Mad Dog vs. Ontario

U

Uncle Bill

Joined
Aug 24, 1999
Messages
434
I understand that a few of us might at least conceivably end up in a situation so extreme that a $900 knife would prove 20 times as good as a $45 knife.

Would someone tell me what that situation would look like?
 
This is not to suggest that real-use situations do not exist, but here's the most common situation I imagine:

You have found an online group of knife knuts heavily involved in the personality cult of a particular maker (so much so that they adopt a church-like structure) and you really want to belong. Clearly, an Ontario won't do the job...

-Drew
 
LOL
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(But true I fear)
 
I cannot speak from experience but in theory any situation that involves depending on a knife for survival would make the value of the quality and reliability go up exponentially.

It doesn't matter that you can buy 19 more for the same price if that is the one knife you had and you are dead because it failed you when you needed it.

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AKTI Member No. A000370
 
Hey Drew, can I use this thread to lock you into giving me the knife we are discussing for less than $900
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-Cliff
 
. . . in theory any situation that involves depending on a knife for survival would make the value of the quality and reliability go up exponentially.
Click to expand...

OK but what would those situations be?
 
Uncle Bill, digging holes in the garden, and chopping down trees in the backyard.

Drew, You do know that the whole church thing is tongue in cheek, right? You know, a joke?


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LD
"Every Dog Has His Day"
BFC Member Since October 2, 1998

 
An Alaskan bush pilot's survival knife. Serious back-country hunting guide. Surveyor, geologist or whatever way the heck out in the middle of a tundra. These DO exist.

I bought my ATAKoid (WSP1 variant) for the nastiest survival situation I could ever personally run into: motorcycle crash while on a long ride in the middle of nowhere, having to set up emergency shelter with a broken leg and god knows what else. If I had to pry bits of the bike loose for some reason or chop wood with reduced strength, I could do a lot worse than a Mad Dog...yet that same knife carried on the trip would make an excellent "general sidearm" knife. It's a strong sharp utility knife that can fight, exactly what I wanted.

Jim
 
Cliff,

Uh, yeah, I think ya can count on that
wink.gif


LD,

I think I'm stepping a bit "over the line" in posts regarding Mad Dog. Saying stuff that, as a poster, I have no qualms with... but as another maker, I should probably keep to myself. I've stepped a little heavily on the toes of professional courtesy. I'm not deleting anything because I don't believe in hiding my mistakes, but consider this an apology and the end of my posts on the subject.

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-Corduroy
"Why else would a bear want a pocket?"

Little Bear Knives
Drew Gleason:
adg@student.umass.edu
 
If it makes anybody laugh, it probably has some truth to it; if it makes somebody angry, it probably has more truth to it.

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Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom

 
Why not Mad Dog vs. CS Bushman? $900 vs. $9? Why not Rolex vs. Timex? Why not Ferrari vs. Corvette? Because this is America and I love this country. Salute!
 
I have to agree with Jim, I do not think an Ontario would it the bill for his purposes.

I am not a big MD fan, but there is a big following out there for them and usually there has to be a reason for that following, I.E. a little truth to the hype. When Cliff Busted those two TUSKs, the following, like any group of faithful, reacted in disbelief. Picture aliens coming down from space and saying "Sorry, Torak was playing with the Holographic projector so you can all disregard that busuness about the Burning Bush."

Point being is that we all need to have faith in our tools. If a MadDog is what you put your faith in, then it is better than 100 Busse's or Ontarios. It works for some and not for others. Poking fun at other's beliefs is a mean thing to do. This sort of thing can cause tension among knife lovers when we all really have faith in the same thing. The last thing we need is little "Cutlery Holy Wars".

YeK
 
People who pay 20 times as much for a knife as they could get a cheap one for do not do that because they believe it'll do 20 times the work, believe it or not. They don't always believe it'll function better at all -- for instance, I once chose a cigar lighter that cost twice as much as another one with exactly the same insides only because the outside looked prit-ty. I had that lighter for years and I feel I got my money's worth in pleasure handling it every day. Not that people buy Mad Dog knives for their looks, but pleasure in using a tool comes from other things, too, things like feel and balance etc....

Even if the extra weight and bulk didn't bother him, would Jim March feel as good about having a half dozen Bushmen hanging from his belt as his WSP? The combined edge-holding and toughness of six Bushmen might be equal or greater, and the cost lower, but would he get any pleasure from fondling the Bushmen?

YMMV, and if you'd rather have a half-dozen Bushmen, whether you carry them all at one time or not, why not? Or you could carry one Bushman and a sharpening stone and a prybar, and fondle them whenever the urge hits you ... you might have many hours of pleasure with a Bushman and a sharpening stone before you wear them out....

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Please understand that there ARE lower-cost knives that are also well-balanced fighters and feel pretty dang good in the hand. In fact, some are Ontarios! Not the "black mil-spec-looking" stuff but the new Bagwell collaborations which I've had mucho kind words for already. I haven't handled them yet, but the TOPS stuff looks to be interesting if you can take the "gonzo" looks
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! Sure, it's "only" 1095 steel but the result could be good price-performance for a piece carried mostly for defense and can do some moderate utility too. Try frequent HEAVY utility and the steel quality is going to display it's limitations, although TOPS seems to have focused on Tantos to reinforce the tip. With 1095 that's not a crazy idea.

For the price, you've probably got a damn good specimen of a class of blade I call a "streetfighter". The Outsider is one too - just for starters, the main stabbing tip is WAY too fine for even modest utility use, the extravagent guards would get in the way, etc. Ernie Mayer makes some good light Bowies, plenty of others. But if you're heading way the hell out away from support resources, you can justify something "a bit extra" in terms of tough. The fine tip of an Ernie Mayer fighting Bowie may not cut it but he makes some chunkier pieces too. And Ernie knows grip shapes almost as well as Kevin.

Where Kevin's ATAKs shine is in *combining* tough utility and combat functionality. It's not the fighter that a Black Cloud 4th Gen Bowie is but it's not far off - and a world ahead in strength. It's also at least $100 more for a 7" Dog versus a 7" Black Cloud, and once you hit the 9" class the difference is over $500, out of my price range.

Dogs cost. Some are willing to pay.

Jim
 
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