Looking for a general utilty knife

K

kryptonite

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
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The purposes it will serve is light prying, chopping, and maybe some trail clearing. I`m looking at a Ranger RD6, Swamp Rat bandicoot,howling rat, or camp tramp. The reason for going for those is the price and I heard they were just as tough as busses with alower price. I know the RD6 has a convex edge but what does swamp rat have? What edge is the easiest to sharpen?

Thank you all
 
With the Bandicoot's size and balance it is not much of a chopper.

The rats have a convex edge.

--SAK
 
"...light prying, chopping, and maybe some trail clearing."

Maybe a Camillus/Becker BK-9 Combat Bowie, or a Cold Steel Trailmaster Bowie?
 
A vote for the BK-9 or 7. Affordable and tough blades.
A Rat for your purposes maybe the Camp Trap. The v-grinds are easy to sharpen. A convex edge is only slightly harder, depending upon experience, if you'd like to keep the convex edge. A convex edge sharpened as if it's a v-grind will eventually become a v-grind edge.
 
Stropping a convex edge will maintain it pretty well, until you do some heavy chopping with it.

The Swamp Rats have an absolutely incredible handle. The Resiprene is soft, but very durable, and absorb a tremendous amount of shock. You probably don't need as much shock absorption as they're capable of. :)

I've got a Becker 7 and I like it a lot, not that it's gotten much use. The handle is excellent for big hands. Here's what else it's good for: SASS ( Stoskopf Advanced Survival System ).

If I knew about Ranger Knives when I got my Becker, I'd probably have gotten one of them instead.
 
I`m leaning more towards the RD6. Does anyone have any experience with this knife? Or any tips on sharpening a convex edge?
 
The Bandicoot is a great knife. It is as tough a knife for its size as you are likely to need.

I am gradually thinning the edge down a little on mine to up its cutting performance.
 
I like the BK-9 and BK-7 for what you want. Beside being goog knives, they are very cost-effective as well.
 
Go Swamp Rat !!
You Won't Regret !!

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that S-1 is for sale btw ;)
 
A Bk9 makes a nice "in-expensive" alternative! A knifeware kampr makes a great general knife, but not for prying.
 
I have a few Rats and RD's. I would have to say for the money I would go with the RD6. It's got enough heft to be a good chopper and with a full flat grind makes a decent enough slicer. I do like my Swamprats better, but the Ranger's are a very close second and almost just as tough. You would have to do something idiotic to damage either of these blades to the point you couldn't use it anymore. Don't rule out an RD7 (my personal favorite RD) it would make a little better chopper and isn't much bigger than the 6. These knives also come with a very versatile sheath. Justin Gingrich is a great guy to do business with and his products carry an excellent warranty. Not that you'll ever need it ;) . He's helped me out a number of times and only charged me shipping one way.
 
I`m really looking hard at the howling Rat and RD6, really hard. Once I make up my mind(though it wont matter because I`ll end up with both eventually) I`ll get it. I thought about getting a BK 7 at one point, it doesn`t interest me anymore because I heard Swamp Rats were so much tougher though I probaly wouldn`t be able to abuse either in normal use. Somehow they still just don`t interest me.
 
Go with the Howler, they are great. And if you choke back to a three finger grip, you can get enough snap to chop through smaller branches. Believe me, I was doing it about three hours ago. The Rat is always a joy to use.
 
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