Ontario Utilitac II - Best modern folding knife under $30?

Cereal_killer said:
I don't like tanto's, at all, I just happen to like recurve's less and between the two, for this particular knife, I take the lesser of the two evil's as my personal choice.

I also try not to take shots at people on internet chat forums. I can more then hold my own when it comes to sharpening, have a look threw my recent post history for some examples of my freehand work... Obviously tho because I make a stupid remark about certain shape of blade it must mean I'm not capable of sharpening a knife. :thumbdn:
Click to expand...

WOW CK, your wound to tight my friend, also I wasn't taking a shot at you either. The sharpening comment was just that---if sharpening isn't an issue then a recurve won't cause one problems. Many have raised the question with recurves being difficult to sharpen or not. Please notice my wink smiley face emoticon---I put it there as it's meant to lessen the comment to fall into the "not so serious" category.

I took your "Because no one likes recurves anyway" comment light hearted. I figured you wern't to serious as the Blur and the 710 seem to have done fairly well in the market with their recurve blade.

If you took offense I wish you wouldn't have as I see you contribute to this forum in a positive manner as I myself do. Just given spydercobenchmadekai another option.

I feel the same way as you but opposite about blade shapes. First choice isn't a recurve but Tanto's are even lower on the "like" ladder.

Take it easy man, we can be friends and like different style knives. The common bond are the knives themselves ;).

Paul
 
Last edited:
I'm gonna have to suggest the coffin-handled tanto. Granted it's the only version I own but I can tell you this much, this thing was built to be beaten on.
 
Are there any differences between the coffin and curved handles besides the shape? I thought I read something about the coffin liner lock being thicker
 
paulhilborn said:
WOW CK, your wound to tight my friend, also I wasn't taking a shot at you either. The sharpening comment was just that---if sharpening isn't an issue then a recurve won't cause one problems. Many have raised the question with recurves being difficult to sharpen or not. Please notice my wink smiley face emoticon---I put it there as it's meant to lessen the comment to fall into the "not so serious" category.

I took your "Because no one likes recurves anyway" comment light hearted. I figured you wern't to serious as the Blur and the 710 seem to have done fairly well in the market with their recurve blade.

If you took offense I wish you wouldn't have as I see you contribute to this forum in a positive manner as I myself do. Just given spydercobenchmadekai another option.

I feel the same way as you but opposite about blade shapes. First choice isn't a recurve but Tanto's are even lower on the "like" ladder.

Take it easy man, we can be friends and like different style knives. The common bond are the knives themselves ;).

Paul
Click to expand...
Paul , I usually just lurk, but I liked your reply.
I'm not even going to say which blade I like better. Well said.
 
knifejerk said:
Paul , I usually just lurk, but I liked your reply.
I'm not even going to say which blade I like better. Well said.
Click to expand...

Thanks kj, C_K's a good member and contributes in a positive fashion here. Electronic media can easily be misconstrued. If I have an issue it'll be made crystal clear, no beatin around the bush, just straight talk. My warrior days are long gone, this ole dog just comes here to enjoy good people and good knives.

Glad your a member here as well :thumbup:

Paul
 
I'll be honest, I've been trying to replace my UT2 with a flipper. It's not until you start trying out so many other budget EDC's that you really appreciate the UT2. I tried these two, and aside from being flippers, they don't hold a candle to my Utilitac.



Tanto crazy!

I wish I had stuck with my customizing plan. I think I'm going to go with G10 grips, a new slightly protruding matching backspacer, and then I want to relieve the right side liner and grip and add a bigger thumbstud so it's easier to open with gloves on (why I wanted a flipper).
 
I carry mine quite often, and it keeps some excellent company:

12976717233_da190ce80c_b.jpg
 
Does anyone else's stop pin rotate? I know mine didn't before, but I just noticed a slight side to side tick, and sure enough the open position stop pin is a little loose. Lockup is not effected, but as stated, it didn't do it before.

The liner hasn't moved a tick either.
 
Last edited:
I'm going to be buying another Rat 1 and a coffin handle drop point Utilitac II. I will use both for severe abuse, including batoning with metal and rocks, cross batoning, chopping, and lock strength tests. I will post a review with the results. I want to see if the UT2 can live up to the hype, and I want to prove that the Rat 1 is as awesome as I think it is.
 
Last edited:
Just remember the lock on the curved model doesn't engage as much of the tang as the coffin handle liner does.
 
o4tg said:
I'll be honest, I've been trying to replace my UT2 with a flipper. It's not until you start trying out so many other budget EDC's that you really appreciate the UT2. I tried these two, and aside from being flippers, they don't hold a candle to my Utilitac.



Tanto crazy!

I wish I had stuck with my customizing plan. I think I'm going to go with G10 grips, a new slightly protruding matching backspacer, and then I want to relieve the right side liner and grip and add a bigger thumbstud so it's easier to open with gloves on (why I wanted a flipper).
Click to expand...

Damn, I love the look of your 'Tac. I need to abuse mine more haha.

Quiet said:
I carry mine quite often, and it keeps some excellent company:

12976717233_da190ce80c_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Commander Overkill in the house! :D
 
I feel like I fell for the hype in this post for this knife.
I'm a bit underwhelmed. Granted for $25, it's not bad at all, but for just a few dollars more, I can think of plenty of knives I'd rather carry.
The pocket clip on mine has already (after less than a week) bent to the point where retention is gone and it flies out of my pocket when I reach for my keys :(

I don't regret buying it, after all, never hurts to have another beater blade around, but I can't say I'm as stoked on it as you guys are.
I'll give it a chance this summer on some backpacking missions and see if it can redeem itself in my eyes.
 
I've got big plans for my UT2 this weekend, going to Richard J's shop so look forward to that.

Plan on removing the front grind line and possibly removing the tanto all together. Straightening the top, it's not quite perfect where I cut the wave. Acid & stone washing the blade and then to still have something on it bright and shiny I'm thinking about polishing the liners (or going the other way and acid etch them too, still deciding).
 
Cereal_killer said:
I've got big plans for my UT2 this weekend, going to Richard J's shop so look forward to that.

Plan on removing the front grind line and possibly removing the tanto all together. Straightening the top, it's not quite perfect where I cut the wave. Acid & stone washing the blade and then to still have something on it bright and shiny I'm thinking about polishing the liners (or going the other way and acid etch them too, still deciding).
Click to expand...

I'd vote for polishing the liners to add some contrast.
 
So some of you almost have me convinced. Not a fan of recurves, prefer the look of the rounded handle, and I don't want the black coated blade. Having a hard time finding the plain-edged tanto blade, without coating, in a rounded handle. I like the look of the one Quiet posted above.

Edit - just found some.
 
Last edited:
Rasco said:
I feel like I fell for the hype in this post for this knife.
I'm a bit underwhelmed. Granted for $25, it's not bad at all, but for just a few dollars more, I can think of plenty of knives I'd rather carry.
The pocket clip on mine has already (after less than a week) bent to the point where retention is gone and it flies out of my pocket when I reach for my keys :(

I don't regret buying it, after all, never hurts to have another beater blade around, but I can't say I'm as stoked on it as you guys are.
I'll give it a chance this summer on some backpacking missions and see if it can redeem itself in my eyes.
Click to expand...
Just curious, what knives do you like better and for what reasons? Never heard a negative review so far, and am actually looking for something a bit more glove friendly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top