I have some questions about the OKC Rat-3 in D-2 steel

A

ak74auto

Joined
Jan 28, 2006
Messages
564
I purchased this knife to carry with me overseas and to use as a small field knife when I return. Rat-3's in D-2 were the only type that my local knife dealer had.

First off let me say that I have no intention of getting into a knife fight, I bought this as more of a chore knife to cut / open:

550 cord
Lashings
Prying ammo crates
etc....

I had planned on using this as small field / survival knife when I get home.
I was going to skin game, baton logs, and perform other chores.

I have talked to OKC , and they said that it should be fine to do all of the above, but after reading some older threads on here, I am reluctant to carry
this knife down range. Did I buy a knife that is too brittle to do light prying, and too hard to easily sharpen ?
 
Well D2 is more of a brittle steel that will chip and break if you use it in chores that involve heavier impacts.

You should have picked up an ESEE 3 or at least the OKC RAT 3 with 1095.

1095 is damn good steel
 
mate dont worry about it, I have d2 knives that ive battoned the crap out of and pryed ammo tins, opened cans and generally used hard with no problems at all. alot of custom makers love D2 and Ive come to like it as a steel. If it has a good heat treat and blade geometry you should be fine with a knife that size, kershaw makes a large d2 chopper and I havnt heard of anyone complaining about chips or it being brittle, sharpening it can be hard if you dont have the right gear but if you get some diamond hones your away
 
Well as a guy who deployed i took a RAT 3 in 1095 that i got years ago and it held up great, unfortunatley D2 is hard and wear resistant but not so good for prying.

My Advice is to get an ESEE-4 and just have done with it. Less than 100 bucks and its as solid and useable a feild knife as can be, depending on what kind of RACK you use you may be able to fit it behind a pouch. Also i wasnt a big fan of the plastic sheath the OKC knives came in the 4 comes with a real kydex sheath. The ESEE-4 is just a great knife and can be had shipped for under a 100 (i buy from knivesshipfree.com)


The best part? 100% warrantied for life. You break it they replace it no questions asked, and as supportive as ESEE is of MIL/LEO that same great warranty is the same for civilians too so when you ETS your square.

Wouldnt you rather the people who actually designed the knife get some credit?


Oh and it comes in Desert tan too.
 
razorsdescent said:
Well as a guy who deployed i took a RAT 3 in 1095 that i got years ago and it held up great, unfortunatley D2 is hard and wear resistant but not so good for prying.

My Advice is to get an ESEE-4 and just have done with it. Less than 100 bucks and its as solid and useable a feild knife as can be, depending on what kind of RACK you use you may be able to fit it behind a pouch. Also i wasnt a big fan of the plastic sheath the OKC knives came in the 4 comes with a real kydex sheath. The ESEE-4 is just a great knife and can be had shipped for under a 100 (i buy from knivesshipfree.com)


The best part? 100% warrantied for life. You break it they replace it no questions asked, and as supportive as ESEE is of MIL/LEO that same great warranty is the same for civilians too so when you ETS your square.

Wouldnt you rather the people who actually designed the knife get some credit?


Oh and it comes in Desert tan too.
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i agree for another 100 bucks for an esee 4 you get peace of mind, the knife you have will do the job but if your not 100% confident in its abilities, you will probably end up not using it hard and enjoying it to its full potential, by all means get something else.
 
I think that you'll be just fine with it. I've never had any D2 knives chip at all. As for prying, well, I don't recommend that with any knife. As long as it's not heavy duty work, it should be ok. The blade is only 1/8" thick, so it's definitely not a sharpened pry bar.

For my money, for what you want to do, the Becker BK2 is THE knife to get. :thumbup:

No offense to the ESEE fans, but the OKC RAT's were considered great knives when the RAT guys were still affiliated with them.

I guess that means the HEST knives are junk now too, since ESEE has nothing to do with them anymore?

Sorry, it kind of gets old hearing about the OKC in every other ESEE/RAT post.
 
Do a test before you go.
I suspect that there exists a wide range of users out there. Are you hard on your gear? I would think someone with some common sense can observe the feedback coming from a tool.
Sure, all knives have limits, some are tougher than others. But, under normal conditions that IKC D2 should be fine.
Like I said, test it before you go. If you have worries, get something else.
 
that rat3 in d2 will serve you well i had one and beat the hell out of it. never had a problem and it does hold a good edge, its not that hard to sharpen either. the only okc rat knives that had a problem were a few of the rat7's that had a poor heat treat the 3s are all fine.

take care and dont forget to duck
cricket
 
cramsey3006 said:
No offense to the ESEE fans, but the OKC RAT's were considered great knives when the RAT guys were still affiliated with them.

