Ontario is no ESEE

[RABII]

I did'nt start this thread to bash Ontario, but more to confirm what alot of people have been talking about for awhile now. I was at a local cutlery dealer today, where I usually get my CR knives and others, and picked up one of their Ontario RAT-3's. At first glance (and without my reading glasses on) everything looked fine, nothing glaringly out of whack. I already have an RC-3 so I did'nt really need this piece, but, thought I'd pick it up anyway. After talking to the owner about ESEE for a moment and finding out that they were trying to get the full line of ESEE cutlery through a distributor, I encouraged and lauded his efforts. Finally, I made my way out of the store and into my vehicle where I began to take a closer look at the RAT-3. The moment I put my glasses on I knew something was'nt right. As I looked down the spine of the knife I could immediately see two things. One; the grinds were off to the point that the taper was severely distorted and the blade looked slightly bent. Two; the edge grind was also not even on both sides of the blade where the grind starts just past the handle. As soon as it sunk in that this piece was pretty well screwed-up, I realized why there is so much to be said for the quality that goes into a Rowen produced ESEE. I went back into the store and looked at yet another RAT-3 to determine if this one piece was an isolated quality control issue. The other piece was'nt as bad but still left a lot to be desired. This experience went the distance in showing me exactly where the differences are between the two companies. This particular proprietor also hinted that the word on the cutlery grapevine is that Ontario will soon cease production of the RAT line. Rumor or not, it sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[shotgunner11]

This particular proprietor also hinted that the word on the cutlery grapevine is that Ontario will soon cease production of the RAT line. Rumor or not, it sounds like a good idea to me.

I may or may not be able to confirm nor deny that I might or might not have gotten inside information that this might or might not be true. Then again, I might or might not have gotten this info over a year ago and the line is still active.

 

[Carolina River Rat]

I may or may not be able to confirm nor deny that I might or might not have gotten inside information that this might or might not be true. Then again, I might or might not have gotten this info over a year ago and the line is still active.

I may or may not have understood this.

 

[Planetcat]

I have an Ontario Rat-7 in D2. It is an excellent knife with no quality issues. It could be a little sharper out of the box, but that's about it. I think their Ranger line is eventually going to replace all the Rat-related products they made while colaborating with pre-Esee RAT.

 

[R.A.T.]

I closed this thread. Rumors are simply that: rumors. Ontario builds a good knife.

As for ESEE, we are in competition with NO ONE. We do what we do and try to make the best knife we can make at the best price we can sell it for and still make a profit. How other companies build knives or sell them is not anything we worry about or concentrate on. I use Ontario knives a lot. They work. I also use Benchmade, Cold Steel, Kershaw and a bunch of others. In the end, it's the user's choice to buy what they want.

With all that said, we do appreciate the kind comments on ESEE. I closed this thread simply becasue I don't want this to go down the wrong road.