They fit my hands perfectly, but I do have pretty big hands. You could always ask Justin to smooth them down a bit, though, if you think they're too bulky. They've served me well, however.
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Ranger Knives
- Thread starter j williams
- Start date
They fit my hands perfectly, but I do have pretty big hands. You could always ask Justin to smooth them down a bit, though, if you think they're too bulky. They've served me well, however.
The handle slabs fit my hands well, and I have very small hands (people say). They're even better if you've got gloves on, as you probably should if you're chopping or batoning things - makes it less hard on your hands with all that impact.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2006
- Messages
- 357
I have 2 Rangers an RD 9 and a custom by Justin. I assume the RD 9 is made of 5160 because I aquired it in a trade. The custom is made of S7 steel.
I guess I am a little weird. I find the handle to be a little small and slippery even though I have small hands. Wearing gloves helps out tremendously by I prefer a knife I don't have to wear gloves with. Also the butt of the RD 9 could benifit from a larger stop guard on the rear of the handle to give more security from it slipping out of hand.
The 5160 and S7 both aquire surface rust easily. I have not noticed any deep pitting yet but they stain real easy. I find the 5160 to be a descent steel but it chips easily in freezing weather. It is not hard to sharpen and maintains a good edge.
As far as best bang for the buck all I can say is I miss my Becker BK 9 and I believe it would beat the ranger in sharpeness, durability and edge retension. The Ranger would definately get the nod over the BK for lateral stress though. All in all the Rangers are great knives and Justin is great to work with. Here are some pics:
This one you can get a ideal of handle size versus hand
Another view of how they fit in the hand
And this was just for fun:
Edited to add: that is pine resin on the custom not rust. I figured I better clear that up!
I guess I am a little weird. I find the handle to be a little small and slippery even though I have small hands. Wearing gloves helps out tremendously by I prefer a knife I don't have to wear gloves with. Also the butt of the RD 9 could benifit from a larger stop guard on the rear of the handle to give more security from it slipping out of hand.
The 5160 and S7 both aquire surface rust easily. I have not noticed any deep pitting yet but they stain real easy. I find the 5160 to be a descent steel but it chips easily in freezing weather. It is not hard to sharpen and maintains a good edge.
As far as best bang for the buck all I can say is I miss my Becker BK 9 and I believe it would beat the ranger in sharpeness, durability and edge retension. The Ranger would definately get the nod over the BK for lateral stress though. All in all the Rangers are great knives and Justin is great to work with. Here are some pics:
This one you can get a ideal of handle size versus hand
Another view of how they fit in the hand
And this was just for fun:
Edited to add: that is pine resin on the custom not rust. I figured I better clear that up!
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2005
- Messages
- 1,991
Ranger knives are really hard to beat for the money
I have several rangers and find that the harder I beat them, the more they seem to like it
5160 holds an edge well
I have several rangers and find that the harder I beat them, the more they seem to like it
5160 holds an edge well
That's odd, I've not noticed 5160 chipping in cold weather - or in warm weather for that matter.
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2006
- Messages
- 444
That's odd, I've not noticed 5160 chipping in cold weather - or in warm weather for that matter.
Neither have I. My RD just spent the day (15 degrees) on the river again beating the piss out of it, came home fine.
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,350
I got my RD7 in G-10 and if I had to do it over again, I'd go with Justin's Micarta (it was my first G-10). Justin made it great, and it fits my big paws great but for a large chopper, it's cold, hard and not as forgiving.
I know you have Res-C bro which means you know comfort and how great that is. For me after res-c, micarta is the way to go for bigger blades and it's a better bargin with him.