I guess that means the HEST knives are junk now too, since ESEE has nothing to do with them anymore?

Sorry, it kind of gets old hearing about the OKC in every other ESEE/RAT post.
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I don't quite know what you are getting at, many of the current ESEE owners (myself included) had a OKC RAt at some point. I don't think it takes a brain surgeon to realize that for the money the ESEE are better knives.

Nowhere in my post (or anyone elses that i read) did anyone say that that the OKC's were bad knives, this is about the blade steel and thickness, the thin d2 blade would be for me to brittle for the intended use. I'm just tlaking about what i did when i went downrange, If the guy isnt going to be outside the wire than he can bring a case folder for all i care.

And as for the HEST knives, ill have to see what i think when i get my hands on them, they were MR peltons brain child in the first place, I dont know if they are going to be heat treat by rowen still or if they are coming out of the lionsteel plant, either way ill definatley buy one.

I guess what i'm getting at is that not everyone is a blind fan-boy i just want to see they guy get the right knife for him, because hes going to feel really dumb if hes breaking down a supply palate that a ch-47 dropped in and his knife snaps off. ive broke alot of quality name brand knives simply because i was using them too hard, and ive seen way more get broken down range.
 
pick up a diafold med/fine or an ez-lap medium grit "pocket" diamond stone (I love their 1x6" model) and you won't have any problems touching up the edge on the D2.
either of these will gove you a good "field sharp" edge, though not "hair whittling"
the OKC blades are fine -- I have a TAK1 that's a favorite for camping.
If you really want something handy for light prying, go to a lumberyard or hardware store and pick up one of the ~6" long mini-flat bars. they cost & weigh next to nothing and work great. (I have a Vaughan 5.5" one - they're under $5)
 
razorsdescent said:
I don't quite know what you are getting at, many of the current ESEE owners (myself included) had a OKC RAt at some point. I don't think it takes a brain surgeon to realize that for the money the ESEE are better knives.

Nowhere in my post (or anyone elses that i read) did anyone say that that the OKC's were bad knives, this is about the blade steel and thickness, the thin d2 blade would be for me to brittle for the intended use. I'm just tlaking about what i did when i went downrange, If the guy isnt going to be outside the wire than he can bring a case folder for all i care.

And as for the HEST knives, ill have to see what i think when i get my hands on them, they were MR peltons brain child in the first place, I dont know if they are going to be heat treat by rowen still or if they are coming out of the lionsteel plant, either way ill definatley buy one.

I guess what i'm getting at is that not everyone is a blind fan-boy i just want to see they guy get the right knife for him, because hes going to feel really dumb if hes breaking down a supply palate that a ch-47 dropped in and his knife snaps off. ive broke alot of quality name brand knives simply because i was using them too hard, and ive seen way more get broken down range.
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It wasn't directed at you personally. So don't take it that way. :cool: There are always posts where someone asks about an OKC Rat that seem to get derailed by the loyal ESEE (not that there is anything wrong with ESEE, there isn't at all) fans along the lines of "You should have just bought the ESEE version to begin with" and "OKC sucks since what happened with RAT," and so on. You know what I'm talking about.

No offense meant to you.
 
razorsdescent said:
And as for the HEST knives, ill have to see what i think when i get my hands on them, they were MR peltons brain child in the first place, I dont know if they are going to be heat treat by rowen still or if they are coming out of the lionsteel plant, either way ill definatley buy one.
Click to expand...

FYI the HEST is being made by TOPS now.:thumbup:


The RAT3 should suit you fine, it was and is a very good knife, and there is nothing wrong with D2 as long as it gets a proper heat treat, which that knife should have, so you're g2g
 
First off I wouldn't use a knife to pry with. I just got a RAT 3 in D2 about a month ago. I too was worried about banging it around too much. Since I got it though, I have cut up boxes and straps, whittled, chopped some small tree limbs down and batoned through some small logs to make smaller kindling.

The knife has held up like a champ and I have not seen any edge damage at all. It has held a remarkably good edge and I have not even thought about having to touch it up. I feel very confident with this knife. Unfortunately, I like it so much I am looking at an ESEE. Just what my wallet needed, another brand to fawn over.
 
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