RC-6 Arrived

Horn Dog

Horn Dog

Joined
Sep 9, 2005
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4,363
Weird and wonderful are the ways of the USPS. The RC-5 that I ordered last week is still "out there somewhere" but the RC-6 which I just ordered on Tuesday arrived today. Both shipped from the same place. The RC-6 is very nice. It is pretty much the same as the old RAT-7, but 1/2" shorter. The sheath is set up for a high ride, which is fine for concealment but a little less easy to draw. I need to figure out a drop leg extender for it. Retention is good. In the mean time, it fits the RAT-7 sheath just fine.
RC-6003.jpg

You can see how similar these knives are in this shot.
RC-6004.jpg

The green spacers under the scales are a nice touch by Rowen. Fit and finish is good, about the same as my D2 RAT-7, but better than some Ontario RATs I've seen. The RC-6 is nice and light. It carries well for a big knife. Having used my old 1095 RAT-7 a lot, I have a pretty good idea of how well the RC performs.
RC-6005.jpg

Just for fun, I rigged up my new HEST on my water bottle carrier. You never know when a walk in the park can turn into a hostile environment. :D
RC-6001.jpg
 
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I have yet to use my 6 but it feels great in the hand.

Congrats on your new family members!
 
Horn Dog said:
The sheath is set up for a high ride, which is fine for concealment but a little less easy to draw. I need to figure out a drop leg extender for it. Retention is good. In the mean time, it fits the RAT-7 sheath just fine.
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I'm waiting on avail of the new belt clip for the 5/6 sheaths, looks like it should make the draw a bit easier
 
The RC 6 has a good in the hand feeling to it. Grats on the new blade :thumbup:
 
Congrats Vic,
I love my RC6, and my RC5,still waiting on my HEST, it is sitting on Derrick's shelves waiting for me to raise the cash. You are going to love the RC5, it is right up your alley, blade size and weight, it is a real beast. :thumbup:
 
Man you're cleaning up! HEST looks good on the bottleholder, I'm gonna use more or less that same set up for my everglades runs this winter...
 
Dizwolf said:
I'm waiting on avail of the new belt clip for the 5/6 sheaths, looks like it should make the draw a bit easier
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Any word on when these belt clips will be available? I like the sheath fine, but I need to carry it a bit lower. High ride is fine for short blades, but it is very awkward for me to draw the RC-6 up that high. Maybe I'm just getting old.

I went to the Rat Cutlery website and copied this picture of the new belt clip back. This is perfect. As soon as these are available, I'm putting one on my sheath. Very nice.

RC-6-sheath-back.jpg
 
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Man, Horn Dog, you are hitting the Rats hard!

Buy, buy buy!!
 
rpn said:
Man, Horn Dog, you are hitting the Rats hard!

Buy, buy buy!!
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I had some high priced knives in my collection that I never used. So I sold one for enough to buy several RATs. I started on RATs a long time ago, back when they were made by that other company. I have always liked Jeff's simple designs. I like Rangers, Bark Rivers, Busses, Swamp Rats, Scrap Yards, and Condors, too. For the money, these new Rowen made RATs are darned nice. I like 1095 steel for ease of sharpening and decent edge holding. I like flat grinds and thinner stock, too. But even RAT makes one sharpened prybar, the RC-5. Think maybe I'm just an incurable knife nut. :D
 
Good stuff Vic. Regarding F&F comparisons. One difference between the RC's and their Ontario forebearers is the coating. The RC coating is more like the Busse (but not quite as tenacious as a busse) relative to the Ontarios. The Ontarios wear right off the bat whereas the RC's tend to be much more robust. Of course all coatings wear out after a while. I tend to find the mircata slabs better quality than those on the Ontario rats too. Run your RC under the sink and just feel how grippy that thing gets!! Won't happen as easily for the Ontario.

Regarding the sheath, I agree. A drop down option like the molle backing that has been promised for a while would be helpful. Personally, I don't usually wear a 6"+ knife on the belt. The RC-6 usually gets lashed to my pack. The double set of rivets on both sides of the RC-6 sheath help with that quite a bit.
 
The fit and finish on my D2 RAT-7 is better than that on my 1095 one. Since I haven't used the RC-6 yet, I can't say much about the durability of the coating, but it does appear thicker. The D2 has linen micarta scales, too. I'm glad Jeff found a company that makes his knives to a higher standard. In all honesty, I never got a bad Ontario RAT, but I have seen pics of some that were really sloppy. Some of their military issue knives were pretty crude as well, compared to the ones Camillus did. The QC at Rowen seems to be very good. I do often carry larger knives on my belt, so I am looking to get one of those belt clip backs as soon as possible.
 
Horn Dog said:
Since I haven't used the RC-6 yet, I can't say much about the durability of the coating, but it does appear thicker.
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I've got a Ontario RTAK II, and with them being a Local company I wish I liked it more. I don't dislike it, but I like the Rowen made knives a lot more.

Only had them out for one short chopping/splitting session, but the RC 6 is showing almost no wear, where the RTAK is noticeable. Minor detail as if you're working a blade it's just coming off eventually anyways. The RTAK coating started out rough, and smoothed out quickly at points of contact.

I like the high ride sometimes, it works very well when I toss a knife on my packs hipbelt. keeps things up out of the way when my fat lazy ass dumps on a down tree or something to stop for a smoke. But other times I like the lowriders too. I just cant be happy, heh.
 
Congratulations, Vic! :thumbup:

Another fine knife to your collections of users, and another contender for my first RAT ... :p
 
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