Ontario 498 Modified Combat Knife 818

My Girlfriend gave me this cool Marine Corp style blade, made by Ontario (same period as Case, Camillus, & KaBar)....Long Name
Yes , the lack of the blood groove, makes and allows for a Much better grind repro file. Of the Leather Handled Hunting knives taken out of hardware stores in WWII, and put in troops hands, the Marines & other branches, use a similar Hunting Sabre Ground blade. We mainly think of the Infamous KaBar, Camillus, Case & Ontario....probably others
Note, my Girlfriend got me this version, all of them I've googled have a sharpened clip "swedge" & Blood Groove. Maybe someone can shed some light on that. I know the other Ontario's I've saw have them. This one doesn't.. Gonna see how the leather holds up, and if the Narrow tang allows it to pass my "Hard Use Knife Tests"!
(Really Like the feel of this blade)
1. No Blood groove on the his one, allowing you to raise that sabre grind to a high flat...
Note; yes , I missed it. Thanks Ontario for making one easily nodded. I raised the grind, but was impressed with their grind, not a short thick one, but it already had a Use Me look. Of course , I took the fish off, sandpaper, steel wool...raised and thinned the grind which is awesome. Most KaBar, Marine Corp type knives, are a stabber, thus saber grind. If they had made the blade a 1/2" taller, they could have had a usable grind, OR, get rid of the Blood Groove!
Not only did I raise & thin the grind a little, I put a Killer secondary convex on it. That 1095 sounded good on them whet rocks
2. No sharpened Clip or swedge, (con's, keeps u from being able to push your blade, debarking larger wood, making square to rounds, more steel removed, plus loss of prying strength and extra weight for choosing....oh know, this doesn't sound BushCraftY
3.Full 3/16" from guard to tip! No clip lines, grooves, plain simple & a hell of a shocker, to get to test one , made for usefulness.
4. Longer Handle!!!! A cheers for us who have wide palms.About 4 5/8" I hate grabbing a knife with 7" blade, and its ruined by a 5" to make it an even foot. Add a 6" recurved handle, for a long back grip, and turn a 7" straight blade knife into an unreal Chopper. (Getting a head of myself!)

I will post pics of it are mod, but I haven't found any Ontario's without the sharpened clip and blood groove???

Anyway, my Mods
1. Repro filed (raised and thinned sabre line, will soon be a High Flat,Promise!)and swapped to a secondary Convex instead of secondary V grind
2. Put several coatings of boiled linseed oil on the Leather to see how that helps it good up in the swamps. I've used epoxys and resins, and just oils, but want to try this and see how well it works. This will be a test I add as I go

It's secondary Convex is sharp! I like the look, (may blue my blade), holding edge good. Chops very good for its size, cuts paper, fizzy sticks, and neat real well. Very Bitey! There sheaths are good and tight too.
Give me a few months, it'll be broken in from use, custom sheath, if it survives the Hard Use Teat!

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Ontario 498 Modified Combat Knife 818