Jeff...

J

JNieporte

Joined
Nov 1, 2004
Messages
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Has anybody ever sent in a RAT (or ESSE) knife that was cut with a cutting torch? I see it in the warranty, and it got me thinking... that has to tempt somebody. I understand this is abuse and intentional destruction of the knife, but has it happened?
 
I'm sure we would have heard about it if it did. Jeff is pretty good about posting all return exploits here, especially if it's something entertaining.
 
We shot one with a 9mm one time and I gave the broken pieces to Jeff. (not for warranty, of course) This was in the old days, though. Prior to Rowen. It was part of an absolute destructive abuse test. I can't find the write-up right now but it involved trying to burn the micarta off with a lighter, breaking MANY car windows, cutting through car doors, truck tires, chopping concrete blocks, body armor, etc. I'm actually glad that the knife broke because we had some det cord to wrap around it if it survived that test and the shrapnel probably would have killed us all--Remember that, Jeff?

Maybe one day I'll do it again with a Rowen made one. The Ontario one held up surprisingly well so I know that the Rowen one would be killer.
 
I don't know if it has happened, but i know there has been a couple of yahoos threaten to do it just because someone pissed them off...Of coarse Jeff's response was pretty much "ok we will send you a new knife, but you are still an idiot"
 
Expatriated said:
We shot one with a 9mm one time and I gave the broken pieces to Jeff. (not for warranty, of course) This was in the old days, though. Prior to Rowen. It was part of an absolute destructive abuse test. I can't find the write-up right now but it involved trying to burn the micarta off with a lighter, breaking MANY car windows, cutting through car doors, truck tires, chopping concrete blocks, body armor, etc. I'm actually glad that the knife broke because we had some det cord to wrap around it if it survived that test and the shrapnel probably would have killed us all--Remember that, Jeff?

Maybe one day I'll do it again with a Rowen made one. The Ontario one held up surprisingly well so I know that the Rowen one would be killer.
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I would be very interested to see some pics of all these tests:D
 
dinozzo said:
I would be very interested to see some pics of all these tests:D
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I'll try to dig them up. Maybe Jeff still has them. I know we had the knife pieces on display at SHOT that year. It was about 2003 maybe? 2004? Somewhere around that time.

People would come by the booth and ask what the pieces were all about and to make the Ontario people all nervous, I'd say, "Oh, Ontario makes great knives but just don't get them wet, they'll fall apart." Jeff laughed like crazy but Nick thought it was the end of the world.

Come to think of it, I didn't like Ontario even back then. :rolleyes:
 
Expatriated said:
We shot one with a 9mm one time and I gave the broken pieces to Jeff.
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What happened when you shot it w/a 9mm? Do you remember how many rounds were fired and how many pieces did the blade break into? Did it shatter or was it a few pieces? I am curious because I shoot at a steel target and the 8 x 6 x 1/4 inch steel plate holds up well.
 
drew1095hc said:
I don't know if it has happened, but i know there has been a couple of yahoos threaten to do it just because someone pissed them off...Of coarse Jeff's response was pretty much "ok we will send you a new knife, but you are still an idiot"
Click to expand...

ha that's pretty awesome
 
onado2000 said:
What happened when you shot it w/a 9mm? Do you remember how many rounds were fired and how many pieces did the blade break into? Did it shatter or was it a few pieces? I am curious because I shoot at a steel target and the 8 x 6 x 1/4 inch steel plate holds up well.
Click to expand...

The knife was taped to a cardboard target so that it hung vertically. One 115 gr. FMJ 9mm round was fired from 15 yards and hit the knife around the hilt. It broke into 3 pieces. One was the entire blade from the hilt to the point. The rest (tang and handle) broke into 2 pieces. 2 of the pieces went through the cardboard into the berm. The other piece stayed taped to the cardboard. I was able to dig the 2 pieces out of the berm. There was another small chip that I wasn't able to recover because as I was digging for it, my buddies started shooting all around me so I just left it there and hauled ass since they're not good shots. So, basically, the whole knife could be pieced back together.

This knife was similar to the RAT-3 but slightly bigger as I recall. It was a prototype that never went into production (Remember-this was the Ontario days). It had more of a spear point. It did have the glass breaker on the other end and as far as I know, that was the first design to have that.

I don't know what type of heat treatment the steel received, if any. Mike or Jeff could weigh in on that part of it. I remember it wasn't very pretty--no powder coating or anything--but I don't remember what kind of steel. I bet they do, though. I want to say D2, but maybe I'm wrong.
 
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