Ontario 499 pilot?

H

hotfuzz

Joined
Oct 13, 2009
Messages
56
im thinking about getting an ontario 499 for a kind of general multi purpose camp knife. any thoughts on this knife or suggestions for alternatives?

thanks
 
I would try this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK1umZxS4nE

Google and youtube get quite a bit of results

I liked the look of it, but to be honest the sheath kinda made it hard for me to carry round. Check around some of the dealers sites here and I am sure you can find some others that can be comparable.
 
I didn't like the handle. It was too small around and the hexagon pommel dug into my hand. The top guard has to go. The saw teeth on the spine I could go without. I'm rehandling mine and modding the profile a bit. It's a back burner project.

I've been pleased with the small straight blades from Himalayan Imports. The Kumar Karda and R-10 are great general use blades.

Frank
 
anyone know how it compares to the short kabar? im likin the leather wrapped style and those just happen to be the ones i could think of. know any others within similar price range?
 
Time proven survival knife. I don't have pics anymore, but I flatened the saw back, chopped the top guard, and convexed it. Light-years better.

I think the short Kabar is too small myself. I'd take the Ontario before it. I've used mine a lot , and it's done everything really well. Without the saw,it takes batonning well. Good old school knife for the money.

Like said a lot around here, Get an Esee. My 4's are my favorite,do-it-all blade. You will not be dissapointed.If you want something bigger, Get an Esee 6.
 
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I used to have a Camillus version of the 499 knife years ago. Really nice knife but was a tad heavy givin it's size. The blade I remember wasn't very sharp out of the box and I had it professionally sharpened. The saw teeth were to thick to really be much use. Also the guard was a tad loose on mine too. Personally I thought the leather handle was fine for the most part. The leather was a tade rough at first but time and use took care of that. Still it was built like a tank and survived a great bit of abuse before I gave it to a friend who still has it. Again a great knife especially for arond $30 or so.
 
sounds great. the only thing thats making me hesitate about this knife is that i really like to be able to choke up on the blade. i know that cutting off the top guard is the solution, but if the extent of my metal cutting ability is a hacksaw and the metal file on my leatherman, how should i go about cutting off that guard?
 
A hacksaw will work just fine but I'd suggest going down to your local hardware store and getting a metal file for $2. That will make your job a lot easier and save your leatherman file for when you really need it. They are pretty cool knives. I have an old Camillus made one that I found tucked away in a corner at a garage sale that was covered in rust and junk. I bought it for a quarter and then went home and took a wire wheel brush to it. It actually cleaned up very well but the guard is a little bit loose. I have it around as just kind of a display/conversation piece. If I were to buy a knife in that price range that I would actually use out in the woods I would definately buy something else though. Theres not a ton of other good knives in that price range but for just a tad more you could get yourself a Benchmade Rant, or SRK.They are very good knives for the money.
 
thanks nevermind35 i ended up going for the cs SRK, ive been looking at those for a while and its awsome. guess ill have to save the pilot survival for next time!!!
 
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