SP-10 Marauder, still the affordable and durable Practi-Cool King.

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Jan 5, 2015
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OK...I went around to some people I gave knives to or advice of what to get, and the most used one all rounder seems to be the SP-10 for the big blades.

My brother uses his all the time for his construction side business and when he woods romps for working for the local fish coppers...er DNR...

Some others throw it in and use it because its the "Big Beater Blade" and such, the SP-51/53s seem to be the "work blades" or one of the big blades for camping and keep in car survival bag. Also the SP-10s go in there also or gets swapped out I think.

Its affordable, durable and I think the main reason for it being the "Vehicle Knife" (Snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, and truck and car knives and water craft camping trip) and a pack knife is it has a REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS.

The SP-10 can almost do as well as the bigger and better SP-53, but the SP-10 has that extra safety feature of a REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS along with its handle safe guard as well to keep your fingers from slipping up when fatigued/hypothermia-ted/totiredtothinkstraightbutmustkeepdoingtasktostayalive and such. Oh and a lanyard capable hole on the bottom.

I'd love to see a full tang version of the SP-10 like the Woodsman they did of the SP-50, (I HATE THE SP-50 but love the woodsman since its full tang...and I got the 420HC type for camp stuff and food prep an one lives in my kitchen, very versatile knife for water borne trips and still do the Batonical of tyrantical botanicals! That's how much a full tang can make a SP-50 hater like me like its cousin type. My "evil" step mother (hey they are called evil by tradition! And we must keep up traditions! right?) stole the one I gave the old man for her kitchen and large critter cutting season.)

The SP-10 is just so dang Practi-Cool to have around and use, and I've used it more than once as woods protection in action, guess that's the thing that made me love it so much. The REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS some may say it keeps it from doing super uber bushy stuff, well I use pocket knife for that weird bushy shaving stuff and such or just the smaller belt knife. (Oh god I love my CERBERUS).

For those steel "Conisewers" who think the 1095 vintage blade is the bester...well as it was explained many times in this Ontario Forum. (See that "Evil" (keeping great knives imprisoned under glass!) Pocket Knife Jimmy's thread) The way 1075 steel OKC formulates does less breaking/chipping while being better for larger knives and other tools and such and using it gives them less warranty work at the cost of a little more sharpening. Me I got both vintages of OKC knives in 1095 and 1075 and can't tell the dang difference in performance.

The SP-10 is the good old reliable, dependable and expendable (IE your relatives "Accidentally" pack it in their pack and run away with it or the canoe flips over) "Big Knife" that is the proverbiable jack of all trades and master of a few big blade things to do.

Well, you decide if you want one, I highly recommend as basic large blades, as the REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS seems best for people getting use to a big blade as well.
 
The SP-10 is a great knife, no doubt. I know I love mine. Full tang or not, I have beat the snot out of mine by batoning them through firewood with no breakage or chipping.

All that being said, I think it is great to be able to have the choice of so many different steels and from different manufacturers and different styles of blades. Choices are awesome and just 1 part of what makes this country great. I have been to a "department store" in Soviet East Berlin in the early 80's & that experience is burnt into my memory bank forever.

Choice is good. I have knives & axes in all types of steel and like them all. 1055, 1075, 1095, 1095 CroVan, 420HC, 440C, 5160 tool steel, S7 tool steel. Nothing wrong with good steel. And think everyone can agree that some steels have properties that would be a benefit in certain situations.
 
I'd love one of them old SP-10 5160 Marauders'!

The SP-10 is a great all round big knife, despite it be an entry level knife, it can do many things well that the other big blades can do and its more affordable and the REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS with the extra guard on the handle adds to its safety handling when fatigued and such.

And those "Department Stores" in East Berlinski were the prime top stores in all of the old Sovietismdom! To show off to us Decadent Westerners they can do the full stores as well! With shelves full of Easternski Sovietiski crap products to show they can fill a shelf to!
 
As I read this I am literally holding mine and fondling it while watching Netflix.

The SP10 is definitely a fun and capable big knife.
 
I think I'm ready to buy my first Ontario. I have a gap to fill in the 10" range, and I'm going with the SP5. I like the FFG and the lower weight.
Great choice, it's my most used Ontario SP model. I like it so much I gifted my son and son-in-law each their own.

And keep three for me. 😁

Please bear in mind these are working tools. The grind will likely be imperfect, but the steel is easy to correct with a bastard file, then stones. The sheath is not too bad either. I like them better than the ones that come with the large Beckers.
 
Great choice, it's my most used Ontario SP model. I like it so much I gifted my son and son-in-law each their own.

And keep three for me. 😁

Please bear in mind these are working tools. The grind will likely be imperfect, but the steel is easy to correct with a bastard file, then stones. The sheath is not too bad either. I like them better than the ones that come with the large Beckers.
Yessir, I usually end up messing with the grind anyway, so I'm ok with a little re-profile if need be. Made in USA for under $60, something has got to give. I'll settle for doing a little finishing work if the materials and construction are good.
 
