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

o4tg said:
No offense, but after seeing my buddy's broken lock that hapoened after he stated he stabbed a tree, I won't trust an Opinel enough to try using it hard.
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Lol "it was coming right at me"

Was it self defense?
 
pinnah said:
IMO, a locking folder FAILs if it closes under under light to moderate closing forces and worse, if it does so unpredictably. IME, this is prone to happen in 3 primary ways:
a) Repeated hard cutting (opening forces) causes wear and tear damage to the lock assembly (common failure mode of lock backs).
b) Twisting forces on the handle and blade cause the lock assembly to deform (common to both lock backs and frame/liner locks).
c) Sand, dirt or grit foul the lock assembly (common to lock backs and frame/liner locks).
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o4tg said:
It's as simple as this. These failures don't happen on modern knives.
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:eek:

I really need to move to your planet. On earth, and the internet forums on earth, I hear testimonies and stories about all sorts of locking knife failures with modern knives. I dunno. Maybe they're all making it up.

I've worked construction and automotive for most of my life and I would eat an Opinel in a week at any of those previous jobs. I do things like chisel, pry, scrape, hammer, and screw with my knives. Yes, I can already hear you screaming knives aren't meant for that, but what about when I find knives that can regularly do that? If the selected tool works, it works.
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The only thing you'll hear me say in response to this, "You're on." I'll give the Opinel to bust for free. Just sign up for the Pass Around. Very, very happy to see the knife busted under normal hard use. Intentional destruction testing is not the point. Go through it in a week? Go for it. We'll all learn something from it.

Chisel, pry, scrape, hammer and screw with the Opinel? Sure. I batton with mine all the time. I do find when really beating on them it's best to unlock the lock ring actually so it free pivots. This really minimizes the stresses on the joint and forces me to hammer on the blade in a manner that actually cuts.

Really the only caveat I can give you about the Carbone in the Pass Around is that the it is roughly speaking 1085(ish) carbon harden in the Rc56 range, which makes it pretty tough (i.e. it dents before it chips) but not particularly long lasting in terms of edge retention. The blade steel is what it is so it has pros and cons. Cutting wood hard and then hitting metal will cause dulling and maybe even a dent.

FWIW, one of the guys who turned me onto the Opinel did HVAC for years where he used a larger #9 as his primary duct cutting tool.

I can't expand on my current job due to an NDA. I will say that my most needed features of a knife are the ability to open quick and be tough as nails.
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Opinels are easy to one hand open once you get the hang of it but not quickly. Tough?

Would love to find out their limits. I've not found them. Maybe you can? As the guys from Missouri say, "Show me!"
 
That Ontario looks pretty nice. Im not much into folders... The only folder I own is a kershaw cryo... but for the price a kershaw Cryo is an excellent little knife. And it was 25 bucks when I bought it.

Im more into fixed blades myself. But the cryo does a good job opening the boxes of the fixed blades :D

 
pinnah said:
:eek:

I really need to move to your planet. On earth, and the internet forums on earth, I hear testimonies and stories about all sorts of locking knife failures with modern knives. I dunno. Maybe they're all making it up.



The only thing you'll hear me say in response to this, "You're on." I'll give the Opinel to bust for free. Just sign up for the Pass Around. Very, very happy to see the knife busted under normal hard use. Intentional destruction testing is not the point. Go through it in a week? Go for it. We'll all learn something from it.

Chisel, pry, scrape, hammer and screw with the Opinel? Sure. I batton with mine all the time. I do find when really beating on them it's best to unlock the lock ring actually so it free pivots. This really minimizes the stresses on the joint and forces me to hammer on the blade in a manner that actually cuts.

Really the only caveat I can give you about the Carbone in the Pass Around is that the it is roughly speaking 1085(ish) carbon harden in the Rc56 range, which makes it pretty tough (i.e. it dents before it chips) but not particularly long lasting in terms of edge retention. The blade steel is what it is so it has pros and cons. Cutting wood hard and then hitting metal will cause dulling and maybe even a dent.

FWIW, one of the guys who turned me onto the Opinel did HVAC for years where he used a larger #9 as his primary duct cutting tool.



Opinels are easy to one hand open once you get the hang of it but not quickly. Tough?

Would love to find out their limits. I've not found them. Maybe you can? As the guys from Missouri say, "Show me!"
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At some point we're going to need an opinel vs peasant knife thread. I love both knives but I like the opinel in the kitchen and the peasant more for a beater.

