Just ordered a RAT

Stormstaff

Stormstaff

Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
1,918
I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a RC-4 Plain edge w/ Molle sheath from here. From what everyone tells me, I'll love it.

Now I just need to make the time to get in touch with Siguy to arrange to have my JK Kephart and another knife of mine convexed. I'm not going to have the Rat convexed though.

Thanks for all the advice and question answering you folks have given me!!!
 
Good choice. Ther RC4 is a great knife, and Derrick is good people, he will take care of you right.

We need pics when you get it!

Im anxiously waiting for the 15th to get my Desert Tan Izula!!!!
 
j williams said:
Good choice. The RC4 is a great knife, and Derrick is good people, he will take care of you right.

We need pics when you get it!

I'm anxiously waiting for the 15th to get my Desert Tan Izula!!!!
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Am I right when I try to remember that I was told this gentleman was "one of us"? (ie, W&SS member)

I believe tonym pointed me in his direction if I remember correctly.
 
The RC-4 is a great all around knife as is the JK Kephart. Both outstanding blades, I'm glad I have both of these knives in my collection and usually decide one way or the other which one to bring. Right now I'm leaning towards the Kephart more as it is the newer blade and it still has that new knife smell :D

However, the RC-4 is one of these real users for me when I'm just not afraid to work it hard, scratch it up etc. Good choice. Also KSF will get you the knife onto your doorstep in no time. Yes Derrek frequents bladeforums.
 
That's great!! I love making purchases where I can help out "our" (as in our W&SS family) great group of folks.

As for the JK Kephart, it's a beast and I truly love it dearly. I'm not going to baby it, that's for sure because I know John wouldn't want it that way. One thing that does make my JK special to me is the fact that I was able to go to John's house, meet the man & shake the hand of the man that crafted this knife just for me.
 
I'm curious as to why you would convex the other two knives but not the RC-4?

Below is a an RC-4 given a nice convex by Bark River. What with stripping that black crap off it and improving the grind by all accounts it works better now. And that's what I'd expect.

barkerized_rc4_and_eep_sheath___132705141.jpg

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I've never owned a convexed knife. These will be my first. The "other" knife that I want to send is a CRKT Stiff KISS. I figured I'd use this knife to "practice" sharpening a convex on when needed and the Kephart as a real convexed user.

That's not to say that later I won't decide to have the RAT convexed, just not now.

By the way, why are a lot of people "down" on blade coatings? Aren't they there to help protect the blade?
 
baldtaco-II said:
I'm curious as to why you would convex the other two knives but not the RC-4?

Below is a an RC-4 given a nice convex by Bark River. What with stripping that black crap off it and improving the grind by all accounts it works better now. And that's what I'd expect.

barkerized_rc4_and_eep_sheath___132705141.jpg
Click to expand...

By the way, how do you like that sheath? I LOVE the embossed logo on it.
 
That makes some sense.

I don't know why others have a down on it but there's a bunch of reasons I do. True it affords a degree of protection to the blade, but I don't like it because, in no particular order:

1] It looks fungly. Not quite as heinous a crime as slopping paint over a bit of nicely figured maple or something, but along the same lines.

2a] Often marketed as TACTICAL

2b] Relates to 2a, outside a very small band of users for whom that might have some validity, frankly I find it rather childish.

3a] Longevity. It wears off and scuffs up to look even more ugly than it did when it was new.

3b] That is also going to bring back the corrosion thing it was trying to prevent.

4] Not in all cases, but great zot, if that aint an el cheap and nasty route to finishing. In days past if you used a knife steel prone to corrosion you'd finish to a very high finish then polish. And that delays corrosion. So many knives now aren't. They are just roughly finished then buffed. And it is so much easier for a manufacturer just to give them a coat of drain paint. At least one very high dollar factory I can think of lets out knives with hideous tool marks under its drain paint.

5] Suckers will actually pay extra for it if it's in beige. And even better, they pay even more if it looks like it has been spayed through a chicken coup and then been allowed to bleach out through some random degradation in a shop window.

6] Adds resistance

I can probably think of more.
 
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Just to be sure - that knife isn't mine.


The sheath looks great. Very similar to what BRKT has for some of their own blades. Yeah, sticking the logo on was a nice touch too. Still, I think the one you have with the RC-4 looks like a splendid user sheath that I'd probably use most of the time. Leather looks all nice and that on a belt knife but I rarely wear a knife on my belt.
 
Isn't the guy who makes those sheaths the same who makes the BRKT sheaths (could be why they look so similar).

IIRC Bearthedog beat the crap out of the prototype for that sheath in the Amazon and the desert, and it took little to no damage. Sounds like it fits the user definition (of course, that is if you wear the knife on your belt ;) ).
 
definetly going to like it, I've got a RC6 from KGD that kicks some serious butt, awesome knives.
 
Yes, Sharpshooter Sheath Systems makes the leather sheaths. They are tough and with the EEP waterproofing, they don't mildew, rot, etc.

:)
 
I have an RC-3 - nice little knife, superb sheath. It slices much better now that the friction-creating finish has been removed.

Doc
 
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