- Joined
- Jul 16, 2009
- Messages
- 739
Having owned these three knives, and seeing a ton of questions about which to get, I thought I'd break down my experiences for everyone. This is a comparison, so I will rank the knives in each category based on were they place against the other two.
I don't have pictures, but if you are considering these three knives, I assume you know what they look like.
BUILD QUALITY
I've found that build quality of the Skyline and the Tenacious to be superior and the Ontario to trail here. The skyline was made in the USA, the Tenacious in China, and the RAT 1 in Taiwan. On all three knives, the blade was centered nicely, the scales fit properly, and none have any immediately noticable major flaws.
One of my qualms with the RAT 1 in this category is that the clip is wobbly. You can move it back and forth side to side 2 or 3 degrees with relative ease, even when tightened down. The clip still functions as it should, but this is an annoyance that I don't notice on the other two knives. Also, my bigger of the two issues I take is blade play right out of the box. The RAT 1 has noticable blade play, but tightening the pivot to take up this slop makes the knife far more difficult to open. Neither of the other two knives had blade play that was noticable.
The verdict:
1) Spyderco Tenacious = Kershaw Skyline
2) Ontario RAT 1
STEEL
The Skyline has Sandvik 14C28N, the Tenacious has 8CR13MoV, and the RAT 1 has AUS8. In my experience, the 14C28N on the Skyline treats me the best. They are all equally easy to sharpen for me, but the 8CR13MoV tends to have edge holding problems(chips and loses the edge quickly). The AUS 8 isn't amazing in this category either. All three steels are workable and none are entirely deficient, but I give the slight nod to the Skyline.
The verdict:
1) Kershaw Skyline
2) Spyderco Tenacious = Ontario RAT 1
WEIGHT
On weight, this is very simple. The Skyline is the smallest and lightest, with the Tenacious being in the middle, followed by the RAT 1. The Skyline disappears in your pocket, which is not the case with the other two.
The verdict:
1)Kershaw Skyline
2)Spyderco Tenacious
3)Ontario RAT 1
ROBUSTNESS/DURABILITY
This is the category where the Skyline suffers. The Tenacious and RAT 1 are both burly knives. They both have a pair of full sized thick liners and both can take a serious beating. The skyline is a bit more delicate and not what I'd consider a hard use knife, whereas the other two could serve in this role and hold their own. As far as materials, I consider the Tenacious and Ontario equivalent, but because of the build quality shortcomings of the RAT 1 that could affect durability, I give the nod to the Tenacious here.
The verdict:
1)Spyderco Tenacious
2) Ontario RAT 1
3) Kershaw Skyline
ERGONOMICS
I found the ergos on all three knives to be about equal. All three were comfortable and I can't really say anything bad about any one of them. There is a lot of personal preference here in this category as well.
The verdict:
1) Skyline = RAT 1 = Tenacious
LOCKING MECHANISM
I find that the lockup on all three knives is sufficient for any tasks and uses I had for my knives. I haven't done any real testing here, and all worked, so as far as I'm concerned, for regular use, the locking mechanism on each knife is sufficient.
The verdict:
1)Tenacious = Skyline = RAT 1
BLADE DEPLOYMENT
I find the hole in the blade of the Tenacious to be easiest to use. My thumb finds the hole quickly and precisely every time, without requiring a major grip change. The action is smooth and the blade deploys reliably with the correct amount of required effort.
The skyline uses a flipper as it's primary mechanism here, and it too is easy to use. However, it requires a pretty substantial change in grip which I find to be slower and clumsier than the hole.
Lastly is the RAT 1. The thumbstud is hardest to use, as my thumb slips off. It is also very difficult to "flick" this knife open, if that is your thing. The effort required is substantially higher than the other two, in fact so high that it is burdensome, even with the pivot loose and oil applied(note, I have rather strong hands as well). My RAT 1 is essentially a two handed opener.
The verdict:
1)Tenacious
2)Skyline
3)RAT 1
OVERALL
Overall, I think it depends on what you're using the knife for. If it's light use around the office or the house, the Skyline is the obvious choice because of the build quality, superior steel, light weight, and as a bonus is USA made.
If on the other hand you need a heavier use knife, I'd give the nod to the Tenacious due to the good build quality and easy deployment. The Skyline just won't cut it for this type of use. The RAT 1 is a knife with a lot of potential that is designed for more heavy duty use, but on mine the quality is not confidence inspiring.
The verdict:
Light Use:
1)Skyline
2)Tenacious
3) RAT 1
Heavy Use:
1)Tenacious
2)RAT 1
3)Skyline
Hope that helps.
