MTMilitiaman
Member
I've been looking for a decent survival/woods knife for a while now. I quickly decided I wanted a clip point blade of about six inches, for overall utility. I wanted a bottom guard but preferred a guard be absent along the spine of the blade so I could put my thumb there, as this helps with some tasks. I like G10 and Micarta, but was willing to negotiate if the handle was functional and comfortable. I also prefer carbon steel to stainless and a full flat grind, but was flexible here as well.
I started this journey with a Cold Steel SRK, which I liked, but gave to an uncle because that Lynn C Thompson guy is obnoxious, and I figured there was plenty of knife makers out there who didn't annoy me.
I picked up a Benchmade Arvensis next. This knife was wonderfully well made, and perfectly balanced. It felt lively and nimble in the hand, was very well made, and kept a good edge. I could work around the dual guard, but the sheath was crap. It was the el cheapo plastic unit with zero retention. The knife rattled in the sheath and was completely dependent on this equally cheap faux leather strap that buttoned over the guard. It was the single most Mickey Mouse thing I have ever seen Benchmade put their name on. I hated it, and was in the process of looking for aftermarket kydex for it when Benchmade's questionable politics became an issue and I decided to just replace the knife completely.
On to the Ontario Ranger RD-6. It was perfect. It had a blade of ideal length and profile, right down to the full flat grind. It had my favorite blade steel (5160). I love this knife. If it had come with the same nylon sheath as my OKC Spearpoint Bowie, which is nylon, but functional, the RD-6 would have been the end of my quest. Alas, OKC changed the sheath from that which was in the videos I watched on Youtube to some useless POS nylon rig. What a disappointment. Knife makers ruining great knives was quickly becoming a reoccurring theme and a pet peeve of mine.
Frustrated, I tried Cleveland Kydex for a custom sheath, but they decided they didn't want my money. So I checked other manufactures: CRKT, Gerber, SOG, KaBar..pretty much anyone I could think of that wasn't a custom knife maker, and thus could keep this on a working man's budget.
Finally ended up just buying another SRK. Lynn Thompson is still obnoxious, but at least he cares enough to send his knives in functional sheaths. The Secure Ex is about as good of a sheath as you're going to find on a knife from the factory, and being able to carry and use your knife is important. Nothing is so annoying to me as having a knife show up wrapped in some half-ass Mickey Mouse contraption obviously made by a 12 year old paid a dime an hour in a sweat shop in Bangladesh. And I am fed up with it, personally.
I am done buying knives until someone other than Cold Steel wants to step up and send their knives to me in something functional. It's 2019. There is no excuse for the dysfunctional crap knife manufactures are sending their knives with these days.
(top to bottom) classic Kabar, Benchmade Arvensis, Gerber Strongarm, OKC RAT3, OKC Spearpoint Bowie, OKC Ranger RD-6.
I started this journey with a Cold Steel SRK, which I liked, but gave to an uncle because that Lynn C Thompson guy is obnoxious, and I figured there was plenty of knife makers out there who didn't annoy me.
I picked up a Benchmade Arvensis next. This knife was wonderfully well made, and perfectly balanced. It felt lively and nimble in the hand, was very well made, and kept a good edge. I could work around the dual guard, but the sheath was crap. It was the el cheapo plastic unit with zero retention. The knife rattled in the sheath and was completely dependent on this equally cheap faux leather strap that buttoned over the guard. It was the single most Mickey Mouse thing I have ever seen Benchmade put their name on. I hated it, and was in the process of looking for aftermarket kydex for it when Benchmade's questionable politics became an issue and I decided to just replace the knife completely.
On to the Ontario Ranger RD-6. It was perfect. It had a blade of ideal length and profile, right down to the full flat grind. It had my favorite blade steel (5160). I love this knife. If it had come with the same nylon sheath as my OKC Spearpoint Bowie, which is nylon, but functional, the RD-6 would have been the end of my quest. Alas, OKC changed the sheath from that which was in the videos I watched on Youtube to some useless POS nylon rig. What a disappointment. Knife makers ruining great knives was quickly becoming a reoccurring theme and a pet peeve of mine.
Frustrated, I tried Cleveland Kydex for a custom sheath, but they decided they didn't want my money. So I checked other manufactures: CRKT, Gerber, SOG, KaBar..pretty much anyone I could think of that wasn't a custom knife maker, and thus could keep this on a working man's budget.
Finally ended up just buying another SRK. Lynn Thompson is still obnoxious, but at least he cares enough to send his knives in functional sheaths. The Secure Ex is about as good of a sheath as you're going to find on a knife from the factory, and being able to carry and use your knife is important. Nothing is so annoying to me as having a knife show up wrapped in some half-ass Mickey Mouse contraption obviously made by a 12 year old paid a dime an hour in a sweat shop in Bangladesh. And I am fed up with it, personally.
I am done buying knives until someone other than Cold Steel wants to step up and send their knives to me in something functional. It's 2019. There is no excuse for the dysfunctional crap knife manufactures are sending their knives with these days.
(top to bottom) classic Kabar, Benchmade Arvensis, Gerber Strongarm, OKC RAT3, OKC Spearpoint Bowie, OKC Ranger RD-6.
