EXTREMA RATIO Col Moschin Guarantee

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Dec 7, 2013
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Hi everybody))

My name is Mikhael I'm in the military and I used a lot of knives in my lives, good and bad knife :cool:. Today I intend to become a costumer of Busse Company besause it seems to me that they're the best on the market when it comes to military use (only my opinion). Here I would like to talk about Extrema Ratio's knife... Sadly not for the best... For two years now I've been a costumer of that company but I've had some bad experience. I used my knife for my work and I've had two Col Moschin combat knives. First I want to say that in terms of design they are great, they indeed are great combat knives :).

BUT one year ago the point of my knife broke :(. (During an operation in the moutains at 1800m by -25°C cutting wood (hard condition) i know)

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For the use I've of the knive and because I use it a LOT i thought it was normal and I just reshaped it.

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And it broke again,

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and again... this time very badly :mad:.

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This was enough, I sent the knife to Extrema Ratio in Italy (50€ from my pocket). They examined it and they concluded that nothing was wrong with their knife so they would not send me another one nor repair it. But they told me that if I wanted to they could sell me another one for 190€. It is a lot of money but I liked their knife so I accepted... :o
I received my brand knew knife and I was the happiest man on Earth ! :D

One month later during a training in mountainous terrain my knife fell on the ground from aproximatively 1,50m and it broke in half, litteraly.

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They told me the same thing as prevouisly and they proposed me the same thing...:thumbdn: Are you kidding me ? :eek: I've spent more than 600€ with that company and let's just say that I will not be buying anything anymore from them. I want to warn anybody who want to buy from them. They say "Being EXTREMA RATIO positive about the high quality of its products, guarantees a quick replacement of products (upon stock availability) in case of: - production fault preventing item from functionality or - break caused by production fault or inner fault in materials used." . Well it just mean that they will not replace you knife if it brake ;).
 
For that kind of money, you could have bought a Busse(kin) or ESEE. No questions asked warranty-you break it, they replace it.

That said, very cold temperatures can make any knife steel brittle, and could cause it to break under hard use.
IIRC simple carbon steel should be less affected by this, but there are people on here that know a lot more about steel than me.

And IMHO, American knife companies usually have better customer service when compared to their European counterpart.

EDIT: Just read that you want to buy a Busse- from what I've read you cannot go wrong with them, neither with their knives nor with their customer service.
I've become an ESEE fanboy lately. Great fit and finish, best stock sheaths I ever had and arguably the best heat treat for 1095. Mike Perrin and Jeff Randall are good people too.

You could look into DPX knives as well, the owner has a little not-so-pleasant history with this forum, but their customer service did treat me VERY good when I had a problem with one of their knives.
 
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I agree with the above poster. Busse Team Gemini Light Brigade is similar to the knife you had, but it won't break and if it does Busse has absolutely the best customer service. Esee is awesome as well. Can't go wrong with either, but I am partial to Busse. Infi is some GREAT stuff. Good luck to you.
 
I love their folders but would look elsewhere for a dependable fixed blade.
 
Is it just me, or does that broken point (the steel) look like it has a large grain structure?

My guess is bad heat treat, but others are more qualified to answer for certain.

I'd ask (forum member) mete.
 
The grain in that steel does not look very uniform or fine as n690 should be. It looks like their heat treating quality might he taking a nose dive.
 
First time i see a Col Moschin broken....
All the italian collector have one, but not many use it...is a fighter, not the best kamp knife, but our incursori della marina (best italian corp, very similar of Navy Seals) recive one when finish training.
 
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I find it very hard to believe that a knife can break in half by dropping it 1.5m. If its true then there knives must be terrible and there service even worse!! I messed up the edge on my Fehrman EJ and Eric replaced it with no issues!!
 
I have come to the conclusion that ER are just overpriced poser special ops knives with ridiculous price tags, poor customer service and faulty designs.
 
I have come to the conclusion that ER are just overpriced poser special ops knives with ridiculous price tags, poor customer service and faulty designs.

Agree...Go with ESEE, i used my 4 during winter survival, down to -16 Celsius, no more damage than small dints and chips caused by frozen wood. Rowen does a good job on that heat treatment.
 
Rowen does an AWESOME job, best 1095 IMHO.
And ESEE isn't a huge Corporation - you can speak to the owners personally and they WILL take care of you if you have a problem. They stand behind their product 100%, same goes for Ethan Becker and Jerry Busse, read through their forums, there are plenty of examples.
 
