Ka-Bar 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, and subsequently adopted by the United States Navy as the U.S. Navy utility knife.
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-inch (17.8 cm) 1095 carbon steel clip point blade and leather-washer handle.
Ka-Bar makes Army and Navy versions along with USMC versions. They are the same as the Marine version except for different initials at the bottom of the blade and different symbols on the sheath. Marines today often treat the blades, guards and pommels with non-reflective black spray paint to reduce reflected light and give them additional protection against saltwater corrosion. According to Ka-Bar, its 1095 Cro-Van, a moderate carbon and low chromium steel alloy, allows the blade to hold an edge very well. The "1095 Cro-Van" steel[30][31][32] used in the blades of contemporary Ka-Bars has a hardness of 56–58 HRC, while the guard and pommel are made from sintered 1095 carbon steel. Besides use as a fighting knife, the Ka-Bar has proved useful as a utility knife, for opening cans, digging trenches, and cutting wood, roots, wire, and cable. In 1995, a version was released with a stainless steel blade, synthetic handle, and synthetic sheath marketed as "The Next Generation". As of June 2012 the "Next Generation" models have been discontinued. In 1999, Ka-Bar released the "D2 Extreme" version of their fighting knife, coming with the same synthetic handle and sheath that was produced with the "Next Generation", but also a blade made from D2 tool steel for extra edge retention and slightly better corrosion resistance than 1095.
