New to OKC with a RTAK II!

[mastiffhound]

Well I decided I needed a larger fixed blade and picked up a RTAK II. Reviews were mixed but I figured if I was that unhappy then I'd just send it back. Being made in the USA was a big plus and one of the reasons I considered it. It says "April 2015" for the manufacture date so it's the 5160 version. The sheath fits better than I heard it would. The blade came sharper than what most say, it cut through heat sensitive receipt paper pretty easy. Not as sharp as my CS Talwar or Spydie PM2 but it's pretty close.

The coating is very even and thick, the grind is close to perfect as far as centering (at least what I can tell by my eye), the handle fits very well with no hot spots that I've found so far (prior to heavy use), and any corners on the handle seem rounded pretty well. Overall I'm very happy, as specially with reviews being around 50/50 on the RTAK II concerning fit and finish. Some of those were on the older version so I'm glad I decided to give the RTAK II a chance!

 

[Boris74]

I just got my OKC Falcon this morning and spent the whole day testing it out. The finish is better than most powder coats but I did get down to bare metal in spots. Still held up longer than most.

The Falcon is a perfect sized belt knife. I see it doing 90% or more of all my woods duties. The big chopper lives on the pack but this little thing is a tank and does the fine work perfect too.

I don't know why they aren't more popular either. Price is great AND made in the USA. edge lasted all day long on my 5160. They do this steel right as far as I can tell. As time goes on I believe today's test will only be confirmed over and over as the years pass with it on my side. I love the thick handle on the short fat, thick blade. Don't like flat grinds but I can get over that, it splits wood and still feathers real good. Even made a fishing spear real quick with it today.

Oh, and you need to include a pic, or it never happened.

 

[mastiffhound]

Well I thought it would be worthless to put up pics of a brand new knife. So I took a couple of pics after using II the RTAK to clear some low hanging branches and saplings of my most hated pricker trees that line a path on my property. I worked for maybe an hour and it was still plenty sharp. I couldn't believe the finish was still intact when i got done working. It was easy to use and the balance was right at the edge of the handle scales. I didn't feel tired at all when I was done hacking away. Anyways here's the pics I took when I was done-






I wiped it off and oiled it up after I took the pics so the RTAK II will be ready for next time!

 

[beachmaster]

I really like the RTAK II, and in my knife comparison tests between it and the Sp5, Sp10, Bk9, and a Khukuri, I have been very, very impressed with it.

In fact, I found them on sale and bought two more!

This is a GREAT knife, no doubt.

 

[mastiffhound]

I thumped on her pretty hard for an hour and the RTAK will still pull cut walmart receipt paper. It would push cut before so the edge was dulled slightly but it's still damn sharp for what it was just put through. It took down a 5" diameter pricker tree and took down quite a few in the 2" to 4" range plus a bunch of small branches. I filled up the wagon behind my lawn tractor twice, which is 46" wide inside the posts and 6' long. I only went about 4' high off of the wagons deck. I'm really impressed, so much so I'm already looking at getting another OKC. They aren't my favorite (Spyderco), but if I get a couple more and they do just as well then OKC will be added to my list of brands I'll buy.I'm really surprised at how well the finish help up, I thought for sure it would chip off. It kind of just smoothed out a little.

Made in the USA is very nice, it was one of the reasons I looked at OKC. I don't mind out of country stuff, I have Spydies and Cold Steel stuff from the USA, Japan, and Taiwan with all of my Chinese stuff given to my niece and nephews. Given a choice I'd rather put that money into a US workers pocket as specially if both products are around the same price. OKC is very competitive to other blade makers whose products are made overseas.

I can see myself buying more from OKC. I might have to pick up an SP8, from what I've read it's pretty good at clearing and hacking. I would have got it first but I don't like to go cheap/cheaper when buying from a company for the first time. I wanted to give companies a chance but not kill my wallet in case it was a mistake. I usually do this by buying something mid-range in price. If both the mid-range and bargain work out then I have no problem buying anything that company offers. This practice has worked out for me very well, I have to say that only a couple have turned out bad.

I'm thinking of picking up an SP8 next week to put to the test, so OKC has another chance to impress. I get the feeling that the SP8 will be up for any challenge I have.