How Good are the United Rambo Knives?

[Doug C]

Here's another,the Buckmaster 184.Steel is 425 modified.
There's even a website for them.

Doug

 

[x39]

What's an M-60?
.

A light machine gun of the type Rambo used in the film "First Blood". In response to the original question, remember the old bit of wisdom: "You can't polish a turd."

 

[FEDKNIFELOVER]

A light machine gun of the type Rambo used in the film "First Blood". In response to the original question, remember the old bit of wisdom: "You can't polish a turd." [/QUOTE]


Yes, but even a turd stops smelling after awhile and can be used as fertilizer. ...or something like that.

Anyway, I think the basic premise of this thread is missed. Why would Chris Reeve or Buck (they stopped the Buckmaster a awhile back), or any of the other hollow handle knife makers even try to make hollow handle knives? The answer is because of the popularity of the Rambo design. If you don't believe me, just do a rambo knife search on ebay. At any given time, you see people buying these knives like crazy. Most know the knives can't be any good at $50, but they buy them anyway. Sometimes, a good design beats common sense.

As a final note, call Randall Made Knives in Orlando, FL (my hometown) and ask them how the Model 18 is selling. They will tell you that it is selling stronger than ever. There's something about being able to hide something in a knife handle that just gets people excited.

 

[Gossman Knives]

Ah yes the power of Hollywood and the movies. Same thing happened with the S&W model 29 44 mag and Dirty Harry. Alot of people bought model 29's and didn't even shoot them. They had to have it because Dirty Harry had one. It was also done in the movie The Hunted with the WSK. Get a product in a major film and you can make alot of money.
Scott

 

[bishop85gt]

Ain't that the truth. To be honest as a kid I loved the Rambo knives. Had to have one but never did. Now I know better so when I see a UNITED stamp on anything I just run!! To be honest I have stopped buying anything that isn't a custom fixed blade anyway. Guess I got the sickness.....

 

[fulloflead]

Just FYI, the original poster isn't ignoring me. He emailed me and turned the knife down. If anyone else wants this thing...



.

 

[Brian Jones]

Fulloflead:

Grab a camcorder and vieotape yourself stabbing the knife into tree, blade horizontal to the ground,, then yanking the handle off the blade in an attempt to do a pullup. It'll be the perfect answer for these kinds of questions! (Not making fun of the question, just that a picture is worth a thousand words...)

 

[fulloflead]

Fulloflead:

Grab a camcorder and vieotape yourself stabbing the knife into tree, blade horizontal to the ground,, then yanking the handle off the blade in an attempt to do a pullup. It'll be the perfect answer for these kinds of questions! (Not making fun of the question, just that a picture is worth a thousand words...)

He-he. If I wanted a video of myself on the internet.

That reminds me, I'm making a home-video zombie movie for Halloween. This would make a great prop!

.

 

[BadKarma05]

Fulloflead:

Grab a camcorder and vieotape yourself stabbing the knife into tree, blade horizontal to the ground,, then yanking the handle off the blade in an attempt to do a pullup. It'll be the perfect answer for these kinds of questions! (Not making fun of the question, just that a picture is worth a thousand words...)

i second this idea! ill pass on the Rambo knife, send it to those kids who love to make movies of them hurting themselves, im sure they could find a "good"use of it

 

[[digidude]]

i second this idea! ill pass on the Rambo knife, send it to those kids who love to make movies of them hurting themselves, im sure they could find a "good"use of it

Give it to a mall ninja.

 

[Pahtoocara]

One more thing, if I may ask. Does anybody know the purpose of the sawback spine, other than to get snagged on everything?

If anyone has ever tried to saw with a Rambo knife, you will notice THEY DON'T.:thumbdn:

It's that simple. A hacksaw will cut quicker through a 2X4 than the Rambo knife. A saw needs kerf to cut efficiently. United Rambo knives do not have kerf.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Grab a camcorder and vieotape yourself stabbing the knife into tree, blade horizontal to the ground,, then yanking the handle off the blade in an attempt to do a pullup. It'll be the perfect answer for these kinds of questions!

