KA-BAR
- Headquarters
- Olean, NY
- Manufacturing
- Olean, NY · Taiwan (imported models)
- Categories
- sports-and-outdoors
KA-BAR is the maker of the USMC fighting knife carried by Marines since the Second World War. The company goes back to 1898 and has been based in Olean, New York for most of the time since 1911. It has belonged to the Cutco Corporation since 1996, and the USMC knife has been made in Olean since 1975.
The catalogue is split, and KA-BAR states the split openly. Knife pages carry a spec table naming the country where the knife was made and, separately, where its sheath was made. Most of the fixed blades say United States. About a fifth of the range says Taiwan, including the Dozier folding hunters, the Mark 25, the Warthog folder, most of the TDI line and the kukri and cutlass machetes. Nothing in the name or the price tells them apart, which is why the brand as a whole sits at the floor.
The Olean knives are recorded individually below, at the second mark rather than the first. The knife itself is made in Olean, but the sheath in the box is not: the leather sheath on the USMC comes from Mexico, and the hard sheath on the Becker BK2 from Taiwan. Check the “Knife Manufactured In” and “Sheath Manufactured In” lines before you buy.
The record
The USMC fighting knife's product page says the knife is made in the United States and the sheath in Mexico
“Knife Manufactured In United States”
kabar.comRetrieved
Part of the knife range is made in Taiwan and sold under the same name
“Knife Manufactured In Taiwan”
kabar.comRetrieved
The USMC knife went back into production in Olean in 1975, at the Cutco plant
“Richard "Dick" Sturm, founds the KA-BAR Collectors Club, and for the first time since World War II, the standard KA-BAR USMC knife is put back into production in Olean, New York, at the CUTCO Cutlery facility.”
kabar.comRetrieved
A county historical committee records KA-BAR at its Olean address since 2003
“In 1962 the Brown family sold the company and several owners followed, with the KA-BAR brand finally bought by Alcas Corporation in 1996 and moved to its current location, 200 Homer Street, Olean, New York in 2003, where the company continues to be a leader in military and tactical knives.”
historicpath.comRetrieved
Domain record
kabar.com was registered on .It dates the domain, not the business: a maker that moved to a new address reads young here, and an old domain says nothing about who holds it now.
RDAP registry record · checked 19 Sep 2026
Products
Where to buyBecker BK2 Campanion (BK2)
Assembled in USA
Where to buyKA-BAR® USMC, Straight Edge (1217)
Assembled in USAThis item carries a different mark from KA-BAR as a whole, so it has its own record.
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