Hmmm this probably does not belong here, but...

sloth357

sloth357

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BUT, Ka-Bar knives is about the closest manufacturer as far as quality goes imo as Ontario Knives, and it looks like ESEE is the same company? However that forum is only an archive forum now? meh.

So, I purchased an Ontario Knives RTAK mid 2000s? And used it for minor cutting and mild chopping. Then the past few years I've purchased some higher end choppers and most recently added to my collection moreso.

Chopping away at most woods in my PNW area, my customs are handling great and chopping away. So then the last couple months I decide to bust out the old RTAK and see how it does and if it needs to be re-kindled as a chopper in my rotation.

First go at it, after a couple chops on some doug fir, the edge warps.. so now its a sideways wave pattern in about 2inches of length.. OK.. so I take out several customs and chop the same wood.. No problem.

It's been a month or so and I decide to put the RTAK through some more paces.. tight grained, but again doug fir, I am chopping through about 2inches and then I notice there is a half circle of steel missing about the size of a pencil diameter.. so now in the middle of the blade there is a semi-circle notch about a 1/4in deep.. and the waves are getting worse..

WTF is this RTAK ht'd by an apprentice? what gives? It must be too hard? (as it fully lost steel) but the wavy thing makes me feel it was too soft??

Are these, as a chopper, CRAPPY knives made out of 1095 that was toast? I found more than a few threads in the archive that state the RTAK II is still this worthless.. And that the Junglas is far superior.. Personally I will have to test one myself to see this, but I doubt they are any better than this knife.. And I hope Becker makes a chopper that can stand up to "chopping", otherwise this has been an eyeopener as to why I enjoy and will continue to buy custom made choppers by respected makers..

Let's see, if it's >$100 I don't think I'll waste trying it.. Might as well sell these at WalMart.

Ah, ranting is fun.

Oh, the thing is, these cheapie knives look decent, the handles/ergos are fine.. they just suck for chopping.. I have a feeling more people have issues with these companies then we hear about..

ok, sling mud now.
 
Your RTAK II was made by Ontario Knives for Randall Adventure Training. Several years ago Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin became dissatisfied with the level of quality control and stopped prodution. They then formed RAT Cutlery (acronim for Randall Adventure Training). That company changed names and is now ESEE knives. I own an original RC 6 and it is an excellent chopper that handles heavy chopping and batoning with no problems. The best part about their knives is the warranty- no qeustions asked replacement of your blade if you manage to break it. Period. Wish every one stood behind their products like they do. So if your question was weather or not the blades are worth the money, the answer is yes. In my opinion they are one of the best values around.
 
Well, to answer your question, yes, there are good blades out there that are under $100. And yes, they can handle chopping.

It sounds like your RTAK's HT was messed up something fierce. These issues pop up with production knives every once in a blue moon (quality control is harder when you are mass producing blades like KaBar and Ontario are), but if you let the manufacturer know, they'll replace it. But when I say its uncommon... its pretty darn uncommon. For instance, with the KaBar Heavy Bowie ($50), I've heard of one that has been broken. It was defective, and now the user has a new Heavy Bowie compliments of KaBar :).

For a Budget chopper, try the Becker BK9, or the aforementioned Heavy Bowie. They should hold up just fine :).
 
Hmm, this is just an RTAK, not sure if that matters. But what I am hearing is that, Randall and company moved on and the RAT/ESEE knives are produced with strictly quality assurance?

Does this mean my old knife has no warranty? I am going to find out.
 
When a manufacturer doesn't have a forum here, or more than one company is mentioned in the discussion, General Knife Discussion is the most appropriate place to post about it.

Ontario and Ka-Bar are competitors with similar product lines. Ontario used to manufacturer RAT, which became ESEE, but no longer does. Ontario has its own warrantees on knives it manufactures.
 
It's unusual for one of their products to perform that way... Sounds like that one is a fluke. Can happen with almost any company, especially one that produces so much inventory.
 
IIRC there was an unusually high % of fails with one of the old RTAK runs, something to do with the distal taper. Supposedly they redesigned it.
 
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