OKC 499 leather stack section wiggles up and down a bit. This Normal?

R

Roguer

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Jan 5, 2015
Messages
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I got a new OKC 499 because I couldn't find one of them retailer runs with no swedge, Its a nice little knife I got it for well I could and its got a great hilt for thumping and wumping purposes.

One of the leather stacks wiggles slightly up and down a bit. This normal? Do I have to worry about it unraveling at some time when I can't afford it to?
 
Roguer said:
I got a new OKC 499 because I couldn't find one of them retailer runs with no swedge, Its a nice little knife I got it for well I could and its got a great hilt for thumping and wumping purposes.

One of the leather stacks wiggles slightly up and down a bit. This normal? Do I have to worry about it unraveling at some time when I can't afford it to?
Click to expand...

No, I have more than one and it's not normal imo. You might be able to swell the leather up by soaking the handle in some neatsfoot oil but, I would recommend posting this question in the 'Ask Toooj' thread of this forum before you do anything as they probably have more expertise in this area.

Worst case scenario you might have to send it back to them but, as long as this was not caused by gross misuse of the knife, they'll probably fix and / or replace it.
 
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Right now the version of the knife without a fuller is exclusive to Walmart. I'm not aware of a version with "no swedge". I also have several of the "Jet Pilots Survival knives". Most of them are Camillus, some are Ontario, and a few are from other manufactures, all of them are more than 30 years old. I agree with Paul that play in the hilt is the exception and not something I'd expect from a new knife. Still knives that have been users can develop play in the hilt especially if they've been used a lot to hammer things. The knives were designed to get someone thru an emergency and not to be indestructible.
IMHO, I don't think soaking the leather in something like neatsfoot oil will fix the problem. I've seen it tried with many knives and the results have been temporary at best. That and applying large quantities of leather preservative to leather is ultimately destructive to the leather.
These knives are tough and if you can live with a little play in the hilt I don't think you'll find that the knife will one day fall apart from the little bit of play.
 
Paul_Atreides said:
No, I have more than one and it's not normal imo. You might be able to swell the leather up by soaking the handle in some neatsfoot oil but, I would recommend posting this question in the 'Ask Toooj' thread of this forum before you do anything as they probably have more expertise in this area.

Worst case scenario you might have to send it back to them but, as long as this was not caused by gross misuse of the knife, they'll probably fix and / or replace it.
Click to expand...

Glad that was handled while I was out of touch. That pretty much covers what I had to say.
 
All,

Due to Roguer's and several other complaints, Ontario has started on ongoing project to review and improve many aspects of the 499 Pilot Survival knife. Action items include: tolerances of mating parts: guard, leather washers, pommel; the processes that manufacture and assemble these parts and repair/rebuild/ replace key manufacturing equipment.
While sac troop is correct: the knife, as is, won't fail, it can be made better. We plan on doing just that. We have made some good strides on product and process quality. We plan on continuing in that direction. Thanks for your loyalty.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
VP of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
Loyalty? Well I did get the Mark 3 diving knife, SPARE Rd6 after giving to many away, another RD TANTO for permanent station in the grab and run bug out bag, spare SP-53 cuz one got "Borrowed" by sis and spare one needed when brother steals it to go work on his shooting lane. Oh and a plain edge Chimera because I could. Note I did go Rogue and get a few strongarms but I got them for light fix blade duty for carry with the SP-51/53 when expeditioning to make sure enough kniives in group with the RDs. If some one goes and gets powerfully puzzled in the wilderhood from my group they are going to have at least one good knife with them.

Hmmm guess I'm Loyal besides practical with OKC making it possible to get great knives at great prices I can get more than enough and have a few spares for when some one looses them...like the tip a canoers.
 
Toooj said:
...Ontario has started on ongoing project to review and improve many aspects of the 499 Pilot Survival knife.
Click to expand...

These have been among my personal favorites for a long time, so this is interesting news. An Ontario PSK is one of my oldest running fixed blades and it's still being used after 20+ years. Please keep us informed along the way if you can, I for one would like to know how you are progressing and perhaps even what the timeline is. I do hope the focus is on "improving" more so than "changing" if you know what I mean.

Thanks
 
BlueSky,

Our intention is to improve both the quality of the knife and the processes that go into building the knife.
If we make some stylistic changes to the knife, that is more of a marketing/sales program.
What this project is about is continuous improvement, kaizen, process capability, etc.
Good thought, so I will post our improvements. To date: we have improved the profile cutters that shape the leather handles, improved the air cylinders on our handle profile machines, rebuilt the air cylinders that press the leather washers onto the blade tang, reviewed the dimensions and tolerances on the guard and pommel slot.

Roguer; like I said, thanks to you and others for your loyalty.

Hope all of this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
VP of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
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Thanks Toooj, I appreciate your response. Must say, the path you're on bodes well for Ontario. :thumbup:
 
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