That being said I prefer either one of them to the utilitac because they have the added bonus of a more people friendly appearance.

For a more modern knife under $30 I'd go with a spydie because the opening hole is a lot easier when when wearing work gloves.
 
pinnah said:
:eek:

I really need to move to your planet. On earth, and the internet forums on earth, I hear testimonies and stories about all sorts of locking knife failures with modern knives. I dunno. Maybe they're all making it up.



The only thing you'll hear me say in response to this, "You're on." I'll give the Opinel to bust for free. Just sign up for the Pass Around. Very, very happy to see the knife busted under normal hard use. Intentional destruction testing is not the point. Go through it in a week? Go for it. We'll all learn something from it.

Chisel, pry, scrape, hammer and screw with the Opinel? Sure. I batton with mine all the time. I do find when really beating on them it's best to unlock the lock ring actually so it free pivots. This really minimizes the stresses on the joint and forces me to hammer on the blade in a manner that actually cuts.

Really the only caveat I can give you about the Carbone in the Pass Around is that the it is roughly speaking 1085(ish) carbon harden in the Rc56 range, which makes it pretty tough (i.e. it dents before it chips) but not particularly long lasting in terms of edge retention. The blade steel is what it is so it has pros and cons. Cutting wood hard and then hitting metal will cause dulling and maybe even a dent.

FWIW, one of the guys who turned me onto the Opinel did HVAC for years where he used a larger #9 as his primary duct cutting tool.



Opinels are easy to one hand open once you get the hang of it but not quickly. Tough?

Would love to find out their limits. I've not found them. Maybe you can? As the guys from Missouri say, "Show me!"
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I've never owned a quality liner lock that I could overpower the lock by hand.

Keep your Opinel offer for now. I'll buy one next week and start off slow with it until I trust it to try the harder stuff. I'll likely go for the #8 since I work with some nasty chemicals and in heavy rain at times, and don't want to test the wood but the design itself. Unless there's any reason for me to avoid the #8?
 
o4tg said:
I've never owned a quality liner lock that I could overpower the lock by hand.

Keep your Opinel offer for now. I'll buy one next week and start off slow with it until I trust it to try the harder stuff. I'll likely go for the #8 since I work with some nasty chemicals and in heavy rain at times, and don't want to test the wood but the design itself. Unless there's any reason for me to avoid the #8?
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The #8 is popular as a pocket knife. Personally, I think the #9 is better for hard chores. The #10 is more comparable to the Buck 110 size wise; too big for pocket carry for me.

The Carbone is on the soft side at about 56 rc. The Inox is Sandvik 12c27 at about 58 rc. Decent for the price.

As you play it, note that like the video shows, the ring can be overpowered. No dispute. Strongly suggest tuning the lockring by filing down the top so it can be turned to the 9 o'clock position. More secure.
 
I picked up the Tanto version and it started me on a Tanto buying spree, including the ZT 0700, (3) Emersons and a Houge. Just got the Ontario 1 with Orange grips, it is also very nice, on par with the Tenacious. I find the G10 on my newer Blue Tenacious to have a better grip, which puts it slightly ahead of the Ontario so far.
 
I just got one of these over the weekend and I am impressed.
It is hard to believe how smoothly this thing opens.
Super sharp out the box, lockup at about 50%, no blade play, and fit and finish are top notch.

The only downsides are that it is not a total open frame design and it is pretty ugly IMO.
But this is going to be a work knife so I may be able to take out the plastic liner to open it up and for 25 bucks I may get used to its looks.

Great knife for small money.
 
I know people will shred me and say I'm full of it, but I actually cut up a coffee can to test it today. The competition was a Zero Tolerance 0350-SW, and a partially serrated Buck Vantage Force Pro. The Utilitiac still shaved hair after, the ZT was significantly dulled, and the Buck dulled and chipped.

Yes, you read it right. AUS8 outperformed S30V in my abusive cutting test. I'll duck for the incoming tomatos and bricks now. :eek:



To be fair it did have a slight knick in the blade that was not humanly visible. I couldn't feel it with my skin and only felt it with my fingernail. As you can see, most of the hairs are cleanly cut but it did pull a couple out. After hitting it very lightly with a stone it was back to being razor sharp. This picture was taken before obviously as you can see it hasn't been sharpened at the time.

I guess it could be the grind, but it cut effortlessly in comparison to the others, and held it's edge much better. Maybe I just got lucky, or maybe some other variable impacted my results with out me knowing. Either way, I'm impressed with Ontario's AUS8.
 
