which one

[Fonly]

BK7 for me, its has gome through two years worth of crap, battoning, mild chopping, shaving almost everytime I went to camp. It was the camp knife I brought for one reason, absolute full tang. That was a big reason why the Recon scout was never bought, and buying a rat 7 was waaayy out of my price range at the time.
The bk7 was the knife for me, a RAT RC6 has taken its place, that where my vote would go if you were looking for something other, but of those three bk7 is the way in my eyes. Its served me back east, and that was a full year of woods loafing, no I didn't work, I saved up!

 

[coaldigger]

BK-7 :thumbup:

 

[TheGame]

Not to get anymore annoying than I am already..there is probubly way more to discuss about CS than RAT..thats why I like just dealing with the knives and not who makes them.

True, however they are different matters of politics, which I rather not get into with people who know more about it than I.

 

[udtjim]

The problem with knife politics here is that in any political difference there is always two sides, on the Ontario matter you will never hear the other side. Whenever CS Or Ontario are mentioned, it probably should be moved to the Political forum because it is seldom about the products which Sucks IMO.

 

[kgd]

The problem with knife politics here is that in any political difference there is always two sides, on the Ontario matter you will never hear the other side. Whenever CS Or Ontario are mentioned, it probably should be moved to the Political forum because it is seldom about the products which Sucks IMO.

Well I don't really want to turn this into a debate that gets moved into W&C or elsewhere. People can look at the issues themselves using the search feature.

I'll just state again that politics is important to me in how I make my purchasing decisions. It is also important to other members. It isn't all just about impersonal specs, performance and price. Knife buying, for us diehard fans, is a highly personal choice and people like to know all the angles they can before buying. When the OP asks, which between these three knives would you choose, they are asking for personal opinions and reasons why. Specs and performance is one class of information, reputation of the company, service and warranty are other dimensions.

 

[Rupestris]

BK7.
Its the only one I have experience with and its just a great knife.

 

[Ankar Sheng]

The RAT7 is a very nice knife and I'm quite fond of the design. It's balanced right at the guard, the drop point gives a better surface for batoning than clip points. Though I'm generally opposed to choils, they have a place on knives this size, and the RAT7 does have a very usable choil.
It has a nice handle with micarta scales. They could be rounded a bit more on the edges, but the finish on them certainly isnt bad and they are rounded off better than those on my Ranger.
Unlike the becker it doesnt have a "guard" on the bottom of the handle. My ranger has a handle shape closer to the Becker and I find it abrades the pinky finger when chopping. I also like that--with the use of a lanyard--you can take a 3 finger grip to maximize chopping power.
You can tell the Mr. Randal payed attention to detail designing it, even the lanyard hole has the edges beveled.

There's only one thing I'd like to change about this knife, and thats the edge thickness, which is at 0.06" at the shoulder of the bevel, I'd prefer it a little thinner, thats all.

I dont really care for the double sided guard on the Recon Scout, it might be a desirable feature in a fighter but thats just a fantasy feature as far as I'm concerned, and guards like that really get in the way of what I actually use knives for.

The Ranger RD7 is also a knife worth considering, but it is quite a bit heftier than the RAT at .25" thick and over 1" longer OAL.

If you decided to go with a RAT7, shoot me an email, I've got one thats not getting the attention it deserves. :thumbup:

 

[udtjim]

Well it's no big deal really, outside of a couple knife forums there is no knife politics and the tools are judged on their merit. I am sure both companies will continue to do just fine.