Original Item: Only One Available. The originator of the KA-BAR trademark, Union Cutlery Co, began using the name in 1923, having received a letter from a fur trapper who had used the knife to kill a wounded bear which attacked him when his rifle jammed. According to company records, the letter was only partially legible; "ka bar" could be read, as fragments of the phrase "kill a bear". In 1923, the company adopted the name Ka-Bar from the "bear story" as its trademark. From 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. The company produced about 1 million knives with the trademark on the ricasso.

This is a great example of the legendary WWII Production USN Mark 2 "Ka-Bar" fighting knife with a lovely service-worn leather scabbard. Overall length of this Mk2 is 12 inches, with a 6¾ inch clip-point blade. The markings on the ricasso are as follows:

U.S. NAVY

The opposite is marked:

RH PAL 37
MADE IN U.S.A.

The Mk2 Knife was developed as an improvement over the Mk1 design, which had issues with blade snapping due to the thinner

design. Working with Union Cutlery, USMC Colonel John M. Davis and Major Howard E. America contributed several important changes, including a longer, stronger blade, the introduction of a small fuller to lighten the blade, a peened pommel (later replaced by a pinned pommel), a straight (later, slightly curved) steel crossguard, and a stacked leather handle for better grip. The knife was officially known as the 1219C2, but it was commonly called the "Ka-Bar" after the trademark of Union Cutlery that was on the blades of early examples. The first production order went out to Camillus Cutlery Company, who produced the largest number of knives during WW2. The design was subsequently adopted by the Navy as the US Navy Utility Knife, Mark 2, and the USMC adopted it as the USMC Mark 2 Combat Knife, or simply the Knife, Fighting Utility.
In 1944, the US Navy put through a change order to have the markings moved from the blade to the cross guard, so this knife was produced after that change. It also has the later war slightly swept back cross guard. It features original leather washer grip, which is in good shape with no cracks or splitting. It definitely does show wear however, with a slightly darkened color. The cross guard and pommel are slightly loose, as the leather has shrunk.

About 50% of the original blade finish is still present, with the usual wear from the scabbard and use. It has been sharpened at least once, and the false clip point edge was sharpened as well. It has a heavy steel pommel with cross pinned tang. The blade is in good condition, and is still sharp, with a few small edge dents from use.

The leather sheath is the standard type used with the Mark 2, and is in good service-used condition. The leather is cracking heavily and there is verdigris on the snap fittings. There is a small white rope tied around the belt loop.

A very nice example of the hard to find USN-marked "KA-BAR" knife by PAL, in good service-used condition. No knife collection is complete without an example of a "Ka-bar".

Specifications:
Blade Length: 6 3/4"
Blade Style: Clip-point "Bowie" Style
Overall length: 12“
Crossguard: 2 7/16”
Scabbard Length: 7" with Belt Loop

According to The Official Price Guide of Collector Knives by C Houston Price & Mark D Zaleysky, PAL was originally used as a trademark by the Utica Knife & Razor Company of Utica, NY from about 1924-1939. PAL marked knives of that era used blades imported from Germany, and the blades typically bore the word “Germany” as well. Another company using the name PAL was established in Chicago in 1934. This company was known as the Pal Blade Company of Chicago, and was started by Otto Kraus. In 1935 the two “PAL” companies merged into one, known simply as the PAL Blade Company, and opened a manufacturing facility in Plattsburg, NY. Around 1940 PAL purchased the cutlery division of the Remington Arms Company, including of their existing stock of completed knives and knife parts.

While PAL was originally a manufacturer of pocketknives, but after the Remington acquisition they expanded their range of products to include a variety of fixed blade knives as well. PAL received a number of US government knife contracts during World War II and produced thousands of combat knives during the war years. Pal went out of business in 1953.The USN Mark 1 combat knife was produced by a variety of manufactures during World War II and was issued to Navy personnel by the thousands. It had a 5 ¼” long blade and was patterned after typical hunting and sideknives of the era. The subsequent Mark 2 knife had a longer 7” blade.