Ka-Bar

(USMC) Knife, Fighting Utility (USN Mark 2 utility knife)
Commemorative USMC Ka-Bar knife
Type	Knife
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	United States Marine Corps United States Navy United States Army
Wars	World War II Korean War Vietnam War Invasion of Grenada Operation Just Cause Gulf War War in Afghanistan Iraq War
Production history
Designed	23 November 1942
Manufacturer	Camillus Cutlery Co. Union Cutlery Co. Pal Cutlery Co. Robeson (ShurEdge) Cutlery Co.
Produced	1943–present
Specifications
Weight	0.7 pounds (0.32 kg)
Length	11.875 inches (30.16 cm)
Blade length	7 inches (18 cm)
Blade type	clip point
Hilt type	Stacked leather washers
Scabbard/sheath	Leather (USMC) or Plastic (USN)

Ka-Bar (trademarked as KA-BAR, capitalized) is the contemporary popular name for the combat knife first adopted by the United States Marine Corps in November 1942 as the 1219C2 combat knife (later designated the USMC Mark 2 combat knife or Knife, Fighting Utility), and subsequently adopted by the United States Navy as the U.S. Navy utility knife, Mark 2. Additionally, KA-BAR is the trademark and namesake of a related knife manufacturing company, KA-BAR Knives., Inc. (formerly Union Cutlery Co.) of Olean, New York, a subsidiary of the Cutco Corporation.

Although KA-BAR Knives, Inc. currently makes a wide variety of knives and cutlery, it is best known for the KA-BAR Fighting/Utility knife, which has traditionally used a 7 in. (178 mm) 1095 carbon steel clip point blade and leather-washer handle.

The owner of the KA-BAR trademark, the Union Cutlery Co. of Olean, New York, began using the name on its knives and in its advertising in 1923 after receiving a testimonial letter from a fur trapper, who used the knife to kill a wounded bear that attacked him after his rifle jammed. According to company records, the letter was only partially legible, with "ka bar" readable as fragments of the phrase "kill a bear". In 1923, the company adopted the name KA-BAR from the "bear story" as their trademark. Beginning in 1923, the KA-BAR trademark was used as a ricasso stamp by Union Cutlery Co. on its line of automatic switchblade pocket knives, including the KA-BAR Grizzly, KA-BAR Baby Grizzly, and KA-BAR Model 6110 Lever Release knives.

After the United States' entry into World War II, complaints arose from Army soldiers and Marines issued World War I-era bronze or alloy-handled trench knives such as the U.S. Mark I trench knife for use in hand-to-hand fighting. The Mark I was relatively expensive and time-consuming to manufacture, and reports from the field indicated that the knife's large 'brass-knuckle' fingerguard handle made it difficult to secure in conventional scabbards while limiting the range of useful fighting grip positions. Another criticism was that the Mark I's relatively thin blade was prone to breakage when used for common utility tasks such as cutting wire or opening ammunition crates and ration cans. A final impetus came from the War Department, which had determined the need for a new multipurpose knife capable of fulfilling the roles of both a fighting and a utility knife, while at the same time conserving strategic metal resources.