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willc said:
I just got one of these over the weekend and I am impressed.
It is hard to believe how smoothly this thing opens.
Super sharp out the box, lockup at about 50%, no blade play, and fit and finish are top notch.

The only downsides are that it is not a total open frame design and it is pretty ugly IMO.
But this is going to be a work knife so I may be able to take out the plastic liner to open it up and for 25 bucks I may get used to its looks.

Great knife for small money.
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I agree. If they used studs instead of a spacer, offered it with G10 grips, and put a flipper on it I would gladly pay $20 more for it. I guess not having those features is what keeps it so cheap, but Ontario should be advertising this knife. It's a major sleeper!
 
I haven't heard too much about this one. But I'm definitely interested in that tanto version!
 
o4tg said:
No offense, but after seeing my buddy's broken lock that hapoened after he stated he stabbed a tree, I won't trust an Opinel enough to try using it hard. The Opinel is a great old time pocket knife, but i won't take up that offer for the things I do with knives simply for my own safety.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qKuZskDzmU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIKJxGhZC0U&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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mhmm [sarcasm] these youtubes are a great demonstration of why the opinel knives are unsafe , failure to use a twist lock in a) the right direction and b) actually twisting it till its firm , is a common cause of fatal accidents of people using these knives .
The second video demonstrating how easy it is for the lock to fail while say , being carried in ones pocket , is another valid demonstration of the dangers of these kives . [/sarcasm]

knives coming open in hip pockets by accident like that are a regular and common cause of accidental castrations every day , the world over . some more needed than others tho .
 
o4tg said:
I don't know what he's saying, but I like the way he thinks. Most knives should be capable of this, but I couldn't find many hard use tests on YT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUUbUaaxprU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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That's great stuff and the sort of stuff I think of when I think of hard use.

I note that other than the occasional plunge cut, the guy avoided placing large closing loads on the knife. Smart with any folder. But, he did put huge amounts of opening/cutting pressure on the blade. For me, that's the true test of a folder for hard use. Can take that sort of repeated hard cutting without the joint or lock mechanism getting damaged?

I would love to see that guy run the same test with an Opinel #10. I suspect the Opinel would win on the wood and cardboard, hold its own cutting the conduit and not do as well cutting the heavy fabric (serrated wins there). I also suspect the guy wouldn't be nursing such a sore hand with the Opinel.


Getting acquainted by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
Just to update, I tried an Opinel, I believe the #8 is what I ordered. I cut some paper and rope and that was all I needed. It was very unergonomic, and felt like a flimsy folding fillet knife. I gave it away to my brother in law. I'm sure it's a great utility onife, but with in the first 30 seconds I knew I didn't want to trust my life to it, especially in a defensive purpose.

Mu Utilitac just gets beat on more and more. It's even more beat up than this now. Lots of prying, but I onpy had to adjust the tension once which was when I first got it. I freaking love this knife and my 0350 and Vantage have been shelved.

 
o4tg said:
Just to update, I tried an Opinel, I believe the #8 is what I ordered. I cut some paper and rope and that was all I needed. It was very unergonomic, and felt like a flimsy folding fillet knife. I gave it away to my brother in law. I'm sure it's a great utility onife, but with in the first 30 seconds I knew I didn't want to trust my life to it, especially in a defensive purpose.

Mu Utilitac just gets beat on more and more. It's even more beat up than this now. Lots of prying, but I onpy had to adjust the tension once which was when I first got it. I freaking love this knife and my 0350 and Vantage have been shelved.

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Good to hear, I just bought one (( not a paid BF Dealer )) for $24.45:

(( not a paid BF Dealer ))

I would have preferred the stainless finish instead of the black, (( not a paid BF Dealer ))

(( not a paid BF Dealer ))
 
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I just got mine yesterday (thanks John) and immediately swapped out the back spacer for stand offs and I'm actually on my way now to a little construction project I need a good beater knife for to put it threw its paces. I'll try to get a picture up and a little report if it gets the use I'm expecting.
 
Best folder I've ever bought for $25. I also have the tanto version and love it to death. Though if I were to do it again I would've bought it without the black coating since it does chip off over time but that's just me and aesthetics, has nothing to do with it's function which is overall amazing. Also correct me if I'm wrong but it's probably the best folder with so many different options you can get for under $30. Tanto and non Tanto, satin or black finish, plain, half serrated or fully serrated blade, and different black scale patterns.

Mine
 
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