BY Herschel Smith
5 years, 5 months ago
Outdoor Life.
Strange as it may seem, the U.S. Marine Corps entered the jungle campaigns of World War II without a decent combat knife. Their first attempt was a double-edge dagger based on the British Commando knife, but it quickly proved to be a very poor utility blade for infantry combat. Going back to the drawing board and working with Union and Camillus cutlery companies, they came up with an all-purpose sheath knife, the USMC Knife/Fighting-Utility Model 1219C2. Camillus is said to have made the first deliveries to the Marines on January 27, 1943. Maybe “Knife/Fighting-Utility 1219C2” was just too big of a mouthful, and Camillus just didn’t have much of a ring to it. In any case, Leathernecks quickly unofficially labeled all knives of this pattern “kabars” after the trademark stamp of Union cutlery.
The rest of the article is very informative. I have two.
I happen to like a partially serrated edge for mine, finding it has more utility in the bush and elsewhere. If you don’t, you can get them without the serrations.
For those who are shaving grams in the bush, a large utility/fighting knife may be too much weight. For me the perfect compromise is also a Ka-Bar.
It’s called “The Mule.” It’s a folder with serrated edge, and it’s the heftiest, beefiest folder I’ve ever owned. It can be used for virtually anything, up to and including chopping at wood in case I needed it for shelter, but at a reduced weight compared to the large fighting knife.
The sheath is kydex with cordura on the outside, but was very hard to find. I didn’t like the leather sheath sent with the fighting knife. The sheath for the folder is very nice, comes with the knife, and has straps that can hang on molle or pack straps.
