What happened between Ontario and Randall and why did he split to form ESEE?

B

bowieknifenick

Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
71
Been lurking a lot lately since getting my Ontario RTAK 2, and I've heard some stuff going around that Ontario and Randall Knives split, and I hear how some people won't buy Ontario because of it. Just wondering what happened. I can't seem to find anything about it on the internet. Some hings were also said about Ontarios quality but I've had no problems and I've heard around that their QC has gone up in the past years. Just wondering what all the beef is with Ontario.

Just curious, won't stop me from buying and owning Ontario's. To me they have great value and have held up great. Have several of their knives.
 
Here is what it says on ESEE's own website: https://www.eseeknives.com/about.htm

Randall's Adventure Training ® has been in business since 1997, training military, law enforcement, and civilians in the art of jungle survival. During our survival training ventures, we recognized the need for a better knife for our jungle school. Machete's were too thin and flexible and sheath knives were too small and lacked cutting efficiency. Our problem was solved when we designed the RTAK, a large sheath knife that offered the cutting efficiency of a machete with the hard work features of a sheath knife. We commissioned Newt Livesay of Wicked Knife Co. to build the first models of this knife. To our surprise, the RTAK became very popular and we soon had more orders than Newt had shop time.

In 2002 Randall's Adventure & Training (RAT) licensed Ontario Knife Co to build the RTAK on a 5-year contract term. During that time frame, Randall's Adventure & Training designed additional knives that were also built by Ontario, and secured government NSN numbers on two of the designs.

After our Ontario contract ended in April, 2007, we decided to produce a higher quality line of knives outside of the mass production capabilities of Ontario. The new ESEE ® Line (Formerly RAT Cutlery) is considered "mid-tech" in the sense of quality and manufacturing procedures. This means you will notice upgrades to sheathing, fit, finish and detail on ESEE ® knives. Most important, ESEE ® is now in a position to respond quickly to new product development and upgrades to existing lines. All of our designs fit the bill of desirable field cutlery when it comes to toughness, comfort, and cutting efficiency.
Click to expand...

and this was their take on the matter: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...of-happenings-between-Ontario-and-RAT-Cutlery

RAT / ESEE used to have a subforum here, they closed it, they now have their own forum at jungletraining.com.

The summation is that RAT contracted with Ontario to make some knives. When the contract ended, RAT planned on having the knives made to higher standards by a different manufacturer, Ontario pursued legal action to retain rights to produce the RAT line of knives and evidently "won" and continue to make RAT knives with reference to Jeff Randall. http://www.ontario-knife-store.com/rat-knives/ https://ontarioknife.com/fixed-blades/rat-series

Jeff and Mike moved production to Rowen Mfg in Idaho and there produce ESEE knives.
 
Hello UKE Man!
Hey BKN...it finally arrived! Right on!
That's a lot of knife right there!
I wish I would have bought the book "The Razors Edge. J. Juranich" I think...
It is one of the best books I've read about caring for knives, knife edge anyway...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top