PS-pretend I didn't make any spelling errors in the title
I don't have pictures, but if you are considering these three knives, I assume you know what they look like.
BUILD QUALITY
I've found that build quality of the Skyline and the Tenacious to be superior and the Ontario to trail here. The skyline was made in the USA, the Tenacious in China, and the RAT 1 in Taiwan. On all three knives, the blade was centered nicely, the scales fit properly, and none have any immediately noticable major flaws.
One of my qualms with the RAT 1 in this category is that the clip is wobbly. You can move it back and forth side to side 2 or 3 degrees with relative ease, even when tightened down. The clip still functions as it should, but this is an annoyance that I don't notice on the other two knives. Also, my bigger of the two issues I take is blade play right out of the box. The RAT 1 has noticable blade play, but tightening the pivot to take up this slop makes the knife far more difficult to open. Neither of the other two knives had blade play that was noticable.
The verdict:
1) Spyderco Tenacious = Kershaw Skyline
2) Ontario RAT 1
STEEL
The Skyline has Sandvik 14C28N, the Tenacious has 8CR13MoV, and the RAT 1 has AUS8. In my experience, the 14C28N on the Skyline treats me the best. They are all equally easy to sharpen for me, but the 8CR13MoV tends to have edge holding problems(chips and loses the edge quickly). The AUS 8 isn't amazing in this category either. All three steels are workable and none are entirely deficient, but I give the slight nod to the Skyline.
The verdict:
1) Kershaw Skyline
2) Spyderco Tenacious = Ontario RAT 1
WEIGHT
On weight, this is very simple. The Skyline is the smallest and lightest, with the Tenacious being in the middle, followed by the RAT 1. The Skyline disappears in your pocket, which is not the case with the other two.
The verdict:
1)Kershaw Skyline
2)Spyderco Tenacious
3)Ontario RAT 1
ROBUSTNESS/DURABILITY
This is the category where the Skyline suffers. The Tenacious and RAT 1 are both burly knives. They both have a pair of full sized thick liners and both can take a serious beating. The skyline is a bit more delicate and not what I'd consider a hard use knife, whereas the other two could serve in this role and hold their own. As far as materials, I consider the Tenacious and Ontario equivalent, but because of the build quality shortcomings of the RAT 1 that could affect durability, I give the nod to the Tenacious here.
The verdict:
1)Spyderco Tenacious
2) Ontario RAT 1
3) Kershaw Skyline
ERGONOMICS
I found the ergos on all three knives to be about equal. All three were comfortable and I can't really say anything bad about any one of them. There is a lot of personal preference here in this category as well.
The verdict:
1) Skyline = RAT 1 = Tenacious
LOCKING MECHANISM
I find that the lockup on all three knives is sufficient for any tasks and uses I had for my knives. I haven't done any real testing here, and all worked, so as far as I'm concerned, for regular use, the locking mechanism on each knife is sufficient.
The verdict:
1)Tenacious = Skyline = RAT 1
BLADE DEPLOYMENT
I find the hole in the blade of the Tenacious to be easiest to use. My thumb finds the hole quickly and precisely every time, without requiring a major grip change. The action is smooth and the blade deploys reliably with the correct amount of required effort.
The skyline uses a flipper as it's primary mechanism here, and it too is easy to use. However, it requires a pretty substantial change in grip which I find to be slower and clumsier than the hole.
Lastly is the RAT 1. The thumbstud is hardest to use, as my thumb slips off. It is also very difficult to "flick" this knife open, if that is your thing. The effort required is substantially higher than the other two, in fact so high that it is burdensome, even with the pivot loose and oil applied(note, I have rather strong hands as well). My RAT 1 is essentially a two handed opener.
The verdict:
1)Tenacious
2)Skyline
3)RAT 1
OVERALL
Overall, I think it depends on what you're using the knife for. If it's light use around the office or the house, the Skyline is the obvious choice because of the build quality, superior steel, light weight, and as a bonus is USA made.
If on the other hand you need a heavier use knife, I'd give the nod to the Tenacious due to the good build quality and easy deployment. The Skyline just won't cut it for this type of use. The RAT 1 is a knife with a lot of potential that is designed for more heavy duty use, but on mine the quality is not confidence inspiring.
The verdict:
Light Use:
1)Skyline
2)Tenacious
3) RAT 1
Heavy Use:
1)Tenacious
2)RAT 1
3)Skyline
Hope that helps.
PS-pretend I didn't make any spelling errors in the title
