The Truth About Ka-Bar Knives in WWII (and Why the Army Didn't Want Them)

Comments · 2.1K

• AN

  @Anonymousymous · 11 months ago

  I’m 54. My father died in 2024. He did two tours in Vietnam. Cleaning out his house, I found two very used Ka-Bars in a box with some other things. I never knew he had them.

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• WB

  @wbond6692 · 11 months ago (edited)

  The best thing about the Army, you have uniformity in your weapons, but they have no problem with you sporting your favorite knife. Most especially when you are in country. <br>When I was in Iraq, my father got me my first Ka Bar. I carried it, used it, and kept it all the way to today. 20 years later, still my favorite knife.<br>Thanks Dad. Love you. Miss you.

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• BA

  @Banjo717 · 11 months ago

  I enlisted at 17 1/2 just 12 days before 9/11. My dad was in sales and for my 18th birthday he was near Olean, NY and bought me my first KA-Bar. To this day the gift was so special to me I relegated it to Marine Corps birthday cake cutting duty and have bought other KA-Bars for field service. Semper Fi to all my brothers and sisters out there!

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• TO

  @TommyBombadillio · 10 months ago (edited)

  My K-Bar has seen action in Iwo Jima, Vietnam, Thailand, and several countries during GWOT. My father&apos;s neighbor gave him the K-Bar he carried in the Pacific when Dad left for Vietnam. That knife has served the recipients of the Air Force Cross, 2 Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 2 Air Medals, and 5 Campaign medals. It&apos;s still in perfect shape and will hopefully serve future generations as reliably as it has so far. 🇺🇸

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• MI

  @michaelshubr4084 · 10 months ago

  I carried a KaBar in Somalia in winter of 92-93. We were issued black leather KaBars, but several of us were given the opportunity to buy a camillus brand KaBar direct from the factory for $20 bucks. &nbsp;One of our platoon member’s father worked at Camillus, and arranged the group purchase, and price, which basically just covered materials and shipping. I forked over $20 dollars in formation at 29 Palms, and my KaBar showed up two weeks later!

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• BI

  @billxciii · 11 months ago

  Based on the Marines I&apos;ve known, I&apos;m surprised &quot;Fighting Utility Knife&quot; or &quot;FUK&quot; for short, isn&apos;t the term that stuck over the years. 😉

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• JA

  @Jay-vj1km · 11 months ago

  As an old retired Marine I just wanted to say that I think you did a great job on this video young man!

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• ST

  @SteveOh-K9 · 11 months ago

  In late 1990, my unit the 89th Military Police Brigade was being sent to take part in Desert Shielld/Desert Storm. One older NCO whose brother was a Marine in Vietnam gave him a Ka-Bar and he was taking it with him. It was black in color with a black leather sheath. Many of us thought it was a great idea, and I was determined to have one as well. I asked my wife if she could find one for me. She found one at a store which is now long gone called Service Merchandise. When she told the sales associate the reason for the purchase, he insisted on paying for it. Unfortunately, the handle and the sheath were brown in color and not black. That night, my father who had served in the Army in Korea, drove 2.5 hours to my wife&apos;s home and with black leather shoe dye, dyed the leather handle and sheath black. A couple of days later before I shipped out, my wife handed it to me. To be honest, when she handed it to me, I cried knowing the work that went into not only acquiring the knife, but my father dying it for me. I carried that knife for 7 months. While I never had to actually use that knife, to this very day, every time I look at that knife and its sheath, I cry thinking how it came into being. Thank you for posting this video and thank you for allowing me to share this true story that I have never told anyone before.

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• ML

  @MLA-60 · 10 months ago

  When I was in the Corps a K-Bar wasn&apos;t an issued item for me as the 1911 or M9 wasn&apos;t my TO weapon but being a resourceful Marine I took advantage of an opportunity when while on deployment I saw an unattended wooden box full of K-Bar knives. As we used to say. &quot;gear adrift is a gift&quot;. That knife hung on my 782 gear web belt the rest of my time in the Corps. It was actually manufactured by Camillus knife company.

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• J4

  @j4s0n39 · 10 months ago

  My dad had one of these from his time in the Air Force. I was riding in my sister&apos;s car a few weeks ago and found it in her glove box.

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• EX

  @extralargemcfries9891 · 11 months ago

  Tank driver in the army here. I bought a KA-BAR to obnoxiously open MREs and care packages with. Also works really well for cutting paracord on the first cut and splitting firewood too. If I ever need to use it in combat, I fucked up as a driver.

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• BI

  @billcoupe4468 · 11 months ago

  I had a very good friend who served as a corpsman with Marines out of Phu Bai in Vietnam.<br><br>His Ka-Bar was a Camillus knife I believe. &nbsp;Regardless, by the mid-80&apos;s the years in the jungle had seriously degraded the leather handle. &nbsp;He contacted the company, sent it to them and they rebuilt that leather handle, put a razor sharp edge on it, and sent it back at no charge, along with a note thanking him for his service.

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