Dave Markowitz
Member
Last week I picked up an Ontario RAT-3 knife from Knifecenter.com.
The 3.5" blade is made from 1095 carbon. The knife is also available in D2, but I wanted one that was a bit easier to sharpen. It has a flat grind and a full tang. The handle scales are made from linen micarta. There is a finger notch at the ricasso to facilitate choking up on the blade when performing fine cutting tasks. Except for the edge, the blade has a black epoxy coating to protect it against corrosion.
The kydex sheath was made by Blade Tech. It comes with two ways to attach it to yourself. Out of the box it had a boot clip. It also came with a Tech-Lock fastener which can be used to clip it to a belt or webbing. I replaced the boot clip with the Tech-Lock but may reverse this decision. The knife clicks into and out of the sheath. It's held very securely and the papers which came with the knife note that if you remove the boot clip and Tech-Lock, you can attach the sheath to some cord and wear it as a neck knife. Even carried handle-down, the knife should remain in place until you take it out.
The RAT-3 came sharp and I didn't touch the edge before trying it out. The first test was cutting some slices of summer sausage and jalapeno monterey jack cheese for a snack. The blade is thin enough to slice food well.
This afternoon I took it out back and tried it out on some wood. Finding a dried out arborvitae stick, I proceeded to make a pile of shavings, as if I needed to start a fire. The RAT-3 worked well for this, allowing me to quickly make the pile of shavings shown below.
The back of the blade has some jimping which I found to be a bit abrasive to my thumb, when used as a thumb rest. It's the only negative I see in this knife.
If you're looking for a small fixed blade knife made here in the USA from carbon steel, for well under $100, it's worth a look.
The 3.5" blade is made from 1095 carbon. The knife is also available in D2, but I wanted one that was a bit easier to sharpen. It has a flat grind and a full tang. The handle scales are made from linen micarta. There is a finger notch at the ricasso to facilitate choking up on the blade when performing fine cutting tasks. Except for the edge, the blade has a black epoxy coating to protect it against corrosion.
The kydex sheath was made by Blade Tech. It comes with two ways to attach it to yourself. Out of the box it had a boot clip. It also came with a Tech-Lock fastener which can be used to clip it to a belt or webbing. I replaced the boot clip with the Tech-Lock but may reverse this decision. The knife clicks into and out of the sheath. It's held very securely and the papers which came with the knife note that if you remove the boot clip and Tech-Lock, you can attach the sheath to some cord and wear it as a neck knife. Even carried handle-down, the knife should remain in place until you take it out.
The RAT-3 came sharp and I didn't touch the edge before trying it out. The first test was cutting some slices of summer sausage and jalapeno monterey jack cheese for a snack. The blade is thin enough to slice food well.
This afternoon I took it out back and tried it out on some wood. Finding a dried out arborvitae stick, I proceeded to make a pile of shavings, as if I needed to start a fire. The RAT-3 worked well for this, allowing me to quickly make the pile of shavings shown below.
The back of the blade has some jimping which I found to be a bit abrasive to my thumb, when used as a thumb rest. It's the only negative I see in this knife.
If you're looking for a small fixed blade knife made here in the USA from carbon steel, for well under $100, it's worth a look.
