No doubt about it, Ontario does turn out a quality product at an affordable price. I also agree about their efforts with the M3. What folks have to understand is this knife evolved over the years into the M7 Bayonet and so in many ways it was in continuous service only with a different handle! And while the blade is really more of a "Stabby" thing, it was also considered "good enough" for utility work! As for the Mark 2, I love it and carried it while I was in the Army. I always love to point out to the folks who call it a KABAR, that KaBar but was just a knife company that happened to make the knife for the Marines and really liked to stamp the blade clearly with their name. They were the number two producer of the knife. The knife was designed by Camillus, Camillus produced the first of the knives and during WWII put produced KaBar in the production of the Marine Corps Fighting knife. But as Camillus was busy providing knives for all branches of Services, the bulk of the Mk2 fighting/utilities knives went to the Navy. Essentially KaBar had a better public relations department. Camillus was busy winning a war! I still need to get a copy of that M9 bayonet by Ontario. Thanks for dropping by. I really enjoyed the feedback!

Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for watching!

No doubt it is no only functional in its intended uses but also all around use. And it is definitely a sexy knife. Thanks for watching.

Slick Slicers, they made later ones with a hard plastic handle as the leather required much more maintenance and would rot in the jungle. I really need to update this video!

@@KnifeChatswithTobias You should probably do a whole video dedicated to US fighting knives of WWII. There was quite a few of them used.

Slick Slicers, could’ve been a copy or an issue item. At the end of WWII some were made with Bakelite handles. I also think some post WWII versions were made in both Japan and Germany. They were all a lot less pricey back in 1982!

Knife Chats with Tobias I learnt one good lesson back then, don’t sell, you’ll always regret it! I sold both my auto knives, and it’s impossible to get one now. My ‘M3’ was a very high quality knife. It took some sharpening when I got it, but once I’d got there, it kept its edge really well, despite my youthful abuse! It had the M8A1 sheath, which I really liked as most of my other knives had poor leather sheaths. The handle was identical to the M7 bayonet, except it didn’t have the bayonet fixings, just an M3 style guard and a plain pommel held on with a cross head screw in to an inlayed brass fixing. The pommel was dovetailed on so it didn’t rotate. My only complaints as that the retainer in the sheath scratched up the parkerizing and I didn’t have a belt that went with the metal suspenders on the frog and I didn’t want to remove it. Nearly 40 years on and I remember that knife like yesterday.... I wish I’d kept it! Annoyingly, I remember where I bought it, the gun shop in Ash next to the church, and I remember cycling out a few times to look at it first, but I can’t remember what I paid for it - probably less than £20 as a guess, but who knows!

Slick Slicers, I’ve read in several books on the SAS and LRDG, that after they North African Campaign ended and the units deployed to Italy and later France and the Adriatic, that they adopted the American M1Carbine and actually preferred the M3 trench knives that came with the Carbines over the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife as it was just a more sturdy knife and more useful. The modern Polish Special Forces use a copy of the knife and the Austrians have a bayonet that is nearly identical. It truly is a fantastic fighting knife.

Slick Slicers, did I mention I also have an interest in the LRDG? My web page: lrdg.hegewisch.net

Knife Chats with Tobias my step father was a Lt Col in the Royal Artillery in WWII and so served in North Africa, before coming up through Italy. He wasn’t engaged in LRDG stuff, but he was there. Slightly linked to that, one of my grandfathers (an Air Vice Marshall no less) flew the Chindits in behind enemy lines in Burma. He was issued an FS dagger (3rd pattern unfortunately) and he gave it to me a few years back. It’s not a great knife for anything other than stabbing people, so I can see why they might not have been too popular!

It's a timeless design. What is interesting is the Poles and the Austrians currently use a very similar knife as their combat knife. The SAS and LRDG, during WWII actually preferred this M3 Trench knife and M4 Bayonet over the Fairbairn-Sykes Commando Dagger as they found the blade stronger and less prone to breaking and handle much easier to grip! (a lot of people don't realize that after the SAS & LRDG left the desert they deployed to France and the Adriatic. The units turned in many of their Lee-Enfield rifles for M1 Carbines! )

Which would you rather have? A Kabar or an MK3??

