Pickin a 3 incher

Nice Blades man! I like all of them. Those Kriens are sweet. I like the TAD gear ones he did. Those Beckers are aesome too, as well as the chris reeve skinner.
 
The TAD gear knives that Tom did were really nice. Everything that Tom does is amazing! I miss swinging by his shop!
 
I don't think you'll go wrong with either one. I'd probably lean toward the RC-3, but this question is more about subjective feel than quality.

Is there any way you could handle both before you decide?

My favorite 3" is this little Busse.

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If I were going to get a production blade then it would be the RC-3 but I think if it were me I would go custome knife maker :thumbup: A lot of good guys here that can do some Awsome work ! Check out Breeden Knives - KAT
I myself have just started getting into handmade knives & I think thats all I'm going to purchase from now on ( in a fixed blade ) ! Youcan't beat what you get for the $ on a custome blade & the guys here are super nice to deal with !
 
there has been some great suggestions already riley...:) i seem to carry a 3-3.5 in. knife more that anything these days... it works just fine for me...

here's a few of mine..:D there are a few that arent pictured...
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you should rive mark from charlieridge knives a call... he makes some great hard working knives, that are resonably priced... i have #3 on it's way...:D brian breeden also makes some awesome knives...

here is one of my knives from mark, it's definately one of my favorites... it's a 3 in. utility with a full sized handle..it see's a lot of use....

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here's a few breedens.. they're jeff h designed "compact bushcrafter".. the tan micarta is 3/32 thick and the green micarta one is 1/8 thick... both are great users...
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naked said:
What is the second knife up from the bottom on the left side?
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that's an awesome utility style knife, made by john t. wylie... he's a great guy and very talented knifemaker out of NV.. if you think his knives are nice.. you shoud see his leather work....:o
 
mtnfolk mike said:
that's an awesome utility style knife, made by john t. wylie... he's a great guy and very talented knifemaker out of NV.. if you think his knives are nice.. you should see his leather work....:o
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I'm loving the look of that knife! Is he on BF? Do you have any contact info?
 
naked said:
I'm loving the look of that knife! Is he on BF? Do you have any contact info?
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he does hang out here from time to time...

he spends most of his forum time on the CK & G forum.. and also jerzee devil... www.customknivesandguns.com

i don't feel to comfortable handing his contact info. out... i can give it to you if you want to email or pt. me... sorry..

mike
 
EmsRescueGuy said:
I am looking to get a new fixed blade for field carry. I have been using a folder as my primary for the last year or so. A spyderco Manix and occasionally a Griptillian.


I am deciding between an RC-3 (Sorry For the confusion) and a Falkniven F1 any suggestions on why one or the other is a better choice.
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Funny you should ask. My Manix is my favorite knife of all time, and my RAT-3 is second. I find it to be an excellent combination of small size, good ergonomics, and excellent design. I'd carry it all the time, except it looks kind of funny at the office with slacks and a dress shirt.

I believe the RC3 is much the same as the RAT-3, so it should be a great knife. Plus, buying an RC3 you're supporting RAT Cutlery, which is a good thing.
 
EmsRescueGuy said:
I am deciding between an RC-3 (Sorry For the confusion) and a Falkniven F1 any suggestions on why one or the other is a better choice.
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I've never owned an RC3 and my F1 is gone so I'm not best placed to judge, but I'll give you my brain dump anyway-

There are only two reasons why I let the F1 go. By far the biggest was that I prefer the kind of companion style[ish] handles like Brian Goode uses on his Companions and Sidekicks and that Nick [NWA] uses. If it weren't for that I would have kept it. Much less of a factor, but still something I enjoy, is a blade with a bit of taper. In sum, if Fällkniven had designed the F1 with a handle shape like the Goode / NWA it would probably have been years before I considered migrating to a different design.

Now to the speculative bit:

The RC3 is a neat design but the F1 is made from far more progressive and user friendly materials.

