Marine Corps OKC-3S Bayonet

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sledbot

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How will the Marine Corps get their bayonets now that Ontario is officially out of business?

I've done a few quick Google searches and searched on here to no avail.

It's an amazing piece of gear that I had the honor of using against a few hanging tires and dummies. Many people don't realize that it's one of the few production bowies with a factory sharpened swedge. So what will be the fate of these now?
 
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I doubt the marine corps still buys them, let alone issues them. My unit has a bunch locked away in the armory that haven't been issued in a long time AFAIK. I had to buy my own.

Also I believe OKC is still running and they will continue to produce knives, just under new ownership.
 
kafolarbear said:
I doubt the marine corps still buys them, let alone issues them. My unit has a bunch locked away in the armory that haven't been issued in a long time AFAIK. I had to buy my own.

Also I believe OKC is still running and they will continue to produce knives, just under new ownership.
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They were issued, fielded, and used as of a few years ago when I got out. Possibly just infantry units that do this, not sure. Also, last I heard, blue ridge knives shut everything down and fired all 56 employees. Nothing is available for purchase from Ontario, and vendor stock is drying up. So I think it's over
 
sledbot said:
They were issued, fielded, and used as of a few years ago when I got out. Possibly just infantry units that do this, not sure. Also, last I heard, blue ridge knives shut everything down and fired all 56 employees. Nothing is available for purchase from Ontario, and vendor stock is drying up. So I think it's over
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I'm a grunt and have never been issued an OKS-3S, neither in Infantry training or my reserve unit. It's probably unit dependent, and my unit probably doesn't want a bunch of reservists going back home after drill every month with a bayonet in their bag.
 
I would think a sturdy FB or even just a multi-tool would be more useful. When was the last time a bayonet was actually used in combat, other than to open MREs or pry a crate open?
 
As to the original question: I would, at a guess, suspect that if there are any outstanding USGOV orders to fill Blue Ridge will subcontract the production to another US based knife company that has similar tooling or the USGOV can exercise the option to cancel the contract. I would guess Ka-Bar or maybe Buck. This is assuming there's still a contract to be filled. The Corps is not all that large and there's probably a billion of these knives in stock. Similar to how the 1217 (KaBar / USN Mk 2) was no longer produced after WWII, but was still issued up through the Vietnam war before anyone started producing them again.
 
I don't know who this content creator is. I don't follow his channel. So, I can't really speak to the authenticity of his stuff.

This just happened to come-up in my feed the other day. So, since y'all were discussing, I thought I'd share, for those who might be interested...






*In the vid, they discussed "late August". However, I have no idea if there were any updates.
 
Alberta Ed said:
I would think a sturdy FB or even just a multi-tool would be more useful. When was the last time a bayonet was actually used in combat, other than to open MREs or pry a crate open?
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I agree with the sentiment and it's for that reason I "only" carry a winkler woodsman on my kit rather than a proper fighting knife or bayonet. That being said, here's some badass footage of some aussie volunteers storming a trench in Ukraine, note at least one fixed bayonet. The best argument I've heard for fixing bayonets in CQB is the pure intimidation factor. I'd probably shit my pants if I was some poorly trained mobik hiding in a trench and a pissed off aussie came around the corner with a fucking knife on the end of his rifle and every intention of using it.

 
Alberta Ed said:
I would think a sturdy FB or even just a multi-tool would be more useful. When was the last time a bayonet was actually used in combat, other than to open MREs or pry a crate open?
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A sturdy FB? Like an Ontario OKC-3S? Bayonets were used in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times.
 
kafolarbear said:
I'm a grunt and have never been issued an OKS-3S, neither in Infantry training or my reserve unit. It's probably unit dependent, and my unit probably doesn't want a bunch of reservists going back home after drill every month with a bayonet in their bag.
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You didn't do a bayonet circuit, even in boot camp?
 
sledbot said:
You didn't do a bayonet circuit, even in boot camp?
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Actually funny you mention that, I went in 2020 during the height of the pandemic and we were told we wouldn't do the bayonet course specifically "because of covid" which never made sense to me. Other dudes who got in just a year before me say they went through it. We did practice some bayonet and knife fighting techniques but never with an actual bayonet. I saw the course in passing at one point while we were practicing MCMAP and it's possible they reinstated it post covid.
 
