on the 23rd of November, 1942.
 
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The original USMC issue KA BARs only had the 'KA BAR' and 'Olean NY' on one side of the blade , no 'USMC' stamp.
 
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