Yet when Skammer comments that he wants prying ability in a survival knife the idea get derided savagely by many people including Jones, who then immediately suggests the exact same criteria to be used to judge a survival knife and it is then perfectly acceptable.

Where are all the people who defend light carving and cutting as the true test of a survival knife. I have used that knife and other UC blades, they will all handle that class of work fine, just refile the edge to a more acute angle, they just fall short for heavy prying, batoning, and chopping into knots.

The "Barefoot bushman" carries one such blade (huge and full of speed holes even) and the natives he visits often use similar "fantasy" large stainless blades. I wonder if they pick them up in trade or do they actually pick them over simple carbon steel patterns.

-Cliff

 

[Thomas Linton]

Sometimes, a good design beats common sense.

All too true, but in this case it's an image beating common sense. The design is terrible. As noted above, the handle is weakly attached. The "saw" back is not good for wood OR aircraft aluminum. (My son saved his $.01's and bought me one for Father's Day many years ago. I thanked him -- and kept it as an example of what Scouts should not buy.)

In addition to the Reeve design, Ken Warner designed a hollow-handled knife for Hackmann that had a very stout attachment - a 1/2" diameter threaded short tang with the thick-walled handle secured to the tang by a massive nut.
They have not been made in decades and seem to be a "collector's" item.


I note with regret that this thread has been directed towards personal conflict by a totally unnecessary dredging up of past disagreements. This is especially unfortunate because there is no fundamental disagreement on the proposition that this knife is not a good value.

To me, if a knife is marketed as a massive, rugged, warrior's weapon, it ought to be just that -- not something that, once modified, substitutes somewhat for a Mora.

 

[Brian Jones]

Yet when Skammer comments that he wants prying ability in a survival knife the idea get derided savagely by many people including Jones, who then immediately suggests the exact same criteria to be used to judge a survival knife and it is then perfectly acceptable.
-Cliff

Cliff, first off, stop behaving like such a prissy, petty little whiner. I'll explain it to your one-track mind: I was actually lampooning the "Rambo" mentality.

Unfortunately, a literalist "scientist" like you has no capacity to understand the ambiguities of humor or the random dynamics of life in general, and so your titties get in a wringer. Also unfortunately for you, real survival situations encompass ambiguity and random dynamics to extremes. I worry about you if you ever went out in a real situation. If you can't measure or quantify a statement or situation, you obviously can't grasp it.

You have also entirely missed the whole point of the discussion about knife-toughness and prying ability. It had nothing to do with the knives: it was ALL about skill of the user. Period. Your myopia strikes again. You can't see past the steel in this game -- the myopia of a "materials tester." That argument was never about materials. I have stated repeatedly that I'd prefer a strong fixed-blade for survival if I had a choice. Any knife is a luxury in an emergency survival situation. Learn to survive with whatever tools you have available: knowledge and applied skill come first in that toolbox. I hate to say this on a knife forum, but you don't even need a knife to survive in 9 out of 10 survival situations.

Anyone who teaches people how to survive with only a strong, stout, prying blade is shortchanging the student if they don't also teach survival without a knife or with a small knife. It may actually handicap a person, making them believe that if all they have is a small stockman folder, or no knife, they will die. And so, they give up and die. You create dependency in a student that way, not independence. You may end up taking the will to survive right out of the student. It's the antithesis of real survival -- which is self-reliance.

It gets dumbed down into a field of study called "Knife-reliance" rather than "Self-reliance." Get it yet?

Secondly, you can start calling me Mr. Jones if you are going to use my last name in a derisive fashion. You act up with me, and you'll get banned so fast it will make your head spin. One of the rules of bladeforums for banning: disrespect to moderators. Pipe down or get the hell out of this forum. This is the only time I'll say it, and it's not up for discussion.

