- Joined
- Feb 26, 2002
- Messages
- 618
I have owned one Swamp Rat knife before. It's a Battle Rat. I thought it was the greatest knife. I love the Res-C grip. Nothing but nothing is as comfortable. I love rubber type grips. My other all time favourite knives in this style are the Busse Basic 9 and the Fallkniven A1 with similar grip material. The Battle Rat is one super tough knife.
Anyhow, this Battle Rat lives in one of Dwain's Dundee Rigs and this set up is wonderful. Nah, that's an understatement. Dwain's Dundee Rig makes this one of the best knife set-ups imaginable. The Dundee gives it the versatility to ride nicely on a belt or to be worn grip down over my shoulder on my chest so that it hugs my body and is easily accessible (that's my preferred way to carry the knife). If I wanted to go that way I can wear the rig under clothing on my chest and noone can tell this huge knife is there.
The only problem I have ever had was that I stored it in the rig for too long one time and the edge started to rust. I have since realised that new leather still contains some acids that will do that to most knives. The problem was easily solved. I simply store the knife in the Swamp Rat sheath it came with and have had nil problems since. However, because of the rusting I have hungered for a Fusion Battle Mistress for years now and have been patiently waiting - and it must be getting close. I don't believe that in real use the Mistress would be any better than the Rat, in fact the Res-C in my opinion is a better grip material, but that extra rust proofing appealed to me.
But now the Daddy has appeared on the scene. It came at a time when I wasn't visiting the forums and I missed getting one (by the way I am glad to say that I have not made the same mistake with the Crash Rat and have one on pre-order). I have always liked the longer knives for scrub clearing. They just give that extra bit of hand protection and Swamp Rat quality on my Rat was very good. So a Swamp Rat Daddy appealed to me a lot.
I was lucky. A few weeks ago David Brown placed his Daddy for sale on Bladeforums for a very good price considering a sheath came with it, delivery was subsidised, and no extra for using paypal. It arrived yesterday. I don't know whether I want the Mistress anymore. The Daddy is one nice knife. It's looks outdo my poor Battle Rat by a long way. This is one good looking knife. It is the first knife with that other grip material (you know the grip material that other mob use all the time, what's their name, Busker, no Busse - that's it) that I actually like - not as much as the Res-C - but very close. To add icing to the cake, the kydex sheath David made for it is the prettiest kydex sheath ever. How can I describe it - it has flower patterns formed on the kydex. I noticed it on the for sale picture but it looks even better in reality and it fits the knife like a glove. The Daddy sticks like glue into this sheath until I grip the sheath a certain way and squeeze and lo the Daddy is released. I am afraid to say it, but not only do I like it better than my Battle Rat, but I'm not sure I want the Fusion Mistress anymore. The only down side to the Daddy is its weight. It is 6 ounces heavier than the Battle Rat. It feels light in the hand but I suppose that's because most of that extra weight is in the handle. I will be testing it out against my other knives in a few weeks when I take it bush. The only other thing I would have liked to see on the Daddy is the tip that is on the Battle Rat. I think it's called a penetrator tip. But I should be able to put that on myself.
I now know what my perfect knife looks like - it's a Daddy made out of INFI and with a Res-C grip.
Anyhow, this Battle Rat lives in one of Dwain's Dundee Rigs and this set up is wonderful. Nah, that's an understatement. Dwain's Dundee Rig makes this one of the best knife set-ups imaginable. The Dundee gives it the versatility to ride nicely on a belt or to be worn grip down over my shoulder on my chest so that it hugs my body and is easily accessible (that's my preferred way to carry the knife). If I wanted to go that way I can wear the rig under clothing on my chest and noone can tell this huge knife is there.
The only problem I have ever had was that I stored it in the rig for too long one time and the edge started to rust. I have since realised that new leather still contains some acids that will do that to most knives. The problem was easily solved. I simply store the knife in the Swamp Rat sheath it came with and have had nil problems since. However, because of the rusting I have hungered for a Fusion Battle Mistress for years now and have been patiently waiting - and it must be getting close. I don't believe that in real use the Mistress would be any better than the Rat, in fact the Res-C in my opinion is a better grip material, but that extra rust proofing appealed to me.
But now the Daddy has appeared on the scene. It came at a time when I wasn't visiting the forums and I missed getting one (by the way I am glad to say that I have not made the same mistake with the Crash Rat and have one on pre-order). I have always liked the longer knives for scrub clearing. They just give that extra bit of hand protection and Swamp Rat quality on my Rat was very good. So a Swamp Rat Daddy appealed to me a lot.
I was lucky. A few weeks ago David Brown placed his Daddy for sale on Bladeforums for a very good price considering a sheath came with it, delivery was subsidised, and no extra for using paypal. It arrived yesterday. I don't know whether I want the Mistress anymore. The Daddy is one nice knife. It's looks outdo my poor Battle Rat by a long way. This is one good looking knife. It is the first knife with that other grip material (you know the grip material that other mob use all the time, what's their name, Busker, no Busse - that's it) that I actually like - not as much as the Res-C - but very close. To add icing to the cake, the kydex sheath David made for it is the prettiest kydex sheath ever. How can I describe it - it has flower patterns formed on the kydex. I noticed it on the for sale picture but it looks even better in reality and it fits the knife like a glove. The Daddy sticks like glue into this sheath until I grip the sheath a certain way and squeeze and lo the Daddy is released. I am afraid to say it, but not only do I like it better than my Battle Rat, but I'm not sure I want the Fusion Mistress anymore. The only down side to the Daddy is its weight. It is 6 ounces heavier than the Battle Rat. It feels light in the hand but I suppose that's because most of that extra weight is in the handle. I will be testing it out against my other knives in a few weeks when I take it bush. The only other thing I would have liked to see on the Daddy is the tip that is on the Battle Rat. I think it's called a penetrator tip. But I should be able to put that on myself.
I now know what my perfect knife looks like - it's a Daddy made out of INFI and with a Res-C grip.
