Well, a few of you can remember the predicament I was having deciding between the A-1 by Fallkniven, RC-6, and Bark River's Big Sky Camp Knife. I think the world of all of these knives, but money being what it is, and not growing on trees, I had to decide on one. What it came down to for me was a few basics. While I have heard of the toughness of the A-1 blade, I am very suspicious of the handle. I dont like the rubber handles in the past, and doubt they are much different than CS's. The Big Sky is a monster knife. And someday I may own one. But that knife really is too big to carry even though BRKT does a tremendous job on their blades and have one of the most comfortable handles I have touched.
Grinds. I was stuck here to be honest. I am still torn on convex edges vs flat grinds. While I have tried to sharpen via convex, I really havent had tremendous sucess with it. With that in mind, I tend to shy away from using a knife that I am not prepared to sharpen if it gets just a little dull. That in itself is a challange that I need to overcome but when a knife costs over a $150, I tend to procrastinate sharpening it. That leads me to my next point. steels. I love 1095 for it's ease of sharpening and am completely comforable with any rust that might happen. The only reason that the VG-10 appeals to me is for the laminating and toughness of it. BRKT's steel is superb as well, so all three of these blades really was about even in my book.
Price wise, the RC-6 wins hands down. Also the warranty is the same on the BRKT, but I am more comfortable with RAT's due to I am familiar here on BF and have seen first hand the way RAT handles their customers. I doubt very highly that I would ever need that service due to the RC-6's stoutness, but if I did, I know what the outcome would be and I wouldnt have to wait a week to get the issue resolved.
So I ordered and the package came in the mail today with my final decision:
Thanks Derrick and Wendy at Knives Ship Free. Excellent service and super fast shipping!
A few thoughts about this knife. First, it is MUCH bigger than I thought it was going to be. It fills your hand and balances around the first finger. Finish was superb. Fantastic job Mike, Jeff, and Shon on the design and manufactoring of this knife and sheath. It is thicker than I thought too, but it really doesnt feel heavy. Quite the opposite in fact. The jimping and choil are perfectly placed for my hand and the micarta is very grippy. About the only handle I like better is my Bravo-1. But the RC-6 is a very close second.
The molded sheath has a very secure traction. If I lose this knife, it wont be from it falling out of the sheath! I like the color too to be honest. Nice neutral earth tone brown. About the only thing I am concerned with is if the sheath falls onto something hard like concrete (like if it was strapped to my pack and set down hard). I havent heard anyone complaining about breaking theirs so I assume that the plastic is very tough.
Next, I broke out some of my other knives to compare them to the RC-6. About the 3 closest knives I have are the SRK (Carbon V), Knives of Alaska Camp Knife, and the BK-7. To be honest, the RC-6 felt better than any of them. And I really love the way my BK-7 feels. While the 7 feels handle heavy, the 6 balances even and feels like the blade is a better chopper due to this fact.
Well enough talk. Gonna try and use this fine steel this weekend.
Hope I didnt bore you to tears and help you formulate your own decision about the quality of the RC-6 if you have never had one in hand.
Grinds. I was stuck here to be honest. I am still torn on convex edges vs flat grinds. While I have tried to sharpen via convex, I really havent had tremendous sucess with it. With that in mind, I tend to shy away from using a knife that I am not prepared to sharpen if it gets just a little dull. That in itself is a challange that I need to overcome but when a knife costs over a $150, I tend to procrastinate sharpening it. That leads me to my next point. steels. I love 1095 for it's ease of sharpening and am completely comforable with any rust that might happen. The only reason that the VG-10 appeals to me is for the laminating and toughness of it. BRKT's steel is superb as well, so all three of these blades really was about even in my book.
Price wise, the RC-6 wins hands down. Also the warranty is the same on the BRKT, but I am more comfortable with RAT's due to I am familiar here on BF and have seen first hand the way RAT handles their customers. I doubt very highly that I would ever need that service due to the RC-6's stoutness, but if I did, I know what the outcome would be and I wouldnt have to wait a week to get the issue resolved.
So I ordered and the package came in the mail today with my final decision:
Thanks Derrick and Wendy at Knives Ship Free. Excellent service and super fast shipping!
A few thoughts about this knife. First, it is MUCH bigger than I thought it was going to be. It fills your hand and balances around the first finger. Finish was superb. Fantastic job Mike, Jeff, and Shon on the design and manufactoring of this knife and sheath. It is thicker than I thought too, but it really doesnt feel heavy. Quite the opposite in fact. The jimping and choil are perfectly placed for my hand and the micarta is very grippy. About the only handle I like better is my Bravo-1. But the RC-6 is a very close second.
The molded sheath has a very secure traction. If I lose this knife, it wont be from it falling out of the sheath! I like the color too to be honest. Nice neutral earth tone brown. About the only thing I am concerned with is if the sheath falls onto something hard like concrete (like if it was strapped to my pack and set down hard). I havent heard anyone complaining about breaking theirs so I assume that the plastic is very tough.
Next, I broke out some of my other knives to compare them to the RC-6. About the 3 closest knives I have are the SRK (Carbon V), Knives of Alaska Camp Knife, and the BK-7. To be honest, the RC-6 felt better than any of them. And I really love the way my BK-7 feels. While the 7 feels handle heavy, the 6 balances even and feels like the blade is a better chopper due to this fact.
Well enough talk. Gonna try and use this fine steel this weekend.
Hope I didnt bore you to tears and help you formulate your own decision about the quality of the RC-6 if you have never had one in hand.
