Ontario 8155 Mark III Trench Knife (Brown)

I have been searching for the right M-3 for a while now. I was tempted many times with the Boker model. The reason I did not buy the Boker was price and I heard it was German made. Nothing wrong with German made because the Germans tend to over engineer everything. It is a question of Historical loyalty, it is the same reason I would not buy an American made part for a 98k or Lee Enfield. If Boker was made in the US even though it was a WWII contractor I would have bought it. Though Ontario was not one of the WWII contract Companies for the M-3 ( there were 9, Imperial Knife, Pal Blade, Case, Utica Cutlery, Robeson Cutlery, Aerial Cutlery, H. BOKER & Co, Kinfolks Inc. and Camilus ) they did do contract work for the US Military. I have an original M-3 I bought years ago before they started repro-ing them. They are identical in weight and construction with a couple mfg differences. The M-3 I received I am totally happy with the Leather Handle did come with a funky red leather dressing that did smell. It did not put me off as it is a Dagger / Field Knife. The originals came un- treated but were soaked in Neatsfoot oil. That is what I did when I received mine. A good soaking of Neatsfoot and air dry. The sheath was not even close to historical so I pitched that in a drawer and bought an M8A1 scabbard from Sarco. For those WWII re-enactors you want an M8 Scabbard or remove the metal tip and hanger from the M8A1. By the way the sheath that came with my M-3 is well made and is useful to those not historically inclined. The Blade is what I expected and what I expected was not a knife but a dagger. There are those who have critiqued the knife as a bad knife with bad angles and temper. I totally respect their views as Knife Makers and Buffs. Yes this is a bad knife but a good dagger. One has to remember this is a Dagger first a knife second. The M-3 eventually evolved into the M-4, M5 and M6 BAYONET. A pig sticker as you will it was not designed to do field work. There are better knives than that out there and if one studies WWII photos there were a lot of personal knives being carried. With some work you can put an edge on it but a lot of work. So to sum it all up it is an Awesome repro for the WWII buff who does not want to screw up an original. It's a Dagger first Knife second. American Made but it will need some things to get it to re-enactor use.

Ontario M3, Mark III Trench KnifeI bought this trench knife to replace/retire an old M7 Bayonet that I have had since the early 80’s and have carried and used a lot, while Hiking and Camping.Overall the quality of the blade and cross guard are very good. Tight, straight, and with nice parkerization. The blade was very sharp out of the box and even more so with a few passes through a smiths fine ceramic sharpener.On the other hand, I was not very impressed with the stacked leather grip or pommel. Though all were tight, the grip was shaped way too fat and had a horrible brown dye job color. I taped off metal parts close to the grip, then I reshaped the grip to my liking (close to WWII spec) with a Dremmel tool 60 grit to start finished with 120 grit and the 200 grit by hand. Gave it a good coat of mink oil when done. This is when the finish on the pommel started to rub off. It ended up getting a coat of black enamel paint in the end.All in all things turned out very well and I am very happy with my purchase. I have owned and used Ontario knives before and know they are made well when it comes to the blades.The sheath it came with was designed and well made, but the leather seemed way to soft. Though the knife is made in the USA the sheath I found was made in China (tag hidden inside belt loop) I would be worried about the knife ripping through the body of the sheath do to lack of poke through pertection like found on the M6 Scabbard.I would recommend if you are interested in this knife, buy a M8 or M10 scabbard for this blade, I went with the M10. They do scrape on the finish a little, but to me that is no big deal and nothing a little oil can’t fix.Overall I am very, very... happy with my purchase and would highly recommend to anyone that is willing to put a little work into it’s care.

As other reviews might have pointed out, the blade isn't completely straight. Granted, it is extremely subtle and not noticeable (at least in my case) until I spent some time looking the blade over. It is curved in the direction of the main cutting edge (the bigger one).However, I do not think it should drastically change how one uses the blade as state previously it is subtle and barely noticeable at a glance.

I've read reviews from other buyers about loose handles, pommels and guards, none of those issues are present in my sample, edge could be more finely honed but it would cut you right out the box. I was able to put a shaving sharp edge on it with very minimal effort, love that 1095 carbon steel, it always rewards you with a razor edge. Handle is proper for the model, mine came finished very nicely not at all raw leather as other reviewers have stated. The one notable departure from the original is the cross guard, the top branch of the guard isn't bent as much as the original. I had an M7 bayonet on hand for comparison and the blades are virtually identical as they should be. I've owned a couple of originals, and will tell you that these Ontario knives are every bit the knife the originals are outside of minor cosmetic differences. Some originals were blued steel most had some type of parkerizing (spelling ?) These blade appear to be neither,some other kind of coating, I may strip it and gun blue it. The sheath however is nothing to write home about, it holds the knife securely and keeps you from getting cut, that's about it. I'll be replacing it with the M8 scabbard, I like them much better. All in all I think it's a very nice rendition of the American military classic, as close as you can get to a real one without spending hundreds on an original. The only other thing out there that's closer in appearance is the Boker copy, how ever it's almost 2x the cost of the Ontario and the Boker is stainless not carbon, and of course the boker is made in China while the Ontario is from right here in the good old USA. Hope this review was helpful to someone.