 

[Codger_64]

A movie prop is just that. A prop. It doesn't have to function in the real world, only visually compliment the action hero's masculinity (or femininity as the case may be). As a replica of a movie prop, those knives perform their function well. They look like what you saw on the screen, and would go well with your Stallone poster collection on the wall. United found a niche for themselves in having replicas of movie prop knives and other weapons made cheaply overseas. Believe it or not, there are even groups who enjoy play-acting with such replicas. Are they serious knives? No. Are they made with serious knife guys in mind? Hardly. Like the Chinese Taylor Schrades I have reviewed, in the real world they would make good tent stakes. But people will always be found who buy the fantasy along with the knife.

Codger

Edited to add: The best way to teach wilderness survival is to teach a student to survive with nothing more than his clothes, and what he can find or make in his environment. A student that can do this finds that given anything more in a real world situation makes him feel empowered with possibilities. Praise be the Johnny who finds himself in a situation and happens to have his 150#BOB or PSK with him. Pity him if he does not know how to go naked into the wilderness and not only survive, but thrive. Anything you own can be lost or taken. Except knowledge.

 

[jamesraykenney]

I had been collecting fighting knives for quite a few years before the first Rambo movie came out. The design looked stupid at first sight. It is hard to beat a basic bowie knife as long as the guard doesn't get too big. You want a high grind for cutting efficiency and at most a sharpened clip point. Everything else is just something to get tangled up in. You don't want saw teeth to snag on things and you want a simple handle and a modest guard. For fighting or survival I love a bowie. Elaborate stuff added to United designs always seemed childish and naive.

The one design that has tempted me is their reproduction of Sting from Lord of the Rings. It is pretty true to the concept, it just needs a better steel for the blade. If you can't get a glow in the dark mithril alloy I'd like one made from 5160.

I was really disappointed too, when I saw the reproduction of 'Sting'. The worse thing(even more than the steel) was that the inlays on the grip were just PAINTED on... Yuck... That is just such a GREAT design for a short sword(or long sword, if you are a Hobbit), that it is really sad that they gave it such #$%^ execution...

 

[FEDKNIFELOVER]

Gentlemen, let's explore my original question when I started this thread.

"How good are the United Rambo knives and how much better could they be if little fixes could be made to them?"

I know the design of these knives is unrealistic. I personally have used a friends Rambo knife (Rambo III, Hibben) and beaten the hell out of it. Believe it or not, it held up pretty well. The handle material was cracked, but the knife survived being used as a hatchet on a 4" sappling. Suffice it to say, the sappling lost that argument and made great firewood for a boy scout troop. It sharpened up fairly easy and went back to work on carving stakes for a makeshift tent. Unfortunately, it did not hold an edge well and had to be resharpened repeatedly, but it worked. Would I take it on a survival trip or put it in my survival kit, "HELL NO", but would I take it to a bladesmith and have him copy the design in D2, "HELL YEAH." Look past the fact that United made it and look at it as a design icon, worthy of respect for a design which still inspires people to collect survival knives (the ones made specifically for the survival task) today.

 

[Codger_64]

Gentlemen, let's explore my original question when I started this thread.

"How good are the United Rambo knives and how much better could they be if little fixes could be made to them?"

I know the design of these knives is unrealistic............Would I take it on a survival trip or put it in my survival kit, "HELL NO", but would I take it to a bladesmith and have him copy the design in D2, "HELL YEAH." Look past the fact that United made it and look at it as a design icon, worthy of respect for a design which still inspires people to collect survival knives (the ones made specifically for the survival task) today.

As I said, "But people will always be found who buy the fantasy along with the knife." They are poor designs, though I guess you could say they did spark a fad of fantasy survival knives. Why a person would go to the trouble to have one copied in a good material is beyond me, but then I am not a collector of movie props or fantasy knives. Real survival knives, designed specifically for the purpose have been made before and since those movies came out, but they don't have the glamor of the fantasy knives. IMHO, little fixes to make them into real specific purpose survival knives would entail a whole other design. And those exist already. Beyond the Rambo fantasy, a survival knife is one of any genre which aids a person in survival.

