Question about RC-5....

hotbossa

hotbossa

Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
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I am thinking of getting the RC-5 and was wondering if I should go serrated or not. I am thinking I should if I want a true survival knife. What are your thoughts? Do the serration on the rat knives work well? I know some companies produce knives with serrated blade that don't work so well. Thanks
 
I'm not a big fan of serrated knives. Carry a little SAK with a saw in it for these type of chores. I have a few serrated folders and wish they were plain blades. I told myself I needed a serrated blade for cutting seat belts in an emergency in my plane, but think that is stupid now. I carry my plain blades a lot more and have an RC-5 coming my way with a plain blade. YMMV, but I'd stick with that and they are easier to sharpen also.
 
I don't really like serrated blades personally, but the serrations on the RC series are some of the best I've seen.

20090313_306.jpg


These are the RC-5 serrations up close and personal. Notive the perfectly round serration with a flat inbetween, making sharpening easier.

Good design.
 
A sawzall blade is flat, light, and designed to saw. Varieties are available to cut metal and wood. The more teeth per inch, the better (I work on a demolition site, and these will cut).

A handle can be improvised, or they are available online (such as Milwaukee Quik-Lok Job Saw).

Blades are cheap at about $3.00 each. Variety of lengths also.
 
The RC-5 is a heavy knife. Most of the controlled cutting you would do with it will be with the first 2" of the blade, that unfortunately is right where the serrations are.

Keep the knife sharp and it will cut anything and notch great with out any serrations.
 
I just got my RC-5 in the mail twenty minutes ago....

I went with the plain edge, but I agree, that RAT/Rowen do a good job with the serrations. I think what sets them apart is that the back edge of the serration is sharpened. (Anyone have a photo of the back of the serrations?)

I've always complained that most knives are serrated on the wrong side-ie-as a right handed man, I cut a fuzz stick with the stick in my left hand and the knife in my right. If a knife has the standard serrations, they are beveled on only one side--and it isn't the side that wants to "Bite" into the stick.

I'm curious if maybe Shon knows why different companies always cut the serrations on the same face? Machinery set up or just tradition?

But with the back of the serrations beveled on my RC-3, it handles nearly as well as a plain edge. Anyone get to use a serrated RAT on THICK rope? I'd be curious how it did versus the majority of serrated type blades.

As an aside, I came to the RAT forum in mid January, and since then have picked up an IZULA, RC-3 (Plain edge and serrated), RC-4 Plain edge, RC-6 Plain edge and as of today-an RC-5 plain edge...

I think a RC-3mil and RC-4 serrated may be on my short list...
 
87Burban said:
A sawzall blade is flat, light, and designed to saw. Varieties are available to cut metal and wood. The more teeth per inch, the better (I work on a demolition site, and these will cut).

A handle can be improvised, or they are available online (such as Milwaukee Quik-Lok Job Saw).

Blades are cheap at about $3.00 each. Variety of lengths also.
Click to expand...

Good idea, i didn't think of that...
 
ChrisF said:
I'm curious if maybe Shon knows why different companies always cut the serrations on the same face? Machinery set up or just tradition?
Click to expand...


For visual reasons only. The left side of the blade is traditionally what I like to call the "Display side". So that is where the serrations are normally cut. Keep in mind, serrations are designed primarily to ease in the cutting of rope and webbing. So the side they are cut on doesn't matter.

BTW - Thanks for buying and using RAT knives.
 
IMHO serrations are not desireable. They are hard (sometimes impossible) to sharpen, and only really have an advantage when cutting heavy rope. In fact, there are many cutting chores that a serrated edge will make a mess of, and require a normal edge, like cutting paper or cardboard (cardboard seems to "clog" serrations). Also, if you find yourself in a pinch and need to pry with your knife (gasp!), the serrations can act as stress risers and make the blade more likely to snap. Again, this is my opinion, for what its worth......
 
I'm not a serrated fan. But you should probably snag what you are going to snag soon because they are getting scarce and the timetable for new ones is a little fuzzy.
 
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