Grandfather just gave me his Vietnam era navy issued knife. Can anyone tell me about it?
by TimeNew5535
Grandfather just gave me his Vietnam era navy issued knife. Can anyone tell me about it?
by TimeNew5535
5 Comments
Looks like a ka bar mk 2
That is more or less a Ka-bar – that was a trademark of Union Cutlery (who renamed themselves Ka-Bar later) and it was stamped on at least some of their Mark 2 knives, and came to be used as a generic name for the Mark 2 knife. This one was made by Camillus who didn’t own the trademark, so in a way it’s technically not a Ka-Bar at all. But it’s basically the same knife.
I think later ones didn’t get marked with a specific branch of service, so that might be WW2 make and issued (or reissued) later, but I’m not 100% certain on that (I’m not an expert on these).
Sick
A Navy issue Mark 2. Knife, fighting and utility. Commonly called a Kabar because the company Kabar made sure to mark all their blades.
Created in ww2 to use less steel than some designs (less of a tang), based on some existing hunting knives. 1095 steel. Made by a few companies. The only ine still making them, and only commercially I think, is Ka-Bar.
As of 1996, the knife was still being issued to the Marine Corps. We always referred to it as a Ka-Bar.
It was a decent piece of equipment, and I and most of my friends enjoyed having them. There were multiple occasions where we were in the field and had our rations augmented by canned fruit, when Uncle Sam somehow managed to overlook the need for can openers. The Ka-bar makes a serviceable can opener in a pinch, with the added bonus of not having to jack up your personally owned knife.
The blade steel, if I recall, wasn’t the best. It would sharpen easily, but would dull fairly quickly. But for a knife that was designed in the 40s, of materials available at that time, I guess it was pretty good.
The handles were made of compressed leather. If you were operating near saltwater, (which as a Marine, is kind of the job description,) you had to take care to watch the handle closely. The saltwater would degrade the leather discs making up the handle, and they would loosen and/or swell over time. We used any sort of oil we had handy to maintain the leather.
They’re definitely sturdy. Used mine as a hammer, can opener, and shovel by turns during my time in service. And they’ve been in a lot of places. See photo.
https://preview.redd.it/4jpj9gp4hixg1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6d94e3dcb721ad21bd5a7c64be76f279c80c8c3