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Some of you may have read my earlier thread on the Ontario RAT7 here:
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/defensive-knives-other-weapons/77644-ontario-rat-7-a.html
...and my severe disappointment of the sheath. The knife itself handled well and has done a good job of staying in one piece even with my using it as a small machete on weekend trips.
I had decided though that the 7 was just a wee bit too large and made it almost impossible to do smaller chores...not to mention my total disdain and my doubts as to the usefulness of the sheath as anything other than a basic belt only, vertical only sheath. So... the search was on again. This time I got smart and went straight for the REAL RAT knives. The difference being that it came from RAT Cutlery and not Ontario Knife Company. Apparently there's some politics going on there as it seems the folks making the RAT blades at Ontario were actually split off from RAT Cutlery...like I said politics...
Anyway, I wanted something that was small enough to be able to do normal small type chores such as taking care of fish and small game as well as light whittling, carving work, etc...), but still large enough to handle medium-medium/large tasks like taking down small trees, splitting wood etc...
I settled with the RAT RC4PMB. The 3 letter PMB extension is important here as it seems to signify the "extra" options for the MOLLE back, and extra MOLLE locks. I found mine here:
RAT Cutlery RC-4 Black 4-1/2" Plain Blade with MOLLE Back Sheath - Knifecenter.com
What I received was exactly as specified in the link above and shown in the images. Hope the mods don't mind linking, but I was just showing where I found mine for a decent price and built in pics.
Anyway, I received it today and immediately took it to task. The blade is impenetrable. It came razor sharp, and to see just how well it would hold an edge, I used it in typical tree cutting fashion. I used a small tree branch as a hammer and hammered it through cutting up a 5" diameter downed oak in virtually no time at all. When finished it still EASILY sliced through a section of 4" thick hemp rope.
My objections to Ontario's sheath system was also clearly resolved by RAT. The RAT sheath is well...perfect. If you can't figure out a way to carry it reliably...you are an IDIOT!:king:
I plan on using this new RC4 as my camp/hike knife come September and will let you all know if I run into any issues, although I doubt that will happen as RAT's warranty even seems to cover operator failure...which some of us are prone to every now and then.:redface:
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/defensive-knives-other-weapons/77644-ontario-rat-7-a.html
...and my severe disappointment of the sheath. The knife itself handled well and has done a good job of staying in one piece even with my using it as a small machete on weekend trips.
I had decided though that the 7 was just a wee bit too large and made it almost impossible to do smaller chores...not to mention my total disdain and my doubts as to the usefulness of the sheath as anything other than a basic belt only, vertical only sheath. So... the search was on again. This time I got smart and went straight for the REAL RAT knives. The difference being that it came from RAT Cutlery and not Ontario Knife Company. Apparently there's some politics going on there as it seems the folks making the RAT blades at Ontario were actually split off from RAT Cutlery...like I said politics...
Anyway, I wanted something that was small enough to be able to do normal small type chores such as taking care of fish and small game as well as light whittling, carving work, etc...), but still large enough to handle medium-medium/large tasks like taking down small trees, splitting wood etc...
I settled with the RAT RC4PMB. The 3 letter PMB extension is important here as it seems to signify the "extra" options for the MOLLE back, and extra MOLLE locks. I found mine here:
RAT Cutlery RC-4 Black 4-1/2" Plain Blade with MOLLE Back Sheath - Knifecenter.com
What I received was exactly as specified in the link above and shown in the images. Hope the mods don't mind linking, but I was just showing where I found mine for a decent price and built in pics.
Anyway, I received it today and immediately took it to task. The blade is impenetrable. It came razor sharp, and to see just how well it would hold an edge, I used it in typical tree cutting fashion. I used a small tree branch as a hammer and hammered it through cutting up a 5" diameter downed oak in virtually no time at all. When finished it still EASILY sliced through a section of 4" thick hemp rope.
My objections to Ontario's sheath system was also clearly resolved by RAT. The RAT sheath is well...perfect. If you can't figure out a way to carry it reliably...you are an IDIOT!:king:
I plan on using this new RC4 as my camp/hike knife come September and will let you all know if I run into any issues, although I doubt that will happen as RAT's warranty even seems to cover operator failure...which some of us are prone to every now and then.:redface: