Ontario Knife Company
Authorized Dealer • US Military Contractor Since 1889
Ontario Knife Company has manufactured edged tools and bladed kit in Upstate New York since 1889 — 135+ years of continuous production and one of the longest-running US military cutlery contracts in American industrial history. From the M9 bayonet and the Model 499 USAF Survival Knife to the RAT and Spec Plus tactical lines and the OKC Heavy Duty machete, Ontario is the working benchmark for DoD-grade bladed tools. Keep Shooting carries the Ontario catalog across machetes, RAT folders, tactical fixed blades, rescue axes, and training tools.
About Ontario Knife Company at Keep Shooting
Keep Shooting is an authorized Ontario Knife Company dealer carrying 15+ products across the Ontario catalog: OKC machetes (Heavy Duty, Field, and the US Military patterns Ontario manufactures for the DoD), the full RAT folding-knife lineup (Model 1, Model 2, and the RAT IA Assisted in both plain and black blades), tactical fixed blades including the RAT 3 Skinner and the M11 EOD Knife, the OKC Camp Plus Hatchet, the Spec Plus SP16 SPAX rescue ax, and specialty pieces like the Freedom Fighter training knife, the Jericho hanger, and the ASEK strap-cutter multi-tool. Ontario is the living link to 135+ years of American cutlery manufacturing and one of the longest-running US military blade contractors in continuous operation.
Ontario Knife Company was founded in 1889 in Naples, New York by William B. Ensworth, Charles Albert Brace, and William Maudsley — three founders who built the company around a straightforward premise: American edged-tool manufacturing done to a DoD-compatible standard. The company relocated shortly thereafter to Franklinville, New York, in Cattaraugus County, the Upstate NY cutlery corridor that also produced Case, Queen, and Cattaraugus Cutlery through the late 19th and 20th centuries. Ontario has manufactured in Franklinville continuously for more than thirteen decades — the company remained in business through the Panic of 1893, both World Wars, the Great Depression, the Korean War, Vietnam, the mid-century collapse of American cutlery manufacturing, and the 1980s-90s flight of domestic blade production to Asian contract factories that gutted most of Ontario's historical regional competitors. The company is one of the few large-scale American knife manufacturers producing at volume on US soil today.
Ontario's identity is defined by US military contracts. The company has been a continuous Department of Defense supplier across every major American conflict since WWII and produces several current-issue US military blades under active contract. The most prominent is the M9 Bayonet — the standard US bayonet from 1986 onward, issued as the fighting and utility bayonet for the M16/M4 family of rifles and now carried by active- duty US Army, Marine Corps, and allied units worldwide. The M9 design specification combined a fighting knife with a wire-cutter scabbard and a saw-back blade; Ontario has held part of the M9 production contract since 1999 (initially split with LanCay at 12,500 units each, then expanded through subsequent procurements). Every Ontario-made M9 is blade-marked "M-9 / ONTARIO / KNIFE CO / USA" and manufactured to US Government mil-spec. For the historical bayonet category see our Bayonets catalog which covers the full 100-year US bayonet lineage from M1 Garand through M4, M5A1, M7, and the current M9.
The Model 499 US Air Force Survival Knife is Ontario's second-most iconic military-issue pattern. The pilot survival knife was originally designed by Marble Arms Company in the 1950s, then manufactured on contract for the US military by Camillus through the mid-20th century, and is now produced by Ontario under current DoD contract. The 499 is in continuous service with the US Air Force, Army Aviation, Navy, and several allied air forces — every ejection-seat fighter pilot, helicopter crew, and transport aviator in the US military is issued a 499 or equivalent as part of the Aircrew Survival Kit. The knife is a 5-inch sawback blade with false top edge and blood grooves, natural-leather stacked-washer handle, and a leather belt sheath with integrated sharpening stone pouch. The design has been in continuous US military service for more than five decades — one of the longest service lives of any aviator-issue personal kit in American military history.
The OKC 3S USMC Bayonet is the current US Marine Corps bayonet, adopted in 2003 as the replacement for the Korean-era M7 and designed specifically around Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) combatives training. The OKC 3S shares the basic bayonet-lug-compatible form factor with the M9 but is built around different edge geometry, a different handle, and a different scabbard system — it's the Marine Corps' blade, just as the M9 is the Army's. Ontario holds the contract on both. The Model 498 Marine Combat Knife — Ontario's version of the original Ka-Bar fighting/utility knife — completes the Ontario USMC triad. For the Ka-Bar side of the USMC fighting-knife lineage, see our Ka-Bar brand page.
The RAT series — Randall's Adventure & Training — is Ontario's modern tactical-market flagship. The RAT designs originated with Jeff Randall (no relation to Randall Made Knives of Orlando) and Mike Perrin's jungle-survival training school in Peru and Ecuador; Randall licensed the RAT patterns to Ontario in 2002 under a multi-year manufacturing contract that brought the RTAK, TAK-1, and RAT-7 fixed- blades to Ontario production. The RAT fixed blades were subsequently adopted by US military units for jungle and survival-school kit. Randall's Adventure left the Ontario licensing arrangement in 2009 to found ESEE Knives, but Ontario retained the RAT trademark and pattern rights — the Ontario RAT line today is a continuation of the original Randall-designed series under Ontario's ownership. Our catalog carries five RAT folders: the RAT Model 1 (the 3.6-inch-blade flagship in plain and serrated edges), the RAT Model 2 (the 3.0-inch smaller sibling in both stainless and black-coated blade variants), the RAT IA Assisted Knife (assisted-opening mechanism, tan G10 handle), and the RAT 3 Skinner fixed blade for hunting and field-dressing work.