I own both the Mk2 Fighting knife and the M3 Trench knife. My Mk2 which is often generically referred to as kabar was made by Camillus. My father bought it for me for Christmas back before I was going to go into the Army. I carried and used it for years. For general use, I would take the Mk 2 of the M3. It is a more general purpose design. The army adopted the M3 primarily as it was much less expensive and they needed more knives! But for looks, it is hard to beat the M3. That said, I have no desire to buy a new Mk2 by the company Ka-Bar. My Camillus version looks much nicer. Adn I bet the Ontario version of the Mk2 also looks better than the KaBar version. The currently made versions of the Marine Corp knife by KaBar (the company) looks cheap to me.

Yeah I love the Ontario MK2 over the Kabar. I have both and the 498 is definitely nicer in quality. Kabar added plastic spacers at both ends and changed the coating on their blades after WW2. The Ontario has a wider tang, coated with antifungal handle, and phosphate coated blade, I have no issues with rust but the handle of my kabar is just horrible, I don't know if they all get like that after a while but mine looks pretty bad. I tried everything to preserve the leather handle but nothing seems to work. The Ontario is great and I have no problems or issues with it. The Kabar had a knick on the blade from light use and took me hours to get rid of, that's why I like and use the Ontario's more, They're just far better blades and stick to tradition, unlike Kabar which made the changes for aesthetics rather than tradition. If I could just find out what Ontario uses on their handles for the MK2, I sure would like to get some to coat the handle on my Kabar! What about the OKC 3S?? I love that knife and it's my main go-to knife.

My Camillus is built like a tank. I've actually chopped down small trees (like five inches in diameter with it). I'm not talking batoning but actually swinging the knife with my hand and cutting the tree like an axe! I've also used the pommel to pound in nails as if the knife were a hammer head. I used it routinely to cut WD-1 telephone wire while in the army. I now realize that all of these such tasks would be considered knife abuse but the knife is none the worse for wear. Just a flat out fantastic knife. I believe that Ontario is probably the closest thing to Camillus as you're going to find. Today, Ontario actually builds knives to fill military contracts. KaBar makes them for the civilian market.

ramblers69, I’m always looking for an original that’s i can afford that’s at least half way decent. So far, no luck.

@@KnifeChatswithTobias I have a Camillus us m3 fighting nife. It's stamped on the band at the handle us m3 Camillus. Nothing on the blade. And it has a flaming bomb symbol on the very bottom. And it has the original leather sheath says Camilla usa on back. My question to u is how to tell if it's an original ww2 trench nife

That Imperial has to be a sweet knife. Nice to have one from WWII!.

Boker USA did indeed make them during WWII. Why they chose to make the reproduction in China boggles the mind.

If your going for a M3 go with either Ontario or Camillus. The Camillus knives are still available on the secondary market and still under $300. I picked up a Camillus M3 today that I purchased online from a auction house close to my house for $45 and the major difference between Camillus and Ontario's knives is that prior to Camillus closing sometime in the 80's the M3's they sold on the Civilian market were ones originally made for the US Government under contract but the contract ended and these were left as surplus. So your getting an original US Military Trench knife instead of a reproduction.

Batesmotel1960 . Hard to argue about it. If you can't get a WWII issue one or an old Camillus, this is the one to own!

Numerous people would agree. The M3 Trench knife was nor a "specialist fighting knife". It was suppose to be more utilitarian.

mrehzthegreat you can sell an original 1943 production for good chunk of change. I prefer to think of the Ontario as a current production as it is made to exact specs using the old Camillus tooling. The current Booker I think of as a repro as the steel is incorrect, it is made in China, and the only connection it has with the old Boker is it looks like an M3. Regardless of what you call it the Ontario is not a 1943 production M3 trench knife.

Yeah that makes sense, and I am like you I would not be able to bring myself to buy a piece of American history from anywhere that wasn't 🇺🇸 through and through

I need to revisit both of these knives. Thanks for watching ( The Front knife is Windlass Cutlery's reproduction of the V-42 Stilleto.

I believe I mentioned the best place to find a replacement scabbard is on eBay, especially if you're looking for one that is period correct. I should've also mentioned, that any M8 Sheath or even the M10 Sheath for the M7 Bayonet will also fit the M3 knife; it just wouldn't be period correct. You Tube is being goofy once again, and it seems as if my previous replies may not have shown up. As I mentioned before it sounds to me like you have a cherished memory. If you do find a replacement, sheath, you may want to hang on to the original, just for the memories.

Thank you Tobias! I’ll check eBay and hang onto the original scabbard. Really appreciate your efforts and your knowledge.

@@KnifeChatswithTobias At The Front also sells US made M6 reproduction sheaths.

Man that sounds awful. I would contact Ontario and get a replacement. That is totally unacceptable to me!

