Why no love for the Ontario Gen II SP46 Survival Knife ?

pitdog

pitdog

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Apr 13, 2007
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Beckers get lots of mentions here as do Ka-Bars so after looking and reading about the Ontario Gen II SP46 Survival Knife I have to wonder why they aren't ever mentioned ?

The dimensions look perfect for a camp/survival knife, it has a great looking full flat grind, good steel and heat treat and is sold at a great price......why no love for these ???

ontario20gen20ii.jpg

By pitdog2010 at 2011-05-24
 
I think it looks great bro, I love the blade geometry. I like a few of the Gen IIs, I just haven't gotten any...yet.
 
5160 and Ontario's heat treat is a good combination. However, I think a lot of folks are probably not too enamored with a top guard and Kraton handle.
 
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One cool thing about the spec pluses is that the guards are easily modified.
 
I've seen other pics where it looks like there is no top guard on the Gen 2's. they look great and the prices are very reasonable.
 
I like the way a lot of them look, I just like other knives a lot more. Nothing wrong with them though.
 
I prefer the handles on the Freedom Fighter series - steel guard and buttcap/hammer pommel.
 
I've been wondering the same thing. Not crazy about the SP46, but I have been eyeing the SP50:
http://www.chestnutridgeknifeshop.com/catalog/popup_image.php?pID=950&osCsid=629d3ddd4feefa52329563379299f6ae
Seems like a direct competitor to some of the medium-sized choppers out there. For a big ol' slab of 5160, you can't hardly beat the price (about $75 or so, depending on where you look).

pitdog said:
Beckers get lots of mentions here as do Ka-Bars so after looking and reading about the Ontario Gen II SP46 Survival Knife I have to wonder why they aren't ever mentioned ?

The dimensions look perfect for a camp/survival knife, it has a great looking full flat grind, good steel and heat treat and is sold at a great price......why no love for these ???

ontario20gen20ii.jpg

By pitdog2010 at 2011-05-24
Click to expand...
 
Mannlicher said:
I don't feel a lot of love for any knife marketed as a 'survival knife'.
Click to expand...

I prefer that to anything marketed as "tactical".


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I think there's only one or two knives in that series where the sheaths fit properly. Most of the sheaths are too long. other than that, they seem like solid knives - made in the USA.
 
I really like the looks of the knife. But I already have too many knives the same size that I don't use.
 
"Survival" and "Tactical" are just words. Nothing to be afraid of.

They could call my favorite knife a "tampon" knife, and I still would have bought it.

Doesn't change how the knife is used for me.
 
There is a good write up on them that I read a while ago http://www.pekiti.com/knife-reviews-ontario-spec.php

I was curious about them but I think you are paying for the new machinery with the $70+ prices.

You can find most the Ranger line with micarta handles for the same price.

Like Bear Claw said the sheaths too...I've seen a couple spots where people said Ontario says they will start shipping them out with better sheaths but seems like the same bare-bones $2 China sheaths.

I don't know if the larger models would be that much greater than an older Spec Plus SP5 in 1095 for $45 which had a better sheath and years of good feedback. The smaller models just need to drop in price.
 
Well, a lot of people just don't like the looks of gear aimed at military use. I suispect this is the lion's share of the problem.

Others are too cheap to buy a knife that costs more than $10.

Some don't like the Kraton handles, and I would recommend you wear gloves if using them for extended periods.

Some don't like guards on their knives, either for looks, or for using. But guards can be "fixed" if you really don't like them, or worked around if you do like them.

OrdnanceBubbaUSMC said:
Like Bear Claw said the sheaths too...I've seen a couple spots where people said Ontario says they will start shipping them out with better sheaths but seems like the same bare-bones $2 China sheaths.
Click to expand...

I think Bear Claw was referring to the sheaths on the "tampon" knife. ;)

Although Ontario sheaths are nothing to write home about, at least they give you something usable until you get something better. Many knives fit in Spec Ops sheaths, and there's plenty of leather and kydex benders on the board.
 
I own the GenII SP46 and I think it's a pretty decent knife for the price, it's hard to beat 5160 in terms of toughness and mine has held up fine over the long haul my only quarells are about the sheath which is useable but pretty shabby but overall I feel the Gen II knives are sleepers in the knife world and truely are good values for the money.
 
The sheaths on them are horrible. I've noticed that Ontario doesn't get much love at all on BF, other than their machetes. Their knives are as solid as any other similar factory knife (Kabar, Becker, ESEE) and a damn sight better than a lot of the others out on the market.
 
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