Ontario RTAK II Destruction Test Video Completed

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noss4

Joined
Jul 7, 2006
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I completed the Ontario RTAK II Destruction test available at www.knifetests.com
I begin using VVKs suggestion slicing a tomato and peeling an apple
The RTAK II did well at this considering it is a large outdoor survival knife.
Then I tried to cut some 2 inch wide nylon webbing. The RTAK did not do well
it took allot of pressure and sawing action to cut it.

I split some landscaping timbers. It did well at this.
I stabbed the point into a metal fluorescent fixture many times
easily with only one slight dent.

I then Stabbed the tip into the back of the folding chair. It did well at this
with no damage to the tip.

I did a flex test. It took about 3 tries 15 degrees for the tip to break.

I chopped concrete only denting the edge no chips happened and no blade breakage.

I then begin to hammer on the back of the blade with my 3lb mallet.
It did fine at first, then finally breaking the blade. After reviewing the video
I noticed the blade bottomed out on the vice jaws and only took one hammer hit to break the blade in half. As I was hammering I could really see the blade vibrating back and forth. The blade simply vibrated in half.

As a comparison I took the Same Cold Steel Bushman used on the spear test
and recreated the same situation. The Bushman took over 75 hits before it
broke. The video is online.

I then put the handle of remaining portion of the blade and handle into the vice and pounded the hell out of it there was no damage to the handle and no Blade tang separation. That part of the knife is supper strong and I was unable to break it.

I then used the 15lb sledge on the handle It took many blows and I was unable to damage the handles I finally broke on handle after it spun and caught on the shoulder and broke in half. The handles are super tough.

Overall it did well but didn't respond well to hammering the back of the blade.
I will try the same scenario on all future knives to see how they compare to the RTAK II.

The videos are in six parts 52 minutes long
the Bushman vibration test is in 2 parts 12 minutes long.

Enjoy the videos. They were made for you.:thumbup:
Noss4
 
Thanks very much for the hard work, man. Look like you're keep improving your test procedures. That's very impressive.:thumbup:

This blade does have a TOUGH handle which is near "indestructable" in my dictionary. Practically it's indestructable though. The chopping power doesn't impress me, at least from the video. What do you think? TBH if I need a economical big chopper I'd rather pick a Ka-Bar heavy bowie that costs almost half of the price.
 
Xaero: The one thing I noticed with the RTAK is how much the blade flexes back and forth when I chop. One can see this if they look hard at the outdoor video.
I don't remember the K-Bar Bowie doing this at least not as much as the RTAK II
Also the the handle on the K-bar is much more comfortable to me. I like both knives but I like the K-bar Bowie a little more.
 
noss4 said:
Then I tried to cut some 2 inch wide nylon webbing. The RTAK did not do well
it took allot of pressure and sawing action to cut it.
Click to expand...

The edge is usually pretty bad on a lot of production knives, with a file or coarse stone you can often change the performance by a factor of many to one.

noss4 said:
The one thing I noticed with the RTAK is how much the blade flexes back and forth when I chop.
Click to expand...

It is a very thin blade so it isn't very stiff, specifically a 1/4" blade is almost twice as stiff as a 3/16" knife.

-Cliff
 
Cliff: it would be nice if the RTAK II had a 1/4" thick blade giving it's 10" blade length. Maybe the Rat-7 would be a little stiffer with it's 7 " blade length.
What is you opinion on this ?
 
noss4 said:
I completed the Ontario RTAK II Destruction test available at www.knifetests.com
I begin using VVKs suggestion slicing a tomato and peeling an apple
The RTAK II did well at this considering it is a large outdoor survival knife.
.:thumbup:
Noss4
Click to expand...

Nosse, Thanks a lot. I have tried to peel an apple once with a very thick knife (Ranger Assault Knife) and it was a pain :( So, I was very happy to see that the RTAK II was up to the task.

BTW do you accept donations? I would like to send you 20 bucks so you can destroy I mean test :) more knives in the future .
 
vvk said:
Nosse, Thanks a lot. I have tried to peel an apple once with a very thick knife (Ranger Assault Knife) and it was a pain :( So, I was very happy to see that the RTAK II was up to the task.

BTW do you accept donations? I would like to send you 20 bucks so you can destroy I mean test :) more knives in the future .
Click to expand...

WOW ! This is very kind of you. I don't know what to say ? I don't want to take anyones money for doing what I do. I have asked manufactures for donations.
I don't feel right about taking them from people. Email me at my web site and
we can discuss this.

Thanks
Noss4
 
noss4 said:
Maybe the Rat-7 would be a little stiffer with it's 7 " blade length.
Click to expand...

Yes, you will notice this as well, the longer a blade the "floppier" it will get. Basically all you are seeing is a torque issue because there is more leverage with longer blades and thus they are not as stiff at a given thickness. If you go right down to 3-4" for example, then 3/16" is EXTREMELY stiff.

-Cliff
 
Now you're getting to scenarios that make some sense to me!
I have to perform some similar outdoor tests myself- soon. Dare I ask, WHERE you managed to go to chop branches and logs? Not public land right?
 
Moodino said:
Now you're getting to scenarios that make some sense to me!
I have to perform some similar outdoor tests myself- soon. Dare I ask, WHERE you managed to go to chop branches and logs? Not public land right?
Click to expand...

Yes public land. It was in the national forest close by. Your allowed to cut downed trees. Someone already cut it down with a chain saw for one reason or another.
 
noss4 said:
Yes public land. It was in the national forest close by. Your allowed to cut downed trees. Someone already cut it down with a chain saw for one reason or another.
Click to expand...


Did you at least hug it before you chopped on it? :D
 
Fabulous! So why am I jumping through hoops top get permission? They want me to get all this Personal Liability Insurance or they'll fine me if I'm caught. I broke my oldest rule "If you ask for permission, there's a chance you'll be forced to jump through hoops- don't ask and don't tell" Oh well!
 
Moodino said:
Fabulous! So why am I jumping through hoops top get permission? They want me to get all this Personal Liability Insurance or they'll fine me if I'm caught. I broke my oldest rule "If you ask for permission, there's a chance you'll be forced to jump through hoops- don't ask and don't tell" Oh well!
Click to expand...

You can cut downed wood and use it on site but you can't harvest wood and take it off site unless you have a permit.
 
I had a first run Ontario RTAK and it took alot less abuse than this one for it to fail. I was simply limbing a spruce tree in my yard and dime sized chips came out of the edge. I did remove the handle scales for future reuse, but otherwise that blade went to sleep in the dump. Apparently, the RTAK II is tougher than my version.
 
I like the outdoor testing, more of that!
The critics are really running out of things to complain about, noss.
You take suggestions just as well as you take criticism,
keep up the good work!
 
Liam Ryan said:
I like the outdoor testing, more of that!
The critics are really running out of things to complain about, noss.
You take suggestions just as well as you take criticism,
keep up the good work!
Click to expand...

I am going to do more outdoor testing on select knives. I have the seal 2000
coming up. It will be a little delayed because I something very special planned for it. Also the Glock field knife Is coming up and I'm going to test a K-bar Warthog soon. The other knives on my list I will get to soon.

Thanks
Noss4
 
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