W. Tobias Gibson I shot them an email about an hour ago...

Good question. The knife is made using the same materials and to the same standards as it was made when first used by the U. S. Army in WWII. For all intents and purposes it is an M3 Trench knife.. It is hard to call it a replica or reproduction, it is a just a modern era M3 Trench knife. THe knife has been in production since WWII but nmot made under government contract since 1944. It is really more of a fighting knife than a survival knife, however. The 6 3/4 inch blade was designed for the M3 back in 1942. This same blade remained unchanged and continued to be used on U.S. Military Issued Bayonets up through the M7 Bayonet used with the M16 rifle. I think it was finally pulled in the late 1990s. The only difference between the Ontarion M3 Trench knife and and Ontario made M7 bayonet is the tang stamp. The only difference between this knife and a WWII issued M3 is the WWII trench knife is a collectors item and will cost a pretty penny. The WWII issue would be one to show off and this would be one you could use and actually use effectively. The knife is tough enough for combat but the design of blade makes it a poor choice for bus craft

The M3 trench knife is the basis for the M4-7 Bayonets used by the U.S Army. Some M4 Bayonets had stacked leather washers. The M4 was used with the M1 Carbine. The M5, M5A1, and M5-1 were used with the M1 Garand Rifle. The M6 with the M14, and the M7 with the M16. They will have the nomenclature stamped on the cross guard/ bayonet ring. This should help you identify which one you have.

@@KnifeChatswithTobias And there were some M1 bayonets converted with the M3 style blade for use by the South Korean Military.

The sheath is probably the Civilian version first made by Camillus. I have a original Camillus with the Civilian sheath.

Especially for an American Icon!

Actually Boker Knives are made in Germany, USA, and China. The Chinese made Boker knives are branded "Magnum by Boker" or "Boker Plus" Most Boker Plus knives come out of China. During WWII, Boker USA was one of the companies contracted to make the M3 Trench Knife for U.S. Army. (They had dissolved partnership with Germany shortly before Hitler came to power. ) About ten or so years ago, Boker Plus made replicas of the M3 Trench Knife using SK-5 Steel in their factories in China. see: www.knifecenter.com/item/BO1943/boker-plus-m3-trench-knife-sk5-carbon-steel-blade-stacked-leather-handle or: cutleryshoppe.com/boker-plus-02bo1943-m3-trench-knife-6-75-black-finish-plain-edge-blade-stacked-leather-washer-handle-green-metal-m8a1-sheath/ The sheath for the knife is currently made in Germany but the Boker Plus M3 is still made in China. They have recently released a 65th anniversary edition and it seems like they are less than up front as where it is produced. however, the steel used remains SK-5, which is a Chinese 1080 Carbon Steel. Boker claims all their knives are designed in Germany but produced in Germany, the US and Asia. ( The M3 was not designed in German, it was actually designed by Camillus in WWII! )

And the design lives on. For instance, the Polish Special Forces use a knife very similar to it today, the Mod 92. The Glock 78 and 81 are also based on the M3

@@KnifeChatswithTobias I have the glock knife. Like it very much. Also have an eck dagger and a kabar tanto combat knife.I like the glock best of all.

I will admit that as an all around utility knife the design is not the best. The knife was a fighting knife and it evolved into the M4 bayonet for the M1 Carbine and later the M5 Bayonet for the M1. The blade was ideal for stabbing but not as good for general utility work. Interesting enough, when the British SAS adopted the M1 Carbine in 1944 they received M3 Trench knives. (the original carbine lacked a bayonet lug so they were issued with this knife. Many in the SAS preferred the M3 over the Fairbairn-Sykes Commando knife as it had a better grip and a more robust blade, and by then a better scabbard. But I agree, as a general utility knife, the M3 is seriously lacking.

@@KnifeChatswithTobias Fairbairn-Sykes Commando knife is more of spy knife, boot knife, this was a stabbing blade too but it was wider blade to it, good for your basic g.i.'s, but the Ka-Bar did the better job,

James Lee, I think I made it abundantly clear that this was a review of the Modern production of the M3 by Ontario. I even included information on how you can tell it is NOT an original issue knife from WWII. I also explained that it is made using the same 1095 blade as the original but it is still a modern production. I explained how the Boker is making a similar knife in China using a different type of steel. I gave a brief history on the the knife and I explained that for those who want an M3 but can’t afford one this was be a reasonable alternative. Please send me the link to your You Tube on an original WWII Issue M3 so that I can share it with others who actually appreciate this video. VBR.