Siguy said, “i have heard alot that the F1 handle is too small”. Mmm, I can't skate with that. I'm quite big and I didn't find that to be the case. I think there may be a difference between having big hands and having fat hands with sausage mitten fingers lacking in dexterity though. Still, if you've got those kinds of hands that would find the F1 handle too small the RC3 is going to come in at jockey size.

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Both have exposed tangs for beating on things, but here lay a distinct division. The end of the F1 is kind of flat, so you could use it for driving in pegs and pins. By contrast the RC3 terminates at pointy skullcrusher type end. While that gives the RC3 an urban advantage as a Millwall Brick or window breaker its advantage in the field is not obvious to me.

If you loath painted knives you'll also find a difference. Strip the coating from the F1 and if anything you'll likely make no difference in perceived performance. Do the same to an RC3 and you've opened up the maintenance floodgates.

If you go the route of the synthetic sheath there are clear differences. I've only really heard groans about the F1 one. No surprise, it is a basic factory molding. But hey, once we get past the old scarcity principle that “if it is harder to get or cost more it must be better” we can judge it more reasonably. The scarcity principle often gets rubber handled tools marked down because it is an easy cheap bit of molding, but we can often see from screwdrivers, pliers, garden tools, and knives etc. that it often actually works better. Same with the simple F1 Zytel sheath. It is very compact compared to other designs. It worked great for me dangling on either a baldric or a merc rig. And for extra bonus points makes a package that fitted in any one of at least four of my pockets on any one day. By contrast the RC3's sheath is clearly better made, and there's more going on with it. If both sheaths cost the same you'd feel cheated by the F1's. However, the RC3 sheath is more suited to belt, webbing, or pack attachment. If you want a discreet pocket carry or a dangler the F1's wins.

Last there's also the sexiness factor of micarta, and comparing the RC3's micarta over the ugly functional rubber of the F1. Well, kinda. If I had an RC3 no doubt I would polish it up to high shine and work the handle some, and I think it could look quite pretty. Yet I still don't think it could compete against even a stock F1 micarta in the looks stakes, and as for the custom F1s done by Bark River, they are in another league.

Last, the biggest speculation about the RC3. I'd be really amazed if it held an edge better than the F1, but I've a hunch the RC3 could be tweaked to slightly edge it out in a pure slicing contest.

I think someone with an RC3 as well as an F1 is needed here. Meantime, I'll say that I don't think there are many knives out there better at what the F1 does, and if they are better in some way I'd be really careful about examining whether that better[ness] has any relevance or value to you.
 
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Well I think the only way you can tell whether or not the knife handle is too small or too big is to handle it yourself. It seems like everybody on the board claims they have huge hands (also a big noses and big feet) so there must be a lot of well hung piano players around here :) One of the things I appreciate about the RC-4 is that it fits my hand perfectly, but is also compact making it a big knife in a little package.

Maintenance wise, I stripped my RC-4 of its coating mainly because of a lot of very agressive batoning (batoning through hardwood slats of a bunch of packing crates) and I started to tire of the wear spot. While it is true that if you leave the blade out in the wet it will get some pits and surface rust on it, simply wiping it off at intervals in the day cures this. I keep a little rag with mineral oil on it in a ziplock baggy in my pack and just periodically wipe the blade down with it. Alternatively, if I know I'm going to be out there in the wet for mulitple days then I force a patina on the blade.

Perhaps these little behaviors can be considered a big pain to do, however, I don't find these activities difficult in the least. Wiping my blade down just gives me an excuse to fondle and admire my favorite knife yet again. Being able to keep the blade in a shiny form or induce a patina allows me to alter its appearance. I sure as heck like tool steels for their ease of sharpening.

