Camp Tramp Vs Ranger Rd7

ivan51

ivan51

Joined
Dec 9, 2003
Messages
3,129
im looking for a camper/survival typ knife and was wondering what you guys thought was a better choise? I really like the CT but im not sure i want to spend around $265 for one. The RD7 is around $80 but i dont know if it will preform as well as the CT does. If anybody can help me out on this would be great! Thanks.
 
The CT will not take as good of an edge as the rd7 will if I remember right. I think they will be about the same strength although the CT maybe a lil stronger and tougher because of its heat treat. The CT has a more comfortable handle. Yes I`ve handled both of them. I think the CT is a lil less corrosion resistant too. I`d say go with the swamp rat because of the resale value and quality. It is one nice knife. The one I held at the gun and knife was atleast. My friend has a rd6. No I havent handled the rd7 but theyre basically the same knife except for an inch of blade length. I hear you cant get a razor edge on the swamp rat and the one I handled didnt have a razor edge. Theres a reason though, this knife aint made for slicing. I hear you can get a razor edge on a ranger though its made for chopping also so I prolly wouldnt put a hair popping edge on it. I say get the swamp rat. But theres some hogz round here that will tell you to get this thing called a busse. Just ignore them.
 
hey thanks krytonite, good info! so would you have a hard time skining animals and fish with a CT if it doesent take a keen edge?
 
Not to be discouraging, but I imagine neither one of them are going to be skinner/filet knives.

For what the SR costs, you could get the RD and a Bark River Woodsman or Fox River and have a chopper and a knife more suitable for game dressing.

Don't get me wrong, I like SR knives. Cant wait to get my first one, but for field dressing, I go to my smaller, more manageable knives.
Of course it depends on how big of a fish you're cleaning too :p
 
I think the howling rat would make a much better skinning knife, and you could order 3 of them and it would be less than 265, if you're willing to wait, but if you want a good chopper you can pick up an RD7 in a week or less and put in an order for a ratweiler and it would still be around the 260 =/- range and you'd have two great knives!!
 
those are really good points, rupestris and beefangusbeef. thanks for the info, gives me more to think about.
 
you could wait a few weeks and wait for the new line to come out and order a camp tramp for a lot less too and see whatelse swamp rat has to offer.
Im not saying Ranger knives are bad, because theyre not, but id get a swamp rat before i would get a ranger.
 
i think ill wait for the new line to come out instead of paying close to $300 for a CAMP TRAMP, lol. thanks for the info
 
for a camp type whacker with a small price tag, IMHO you can't beat the Becker BK-1 Brute for $76.00
 
kryptonite said:
The CT will not take as good of an edge as the rd7 will if I remember right. I think they will be about the same strength although the CT maybe a lil stronger and tougher because of its heat treat. The CT has a more comfortable handle. Yes I`ve handled both of them. I think the CT is a lil less corrosion resistant too. I`d say go with the swamp rat because of the resale value and quality. It is one nice knife. The one I held at the gun and knife was atleast. My friend has a rd6. No I havent handled the rd7 but theyre basically the same knife except for an inch of blade length. I hear you cant get a razor edge on the swamp rat and the one I handled didnt have a razor edge. Theres a reason though, this knife aint made for slicing. I hear you can get a razor edge on a ranger though its made for chopping also so I prolly wouldnt put a hair popping edge on it. I say get the swamp rat. But theres some hogz round here that will tell you to get this thing called a busse. Just ignore them.
Click to expand...

From my experience, CT can take on a very sharp edge and keep it that way for quite a while. All my rats came shaving sharp and the edge on tramp is thinner than on my RD7. I've used both knives extensively for chopping and CT proved to be slightly better at it due to geometry and radius of the blade. (Keep in mind that CT is lighter) Also, the rubber handle was much more ergonomic than the squared micarta scales of the ranger. Also, RD7 was almost unsafe to use due to very short front guard, my hand could easily slip onto the cutting edge which wouldn't be a nice scene. I still thing the Ranger is a good knife, especially for the money and Justin is a top notch guy to deal with but the RD line needs few minor changes.
 
wow thats good to know! would hate to slip up on the knife while choping or cutting something.sounds like to me the CT is the way to go.just on the spendy side right now to get one.folks are selling them for about $100-$150 more then what they got them for.
 
Yeah, you most likely wont want to skin a fish with that thing. I didnt know you could get a razor edge on the CT. From what I hear you cant, but hey, you never know what people can do. Yeah, very true on the rd7 handle, it aint too comfortable. Go with the CT unless youre on a budget.
 
kryptonite said:
Yeah, you most likely wont want to skin a fish with that thing. I didnt know you could get a razor edge on the CT. From what I hear you cant, but hey, you never know what people can do. Yeah, very true on the rd7 handle, it aint too comfortable. Go with the CT unless youre on a budget.
Click to expand...

I owned an RD9 and it was a bombproof blade; Justin is also great to deal with. Heavy chopping with the RD9 was facilitated by the use of gloves.

I can't comment regarding the CT specifically, but the RW has basically the same blade. If you are comfortable with reprofiling, you can easily get a razor edge on the RW or RD series. (Actually, the RW didn't require reprofiling...only sharpening.) I kept 'em stropped with leather and one could easily shave with 'em. Wouldn't really want to... :eek:... But you could! :thumbup:
 
I Emailed swamp rat to see if the TRAMP was still available the other day and this was the reply:>> The Camp Tramp has been discontinued. Please watch the Rat Chat forum on our website for information on the new line coming soon

Sincerely
Swamp Rat
 
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