- Joined
- Dec 22, 2006
- Messages
- 2,194
I picked up a RAT-3 1095 plain blade on an impulse bid and it arrived yesterday. I had handled one in a store a while back and my point of comparison at that time was a Becker Necker. It made me wish the Becker had the handle length of the RAT-3 and I'll still hold with that. Ontario should offer the RAT-3 in a skeleton/wrapped handle version.
IMHO, the black phostphate coating is just about the ugliest thing you could do to a knife. I took some fine steel wool and 600 grit sandpaper to it and smoothed it down a bit-- not removing it all, but getting a satin surface to it rather than that crystalized finish from the factory. The Ontario ASEK knives have the same finish and I can understand it for a "use only in case of emergency" military knife, but it is just rude 'n' crude for a user blade. I wouldn't bother with a coating, or at least use something like a titanium nitride finish. Black blades don't impress me anyway-- I'd rather see the steel.
The edge was so-so out of the box and I went at it with a diamond hone and followed up with ceramic sticks to get a nice hair-poppin' edge. I like stainless for a field knife as I'm around salt water a lot, but I like this steel and it should be easy to maintain on the trail. I carry a little EZE Lap card style diamond hone in my PSK and it will work fine with this blade.
The micarta scales are all business. You aren't going to worry about hurting this knife in general and the scales are rude 'n' crude too, but they provide a good grip for my pudgy paws. I added a paracord braid lanyard.
The sheath is cool. It is molded plastic riveted together like most kydex sheath. The fit is firm and I'm not worried about losing the knife in a fall. It comes with a large TekLok and a slip-on style belt clip option that screws to the sheath rivets on four points-- it is on a plate made from the same plastic as the sheath. From what I see, it is designed for concealed carry in your waistband. I'll be using the Teklok.
I have a Fallkniven F1 and it is very interesting to compare the two knives. The blades are about the same lenght, with the RAT-3 having a large choil, so you can choke up on it for finer work. The RAT-3 blade is flat ground vs the convex edge of the F1 and the RAT-3 blade is a little deeper so has a slightly different belly than the F1 and the F1 blade is nearly twice as thick. The RAT-3 blade is The RAT-3 handle is about 1/2" shorter than the F1. The real surpize to me is that the RAT-3 is only an ounce less than the F1. I guess the deeper blade and tang and the micarta scales vs the molded rubber makes them closer to the same weight. The F1 is a more expensive knife, but finish comparison between the two is striking, with the F1 having much more eye appeal to me. The RAT-3 is a rough and tumble lookin' knife, no doubt about that.
On the survival side, it's a user. It is a nice compact knife in a safe sheath and it will do all the chores I need of a knife in the woods. I wouldn't be afraid to baton it on appropriate size stuff. It will certainly cut stuff for fire-making, shelters, general cutting and whittling, and food prep. When looking at survival gear, I always ask this question: what would you do if you woke up in the middle of nowhere with this [add survival item] for equipment? I'd be getting to work with this one-- no tears or whining about not having a good tool to work with.
I'd love to see this in stainless and/or with a skeleton handle.
I'll try to add some photos with both knives tonight.
IMHO, the black phostphate coating is just about the ugliest thing you could do to a knife. I took some fine steel wool and 600 grit sandpaper to it and smoothed it down a bit-- not removing it all, but getting a satin surface to it rather than that crystalized finish from the factory. The Ontario ASEK knives have the same finish and I can understand it for a "use only in case of emergency" military knife, but it is just rude 'n' crude for a user blade. I wouldn't bother with a coating, or at least use something like a titanium nitride finish. Black blades don't impress me anyway-- I'd rather see the steel.
The edge was so-so out of the box and I went at it with a diamond hone and followed up with ceramic sticks to get a nice hair-poppin' edge. I like stainless for a field knife as I'm around salt water a lot, but I like this steel and it should be easy to maintain on the trail. I carry a little EZE Lap card style diamond hone in my PSK and it will work fine with this blade.
The micarta scales are all business. You aren't going to worry about hurting this knife in general and the scales are rude 'n' crude too, but they provide a good grip for my pudgy paws. I added a paracord braid lanyard.
The sheath is cool. It is molded plastic riveted together like most kydex sheath. The fit is firm and I'm not worried about losing the knife in a fall. It comes with a large TekLok and a slip-on style belt clip option that screws to the sheath rivets on four points-- it is on a plate made from the same plastic as the sheath. From what I see, it is designed for concealed carry in your waistband. I'll be using the Teklok.
I have a Fallkniven F1 and it is very interesting to compare the two knives. The blades are about the same lenght, with the RAT-3 having a large choil, so you can choke up on it for finer work. The RAT-3 blade is flat ground vs the convex edge of the F1 and the RAT-3 blade is a little deeper so has a slightly different belly than the F1 and the F1 blade is nearly twice as thick. The RAT-3 blade is The RAT-3 handle is about 1/2" shorter than the F1. The real surpize to me is that the RAT-3 is only an ounce less than the F1. I guess the deeper blade and tang and the micarta scales vs the molded rubber makes them closer to the same weight. The F1 is a more expensive knife, but finish comparison between the two is striking, with the F1 having much more eye appeal to me. The RAT-3 is a rough and tumble lookin' knife, no doubt about that.
On the survival side, it's a user. It is a nice compact knife in a safe sheath and it will do all the chores I need of a knife in the woods. I wouldn't be afraid to baton it on appropriate size stuff. It will certainly cut stuff for fire-making, shelters, general cutting and whittling, and food prep. When looking at survival gear, I always ask this question: what would you do if you woke up in the middle of nowhere with this [add survival item] for equipment? I'd be getting to work with this one-- no tears or whining about not having a good tool to work with.
I'd love to see this in stainless and/or with a skeleton handle.
I'll try to add some photos with both knives tonight.
)))
