I just got a Rtak 2 in 5160. Now I started to read up on them now probably should have read up before I bought but I have one now. Is this a knife to be trusted in the field. I read that the 5160 is tougher than 1095. Has anyone out there put the 5160 version to the test.
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Ontario Rtak 2 is it any good
- Thread starter foecutter
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- Dec 23, 2012
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Look at the RC of the steel after Heat treat...It is very low IMO and likely to hold a terrible edge, but be more tough for extreme abuse applications than a higher RC knife of same steel.
Ontario says 54-56 RC so it's on the lower side of the scale. I like the knife it feels good and looks like it will chop well. All the failure posts I read were three to four years old so I am hoping that Ontario has fixed there problems. Guess I will start testing the knife out before my upcoming 5 day hike in the backwoods of the White Mountains.
You should have no problems with 5160 version. Even though it's on the softer side, I've never experienced excessive rolling and almost no chipping unless used on some very hard materials like seasoned hard wood, when edge will roll over. Very easy to sharpen, getting the edge beyond work sharp could take a little more effort though due to low HRC.
It does exhibit same traits as any large but relatively thin blade ie it will vibrate a lot when banged on hard stuff. The edge is also relatively thin, so it has good bite when chopping.
All in all, underrated knife.
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- Jun 15, 2015
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The original Rtak II was made made with 1095 steel. Generally, the 1095 version worked well, but there were reports of people breaking the 1095 version. The reports I actually saw based on youtube presentations showed broken Rtak II knives ONLY because of people smacking the knife very hard with a wood baton in the act of trying to drive the knife into another piece of wood. I will go out on a limb here and speculate that Ontario had to remedy this problem by changing how they produce this blade and other similarly large blades that could potentially be used hard with a baton. 5160 steel was chosen for the Rtak II and many other large blades to improve the toughness. The few steel charts I have seen for knife steels show 5160 steel as potentially much tougher than 1095 by as much as 3 times. I have not seen one report yet of a 5160 version Rtak II being broken, but I am also not saying that it can't be done or that it has not happened. As far as toughness goes, 5160 was a very wise choice for Ontario considering that if nothing would have changed since the reports of broken knives sales might have been effected significantly based on the few reports of hard use failures. A more expensive proposition would have been to change the Rtak II and other large blades to 3V steel which is significantly tougher than 5160. However, the added cost of 3V would likely make it difficult to offer these knives at the low cost they are priced at.
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I really like the RTAKII; got one a couple years ago since I had been lusting after the RTAK I for a while. These knives have nice fit and finish and a superb grip IMHO; so easy to hold on to compared to knives with undersized or poorly shaped handles. Plus, the handle is big enough it can be easily pared down or textured for more grip if needed.
Helluva chopper and tough too. I did manage to wrinkle the edge on mine a bit but that was because I chopped into a huge knot in a chunk of wood so not really a surprise I guess... I bent the tip too a smidge in throwing this beast (i know; shouldn't do that LOL) Single spin throwing with this thing is wild.
I'd heartily recommend it. :thumbup:
Helluva chopper and tough too. I did manage to wrinkle the edge on mine a bit but that was because I chopped into a huge knot in a chunk of wood so not really a surprise I guess... I bent the tip too a smidge in throwing this beast (i know; shouldn't do that LOL) Single spin throwing with this thing is wild.
I'd heartily recommend it. :thumbup: