Persistence or Rat 2 - Opinions please

R

raja

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Nov 2, 2005
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I'm looking for a birthday knife for myself and have narrowed it down to a Spyderco Persistence or the Ontario Rat 2. I have three Spydercos and was leaning towards the Rat 2.

However, I know the handle on the Rat is slightly shorter and wonder if it is hard to open. I have a couple of other 4" handles that I can't get a good grip on.

How does the overall quality of the two compare?

Would appreciate your comments on these two knives and your thoughts on which one you would get.

Thanks,
 
"Hard to open"...?

If you can't get a good grip on smaller knives I'd get something bigger. In any case, I wouldn't call either "hard to open". I've never owned a Rat 2 but I've had a Rat 1. That knife flew out quicker than most. Killer knife for the money. I can only assume the Rat 2 is just as awesome. You can't go wrong with either. Since you already have a grip of Spydercos I'd get the Rat 2.
 
I bought the RAT 2. Ontario makes a better knife in that price range than Spyderco does. The AUS 8 steel seems better than the 8Cr13MoV.

As a personal aside, I'd sooner support Taiwan than communist china.
 
i own and heavily use both, it all comes down to what you are going to use the knife for. The persistence its great for cutting, slicing, and food prepping better than the RAT2. The RAT2 is much more efficient at tasks such as minor chopping & wood cutting than the persistence, mainly because of the differing blade shapes. i would personally go with the spyderco just because of the steel, the 8Cr13Mov has a better edge retention than the AUS8 on the Ontario.

This is strictly out of my own honest opinions, experiences, and use from the the two. Is you do end up getting a Spyderco, spend the extra $10 and get a Blue G10 or for a few extra $$ hire one of the guys/gals on here to make some wicked custom scales for it, almost all of them do an excellent job: some costums i don't like based off personal tastes
 
I received a rat 2 about a week ago and love it. I get a good grip on it, the blade flies out, and the 3" blade is a perfect sized edc blade. But that's just my opinion.


-Gassy
 
Persistence has far better ergos, and you'll probably never notice any big difference between the blade steels. I hate that locked in handle guard on the Rat 1, and it's much worse on the smaller Rat 2.

Others love it, so if you have a preference you'll know. Tenacious/Persistence line has better ergonomics allowing you to get up closer to the edge for fine work. Also I vastly prefer their g10 over whatever the rat models have.

Both great knives, but there are some significant differences in handling.
 
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