If you are a defense- and prep-minded sort who appreciates America’s built-tough heritage arms and the history behind them, then the legendary KA-BAR utility knife should be part of your kit
by Rob Reaser
Hearkening back to my way younger years, my friends and I often enjoyed watching old WWII movies and TV shows. One of our favorites was a short-run series called Baa Baa Black Sheep, which was set in the South Pacific and inspired by the real-life service of Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington, who commanded Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214, known as the Black Sheep Squadron. Other late-night weekend flicks covering WWII action dramas were salted with tales of courage, tenacity, and sacrifice across Europe, North Africa, and the Philippines.
One of the recurring props of those old movies was the cut, dig, stab, hack, and slice anything Ka-Bar knives often worn by the actors. I wanted one of those something fierce. In the early 1980s, I would occasionally go to gun shows with my uncle and see one or two beat-up examples lying forlorn on a table full of equally worn and battered military surplus gear. Being perpetually broke as a young teenager, though, I never did buy one…and regret it to this day.
Origins of the Ka-Bar name stretch back over 100 years — as the legend is told — to when the Union Cutlery Company of Olean, New York, received a letter from an Alaskan hunter (along with a bear hide) stating that he had used one of the company’s knives to kill a Kodiak bear. Evidently, the man had shot the bear, but the bear attacked and the trapper’s gun jammed. To defend himself, he pulled out his UCC-made knife and dispatched the beast, avoiding tragedy. There are a couple versions of how the Ka-Bar name came about but the leading legend is that the trapper’s poor spelling and the vernacular use of the word “bar” for “bear” led company president Wallace Brown to transform the hunter’s intended words “kill a bar” to Ka-Bar and then to trademark the name in 1924.
Union Cutlery employed the Ka-Bar trademark on many of its hard-duty hunting knives, and the company rolled on through the challenging times of the Great Depression and the slow recovery through the 1930s. Along the way, company founders Wallace Brown and his brother Emerson passed away unexpectedly, leaving Wallace’s son Danforth Brown to hold the reigns.
When the U.S. entered the Second World War, UCC was one of several knife manufacturers who had to turn their production capabilities to supporting the war effort. With contribution from USMC Captain Howard America and USMC Colonel John Davis, Danforth Brown submitted the UCC design for approval to manufacture the 1219C2 USMC Fighting Utility Knife. Unlike most other suppliers, Danforth applied the Ka-Bar trademark to their knives. This unique name proved readily identifiable, and “Ka-Bar” became synonymous with the 1219C2-pattern Fighting Utility Knife, regardless of the manufacture pedigree.
In 1952, UCC decided to pin its flag to the reputation its storied USMC knife had earned during WWII and officially changed its name to KA-BAR, Incorporated.
Interestingly, UCC produced a major surplus of its 1219C2 knife during the war years, which it held in stock at the conclusion of the conflict. In fact, there were so many in mothballs after 1945 that there were enough to supply the U.S. government with knives during the Korean Conflict and into the Vietnam War. Production did not need to ramp back up until 1975.
In the decades since, KA-BAR experienced a difficult go of it due to changing consumer demand and economic shifts. The company was bought and sold several times in an effort to keep the legacy brand alive. And it succeeded.
The good news is that the KA-BAR that has served generations is still being manufactured in Olean, NY, under the name KA-BAR Knives, Inc., and the price is right. It remains a hard-use, practical tool that makes an ideal piece of gear for your grab-and-go kit, backcountry pack, or as a compliment to any old-school fighting arms or contemporary clones you may have in your collection. There are several variants offered. Here we’re looking at the most iconic of them all — the USMC Straight Edge 1217.
The fixed blade is of a clip point design and features a flat-ground, 20-degree edge. The chosen blade steel is 1095 Cro-Van. This is a hard carbon steel (56-58 Rockwell hardness) that is tough and wear resistant, and provides the desirable properties for a rugged utility knife. And while the blade is hard, it is not brittle, nor is it difficult to refresh its cutting edge. Overall blade length is seven inches; width 1.188 inches.
A trademark feature of the KA-BAR is its large, pinned pommel and textured leather handle. The pommel’s flat surface makes for an ad hoc hammer or a striking point in hand combat. Grooves cut into the stacked leather combined with a slight swelling of the handle’s center amplifies grip and retention under hard use. Forward of the handle, the full-length guard — made of 12-gauge carbon steel — helps prevent the hand from slipping over the blade during stabbing or thrusting applications.
The leather sheath is of equally stout construction, with a large loop to accommodate wide utility belts and a pre-drilled lanyard hole at the tip. Debossed in the leather is the KA-BAR name along with the USMC initials and emblem. The handle strap secures with a snap button.
Over 80 years after the Ka-Bar Fighting Utility Knife first rolled off the Union Cutlery Company assembly line and into the hands of Marines and soldiers fighting the Allied Powers around the world, this legendary tool continues to uphold that legacy in the hands of America’s armed services men and women today (NSN: 1095-01-581-9100 KNIFE-COMBAT). Priced at $154.75, the KA-BAR USMC, Straight Edge is one of the those tools you just need to have…because. No excuses needed!
