First Swamp Rat

Lobo103

Lobo103

Joined
Jul 14, 2003
Messages
645
My new Camp Tramp arrived today and I have to say I am VERY impressed with this knife. It is very seldom that I order a Knife sight unseen and get exactly what I expect and or wanted. Just from taking it out of the box and handling it this knife lives up to my expectiations in heft, balance, fit and finishe, the whole nine yards! Unfortunately I'm visiting my girlfriend in the city (somethings a Knife just can't provide ;) ) so I haven't had a chance to really work it out yet, when I do though I'll post some further thoughts. :)
 
i remember when i ordered my camp tramp. also my first swamp rat purchase. i was a bit leary but as soon as i got my hands on it i was hooked. that knife will do everything you ask of it and then some. Lobo is right though becareful there will be a pack of rats before you know it, i already have my rat trap on the way and i cant wait for its arrival.
 
How good is the blade coating? From photos, it looks like it's almost caked on, especially the black version. And I saw a photo where a small piece of coating had flaked off from the tip.
 
The black coating on my Ratweiler is very tough, and the tan coating is supposed to be tougher.

The coating comes off eventually, but the rough texture of the coating keeps the blade well protected for a lot of use.

David
 
I'm torn between the Camp Tramp and the Battle Rat. Might end up with both some day. :) So how does the tan look in person? On the site it looked a bit ugly.
 
Mine has already multiplied....I should have a Howling Rat very shortly :) I can't really say much about the blade coating except for the fact that even though it looks "crinkly" and thick in photos....it's very smooth and attractive in person. When I get a chance to text the blade out, I'll post on my further impressions and let you know how the coating holds up.
 
When the Howler arrives don't put them in the same draw: you'll end up with at least half a dozen Rats.
 
Wade, if the tan is anything like the tan on my desert run Natural Outlaw-e then I'd say it looks nicer than the black crinkle by far, almost good enough for me to not pine after having the blade refinished in busse's doublecut bead blast.
 
Lobo - I vaguely recall, perhaps inacurately, reading that the edges on Swamp Rat and Busse knives are being ground a little thinner now.
Could you give me some idea how thick the edge is on your example - maybe comparing it to some other fixed blades you have.
 
Averageguy- The edge bevel itself is pretty thin thanks to the convex grind on this knife. Not having any of my other blades w/ me this weekend I would say it's probably a bit thinner than a CS SRK. I promise I'll post something more comprehensive come monday. My girlfriend apartment isn't exactly rife w/ good test material. :(
 
How long ago did you order your Camp Tramp? Did you get any kind of email confirmation of your order being received, or shipping?
Just curious, since I ordered one recently. Didn't know when to expect it, but maybe I'll luck out and get it soon.
Thanks;)
 
I have a tan CT its a pretty dark tan, i think it looks good enough. i havent beat the crap out of it yet, but i would say that the coating is pretty tough. it will take some wear and tear to take it off. when i got my kydex sheath origionally i ordered one that was made with another CT as the mold, it didnt quite fit my CT and the coating actually was abrasive enough that it acted like sand paper on the kydex and was wearing the kydex off. i cant say about the edge or how thick it is as i dont really have any other fixed blades to compare it with. when i ordered my rat trap i recieved an email to confirm that my order had been made. in the SRKW forums someone said that their email got caught by spam filters you may want to check and see if that happened to your email.
 
Twindog said:
How good is the blade coating? From photos, it looks like it's almost caked on, especially the black version. And I saw a photo where a small piece of coating had flaked off from the tip.
Click to expand...

In my limited experience the black crinkle coating on the Swamp Rats and Busses is tough, for a blade coating. It wears a lot better than the Busse smooth coat or the Becker coating, or any of the phosphate finishes I've used. I spent four hours chopping and splitting green apple limbs, and the only wear to the coating is about 1/4" up from the edge, for about 2" in the sweet spot. The smoothing of the crinkle coat is ony noticeable if you look closely.

When I first got into the knives, after reading repeatedly how tough the Rat coating was, I was disappointed when mere wood chopping was enough to scuff the coating (visible when turned to the right angle under a bright light :rolleyes: ). The coating isn't indestructible, but it takes quite a bit of use to start wearing it away. When it wears, the high spots come off first and the coating smooths out, and then after further use the steel will be exposed.

I've had small chips in the coating on the tips of a couple Busses. Nothing more than a cosmetic imperfection, and I used both the knives, so the problem was academic. :)

Jeremy
 
Owen- I ordered my Rat on the 26 Jan and recieved it 11 Feb...not a bad turn around. I am still waiting for my HR though and that I ordered 15 Feb. I think it's just a matter of what they are making a batch of at the time. I got an e-mail order confirmation but no shipping confirmation. If your credit card gives you up to the minute charges you can find out when it's about to ship when the charge shows up.

My first impressions! While I was in the city over the weekend I used the CT for some food prep tasks. Specifically slicing about 2lbs of chicken, several green peppers and onions. With the factory edge this knife sliced very well, the thick stock cause a little bit of minor resistance in the onions.
I couldn't do as much testing as I wanted when I got home due to some moderate rain, but I did get outside in rain gear and play for a bit. Once you find the right angle the CT cuts cleanly through small sapling and branches. It's a natural chopper and makes short work of thicker 2-3 in saplings. I also used it to cut some shavings off of dry oak...the edge geometry w/ a little practice bites well and produces long curled shavings, much better than the CS SRK that I used for comparison. It also beat out the SRK in slicing long sections of card board...the "toothy" edge helps compensate for the thicker blade. My last test was splitting a wet locust log about 4 inches in diameter. It took a bit of batoning because of the wet and grainy wood but the Rat stood up to the test and blasted right through. The biggest surprise for me is that no scatches or chips were evident in the blade coating...it is just a bit smoother and has a little shine to it. The edge evidenced no dulling or deformation at all and cuts as well as it did out of the box...shaving sharp!
 
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