First time I saw Extrema Ratio knives and had the chance to hold them.... I was totally put off by their Price tags and overall designs. Only the smaller folders still appeal to me. However, after Reading that they do not stand behind their products at all... I will not be buying any of their knives any time soon (just not to say NEVER). This is, by far, the worst propaganda they can get. Someone in the military (their knives are supposed to be aimed to armed forces, that's clearly stated by Extrema Ratio) and they screw up a true customer in the worst posible way.

I suggest you follow the recommendations given and go with a Busse-kin knive... or, if you lack the required funds (they are kind of expensive, no matter how you look at them), with an ESSE.

Mikel
 
First of all, thank you everybody for your answers and your tips. I gladly accept any critic related to the use of the knife :02.47-tranquillity: . I am sorry I was not able to answer this post sooner I was not home. I agree that it is a combat knife and not a survival one and I agree that the first ColM that I used had a pretty rough life... But I honestly don't understand how the second one broke (after a little bit more than a month and a very easy life in comparison to the first one) and for the price I think that costumers deserves a good customer service... In the military or not...

BUT ! Don't take me wrong, it is a superb knife. It will never break if you only use it on soft target, just hope that it doesn't hit a bone too hard... ( kidding :peaceful: )

As I told before I decided to change the company from which I buy my knives and I decided to buy an "ESEE-6" model double plain edge. I will try to put some pictures of it but I can't say when.

Again, thank you for your answers.
 
For what it's worth to you:--- Busse's INFI steel is considerably more rust-resistant than ESEE's 1095 steel.
 
Companies who exchange broken knives with no questions asked are not the norm but exceptions.

Theres no way to conclude that ER is a crap company that puts out crap products without a detailed description of the conditions and circumstances that broke the knife. But the fact, that the OP broke the same knife 3 times tells something about his use of knives.

As for ER producing poser spec-ops knives with faulty designs, well, ER is the only knife company i know of that has designed knives in collaboration with AND commisioned by spec op units. Their knives are issued to many Italian military units as opposed to other manufactureres who boast about their knives having a NSN number and being "used" by operators. ER has even designed knives for the military, that are not available for the general public and are only issued to professionals. I dont think they could have pulled that off for so many years, if their products were crap. That gives them some credit in my world.

I wholeheartedly agree with the ridicilous price-tag part though, and at the pricepoint there are options out there, that are just a good. Personally, i do not own and will never own one of their fixed blades. I dont dig the designs and they are too expensive for me. I own one of the folders though, a BF2, that was reasonably priced compared to other knives in that size range.

As for spending 600 EUR at ER, id agree that you deserve better customer service. The positive publicity they would have received by such a act, far outweighs the price of a single knife. Instead, now they got a thread with a broken Col Moschin thatll pop up everytime one does a search for that knife. Someone at ER customer service needs a face slap :rolleyes:

Mikhael, i think a Busse or ESEE would you serve you well, but bear in mind, that no knife is unbreakable. That being said, those companies would exchange your knife, no questions asked. Let us now what you think of your new knife.
 
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I got an infraction on a comment I've made here back in 2007, they are not to be trusted, thank you for the review.
 
Ok. I'm italian. I live near ER factory. I want to be honest. I never buyed an ER product. I don't like steel and geometry they generally use. I believe the prices, don't match with the quality.
N690Co is not a good choice not even as inox. There are tons of better steel, inox or carbon.
I don't like the handle too. But that's should be different from person to person.
In my opinion, you can have, in your country, much better knives, for military and camp uses. I would choose FIRST a carbon steel or a semi inox (from 1090 to INFI). Then i'd go for Becker, Ontario or Busse if you choose the right ones.
The knife that you broke, is a military knife. That's to me, is not a real use. I mean...who use the knives to defend himself in a battle? are you serious? come on. We all use GUNS. You never approched enemies in a cqc. It's the real last thing that should happen...
But you will use your knives in all the "camp" situation. In the worst scenario, well you can still fight with it.
So, you better choose a different blade geometry. A first.
Anyway the blade broke 'cause of a bad ht. Said this, they ha ve the worstest marketing office ever, if they don't send you another NEW knife. That's it.
If they don't, is just another stain on theri OWN flag. I'm sad about that. But...what to say, more?...
 
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