I received my first Ranger knife today, the Ranger RD9.
I bought it to tide me over till the new Swamp Rat line comes out.
And I wanted a large "beater" knife to use as a chopper.
I wanted to express some of my first impressions of the knife.
I have to say, that I am alittle disapointed.
I realize this isnt a $250 Swamp Rat, Bussie, etc.
But I was expecting just alittle more for the $120 shipped.
The sheath seems pretty nice, or even above average for a supplied sheath for a knife this price.
There are plenty of loops on the back side, and a couple holes on the bottom for straping it to packs etc.
The first thing that I noticed that was a bit of a let down, was the flat cut edges of the micarta handle scales.
They are rather rough on the edges, and would be alot more comfortable of they were rounded off.
Not a huge deal though, I can easily take those off and sand them down smooth.
The next thing I noticed, was a spot missing in the blade coating !
There is a place alittle smaller than an eraser head that is chipped off to the bare metal.
While I do plan to use this knife hard, and dont expect the coating to last long,
I did at least expect it to be entirely coated when it was breand new.
I just hope this isnt an indication that the finish is basically going to fall off, instead of wearing off.
Some of the cuts and grinds on the blade are uneven or not straight, and have some semi sharp edges to them.
Like the end of the handle, the final cut is at an angle, and has a bit of coating missing there also.
The back of the blade is not flat, and had several differnt angles ground on it.
Speaking of the blade,
Are these supposed to me sharp? at all? This one sure isnt.
You actually couldnt cut yourself it you tried !
Maybe they ship them this way, thinking they will only be used as heavy choppers?
This is the first knife I have ever purchased, at any price, that wouldnt cut straight out of the box.
Again, thats something that can be fixed, I did just get a EZE afteral
Now that I am done bitching,
the knife is not that bad, when you take into account its price.
As long as the steel can handle some daily chopping, I think altimately, I will be happy with it, after I do several mods.
It has a good weight to it, and once sharp, should do some major chopping and cutting.
I mainly wanted to express alot of this, to see if this is typical of these knives.
I know its not meant, or priced, to be a show knife, but still, I expected alittle more fit and finish from it.
Again, overal, for the $120 shipped, I think I will be pleased with the knife, as long as the steel is decent, and after several mods are done to it.
Thanks for listening to my ranting and raving, I will crawl back in my cave now.
~John
I bought it to tide me over till the new Swamp Rat line comes out.
And I wanted a large "beater" knife to use as a chopper.
I wanted to express some of my first impressions of the knife.
I have to say, that I am alittle disapointed.
I realize this isnt a $250 Swamp Rat, Bussie, etc.
But I was expecting just alittle more for the $120 shipped.
The sheath seems pretty nice, or even above average for a supplied sheath for a knife this price.
There are plenty of loops on the back side, and a couple holes on the bottom for straping it to packs etc.
The first thing that I noticed that was a bit of a let down, was the flat cut edges of the micarta handle scales.
They are rather rough on the edges, and would be alot more comfortable of they were rounded off.
Not a huge deal though, I can easily take those off and sand them down smooth.
The next thing I noticed, was a spot missing in the blade coating !
There is a place alittle smaller than an eraser head that is chipped off to the bare metal.
While I do plan to use this knife hard, and dont expect the coating to last long,
I did at least expect it to be entirely coated when it was breand new.
I just hope this isnt an indication that the finish is basically going to fall off, instead of wearing off.
Some of the cuts and grinds on the blade are uneven or not straight, and have some semi sharp edges to them.
Like the end of the handle, the final cut is at an angle, and has a bit of coating missing there also.
The back of the blade is not flat, and had several differnt angles ground on it.
Speaking of the blade,
Are these supposed to me sharp? at all? This one sure isnt.
You actually couldnt cut yourself it you tried !
Maybe they ship them this way, thinking they will only be used as heavy choppers?
This is the first knife I have ever purchased, at any price, that wouldnt cut straight out of the box.
Again, thats something that can be fixed, I did just get a EZE afteral
Now that I am done bitching,
the knife is not that bad, when you take into account its price.
As long as the steel can handle some daily chopping, I think altimately, I will be happy with it, after I do several mods.
It has a good weight to it, and once sharp, should do some major chopping and cutting.
I mainly wanted to express alot of this, to see if this is typical of these knives.
I know its not meant, or priced, to be a show knife, but still, I expected alittle more fit and finish from it.
Again, overal, for the $120 shipped, I think I will be pleased with the knife, as long as the steel is decent, and after several mods are done to it.
Thanks for listening to my ranting and raving, I will crawl back in my cave now.
~John