The Spec Plus (SP) Series is Ontario's mil/LE/first-responder tactical line — patterns designed around a Kraton-handled, epoxy-powder-coated 1095 high-carbon steel blade, full-tang construction, and a tactical Cordura sheath. Spec Plus covers everything from the SP-1 Marine Combat Knife through the SP-6 Fighting Knife and into the SP16 SPAX Rescue Ax ($89.76) that Keep Shooting carries — a breaching/extraction tool with a forward- swept blade, a gas-shutoff wrench cutout, and a pry/nail-pulling heel designed for fire department vehicle-extraction and forcible- entry applications. The M11 EOD Knife ($338.56) is the premium piece in our Ontario tactical catalog — the Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialist knife issued to military EOD technicians and civilian bomb-squad operators, built around a non-sparking blade finish and a purpose-designed EOD sheath with cable-cutting and prying capability.
Ontario's machete catalog is where the company's military-contract history is most directly visible in civilian market pricing. The OKC Heavy Duty Machete ($54.68) and the OKC Field Machete ($48.99) are direct-lineage descendants of the 1-million-unit US military machete procurement of WWII; the LC18 US Military Machete ($52.20) is the current-production Ontario- manufactured US military issue pattern that replaced the M-1942 Collins pattern in active service. The US Military Sawback Machete ($48.84) completes the military-heritage machete lineup — the Vietnam-era 18-inch blade with saw-tooth dorsal spine for cutting green bamboo and small-diameter wood. For the full machete selection across regional patterns (bolo, kukri, cutlass, bush), see our Machetes category.
Beyond the tactical and military-pattern catalog, Ontario owns two of the most historically significant American private- label kitchen-cutlery brands: Old Hickory (the carbon- steel, hardwood-handled American kitchen knife line that dates to the late 19th century and remains the go-to budget butcher-knife lineage) and Queen Cutlery (the traditional-pattern folding-knife line with stag, bone, and jigged-handle specialty pieces). These sit in Ontario's kitchen and traditional-pocket-knife catalog rather than the tactical/military lineup we carry, but they're part of the broader Ontario corporate footprint and speak to the company's strategy of consolidating American heritage cutlery brands that would otherwise have followed the rest of the mid-century US knife industry into overseas contract manufacturing.
The remaining Ontario pieces in our catalog are specialty tools. The OKC Camp Plus Hatchet ($79.69) is a 13-inch camp axe designed around the same Kraton- handle, powder-coated 1095 blade philosophy as the Spec Plus line — the correct tool for wood-splitting, shelter construction, and the heavy-cutting work that a machete is not designed for. For the full category see our Axes & Tomahawks catalog. The Freedom Fighter 6 Training Knife ($9.95) is a blunt-blade polymer trainer for force-on-force knife-defense practice — the correct tool for MCMAP, Krav Maga, and edged-weapons defensive tactics courses that need a realistic knife form factor without live-blade risk. The Ontario Jericho Hanger ($10.47) is a sheath-carry retention attachment, and the ASEK Strap Cutter Multi Tool ($43.69) is the Aircrew Survival Egress Knife strap- cutter companion issued alongside the ASEK primary survival blade for pilot kits.
Ontario fits inside the broader Knives & Tools category — which also includes our Fixed Blade Knives catalog (the correct category for the M11 EOD, RAT 3 Skinner, and Spec Plus fixed-blade pieces) and Folding Knives (for the RAT 1, RAT 2, and RAT IA Assisted folders). Ontario's blade quality sits in a specific pricing tier: above the commodity imports that dominate big-box retail, below the artisan-custom tier, and at a price-to- pedigree ratio that's hard to match anywhere else in the American knife market. The company ships its current-year M9 bayonets and 499 pilot survival knives directly from the same Franklinville production line that has been producing for the DoD for more than eighty years.
Keep Shooting ships all Ontario Knife Company products from our Pennsylvania warehouse with free shipping on orders over $49.95 and hassle-free returns. Bladed-tool orders ship in accordance with destination-state mail order regulations. Whether you're an active- duty service member replacing issued kit, an aviator stocking a personal 499 for flight kit, a first responder buying a SP16 SPAX rescue ax for station use, a tactical buyer picking up RAT folders for EDC, or a knife enthusiast building a US-military-heritage collection (M9, 499, OKC 3S, 498), every Ontario Knife Company product in our catalog is authentic factory production from the Franklinville, NY line — the same line producing current-issue kit for the US Department of Defense.
Frequently Asked Questions — Ontario Knife Company
Yes, we maintain inventory of the most popular Ontario Knife Company products. Each product listing shows real-time stock status. If an item is temporarily out of stock, you can sign up for back-in-stock notifications on the product page.
Yes! All orders over $49.95 qualify for free shipping, including Ontario Knife Company products. Orders typically ship within 1–2 business days.
Keep Shooting offers hassle-free returns on Ontario Knife Company products. If you're not completely satisfied, contact our customer service team for a return authorization. All products must be in original, unused condition.
Yes, Keep Shooting is an authorized Ontario Knife Company dealer. All products are sourced directly and include full manufacturer warranty coverage.