CONFIRMED- Ka-Bar no longer stamping USA on their knives since 2021

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coloradowildman

coloradowildman

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So....I was looking around on Amazon recently and noticed that a couple of more recent reviews for the Ka-bar 1211/1213 Knife were saying that Ka-Bar stopped stamping "USA" on the ricasso. Here is what one reviewer posted:

"I noticed that my blade was only stamped on one side (Ka-Bar - Olean Ny) and was missing the product ID on the other. I reached out to Ka-Bar and this was their answer:

"One side of the blade will have KA-BAR Olean, NY stamped. There is nothing on the other side. It used to have 1211 and USA stamped; however, KA-BAR is no longer stamping USA on the blade. This is a running change on all products. This item is manufactured in the USA with German steel. Hope this helps someone questioning authenticity." - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001AIAIP8

I also found a second review mentioning that they had called Ka-Bar about this and were told the same thing- https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001AIAIP8

Not wanting to just take their word for it, I called Ka-Bar today and spoke with customer service. They confirmed that yes, since 2021, "USA" is no longer stamped on the blade. So sadly, if you own one stamped with "USA" on it, it is now a collector's item. What a bummer.

Regards,

CW

Ka-Bar 1211 No Longer Made in the USA 2 (DETAIL REVIEW).jpg
 
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1095 CroVan is not a standard alloy. KaBar needs to have it custom manufactured by a steel mill. In the thread on Case switching from CV steel to 1095 steel, Larrin Larrin mentioned that finding US steel mills willing to produce custom lots has become difficult. So it may be that KaBar had to go offshore to obtain its latest lot of steel.
 
But would using German steel mean they can’t stamp the blades with “USA”?
 

Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act declares it an unfair practice to mark an article with a deceptive or misleading statement of origin. The current position of the FTC is that an article may not lawfully be labeled with the unconditional statement that it is “Made in U.S.A.” unless it is composed wholly, or almost wholly, of United States-origin materials, and is made almost completely with United States labor. If a product is made with any significant imported materials, or any significant foreign labor, no unconditional “Made in U.S.A.” claim can be made. [However, the FTC may authorize a conditional claim, such as "Made in U.S.A. from Chinese materials", or words of similar import.
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Larrin said:
But would using German steel mean they can’t stamp the blades with “USA”?
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I think so.
 
I personally don't have a problem with them using German steel, which has always been good quality from my experience. My guess is the US Steel Suppliers either had supply issues OR more likely went up on their price so much that it forced them to go with the German supplier. For a steel mill, they make money by putting out large volumes, and I wouldn't think that knife manufacturers do enough volume as compared to a Railroad, automotive manufacture, or the construction supplies market.
At least the knives are still manufactured in the US, I would not hesitate to buy another from them but I already have a couple ;)
 
I personally don't see how anyone could have a problem with this. Although I agree that the now extinct "USA" stamped ones may rise in collector value. In fact, I'll go a step further and and say that even if the blade was stamped "Germany" it still shouldn't pose an issue. In this case only the blade/steel is sourced from Germany.
Back in the 80s Ka-Bar had several models made by Tak Fukuta in Seki and marked "Japan".
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chevyrulez1 said:
I personally don't have a problem with them using German steel ;)
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I have a problem with it. The Ka-Bar is an American icon and got its reputation from being used by soldiers to defend themselves from German soldiers in WWII. So I think it sacrilegious to use German steel on this knife. Or any foreign steel for that matter. They are still charging "Made in the USA" prices for these which is another problem I have.

I think we as a country have been way too forgiving of all this outsourcing nonsense. As a result, we have to buy antibiotics from an enemy country (China) who is using part of that revenue to build hypersonic missiles which are pointed at US sailors in the Pacific. As for Germany, their govt arrests people for free speech. So no, I think this was a terrible decision by Ka-Bar and I will no longer support them as a company.
 
Regarding steel availability, then how do Buck, Benchmade a number of other knife companies keep it in the USA? No, I don't buy it at all. Ka-Bar execs got greedy and figured out a way to bamboozle American knife buyers into paying the same price for a partially foreign made Ka-Bar as a 100% Made in the USA Ka-Bar. This way, they can buy their 6th mansion while supporting foreign authoritarian governments who abuse and imprison their citizens.
 
coloradowildman said:
I have a problem with it. The Ka-Bar is an American icon and got its reputation from being used by soldiers to defend themselves from German soldiers in WWII. So I think it sacrilegious to use German steel on this knife. Or any foreign steel for that matter. They are still charging "Made in the USA" prices for these which is another problem I have.

I think we as a country have been way too forgiving of all this outsourcing nonsense. As a result, we have to buy antibiotics from an enemy country (China) who is using part of that revenue to build hypersonic missiles which are pointed at US sailors in the Pacific. As for Germany, their govt arrests people for free speech. So no, I think this was a terrible decision by Ka-Bar and I will no longer support them as a company.
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Uhhh....you do know Germany today isnt the same Germany as 1944 Germany right? Lol
This really isnt a big deal and theyre being upfront about it. It isnt Chinese even...
 
CVamberbonehead said:
Uhhh....you do know Germany today isnt the same Germany as 1944 Germany right? Lol
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Apparently you didn't read my comment before posting your reply- "As for Germany, their govt arrests people for free speech."

This is just the tip of the iceberg. You ought to start reading international news before commenting on this.
 
CVamberbonehead said:
Uhhh....you do know Germany today isnt the same Germany as 1944 Germany right? Lol
This really isnt a big deal and theyre being upfront about it. It isnt Chinese even...
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"...the measures presented [by Lambrecht] infringe people’s right to informational self-determination, open the door for more surveillance, grant law enforcement more powers to intervene and allow for more data collection.”

Niekrenz’s organization is one of 13 signatories of an open letter to Lambrecht earlier this month which called the new hate speech rules “an enormous danger to civil liberties.” Other signatories include Germany’s journalists’ union, the German Informatics Society, as well as lobbying organizations for the tech industry such as the Association of the Internet Industry (eco), which counts Facebook, Google and Twitter among its members."


The Ka-Bar was used as part of an effort to defend freedom during WWII. It should not be built with a foreign steel from a country with a Far-Left Wing Authoritarian Government.
 
Umm ok? The steel company in Germany didnt do anything though lol And they arent even a communist country where the government and business lines get blurred, so.... what did the steel company do again? Lol
I like America too bud, but you need to take a deep breath and relax lol
 
I have no issue with this basically. I would rather see them use American steel I guess, but this is no big deal to me. Certainly not worth boycotting and rage. Lol
Gotta love the General section of the forum lol
 
coloradowildman said:
Regarding steel availability, then how do Buck, Benchmade a number of other knife companies keep it in the USA? No, I don't buy it at all. Ka-Bar execs got greedy and figured out a way to bamboozle American knife buyers into paying the same price for a partially foreign made Ka-Bar as a 100% Made in the USA Ka-Bar. This way, they can buy their 6th mansion while supporting foreign authoritarian governments who abuse and imprison their citizens.
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REALLY?
Read my earlier response. 1095 CROVAN is a custom alloy. NO ONE else uses it. It is necessary to make an entire lot (Called a "heat" in the steel industry). The steel industry in the US has consolidated. And from what Larrin has said, it has become difficult to find a US steel supplier willing to make a custom steel alloy. So it's either go abroad and use the traditional steel for which KaBar is famous, or do what Case did and use 1095.
 
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