Military issue Ka-bar switchblade... Fact or fiction?

[effengee]

clearing up confusion

My friend's friend is current military home from Iraq with the Vermont Army National Guard. That much is certainly true.
I just wasn't sure about the military issue KaBar switchblade

 

[Chindo18Z]

effengee: Gotcha. I've been around the military for a long time (with a simultaneous knife accumulation habit), but I've never seen or heard of an issue auto-knife from Kabar. If they DO make one for the military, I'd love to get my hands on one.

The one I've seen for decades (and actually own an example of) is the little orange-scaled MC-1 Camillus that hso posted a photo of. That one has always been called a "Jumpmaster Switchblade" among Army Airborne troops.

Then again, thousands of Camillus made "Kabars" Fighting Knives are in the hands of military members and some military folks may no longer realize that Kabar and Camillus are two different companies. Sometimes the troops just adopt a name to describe something (whether technically right or wrong)...and the slang name just sticks.

 

[hso]

They also made an excellent version of the "KABAR".

Y'mean Ka-Bar made an excellent version of the USMC Fighting/Utility or USN Mk2 (the original military designation for the knife that Camillus first made and many companies along with Ka-Bar made during WWII).

 

[jaysouth]

My son had a Swiss army knife(spartan) confiscated by customs at Pope AFB upon returning from Iraq in 04.

 

[TimboKhan]

That is odd. I never got any flak about any of my personal weapons/pocket knives on the way home.

I hasten to add that by personal weapon, I mean a small Gerber boot knife, not nunchucks or something stupid, lol.

 

[Speedo66]

Yep. Most of the major knife companies made autos before the fetid congress critters decided they were the tools of gangs and thugs especially made for murder and mayhem. Of course, the facts didn't really bear that out, but, when did the facts ever stop congress critters from enacting stoopid legislation?

I remember seeing a couple of .gov issue switchblades when I was in the USMC. One had orange and the other had black phenolic handles and each had about 3 1/2" blades. They were issued to technicians and/or dirt darts, IIRC.
Man, middle age is not being kind to my memory. Jeez...

I remember as a kid our local candy store in the Bronx had a card of a dozen Colonial switchblades (what we used to call them) hanging on the wall for sale to anybody the owner deemed old enough to buy one.

Also remember the older kids there in the projects I grew up in playing with them.

I confiscated a bunch of them as a LEO, but they were all low quality.

 

[Chindo18Z]

TimboKahn: That is odd. I never got any flak about any of my personal weapons/pocket knives on the way home.

Me neither. You can have a personally owned Gladius stored in your baggage and nobody cares. Try and bring back a little switchblade, spring stilleto, or gravity knife..and you'd think the safety of the Republic was in question. No accounting for stupid laws and regulations.

 

[Mike U.]

y'mean ka-bar made an excellent version of the usmc fighting/utility or usn mk2 (the original military designation for the knife that camillus first made and many companies along with ka-bar made during wwii).

exactly!

 

[usmccpl]

Before I got out of the Corps a week ago I made 2 trips to Iraq. My first trip over everybody in the platoon was issued Gerber multi tools. Trip number two we were issued Benchmade autos but Im not sure of the model number. But they were autos. When I get my camera working again I will post a pic of mine.

 

[Mike U.]

What did you guys think of those Gerber Multitools, usmccpl?

 

[android]

Prior to the Gulf War the autos issued by the US military were the MC-1 survival folders with the orange plastic scales. They went to pilots and parachute troops. They had a shroud line cutter that was manual and a clip point blade that was auto. It always seemed strange that the auto part was the knife instead of the shroud cutter.

John makes an interesting point in that the Gerbers and Benchmades being given to troops may not exactly be "issued". They're not part of the equipment profile for anyone but paras and pilots so they may not be issue items.

My dad had that knife. He was a pilot in the USAF during Viet Nam and into the 80s. The reason the shroud cutter is not auto is because the knife is carried on a lanyard in a pocket designed for it on the flight suit and the shroud cutter is left open.

 

[Al Thompson]

Mike, we were issued the Gerber as well (Army). My buddies Leatherman seemed to be the better between the two.

 

[usmccpl]

Same as the one my dad gave me when I was 15. It kinda worked in a time of need when nothing better was around but if you can get something better than that for the job at hand leave the Gerber in your pocket.

 

[Mike U.]

Thanks guys. I was curious because I had a hard time with my Gerber. The plier handles would bite the daylights out of my hand if the head slipped off of the work.
Was hoping it wasn't something ya'll were having to deal with.

 

[Kaskae]

Tis Fact

I was just cleaning out an old cabin at my place in Alaska and ran into one. It is about a 4" blade with KA-BAR on one side and Union Cut Co., Olean, NY, USA on the other. http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff433/kaskae1/Knife/

 

[oldbanjo]

CAMILLUS makes or did make a Auto knife for cutting Parachute loose.

 

[oldbanjo]

The handle is international orange, has a button and a switch for locking the straight blade and has a hook blade. Also I looked up CAMILLUS and got a knife company with some pretty knifes. They must still be in business.

 

[oldbanjo]

The switch doesn't lock the blade it locks the button so it won't accidentally get pushed.

 

[hso]

Kaskae,

The original question was whether KaBar made switchblades for the US military. Just about every American knife company made switchblades before 1957, but very very few made them for the military.

If you look closely at your knife, great find BTW, you won't find any markings for the US government on it.

 

[Sgt_R]

We were told in theater that we couldn't ship any auto knives back. In fact, anything that *looked* like it might be issue gear was a no-go, even if it was in fact personally owned.

They wouldn't ship mine back either, but I didn't have any trouble bringing my (personally owned) Benchmade back in my checked luggage.

Now, technically speaking, customs could have confiscated it if they'd found it, but they didn't look very hard (it was in a clear ziplock bag, along with a handful of other 'mundane' folders and multitools - not exactly hidden).

R

 

[PRM]

Afghanistan 2009-2010

I went to Afghanistan this past year with the NG. We went as an 18 person MTT Team (Embedded Trainers). Each member of our unit was issued a Benchmade Presidio Switchblade. Not the normal issue, but our COL. got them for us.

My experience getting into theater was good. You could have brought just about anything you wanted going in. Coming home was a different story.

Without a Command Memorandum, the switchblades would have been confiscated at security or customs if one made it that far.

Flights out of Kandahar Air Field was an eye opener. The British did the security and they were taking just about everything that was not in their opinion issue. One Canadian CIVPOL that I worked with went home on leave and had a Kabar confiscated out of his palletized baggage. He was told that it was a Marine knife and not issued to police??? Their call, and not many are willing to miss a flight to argue the point. Guess they had a pretty good collection. They were a bunch of jerks.

Customs in Kuwait was thorough, but they were professional. You had a physical search of everything and two x-ray screenings of the baggage. They were not taking anything meeting the legal requirements and honored all proper paperwork. +1 for those guys and gals.

I was in a little different situation from the rest of my team. I was split off individually (civilian police background) and was embedded with the police training mission. That meant I traveled separate from my unit and had to go through the airfield at Kandahar to get to Kuwait and travel home home at the end of mission. I had a heads up from others on the security before I left, I mailed my personal knives home. The Benchmade was organizational property.

 

[Sgt.Saputo]

Where do you put the spring? Since the blade is as wide as the handle, how does it retract?

I don't think there every was a switch blade Kabar.

WWII Kabar below Replica Kabar

Funny, this is my Kabar and the blades open and close just fine.

 

[THE MACHINIST]

http://www.bladehq.com/item--Cold-Steel-Recon-I-Tanto--6885

the navy seals use this knife.