Handle material. Mircata is definately a nicer handle material than the texturized rubber. The coolest thing about the roughened mircata of the RC's is that the small fibres swell when they get wet and you find that the handle actually gets more tacky when it is wet. Even when covered in liquid detergent soap, the handle is really grippy! You wouldn't want to polish this handle, otherwise you would omit this very critical functional feature. You can now get the RC-3 in three different handles: black linen mircata, green canvas mircata (desert tan blade) and orange G10. The orange-G10 has the smooth/polished prettiness factor going for it. Personally of the Barkies - I always am drawn towards the Matte finished knives whenever they have them available - that is just me though.

The F1 in mircata is a beauty to behold. I'd really like to have one of those myself. But you do pay for that beauty. The fallkniven mircata is >$200. The ones on KSF with the barky handles are in the $230+ range. These things are bloody gorgeous and I can't help but want one badly. However, it is twice the price of the RC's with the same handle material (perhaps the RC's handles aren't quite as good looking as the Barky ones). If I really wanted one of these guys for the stainless, the economics of it would still likely lead me to a Barky stainless like the Wet Recon.

Regarding the pomel - the RC-3 can be had in the modified (rounded) pomel version which negates the above comments about its lack of use for pounding. There is enough flat surface in the rounded version to make it a good pounding implement.

Regarding cutting - the RC-3 at 1/8" thickness would be pretty hard to beat in terms of cutting efficiency by the thicker F1. I know the grinds differ, but I have a hard time believing that a thicker F1 could outslice the thin RC-3 no matter what the grind. On the other hand, I believe (but have not experienced) that the F1 would cut better than the RC-4 where both knives are of similar thickness but the F1 convex grind will outshine the V-grind here.

The choil is a major difference betwen the RC-3 and F1. If you don't like a choil then the RC-3 will not look right to you no matter what. The choil on the RC knives are at the very least usable in that sense that you can place your index finger in the choil and it forms a comfortable grip (I know some people vigorously oppose this as a legitimate function of a choil - but I really don't care about their opinion on the matter - I like using the choil like this and so does the RAT Cutlery guys). Perhaps a choil on a small 3" blade isn't all that useful, I certainly find it useful and comfortable on the RC-4. This does have an effect of extending the effect handle area if you choose to grip the knife in this way.

Sheath - the RC-3 can be used in dangle mode and even adjusted to the degree it dangles if you also purchase the optional molle-back backing. The new sharpshooter sheaths from KSF are really outstanding leather options as well.

Apologies that this post was obviously biased towards the RC over the fallkniven. I think they are both great knives and you couldn't go wrong with either purchase. I considered both carefully before going with the RC and ultimately my decision was swayed towards having a knife at the price of about $100 with a mircata handle. At the time I viewed the coated blade as a negative. However, I really didn't mind the coated blade once I had it (even though I later stripped it). One final thing - the knife under the coating is actually rather well finished. You often hear about unfinished, pitted blades under their pretty little coatings. This wasn't the case with my RC-4.

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“Regarding the pomel - the RC-3 can be had in the modified (rounded) pomel version...”

Aha, not seen those.

“know the grinds differ, but I have a hard time believing that a thicker F1 could outslice the thin RC-3...”

Makes sense.

“I know some people vigorously oppose this as a legitimate function of a choil - but I really don't care about their opinion on the matter.”

Snap. Too many unreserved love it /loath it comments. Some seem silly to me, like they are just trying to extend the blade without extending the cutting edge as if it were a legal loophole or something. Other designs use them great, especially when the design is such that natural downward pressure with the thumb is right over the heal of the cutting edge.

“Sheath - the RC-3 can be used in dangle mode...”

No doubt. I dangle a leather one now. I still think the F1 aces this though. I haven't had a sheath that dangles as well as that one since an old Normark fillet job in the way back when.

“One final thing - the knife under the coating is actually rather well finished...”

That is refreshing news. I often feel the drain paint thing is a kind of cammo, but not the kind of aid to concealment the buyer was really envisaging. I think an RC3 would look lovely polished up and blued.
 
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