My damn RTAK broke!

M

MidwestDave

Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
679
I thought they were designed for batoning, but I guess I was wrong.
She broke in sort of an S shape ending at the rear of the serrations.
WTF?
Was I wrong to baton with this thing or not?
How is Ontario in dealing with this sort of thing?
I also have a RAT 7 and a RAT 5. Can I rely on these or banish them to kitchen duty?


Thanks,
Dave
 
Sometimes it happens. I have seen some Ontario machetes (same steel) snap in half chopping a pine sapling, but mine have survived oak. I wouldn't worry as much about the shorter blade RATs. Contact Ontario and see if they will make it good.
 
Good luck with Ontario. I'm sorry to hear it broke.

Got any pics of the break? Morbid curiousity...

What were you batoning? Did you have any flex in the blade as you were batoning?
 
Here is a pic of my rat -7 that broke while I was battoning a 3" or so round of mullberry at camp site.

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Mine was made out of d-2. I had it just a week when it broke. I chatted with Mike Perrin from the rat team and he got me a new one only this one I asked if it could be in the 1095. Well when it came in I took that knife out and beat the crap out of it and I still have it but it sits in my collection since I started making my own knives. It is a good thing that the rat team left the ontario company and went with a different knife making company. I will not buy from ontario again ever.
 
Wow... I'm surprised. For around the same money you can get a Busse Scrapyard knife which carries a lifetime warranty. They are tough as nails.
 
WOW. I never saw a break like that. Serious defect. Out in the middle of know where and have to rely on that. I don't think so.
 
This kind of thing happens, especially with production knives that are produces in the the 10's of thousands. Stand up companies offer warranties and others do not. Contact Ontario and see if they will make good. If they don't then you have the right to complain. If you haven't contacted them and given them their due - then this post is premature IMO.....
 
Somewhere I read an article on batoning and the forces involved - as it pertains to the blade snapping. There are some geometric considerations that affect the force applied to the blade. I can;t remember all of it, or where I saw it, but I remember it making complete sense. I don;t think there's a blade made that can;t be snapped if batoned in just the "right" way.

I hope Ontario takes care of you!

Wow! I just scrolled up to see the pictures that finished loading. The article I was referring to concerned blade breakage perpendicular to the spine, but yours is like a giant chip!

Hmm.... You know....... I'm thinking that with a little creative grinding and dedicating honing and stropping............
 
kgd said:
This kind of thing happens, especially with production knives that are produces in the the 10's of thousands. Stand up companies offer warranties and others do not. Contact Ontario and see if they will make good. If they don't then you have the right to complain. If you haven't contacted them and given them their due - then this post is premature IMO.....
Click to expand...
My opinion is that reports of product failure are all grist for the information mill. Maybe someone wants a knife that is highly unikely to break 'cause he plans on being miles from the nearest USPS/UPS and would need the knife in one piece. This data point may mean something to such a person.

I don't see any generalizations in the OP, just facts and questions about the knowledge/experience of others.

How Ontario reacts may give them a net gain with the members who read this thread - or not.
 
Thomas Linton said:
My opinion is that reports of product failure are all grist for the information mill. Maybe someone wants a knife that is highly unikely to break 'cause he plans on being miles from the nearest USPS/UPS and would need the knife in one piece. This data point may mean something to such a person.

I don't see any generalizations in the OP, just facts and questions about the knowledge/experience of others.

How Ontario reacts may give them a net gain with the members who read this thread - or not.
Click to expand...

True enough - but please re-read the OP. It was not an objective piece of datum. It was an emotional response to something that could have happened to anyone. I sympathize with the poster. I would be rather disappointed with a knife that failed on me as well. There have been several reports of knife failures. Sometimes the manufactures have responded favorably and honourably. I wouldn't use wonderful acronyms like "WTF" in reporting such an event. I would express my disappointment and state the facts. Perhaps Ontario will do the honorable thing.

Consider how well Koster responded to a public complaint that was well worded and respectful. The person in question was taken care of, the maker's reputation was preserved.
 
tonym said:
When did you buy the knife and What were you batoning?
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Bought it about a year ago although it had been sitting unused til recently.
I was batoning a pie slice shaped piece of seasoned hardwood that had previously been split with a maul.
 
cmdr249 said:
Good luck with Ontario. I'm sorry to hear it broke.

Got any pics of the break? Morbid curiousity...

What were you batoning? Did you have any flex in the blade as you were batoning?
Click to expand...

I`ll take pics after the sun comes up.
No flex in the blade at all.
It was only the third time I had batoned with it.
 
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