Swamp Rat Ratmandu as a woods knife?

desmobob said:
I like a nice polished stainless steel blade for food. The blade on my Helle Harding is so nicely polished it also serves as a mirror!

Stay sharp,
desmobob
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I haven't seen a knife yet where a coating impressed me. They all just show wear on the high points and I'm sure as heck not worried aout taking out a sentry in the middle of the night. IMHO, they can leave the crud off the nice steel. Textured coatings are even worse, creating friction and catching crud. It's all Rambo-Mall-Ninja stuff!

A good principle of design is being true to the materials: steel should look like steel, plastic should look like plastic (rather than wood), etc.
 
Hey Guys..

Dale..

I tend to agree with you..
however I don't mind a nice coating..

What Busse use to put on the E Series and their Basic series was good...

Don't like the new Krinkle coat at all,, and Especially don't like that frigging sand coating..
It's not practical at all,,and only causes problem..

Especially in a kydex sheath....

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Its all about rust not sentry silence. Coatings if they are decent inhibit rust 100% where it is located. I dont have the time personally to baby my blades. I rarely even clean them just touch them up when needed. Good coatings allow me to do this with no guilt.

Couldnt care less what the blade looks like or if its polished as I will beat the cuteness out of in no time anyway. Safe queens, sure polish and wax and stare at them for as long as you want to.

Skam
 
Re: coatings

I picked up that Kershaw Outcast a few weeks ago and the coating just gets scratched and rubs off the sharper-angled edges. If you need a knife to use in a corrosive environment like salt water, there are plenty of options. That and I like the look of nekkid tool steel and hand rubbed/satin finishes.
 
There are major durability differences with coatings, agreed. Some arent worth a damn. Some adhere like they are part of the steel itself. Great for people like me who rarely clean or tend to their blades if they dont have to.

Skam
 
I've owned one and currently own a Howling Rat LM. That knife is fine, I just realized I like the blade length/style more on the Howler so I sold the Ratmandu to my buddy. The howler is my go to hiking knife. The Ratmandu is my buddies.:thumbup:
 
DaleW said:
I haven't seen a knife yet where a coating impressed me. They all just show wear on the high points and I'm sure as heck not worried aout taking out a sentry in the middle of the night. IMHO, they can leave the crud off the nice steel. Textured coatings are even worse, creating friction and catching crud. It's all Rambo-Mall-Ninja stuff!

A good principle of design is being true to the materials: steel should look like steel, plastic should look like plastic (rather than wood), etc.
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I personally like the looks of a scratched coating. I batoned said Howler through some apple tree branches just to show wear on the coating. I think it looks better like that. :D
 
The only blade coating I like is years of patina from use. If you take care of your equipment there is no need at all for coatings.

I have never seen one of those mandu knives in person but it is not something I would choose for a woods knife. Chris
 
I do like coatings, because I hate rust. And sometimes, there's just no time to baby the blades when you actually have things to do. With some steels rust shows up so quickly it's absurd, and if you have to stay out for days and weeks in a wet forest, having to baby your knives a tad less helps quite a lot. Are coatings necessary on any knife? No. But can they be useful? Sure. Are they ugly? As hell itself, after some heavy use.

You'll do fine in the woods with that Swamp Rat, although it's quite thick for more precise cutting tasks.
 
Elen said:
And sometimes, there's just no time to baby the blades when you actually have things to do. .
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From SWA, Europe, and Africa to the darkest south GA swamp, I have never been so busy I didn't have enough time to wipe down my knife and my rifle. Chris
 
runningboar said:
From SWA, Europe, and Africa to the darkest south GA swamp, I have never been so busy I didn't have enough time to wipe down my knife and my rifle. Chris
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Well, that's good for you. :) Doesn't necessarily help anyone else, though, depending on what they're doing. Sometimes, you may not even have anything much to wipe down the knife with. At those times, a coating can be pretty useful, although still not necessary.
 
Moisture can rust over night, a coating helps a lot in minimizing. I do wipe the blade down when I think of it but sometimes s%@t happens. I am also in my gear so often with training and live missions that it gets dumped into a corner for a few days till I get energy to deal with it.

Skam
 
I have a 30K ruck with full combat gear starting at 0345 in the morning, at 12:00 I have a change of command ceremony and at 17:30 I have a company dinner to attend with my wife. Before my head hits my pillow tomorow night my gear will be recovered and put away. Chris
 
michaelmcgo said:
The knife I made is made out of 3/16" O1 tool steel. 6" blade. I CNC most of it at the shop I work at (about 10 hours of CAD/CNC time) and finished it by hand. The handle scales are polished green G10. The thing is the sharpest knife I own, unfortunately, I broke my pinkie finger on my right hand last year, and now I can't use this style of grip :mad:.


I just finished up this one, same steel and handles:
DSC01517.jpg

DSC01522.jpg
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Have you considered a Knifemakers membeship? Those are some nice blades. Nothing quite like what I have seen before. I'm sure you'd get some business...;):thumbup:
 
runningboar said:
I have a 30K ruck with full combat gear starting at 0345 in the morning, at 12:00 I have a change of command ceremony and at 17:30 I have a company dinner to attend with my wife. Before my head hits my pillow tomorow night my gear will be recovered and put away. Chris
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Heros like you make me look bad.;)

Swing by and put mine in order will ya.:thumbup:

Skam
 
No thanks, just put some more spray paint over the funk and continue to talk your crap about good gear that you are too lazy to keep clean. Chris
 
Normark said:
You could also set the blade in some hot coals for 15-20 mins to kill the germs on it..
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15-20 minutes "in some hot coals" ???!?

What kind of germs do you think would live past 1-2 minutes? Hope the handle doesn't melt.....

Keep it in hot coals that long, you'll lose your blade temper pretty fast.

.
 
runningboar said:
From SWA, Europe, and Africa to the darkest south GA swamp, I have never been so busy I didn't have enough time to wipe down my knife and my rifle. Chris
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I agree with Chris on this one, the tougher the environment, and more dire the circumstances calls for really watching out and caring for your equipment.

Breaking off a blade, even a tip, or getting Salmonella in the bush is no way to endure a survival situation.

If I am camping, and have lighters and matches and such, i don't care about the fire, I can relight it. In a survival situation, backpacking 50 miles from civilization, I am going to baby that fire , and my gear, as my life depends on it most.

Trivia fact: Most hikers who claim giardia and crypto from tainted water sources actually are found to have salmonella, botulism, etc. from their haphazard food prep. while out in the wilds. They fail to wash hands, and use their SAK for everything, including food prep without so much as a quick wipe down.
Diahrrea and heaving my guts out are not how I want to camp, hike or survive.
 
Looks like you have three good choices for a woods knife already. You should use them some, and see what works best!
 
David E said:
15-20 minutes "in some hot coals" ???!?

What kind of germs do you think would live past 1-2 minutes? Hope the handle doesn't melt.....

Keep it in hot coals that long, you'll lose your blade temper pretty fast.

.
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Why, a Swamp Rat of course!


I was actually thinking the same thing, I'd be a bit worried about the temper too.
 
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