Come check my channel out on Youtube.. I have a 20 degree edge on my SP2 and it cuts like a charm.. I am also in the process of beating the snot out of it to see what it can take.
 
Yea, I need to just get one I keep looking and keep doing the responsible thing (sigh....).
The metal quillion is a big selling point for me especially as I like to use bowies for machete work.
 
Come check my channel out on Youtube.. I have a 20 degree edge on my SP2 and it cuts like a charm.. I am also in the process of beating the snot out of it to see what it can take.

Ive had an SP4 for a decade and a half and the finish is just starting to come off somehwere other than the tip.... you're probably gonna be beating for a bit lol.
 
My kniece came up and asked for a knife like dad's. I asked what one, and she grabbed my SP-10 out of my car and put it in her's and drove off. She's her dad's cement laying foreman. Her dad uses his SP-10 for a lot of construction things. Oh well, need to order a new one. The neices and nephews are the only ones who can pull that on me knives that are still in production and well...um I just remembered I had one of my Cerberuses mollied to that knife...she must of saw that. :eek: Oh well...she's not the type to get things she don't need, so she gets away with it...again.
 
Received my SP-10 few days ago. The grinding of the blade was a little of overall, meaning slightly uneven left to right on the primary bevel, resulting on an uneven secondary bevel. The swedge is
a little of, too. Other than that, it is a giant of a knife and I really love it. I reground the secondary bevel to a 25 degree convex and kept the rest as it is. Even the sheath, many don't like it I recon, I found
to be very usable. It fits the old school vibes I get from this knife. The slight QC issues I can forget about, because of the price and than it will be a workhorse anyways. Build to use and build to last.
 
Ontario Hand Grinds their blades. When Tooj was there, he greatly increased their QC. My first 4 SP-53s were wavely ground...returned them twice (ordered 2 at the first time) and their CS took them back both times and sent me a new batch that was just produced from their production run. Took a few weeks for that to be done, but they wanted to get it right and I told them I could wait. The SP-51s I had are my main to in to middle of wilderhood choppers. And they came back perfect. That was when they just started their QC improved hand grinding. I've had a few "Slight Off" grinds from OKC over the years, but a touch with a ~GASP~ pull through sharpener and a touch on the Razor Edge Mouse Trap Honer, they turned out great. Although a leather belt strop probably could do as much as my fancy smancy Mouse Trap Contraption. Now the SP-53s are 1075, probably still tough of heck and still get what they were designed for to do, but OKC spoiled me on 5160!

The SP-10 is one of the best use and abuse blades out there that are affordable, reliable and dependable. And I say the the standard handle and then the REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS is an extra safety feature for when your cold, tired and fatiqued when your using the SP-10 out in the wilderhood. I made the lesser experienced ones use it over my standard choppers just because of the REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS to protect against hand go forward on blade and cut finger off syndrome. And they think I let them use the more tacticool knife because I like them better.
 
Same here, managed to get one in the UK cheap and the primary bevel was off and secondary was poor. Spent an hr or so reprofiling the secondary bevel and it now cuts paper when sharp. Overall for the price it's a great knife, batoning and chopping now with a more acute primary bevel is good - not far off my Granfors hatchet. Wasn't sold on the Bowie style but love the Sp10 as a no nonsense hard use knife. With the finger choil it will also do half decent feather sticks. Balance is good in hand too for such a large/heavy knife.
 
OKC hand grinds their knives. I tell people they are Cheap, as it affordable, reliable, dependable and if need be expendable, so you don't need to still keep up the 43 payments left on the knife that broke or went over with the other packs when the canoe tips over. (always strap your packs to to the Gunnel/Crossbarsupports on the canoe! It takes less than a minute!) Grind quality can vary, but they aren't as wildly differnt like in the past. Their QC has gone up. And from my personal experience, great feral critter defense.
 
OK...today was saved by the REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS, I am tired, exhausted, and fatigued due to heart med side effects. I remembered to take the Training Wheel REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS Knife, my SP-10, to do some what I thought was easy stuff that I did many times before. My grip got weak and my hand slipped up the handle. My hand was stopped by the REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS probably saving me from a bad cut that combined with my blood thinners and vascular openers would of been an emergency room trip. That's one reason the SP-10 is taken on my wintery outings and on the water borne ones even. And is in the car as a real survival blade duty. The REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS is an extra safety feature along with the regular rubberish guard for when your, fatigued or exhausted and tired from cold/hypothermia or what ever like say..heart meds.

The SP-10 seems to of worked well for people I gifted them to. The SP-8 also for in the Urbanwilderhood settings as its "A Chisel!" looking thing. Both are great car knives.
 
Yep, as above as cold/hypothermia as having to use the SP-10, hand slipped up a few times but the REAL GUARD/QUILLON/WHATEVERTHEYCALLITNOWADAYS stopped a some thing worse from happening a few times. Really didn't think about much till I realized the 6 times my hand almost slipped up the handle way after the fact.
 
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