Ontario Rat knives

D

danceswithblade

Joined
Jun 30, 2005
Messages
60
I'm interested in getting one of the RAT's, 3 or 5, and would like to hear from guys that own or have owned one, good or bad.
 
I love the RAT pack. They are tough no nonsense knives. I have used mine for everything from gardening to cutting bait and they are excellent. Here is a pic of my boys.
rats9cb.jpg
 
Probably the D2 RAT 3. I cut the TAK down to fit my hand so it would be a tough choice. If I was going to be stranded in the wilderness I would pick the RAT 5.
Here is the TAK after I modified it. I carry IWB so I like the knife as compact as possible.
tak6ve.jpg
 
I have a RAT3.

Came very sharp out of the box.

The blade is thin. This is good for cutting but I prefer my fixed blades to be a tad more robust.

When holding it without using the choil, the handle is too short. It feels like my hand is going to fall off of it. When using the choil it feels better, but the choil is fat and feels a little strange, and the handle is too thin, making my hand feel cramped around it.

The micarta looks great!

The sheath is decent- the lock-up is not very positive, but it works. The Tek Lok works very well. You can do in-pocket carry, around the neck, or on the belt horiztonally or vertically, and can put on or remove the sheath without removing the belt.

Decent knife- the handle just doesn't work well for my hand.
 
Between the rat 3 and the benchmade outbounder which is a better user? I hear that ontario heat treats thier knives to lower RC.
 
I own a Rat-3 and consider it one of my best knife purchases. I love the little bugger, I've battoned it, cut rope, prepared food, and anything else that can be cut.

I'm a traditional knife sort of guy, and this is the only black-blade-kydex-sheath knife I can't put down. The sheath is more comfortable to carry on my belt than my Buck 110 sheath!
 
I have a RAT3, 7, RTak and the 5 is comin(owned an Tak1). I like em, there simple knives with alot of workability. I have my 3 and 7 in D2 and they stay sharp and have alot of bite to them. All have held up very well and take a good edge I have stiches from the 3 and 7 hahaha. I deff recommend em.
 
I have a Rat-3, 2x Rat-7 (one at home, one in the vehicle) and an RTAK. Don't care for the RTAK's big, squarish handle (it may be discontinued now?), but the others are good ones. I'm partial to the Rat-7, but for a good all purpose user I think any of the -3, -5 or -7 flavors would do the trick. Just depends on what floats your boat. The -3 works well for concealed and/or EDC, and the kydex TEKLOK belt sheath that comes with it is well made.

cheers
 
I reciently traded for a RAT-7 and a RTAK. I have not used them yet but there keepers and users. The RTAK is a big knife with a very wide blade better suited for the heavy chors. The RAT-7 looks to be a good GP knife. Both look to be well made with no fluff.
 
Hair said:
I have a RAT3.

Came very sharp out of the box.

The blade is thin. This is good for cutting but I prefer my fixed blades to be a tad more robust.

When holding it without using the choil, the handle is too short. It feels like my hand is going to fall off of it. When using the choil it feels better, but the choil is fat and feels a little strange, and the handle is too thin, making my hand feel cramped around it..........Decent knife- the handle just doesn't work well for my hand.
Click to expand...

I agree with Hair.

I got the satin version with the ramhorn handle, more secure in the hand (less concealable)and I like it shinny :) Great little camp knife.
 
My experience. I just spent Saturday making walking sticks out of Alder with my RAT-3. I had 10-12 other A2, D2, and 12C27 knives with me. Ended up using the RAT-3 almost exclusively. Spent about 6 hours carving the 1 1/2" alder (fairly hard wood). The knife stayed sharp through all of them. Much chopping on hard knots. No chipping. I was very impressed. It has just jumped ahead of most of the rest of my knives for carry in the woods. Handle with choil (sp) worked well under hard use. My opinion.
Ron.
 
I just got a Rat 3 and have not used it yet....except to slice tomatoes. I think the little knife is very nice. The sheath is okay if used with the Tek-Lok. The other device does not lock on to my belt. I draw my knife, I draw my sheath too. This piece does not carry IWB, my preferred concealment method but if carried on the belt with the Tek-Lok it can be covered with a shirt. For concealed carry though, in my opinion, this is kind of a bulky outfit. Like I said though, nice comfortable knife.
 
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