- Joined
- May 1, 2004
- Messages
- 1,240
After a prolonged vaction into the world of flashlights I have returned to reivew my first serious knife purchases in almost 2 years.
Now, I usually have a two knife EDC rotation. I carry a Pacific Salt at the restaurant I work at and a 550 Griptilian when I work contruction and generally around the town. A few months ago my best friend lost the Griptilian at a tree-house hostel near Savannah, Georgia (reward available if found- knife was lost with a yellow Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon 4AA flashlight with a last name written on it.) which was gut-wrenching since it was a plain edge olive-drab BT-coated model. Ever since then I have needed a flat ground blade for EDC rotation since all my other knives are hollow ground.
Thus, I did research and decided on the Ontario Rat Folder Model 1 with plain edge and black blade.
First, some facts:
+Full-flat ground blade
+4-position pocket clip
+Left or Right-hand position thumb stud
+AUS-8 Blade steel
+Dual steel liners
+3.6" blade with 3.25" inch cutting edge
+5.0 inch closed lenght with 8.6" open length
+Knife is made in Taiwan
+Liner Lock
Overall this knife is large, but not overly so. However I have noticed this knife is psychologically very large and is more intimidating than my Pacific Salt despite the almost exact same size of the two knives.
As you can see the lock bar locks up to the left side of the blade but the lock itself is very secure and had no binding problems during snap openings nor any problems with medium force spine-whacks on a wooden table. Opening and closing of the blade is accomplished by a thumbstud and is very smooth with no binding or roughness. The liners are each half as thick as the blade and make the knife feel very secure with no flex in the handle. The knife was also free of any blade-play.
The Zytel scales have poor texture. The grooves are all well-molded but there are too many of them, this creates a surface that is slippery when you hands are dry and only moderately grippy when they are wet. I recommend the user lightly scrub the whole of the scale with low-grit sandpaper to create some roughness in the Zytel and improve the grip significantly. Please understand that the actual handle itself is very easy and secure to grip, merely the Zytel scales suffer from poor texture.
The imagery on the blade is very well-done and appears to me to be tasteful and well-executed. The blade coating was even and smooth but after some cardboard cutting tests I am unsure of how durable the coating is. No mention is made of what exactly the coating was. I will update when the knife gets some more wear. Now, I have onlt had time to perform a few cutting tests but the knife was easily able to shave from the box and cut several feet of heavy gauge cardboard against the grain with only moderate edge wear, typical for AUS-8 steel.
The knife is fairly big but it feels much bigger to me than it actually is. I have no problem carrying big knives as they are accepted at work and in my community but if you want this knife be sure you can carry it and use it before buying. The handle is good but would have been excellent if it came from the factory with improved grip on the Zytel, an easy fix for the user though.
I don't feel the knife is overly heavy or large. Heavier of course than my FRN handled Spyderco knives but by no means an anchor. This is due in part to the open back-design and the lack of a dedicated back-spacer.
Overall I feel this knife is well-designed and an effective cutter but seems to me to be oddly expensive for a Taiwan production piece. However; given the quality of the lock and the overall excellence in finish I feel this knive should be rated as excellent. If you need a full-size liner lock that is as lefty-friendly as possible seek this knife with no hesitation.
Questions/Comments?
Now, I usually have a two knife EDC rotation. I carry a Pacific Salt at the restaurant I work at and a 550 Griptilian when I work contruction and generally around the town. A few months ago my best friend lost the Griptilian at a tree-house hostel near Savannah, Georgia (reward available if found- knife was lost with a yellow Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon 4AA flashlight with a last name written on it.) which was gut-wrenching since it was a plain edge olive-drab BT-coated model. Ever since then I have needed a flat ground blade for EDC rotation since all my other knives are hollow ground.
Thus, I did research and decided on the Ontario Rat Folder Model 1 with plain edge and black blade.
First, some facts:
+Full-flat ground blade
+4-position pocket clip
+Left or Right-hand position thumb stud
+AUS-8 Blade steel
+Dual steel liners
+3.6" blade with 3.25" inch cutting edge
+5.0 inch closed lenght with 8.6" open length
+Knife is made in Taiwan
+Liner Lock
Overall this knife is large, but not overly so. However I have noticed this knife is psychologically very large and is more intimidating than my Pacific Salt despite the almost exact same size of the two knives.
As you can see the lock bar locks up to the left side of the blade but the lock itself is very secure and had no binding problems during snap openings nor any problems with medium force spine-whacks on a wooden table. Opening and closing of the blade is accomplished by a thumbstud and is very smooth with no binding or roughness. The liners are each half as thick as the blade and make the knife feel very secure with no flex in the handle. The knife was also free of any blade-play.
The Zytel scales have poor texture. The grooves are all well-molded but there are too many of them, this creates a surface that is slippery when you hands are dry and only moderately grippy when they are wet. I recommend the user lightly scrub the whole of the scale with low-grit sandpaper to create some roughness in the Zytel and improve the grip significantly. Please understand that the actual handle itself is very easy and secure to grip, merely the Zytel scales suffer from poor texture.
The imagery on the blade is very well-done and appears to me to be tasteful and well-executed. The blade coating was even and smooth but after some cardboard cutting tests I am unsure of how durable the coating is. No mention is made of what exactly the coating was. I will update when the knife gets some more wear. Now, I have onlt had time to perform a few cutting tests but the knife was easily able to shave from the box and cut several feet of heavy gauge cardboard against the grain with only moderate edge wear, typical for AUS-8 steel.
The knife is fairly big but it feels much bigger to me than it actually is. I have no problem carrying big knives as they are accepted at work and in my community but if you want this knife be sure you can carry it and use it before buying. The handle is good but would have been excellent if it came from the factory with improved grip on the Zytel, an easy fix for the user though.
I don't feel the knife is overly heavy or large. Heavier of course than my FRN handled Spyderco knives but by no means an anchor. This is due in part to the open back-design and the lack of a dedicated back-spacer.
Overall I feel this knife is well-designed and an effective cutter but seems to me to be oddly expensive for a Taiwan production piece. However; given the quality of the lock and the overall excellence in finish I feel this knive should be rated as excellent. If you need a full-size liner lock that is as lefty-friendly as possible seek this knife with no hesitation.
Questions/Comments?
