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

For just over $50 I can get the S30V versions of the Kershaw Blur and Buck Vantage, or a CPM/D2 version of the Kershaw Junkyard Dog II.

At $25, the Utilitac II is mighty hard to beat. My Buck Vantage Select I bought for $24.95 in 420HC, and I like it a lot. It flips open easier than the Utilitac II and has a slightly better clip.

The Utilitac II feels massive without being heavy, a good trick. Maybe it's heavier than I think, I haven't weighed it yet. It's in my pocket today, and I'm going to consider getting more ... before the price goes up.
 
Ya know, I've also been thinking about getting an extra one. Probably a tanto in satin finish. There's a member here who did the whole acid etch/stonewash treatment and his blade looks awesome.
 
Daddyo16 said:
And Al Mar...
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And CRKT....

HS, having a lot of experience with the Buck Vantage line, I'd never buy one again unless ai could get the S30V model for the same cost as the Utilitac. Find anyone who's actually used their Vantage regularly and you won't hear them say anything good about it. There are tons of people here who have never ueed it for anything but a photo shoot or opening envelopes that love it, but the Utilitac is the better knife in every way except the blade steel on the S30V models and G10 on the Pro. Truth be told, I think Buck over hardens their S30V anyways but that's another conversation.....

The Blur is an okay knife, but I'd take the Utilitac over the Blur for hard use.
 
I have a Buck Vantage Force Pro that never gets carried. I'd choose the Utilitac over the Buck any day of the week.
 
I carry my buck vantages a lot more often than I carry the Utilitac II, especially the small buck vantage pro, but in the garage I use the Utilitac the most.
 
Find anyone who's actually used their Vantage regularly and you won't hear them say anything good about it.
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I see mostly favorable comments on the Buck Knives page here at BladeForums.

I have a Buck Vantage Force Pro that never gets carried. I'd choose the Utilitac over the Buck any day of the week.
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I find the Vantage one of the easiest to carry knives because the slicker grip with no studs means it doesn't bind when I insert or remove it from my pocket, and for the deep pocket clip. I like both, but if the Utilitac II is worth $50 to you, then great: you have a $50 knife for $25.

I also think it's worth more than $25, and I like it enough that I might get spares at that price, or maybe get one in the several different varieties Ontario offers that I didn't get, such as the tanto.

It's also a terrific gift knife at that price. I buy lots of knives for gifts. Some of the recipients are more knowledgable than others, my grandson thought the S&W Extreme Ops I gave him was "the best knife ever." Kids. I bought the S&W back before I was "into" knives, it just seemed like a steal (ha! I typed "steel" at first) at the Big 5 sale price when I bought it. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.) Come to think of it, my grandson has a lot of the early clunkers I bought before I discovered this web site. In my defense, I did also gift him a Kershaw Blur, so they're not all clunkers :)
 
Well, no wonder it feels so built-up: it is heavy!

By my weighings, in ounces:

Ka-Bar Dozier Hunter : 2.28
Kershaw Skyline: 2.30
Mora 840-MG : 2.63
Spyderco Sage 1 : 3.20
Buck Vantage Avid : 3.89
Kershaw Cryo : 4.20
Buck Vantage Pro : 4.31
Kershaw Blur : 4.36
Kershaw Junkyard Dog 2.2 : 5.20
Ontario Utilitac 2 : 5.39
Zero Tolerance ZT0350KW : 5.60

I might need to reweigh the Vantage Pro. I don't know why it would weigh so much more than the Vantage Avid.
 
The lock on my round handle one gave out while splitting some wool for a fire about an inch and three quarters in diameter. Pretty upset about this. Email ontario and they told me to send it in for a replacement though. It was such a great knife up until this. May see if they can replace it with a coffin style since I know that has alittle more meat in the liner lock.

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MassMovement said:
The lock on my round handle one gave out while splitting some wool for a fire about an inch and three quarters in diameter. Pretty upset about this. Email ontario and they told me to send it in for a replacement though. It was such a great knife up until this. May see if they can replace it with a coffin style since I know that has alittle more meat in the liner lock.

