Military Machete ID & Info Requested

foxfirerodandgun · Oct 23, 2023

For lack of knowing which forum this should be in, I’ll post it here. Mods, feel free to move it into a more suitable forum if it isn’t a good fit here.
I have had these two U.S. stamped Ontario Knife Co. machetes for some time. They have been “Buried” in my garage since I acquired them and I just uncovered them today. I have searched and can only fine ones of a similar blade style named “Billhook” which has a very pointed end. The blades are 12" long and do not appear to have been modified. What I am really interested in knowing is what era were these issued and what is the proper name for the blade configuration. Many thanks.

Bill Siegle · Oct 23, 2023

Cool machetes! A long while back Ontario Knife Company put out several different 12in machetes. Those “points” are similar to old WWII pilot survival machetes that Case made.

BitingSarcasm · Oct 24, 2023

There is a subforum for Ontario here. It's less trafficked than the general, but reposting there might be useful https://www.bladeforums.com/forums/ontario-knife-company.908/

tltt · Oct 24, 2023

As mentioned, these weren't military, they were part of Ontario's short lived "Camp and Trail" series. This was the CT3 12" "Soft Beak" model.
CT1 was a 12" Cutlass style, CT2 was a 12" Cutlass with sawback, CT4 was a 12" Beavertail Bolo in the style of the WWII Corpsman Bolo. They were first listed in the 96 catalog and were mostly gone by the very early 2000's. At most they maybe had a 5 year run.

eveled · Oct 24, 2023

Great post T tltt ! I think there was also a CT5 22” machete with that handle.

foxfirerodandgun · Oct 24, 2023

tltt said:
As mentioned, these weren't military, they were part of Ontario's short lived "Camp and Trail" series. This was the CT3 12" "Soft Beak" model.
CT1 was a 12" Cutlass style, CT2 was a 12" Cutlass with sawback, CT4 was a 12" Beavertail Bolo in the style of the WWII Corpsman Bolo. They were first listed in the 96 catalog and were mostly gone by the very early 2000's. At most they maybe had a 5 year run.

Why are they stamped U.S. if they aren't U.S. Military? Just asking.

Peter Hartwig · Oct 24, 2023

foxfirerodandgun said:
Why are they stamped U.S. if they aren't U.S. Military? Just asking.

Mine(different model) is stamped the same, but if it is army surplus or not is a ?. The store had army navy in their name, but I don't know if they sold any surplus. Basically a discount store.
MIlitary or not, mine is a great machete and I have been using it for many decades

eveled · Oct 24, 2023

foxfirerodandgun said:
Why are they stamped U.S. if they aren't U.S. Military? Just asking.

Clever marketing. They knew it would help it sell if they took advantage of its military lineage.

TC · Oct 24, 2023

foxfirerodandgun said:
Why are they stamped U.S. if they aren't U.S. Military? Just asking.

Nothing prevents a maker from marking his products with U.S. or USA... the rest is in the customers mind.

Bill Siegle · Oct 24, 2023

Ontario was the US supplier for US military machetes. I’d assume they simply marked them all the same.

tltt · Oct 24, 2023

foxfirerodandgun said:
Why are they stamped U.S. if they aren't U.S. Military? Just asking.

I suspect it was two fold. As mentioned, Ontario had the US military contract for the 18" machetes. These civilian models are made from the same blade stock, have the same handles, etc..... They weren't really high dollar knives at the time, $12-16 usually, so why waste time with a fancy new stamp when you already have a few stamps that work. You save money not getting a new stamp made, you save time not having to change out stamps from the machines during runs.

Also, as mentioned, the US stamp was a selling point, some folks will buy them thinking they're military. Some will buy them thinking they're mil-spec, so they're better made than the $5 model a few rows over. Another win.

tltt · Oct 24, 2023

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The 1997 Machete and Military pages from the catalog. That last page was all the recent or current Mil contract knives (Except the CT5 22" machete they mention).

foxfirerodandgun · Oct 24, 2023

tltt said:
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The 1997 Machete and Military pages from the catalog. That last page was all the recent or current Mil contract knives (Except the CT5 22" machete they mention).

Many thanks!! You have answered my question and solved the "Mystery:" :}