Codger

 

[clt46910]

Any knife that gets you though a survival situation is a good survival knife. Rather it be a top of the line name brand or a cheap knock-off. I spend a lot of time in the woods both stateside and overseas. You use what you have and learn to make do. Top of the line knives by well known designers are not always available. In fact most of the time they are only available to those that least have a need for them. Not the low paid working grunt in the field. So they learn the value of a good knife that does the job and not worry so much as to who designed or endorsed it. I won't go so far as to say we have a few "Knife Snobs" in here, but some of the replys are looking pretty close to that.

I sell knives, a lot of knives. The poor designed, cheap steel, fantasy knives out sell the high end knives by a very large margin. I am talking like a hundred to one. These are people that, like us, enjoy knives. They like to talk about, play with, and collect knives just as we do. While they may not have the income or inclination to collect the higher dollar items, they are none the less a part of our group of interest. We should not knock their desire to make a favorite more useable or better. After all most of them think we are nuts to spend the kind of money we do on a work of art knife we may never use. To each their own.

To the orginal question. I say try and make it better. If that means going to a custom maker to get what you want, I would do that. Just because it was for a movie does not mean you can't make it work. You just may learn something for later of come up with something that works for you.

I once spent a lot of money on a old Honda SL 350 to try and race against kids with two strokers. Everyone said I was nuts, but I learned a lot I would not have learned if I had listened to all the Pro racers in the field. I will forever have the name of that "crazy older guy with all the ideas" to a lot of racers. A name I wear with pride.

 

[Thomas Linton]

Any knife that gets you though a survival situation is a good survival knife. Rather it be a top of the line name brand or a cheap knock-off.

But some knives are better than others. You may get by with a "cheap" knife, but that is hardly the way to minimize risk and maximize the odds for survival. I respectfully suggest that better advice would be to get the "best" knife that you CAN afford, whatever "best" is for you. (This assumes that "best" is not measured in faux jewels.)

I spend a lot of time in the woods both stateside and overseas. You use what you have and learn to make do. Top of the line knives by well known designers are not always available. In fact most of the time they are only available to those that least have a need for them. Not the low paid working grunt in the field.

Point taken. Because the original poster did not ask for advice on brands, the suggestions just turned out slanted towards expensive production knives (Reeve, Randall, Tops), but Buck was mentioned. Ask for a good knife at a reasonable price and other brands will be mentioned. Not United - poor value.

So they learn the value of a good knife that does the job and not worry so much as to who designed or endorsed it.

Valid observation about design -- to a point. Those with a reputation for excellent design got that rep for a reason. As for endorsement, the tool still has to fit your hand, your needs, and your budget. A well-designed, well-endorsed knife may be poorly executed, out of your budget, or just feel "wrong" in your hand.

I won't go so far as to say we have a few "Knife Snobs" in here, but some of the replys are looking pretty close to that.

Sure there are "knife snobs" here. So what? IMO, comments about the well-known poor value represented by United are not an example of knife snobbery, just good advice. If you ask for advice, it's poor form to complain if you get it.

I sell knives, a lot of knives. The poor designed, cheap steel, fantasy knives out sell the high end knives by a very large margin. I am talking like a hundred to one.

Proving what about functionability or value, please? No one said "common sense" is, in fact, common.

These are people that, like us, enjoy knives. They like to talk about, play with, and collect knives just as we do. While they may not have the income or inclination to collect the higher dollar items, they are none the less a part of our group of interest. We should not knock their desire to make a favorite more useable or better. After all most of them think we are nuts to spend the kind of money we do on a work of art knife we may never use. To each their own.

As to the last, absolutely. Different strokes for different folks. Suit yourself. That doesn't change the consensus that customizing a knife with a poor blade is good money after bad. Again, if you ask for opinions, you get 'em.