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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
RMD For go to woods knife
- Thread starter Thor1986
- Start date
- Joined
- May 31, 2005
- Messages
- 6,860
So it's the little-bear of the knife world? LOL
Still waiting on mine. Hoping soon after Blade.
Still waiting on mine. Hoping soon after Blade.
TLR
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 1,568
I just got mine in this week. I got a HRLM and a Ratmandu.
I've been using a Fallkniven F1 as my go to woods knife for about 8 years now. It's a phenomenal knife and I was looking for something around the same size to try out. I first got an ESEE 4. Excellent knife but I found that the handle just didn't work for me. It's handle is a little shorter than the F1 and just didn't work for me.
My hope was that the Ratmandu or the HRLM would work for me. Let me just say that these two knives are awesome. Both have the exact same handle specs and the handles work perfectly for me. Very comfortable the perfect size for my mitts.
My initial impressions are that the ratmandu will be my go to woods knife from here on out. It has a little more length than my F1 which I think is a big plus but it still is a very controllable knife design. You can choke up on it for finer work and yet you can also move your grip back and do a little light chopping. The extra length should also make batoning a little easier and work great for fire building and general camp chores. It's exactly what I've been looking for.
Now the next question is... where does that leave the HRLM. As soon as I picked it up I couldn't think of a better hunting knife. Great blade size and shape for gutting and skinning and big enough to take care of myself in a survival situation. The edge may need just a little thinning but I'm really happy that I got both.
If I'm going in the woods for hiking, backpacking or camping the ratmandu is going to be with me. If I'm going hunting for short trips the HRLM will be my preferred blade.
The other piece to this equation is a good sheath and I couldn't be happier with the sheaths steelnut made for me. Excellently crafted and he was the only one that I found that had a short drop attachment which I love.
I've been using a Fallkniven F1 as my go to woods knife for about 8 years now. It's a phenomenal knife and I was looking for something around the same size to try out. I first got an ESEE 4. Excellent knife but I found that the handle just didn't work for me. It's handle is a little shorter than the F1 and just didn't work for me.
My hope was that the Ratmandu or the HRLM would work for me. Let me just say that these two knives are awesome. Both have the exact same handle specs and the handles work perfectly for me. Very comfortable the perfect size for my mitts.
My initial impressions are that the ratmandu will be my go to woods knife from here on out. It has a little more length than my F1 which I think is a big plus but it still is a very controllable knife design. You can choke up on it for finer work and yet you can also move your grip back and do a little light chopping. The extra length should also make batoning a little easier and work great for fire building and general camp chores. It's exactly what I've been looking for.
Now the next question is... where does that leave the HRLM. As soon as I picked it up I couldn't think of a better hunting knife. Great blade size and shape for gutting and skinning and big enough to take care of myself in a survival situation. The edge may need just a little thinning but I'm really happy that I got both.
If I'm going in the woods for hiking, backpacking or camping the ratmandu is going to be with me. If I'm going hunting for short trips the HRLM will be my preferred blade.
The other piece to this equation is a good sheath and I couldn't be happier with the sheaths steelnut made for me. Excellently crafted and he was the only one that I found that had a short drop attachment which I love.
The RMD is my go to woods knife. Lately I have been gathering fat wood on one of our local bush trails and the RMD along with a Bahco saw have been doing the processing.
What I like about the RMD is that I can easily get a wicked slicing edge on it , yet the knife is still robust and tough enough for chopping and batoning.
What I like about the RMD is that I can easily get a wicked slicing edge on it , yet the knife is still robust and tough enough for chopping and batoning.
I picked up an RMD a while back. It has replaced my RC4 as my EDC fixed blade. I convexed the edge and it works very well for bushcraft chores, as well as being tough enough for some very serious work. The added length does indeed aid in batonning.
One thing I really like about the RMD is that it actualy has a very good handle unlike many designs which have a good blade design and anemic handles.
One thing I really like about the RMD is that it actualy has a very good handle unlike many designs which have a good blade design and anemic handles.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2008
- Messages
- 1,164
I could not have said it better myself. The RMD is one of my favorite go-to knives for just about everything, except chopping.
I would recommend the RDM for a woods knife but that is all. I have been working hours on a diamond stone to get a edge that is more usable. As it stands the angle is much too obtuse and uneven for anything but outdoor abuse. I also say ether convex a new grind or reprofile to something even remotely close to 40 degrees inclusive. The still is too good to leave it with the poor factory grind.
Agreed. Great all around knife. I love it for hiking. If camping or expect to chop and split a fair amount, then having something bigger would make life easier.