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That sucks - thanks for sharing though. Earlier in this thread I posted a few pics comparing the two different lock bars and like you say, the coffin style is about 1/3 larger at their respective weakest points. That makes two or three failed contoured styles I've seen and so far no failed coffin styles.
 
How/Why were you splitting wood with this folder?

MassMovement said:
The lock on my round handle one gave out while splitting some wool for a fire about an inch and three quarters in diameter. Pretty upset about this. Email ontario and they told me to send it in for a replacement though. It was such a great knife up until this. May see if they can replace it with a coffin style since I know that has alittle more meat in the liner lock.

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fetzer85 said:
Wool or wood?
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Hahah wood sorry for that. Before anyone says I know that isn't what this knife is designed for, I know, but I was batoning the piece to split up for a little fire after a hike/fishing and it's what I had in my pocket. Like I said it wasn't a big branch, no notches in the wood, and after everything else I've done with this knife I really didn't think the branch stood a chance against the knife, but I was wrong.

I'm not bad mouthing the knife, it's one of my favorites since I got it a few months ago. I've used it for pretty much everything and it's always taken a beaten and been fine. This knife has literally help gut entire houses, maybe it was damaged prior and this was just the nail in the coffin. For the $30 I paid though I'm really not mad. I've gotten way less use out of far more expensive knives.
 
Yea more details please. I highly doubt you were doing anything remotely considered "normal use" when you folded the lock like that. It had to be some pretty big forces on the spine of the blade (or blade locked down and force on the handle) to do that. I don't think the knife can be faulted for that one.
 
Cereal_killer said:
Yea more details please. I highly doubt you were doing anything remotely considered "normal use" when you folded the lock like that. It had to be some pretty big forces on the spine of the blade (or blade locked down and force on the handle) to do that. I don't think the knife can be faulted for that one.
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I'm not blaming the knife at all, and now that you say that my hands were wet and cold and I may of unknowingly ham fisted the handle. I don't blame the knife, I even said I know it's not for what I was using it for, I've just used it for a lot more I figured it could handle that, so if anything I blame myself.

I'm gonna send it back to ontario and if they choose to replace it, great. If not though I wouldn't be upset I got a lot of use out of it and I'll definitely just pick up another one.
 
No offense, but I love it. VERY few folders will hold up to batoning, so I'd be curious as to how far you got with it, how many strikes, and were you going with or against the grain?

And I'm absolutely amazed OKC is covering it too. Seeing that damage, I don't know that the coffin handle would fair significantly better.
 
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So you were batoning with the lock engaged? Damn that's awesome that OKC is gonna work with you. For future reference, just in case you baton with a folder again, you should disengage the lock and just tap the blade through the wood. Should save you from deforming another liner.

Still, it's one of the most heavy duty knives on the market considering the price you pay for it.
 
I did some chopping and tip strength testing today. I thought I broke the tip a few times but it was just the super hard and dry wood cracking.

Here's to my 7 month anniversary. She's been good to me! :D




Edit: You can see the chip in the blade a little bit out from the handle. That was what prompted me to go beat on it as it needed a good sharpening anyways. The chip sharpened out with little effort, but i still don't know where it came from (IE: laundry list of possibilities).




The lock up is still as it came new. My stop pin still rotates, but at no point has it peened and effected lock up. I've far and away got my money's worth out of this knife ten times over. I truly believe it is one of, if not the best budget knife around. I just can't get over how consistent the lock up is after so much use. I know they do special heat treating of the liners, but damn!
 
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Hey, man! That thing looks like it's been to hell and back! I love it.

Also worth noting is the fact that you finally got around to switching the pocket clip around. Seriously, that knife looks awesome and I love that I own a knife that can take real use.

ETA: Happy Anniversary!
 
Well, apparently I bent the tip. Could have swore it was fine after the test but must have missed it. I got it almost back to straight but it has a kink in it that doesn't seem to wanna come out.

 
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