RAT vs TAK

B

Bare Rib

Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
589
So, I had set some money aside for a BK-9 to replace my Ontario SP-5 a couple of months back & well as we all know (and I now know why) wasn't able to get one. So now I have this money just sitting around & I got to thinking that I don't have a good small/medium sized fixed blade...I need to fix that.

I was thinking about getting either a RAT-5 or a TAK-1 (my 1st choice would be a Becker Companion) but don't know which to choose. They really seem to be a very similar knife and can't decide which to get.

This is where I need your help which would you all recomend choosing. Anyone out there have both, which do you like better?

Thanks in advance for your help/feedback
 
The RAT5 has a usuable choil, which the TAK does not. So if you like using a choil then get the RAT.
 
I can't answer RAT-5 vs TAK-1 because I've never touched a TAK-1, but I can say I prefer the Ranger RD4 to the RAT-5. It's 5160 steel instead of 1095, and fits better in my hand. I do have to say that I don't own either, and am speaking only from handling friend's knives.
 
Noshtero said:
I can't answer RAT-5 vs TAK-1 because I've never touched a TAK-1, but I can say I prefer the Ranger RD4 to the RAT-5. It's 5160 steel instead of 1095, and fits better in my hand. I do have to say that I don't own either, and am speaking only from handling friend's knives.
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Why would you want 5160 over 1095 on a 5" blade ?
 
i had to make the same choice a while ago

i choose the rat-5

but mainly fer it's meaner appearance :D
 
pitdog said:
Why would you want 5160 over 1095 on a 5" blade ?
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You're right the added toughness of 5160 might be less important on a 5" blade. I just tend to like the steel better. I do find 1095 easier to sharpen though.
 
As I posted earlier, I don't like th TAK as well because I don't think it has a usable choil. So if I had to choose one of these two I'd choose the RAT5. Having said that, I'd rather have the RAT3 and RAT7 in combo than the RAT5 by itself:D. (BTW I do own all three).

The RAT3 excells at all the finer tasks and is easy to always carry on your person. I've almost stopped carrying a folder in the woods and carry the RAT3 instead. Then along with the RAT3, usually lashed to my gear/pack, I carry a larger knife, like the RAT7. I either have a RAT7, a Ranger RD7 or a Busse SFNO along for the tougher stuff (depends on which daypack I grab as to which I have along on a particular occasion; they're all great knives). These are ideal for such tasks as batoning firewood. In a pinch I'd rather have one of these bigger knives than a smaller one only. But the best is the small & big combo IMO. The RAT5 has the exact same handle as the RAT7 so it isn't any easier to handle for finer tasks, but it sacrifices useful blade length for the tougher tasks.
 
Noshtero said:
You're right the added toughness of 5160 might be less important on a 5" blade. I just tend to like the steel better. I do find 1095 easier to sharpen though.
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Yeah that's what I was thinking, anything over say a 7" blade and I think 5160 would be the better steel although 1095 still ain't shabby !!!
I don't think there would be much difference on the edge retention assuming the heat treats are right on both !

I would actually choose the TAK because of it's slightly smaller overall length and also because I don't plan on crushing any skulls !!!:D
 
I would just get both to add to my collection. :) I think that the TAK would be good enough for a all around use in the bush and camp. I do see what you guys mean when the skull crusher getting the way ( like sticking in to my ribs). I guess if you wanted to you can just grind it off. I don't care what any body says about 1095 steel. My Rat 7 and my USAF survival knife takes a real good beating and it's easy to sharpen on the go.
 
Good input thanks guys.
The info on the coil is useful thanks XMP. Would you say that you have large hands? I ask because I do, I wear either a large or xl glove so I'm now wondering which would be a better fit for my hand.

The use for the knife would be something to take with me on short walks/day hikes when I feel my big 10" (record of my favorite blues) blade is just a bit excessive. So, I don't really want something quite as big as the RAT-7; as I said I am looking to get a good medium sized fixed blade. I feel that a 4-5" blade is more than sufficent for this that and will still give me the ability to do some batoning if needed.

I have to say that I think I am leaning to the TAK at this point.
 
I have fairly large hands (L/XL gloves) and find the TAK choil unusable.

Hope you find something to couple with your Aerosmith knife:D
 
XMP said:
I have fairly large hands (L/XL gloves) and find the TAK choil unusable.

Hope you find something to couple with your Aerosmith knife:D
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Thinking about it though I'm not real hung up on coils; IMO there are many useful ways of choking up on a blade for control.

Oh & you win the prize for getting my music referance.:thumbup:
Granted the prize is just me saying hey you won the prize!:D
 
Bare Rib said:
I was thinking about getting either a RAT-5 or a TAK-1 (my 1st choice would be a Becker Companion) but don't know which to choose. They really seem to be a very similar knife and can't decide which to get.

This is where I need your help which would you all recomend choosing. Anyone out there have both, which do you like better?

Thanks in advance for your help/feedback
Click to expand...

I own both and as already mentioned, the choil on the RAT 5 is much larger and functional. The TAK's is small; I can used it, but it's kind of a waist...first, you can't choke up with such as small choil, and secondly, it's really just waisted blade space IMHO. Now, I have the TAK in D2 and the RAT in 1095. The D2 is nice, but I've had no issues with the 1095 RAT. The handle on the RAT just fits me a little nicer, although the handle on the TAK seems larger (they're actually close to the same size, just a slight difference in design). If you have larger hands, the TAK may be your better choice. My only complaint about the RAT is the pommel...I don't care for a skull-crusher as an outdoors knife. Furthermore, if you wear it on a "real" belt sheath, you get that pointy pommel rubbed into your side. I know it's easily fixed and I plan to do it when I redeploy, but it's just an annoying feature of an otherwise good design.

For both, I really don't care for the sheaths. For my TAK, I had Normark send me one here over here in Iraq, and it's top notch...one I would highly recommend for a real user-sheath.

ROCK6
 
GOLD-man said:
can any one tell me what's the difference between the tak1-and the Rat3.
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Big difference bro, the TAK is one beefy knife, 3/16" thick 4 and 1/2" blade and a full sized beefy handle.
The RAT 3 while being a great little knife is exactly that...a little knife !!!
I think they are 1/8" thick and obviously have a 3" blade !
 
tak-1 is the one I prefer due to the rat5 has a skull crusher on the rear that stabs me in the side while carrying....the tak does not....both are excellent blades you really can not go wrong just decide which small feature you prefer over the other..
 
I just ordered the TAK 1 with D2 steel, so I will tell you what I think when I get it. As far as my choice... I would go with the TAK 1, unless the economy collapses (which it most certainly will if we don't get rid of the fucking Federal Reserve SOON!!!), then I would go with the RAT 7, which you can literally use for everything, as long as you're ok with small work being rough around the edges. If you're a brute, it shouldn't matter much (in the wild, it is good to be that way). I chose the smaller, because it can serve me in the civilized world and if you need to baton, you can use your imagination... like baton it as far as it can go all around and then just thump it against a rock to break the rest which should snap cleanly along your pre-cut guides, and it being smaller and more designed for bushcraft (which would cover about 99% of your workload), you will probably want to end up making love to your knife at the end of every day. You can buy the hunter honer (http://www.hunterhoner.com/) to sharpen it with for life (even tough steels such as D2 with no problem), and you don't need oil or know how to keep your hand disciplined and steady at any particular degrees.
 
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