Initial thoughts on RAT-3.

[sph3ric pyramid]

I received one of these a couple hours ago, first fixed blade I've bought in over a year, I think. 3.5 inches of coated fully flat-ground D2 steel, handle of approx. 4 inches with linen micarta slabs. It comes with a kydex Blade-Tech sheath along with a Tek-lok.

Just my initial thoughts for now, I'm sure there will be more after using it for a while.

The fit and finish on the knife is pretty good overall, nothing obvious that would affect the function of the knife.

The micarta slabs are somewhat uneven, but I doubt that it will affect performance in any way so I'm not worried about it; it's not particularly noticeable upon picking up the knife. The markings are very clear, and the coating is uniform throughout the knife. The traction grooves at the spine of the knife are very well done. The edge shaves hair decently, but the angle moving towards the point is somewhat inconsistent, will be fixed easily with some sandpaper.

After nitpicking about the finish, on to the design itself. I like the design a lot, the grip is fairly versatile and the choil makes for a secure grip upon choking up on the blade. I have above-average sized hands, and the primary grip is a bit cramped; it's too big for a three-fingered grip, but a touch small for four. Placing the index in the choil obviates my complaints though, it's very secure and comfortable, probably a case of having the exact wrong sized hands. The linen micarta slabs allow for more security as well (there's this weird polished section on one of the slabs, though). As for the blade, a flat ground drop point is one of my favorite profiles.

The sheath is very nicely done, and I appreciate the Tek-lok as well. It's a Blade-Tech product, not too much more to be said.

I'll see how the D2 performs over the next few weeks, it should be more than adequate combined with the blade profile. I'll convex the edge after thinning it a bit (better suits my uses).

After all of this though, using the knife is what's going to determine whether I'm keeping it or not. I plan to merrily beat the crap out of the knife until it cries.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I like the blade profile, but prefer full size grips even on small knives, I have ran a bunch with reduced grips and you lose too much versatility. What is the edge profile (thickness/angle)? How does the D2 sharpen, does the edge tend to form crisp or problematic with burrs?

-Cliff

 

[knifetester]

The Rat-3 looks like a solid design. I look forward to hearing more about your uses with the knife.

I will probably pick one up in the near future. Fixed balde knives this size are nice because they can substitute for a folder. They are quite handy.

The Rat-3 reminds me of another knife, the Spyderco Moran. I think a comparison between the RAT-3 and the Moran would be very interesting.

I like Micarta handles better than plastic, but I like a full handle.

Here is a review of the Moran by Chad, reprinted with permission:
I had owned two of the trailing point (FB01) Morans, one a mirror polish convex, the other a flat grind. Both were good knives, but ended up as trade stock. I really liked the superb edge geometery of the knife, but did not like the tip design.
I recently purchased a NIB drop point model of this knife off the forums. For specs see www.spyderco.com.

Here are a few pics:

And a top view:

I replaced the Tek-lok with a Mike Sastre belt g clip to reduce the profile a bit. The Bladetech sheath is well formed and secure.
The knife came with the usual Spyderco edge, hair popping, flinging sharp.
The handle design is compact, but provides a decent level of security and comfort.

I began, as usual, in the kitchen. As a reference I used my small Sebenza, mainly becasue it was in my pocket, but also because it is a high benchmark and I am familiar with its performance.
Slicing some meat (turning a beef tenderloin into medallions) I found the edge of the Spyderco was a bit over polished. I gave it few light strokes on a Spydie 204 (medium stones at 15 degrees) and the edge has a nice, crisp toothy edge.

Cutting onions and carrots the FB02 excelled, it was easily the equal of the Sebenza, which suprised me.

Turning to some utility tasks, I cut up some carpet for my brother to park his motorcycle on (no oil drips on the garage floor). For comparison I used a Camillus Arclite in D2 at 60Rc with a Bodycote Boron Carbide and hardchrome finish. The Arclite has a dual edge (15/20) while the FB02 is running a straight 15 per side. The FB02 has a full flat grind, the Arclite has a flat saber grind

I expected the FB02 to slice the carpet better, but the Arclite really worked well. The recurve design bit deep on slicing, and the really toothy edge of the Arclite made short work of the carpet.


I then turned to some cardboard, just for fun. THe FB02 worked better on pushcuts when cutting of long strips, holding the carboard on its side. The Arclite worked better with the cardboard laying flat, again the recurve really aided the slicing ability.

At this point I noticed that the FB02 was developing quite a few scratches on its VG10 blade from grit in the carpet and cardboard. The BC coated Arclight was unblemished (except for a few finger prints.)

Edge retention was good, the FB02 could no longer shave hair, but had a very useable edge, better than some knives come from the factory (but I won't pick on Benchmade in this review.) the Arclite was still hair scraping sharp.

I then sharpened the FB02 using the 204, with 10 stokes per side on the brown stones, the edge was refreshed to hair popping sharp. The knife easily push shaved arm hair (leaving me the the usual case of monkey arm) and copy paper, which it could fillet and push cut against the grain.
I also used a strop charged with Flitz to polish the edge of a #1 Carbon Mora, which would see some use later.

I turned to some simple wood carving, striping the bark from a sapling I had cut in the spring and thrown in the brush pile. I used the FB02, the Mora and a BM Nimravus.

The Mora was a far better carver. I could shave of translucent pieces of wood or larger slices by varying the contact angle. The high polished edge and single bevel really works great on wood. The FB02 and Nimravus performed about the same. The Spyderco had a finer edge, but the Nimravus handle was more comfortable, especially when moderate pressure is applied.


Just to test the edge durability a bit, I used the FB02 to cut some speaker wire (soft copper 18 Ga IIRC), both the Nimravus and FB02 easily pushcut through, no shiny spots on the edge, no ships, no rolls. That is the perfoemance I expected as I have cut through the same wire with my SAK many times with no sign of damage.

Overall I would rate this knife very highly. It is light weight and could easiliy be carried in place of a folder. It would be ideal for a backpacking blade.

The choil is barely useable for choking up on the blade, either it is too small or my fingers are too fat. If I ever replace the handle with micarta or wood I will use the choil to add length to the tang and have a longer handle. A handle design similar to the Allen Blade MEUK would be ideal.

 

[sph3ric pyramid]

I've unfortunately been unable to use the blade much, mostly random kitchen tasks that needed doing. The stock edge isn't the greatest, it's fairly obtuse, but the taper and full flat grind compensate somewhat for this.

I just finished reprofiling the edge down to around 8-9 degrees a side with a 40 degree included microbevel, so I have no way to measure the stock geometry now. The edge formed crisply, no real trouble with burrs.