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kafolarbear said:
Actually funny you mention that, I went in 2020 during the height of the pandemic and we were told we wouldn't do the bayonet course specifically "because of covid" which never made sense to me. Other dudes who got in just a year before me say they went through it. We did practice some bayonet and knife fighting techniques but never with an actual bayonet. I saw the course in passing at one point while we were practicing MCMAP and it's possible they reinstated it post covid.
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Ahhhh, covid. Yeah it was a pretty basic course, run scream, stab a few tires. That's all I remember anyway.
 
kafolarbear said:
I agree with the sentiment and it's for that reason I "only" carry a winkler woodsman on my kit rather than a proper fighting knife or bayonet. That being said, here's some badass footage of some aussie volunteers storming a trench in Ukraine, note at least one fixed bayonet. The best argument I've heard for fixing bayonets in CQB is the pure intimidation factor. I'd probably shit my pants if I was some poorly trained mobik hiding in a trench and a pissed off aussie came around the corner with a fucking knife on the end of his rifle and every intention of using it.

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Why did they storm empty trenches? I did not see or hear a single opponent. If I missed it, at what time in the vid? Thanks!
 
TC said:
Why did they storm empty trenches? I did not see or hear a single opponent. If I missed it, at what time in the vid? Thanks!
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The trenches definitely weren't empty, plenty of gunfire to be heard and grenades being tossed about. You'd be surprised how little combat actually happens where you can see the enemy as opposed to shooting and suppressing where you think they are. It's quite possible the Russians retreated under fire as these guys pulled up or they just didn't include the clips they had of fighting face to face since you just can't just post people dying on YouTube. There's plenty of good trench clearing footage with combatants visible from this war if you know where to look. Check out r/combatfootage on Reddit if you want to see that, I doubt I'm allowed to link those videos here.
 
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Well, in that case the Russians sure do a fantastic job of appearing invisible...

Sure, there were a bunch of guys firing guns and tossing granades into empty dugouts, but they all seemed to be on the same side. I don't want to see gore, but telling me there were defenders in *that* video... at what time stamp?
 
TC said:
Well, in that case the Russians sure do a fantastic job of appearing invisible...

Sure, there were a bunch of guys firing guns and tossing granades into empty dugouts, but they all seemed to be on the same side. I don't want to see gore, but telling me there were defenders in *that* video... at what time stamp?
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How do you know they were empty? Most footage of marines storming the beach on Iwo Jima or Soldiers storming Normandy didn't have a single German or Japanese soldier visible, that doesn't mean those beaches were empty. In war, everyone is trying to stay concealed and keep their heads down. The fact you don't see anyone come face to face with an enemy in a brief video compilation of a trench assault doesn't mean much. Like I said, defenders were probably either retreating because some crazy mf's were jumping into their positions with bayonets fixed and fire support. If the defenders were killed, even if there was footage of it, the guys who posted this probably chose not to include that footage so it wouldn't be removed from YouTube.

Also this seems to be getting out of the scope of knife related discussion, it's just an interesting video I saw of people in combat recently with fixed bayonets in response to someone wondering when they were last used in combat, it's not that deep.
 
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kafolarbear said:
Also this seems to be getting out of the scope of knife related discussion
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Agreed, I did not mean to start a lenghty discussion about an off-topic matter. I know what I saw and what I did not see in the vid, that's all. 90% BS out there these days...
 
TC said:
Agreed, I did not mean to start a lenghty discussion about an off-topic matter. I know what I saw and what I did not see in the vid, that's all. 90% BS out there these days...
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Nothing wrong with a bit of healthy skepticism, my friend. I just think it’s a bit misplaced here is all.
 
This will be a hairy thread I assume. I read somewhere, that they don't want to issue soldiers expensive stuff in the event they are KIA (God forbid) and the enemy makes off with good technology, that the USA would prefer they didn't have. Feel free to say I'm wrong.
I guess they won't get kabars again, maybe they will just tell the units to buy from the base store and not issue
Guesswork 100%
 
ShaiHulud said:
This will be a hairy thread I assume. I read somewhere, that they don't want to issue soldiers expensive stuff in the event they are KIA (God forbid) and the enemy makes off with good technology, that the USA would prefer they didn't have. Feel free to say I'm wrong.
I guess they won't get kabars again, maybe they will just tell the units to buy from the base store and not issue
Guesswork 100%
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Not this administration, they happily left billions of dollars worth of arms in Afghanistan for the world's terrorists yo use against whomever they like.
 
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