Novice “Range” Report – RTAK II Knife

[Shoots4Fun]

I’ve been reading The Cutting Edge more and more in the last year and you guys have killed me as I’ve fallen in love with better and better knives.
I just bought a RTAK II from Ontario Knives. I know there are many politics been ESEE and Ontario. I don’t mean for this to be a "Versus Post". This is just my report from my limited experience.
I decide on the Ontario RTAK II because I love the ESEE Izula that I bought from Knife Lady about 6 months ago. I’ve been debating between the various models of the ESEE’s for months now trying to decide my next one. I decided I was looking for something sizable to use in the woods, something different than a machete but something that had many uses. Money is a huge factor for me, but I know you get what you pay for. I wanted to buy the ESEE Junglas but decided to go the route of the RTAK II because of the considerably lower cost.

Here’s the specs:
Manufacturer: Ontario Knives, Franklinville, NY
Designer: Jeff Randall
Blade: Drop Point, 1095 Carbon Steel with foliage green powder coating, 10.25 inches long, 3/16” thick
Handle: 6.5 inches long, canvas micarta (lanyard hole in the pommel)
Sheath: Molle compatible, hard plastic covered with Cordura nylon. Utility pouch on the outside
Weight: 2.2 pounds
Price I paid: $86 without shipping.

(Notice I have some of Tyler34's handy work hanging from my backpack/Izula sheath...)
I took it to the woods today and worked it over some. I chopped a few small trees down, used the knife to split some logs using a baton that I made from one of the small trees I cut. It performed better than I could have hoped. I really love this knife. It didn’t seem too big at all once I had it in action. It also cleaned up nicely considering the workout it got for its initial trip.

Pros:
Seemed great for working in the woods, cutting and splitting wood. Perfect fit for my hand. Hand wasn’t sore after using it for a few hours.
Very Sharp from the factory.
Price.
Sheath has a lot of options for wearing/mounting using the Molle connectors, plus I like the utility pouch.

Cons:
Not ESEE.
Sheath it not Kydex like the Junglas’.
Didn’t buy it local.
A little heavy for general machete-type brush clearing.

That's my review. I welcome your feedback and ideas. I'll let you know how it holds up on subsequent trips or if I have any problems or complaints in the future.

 

[sadclownwp]

To heck with what people say about the EESE vs Ontario debate. Both are solid knives. and I don't know anyone who has personally broke either of them. I've been sporting Ontario Knives for years, done lots of camping and hiking, shelter building, and fire building. Ontario is a wonderful and reputable knife company. I have wanted an RTAK II for a long long time. Because of there price i went with an Ontario SP-5. Its great as well. I bet that RTAK II makes for a hell of a chopper. Great buy my friend. Expect some rep incoming for the review.

+1 Ontario

 

[Interloper]

I can confirm the RTAK II is a great knife. I joined Shoots4fun to break in my new Ka-Bar.


The finish on the RTAK is great and it is extremely sharp. I would not hesitate to buy it.

BTW, could not be happier with my new BK2.

 

[Hemingway]

To heck with what people say about the EESE vs Ontario debate. Both are solid knives. and I don't know anyone who has personally broke either of them. I've been sporting Ontario Knives for years, done lots of camping and hiking, shelter building, and fire building. Ontario is a wonderful and reputable knife company. I have wanted an RTAK II for a long long time. Because of there price i went with an Ontario SP-5. Its great as well. I bet that RTAK II makes for a hell of a chopper. Great buy my friend. Expect some rep incoming for the review.

+1 Ontario

I don't want to get off track here, the Ontario knives themselves are still pretty decent. The main reason why people are down on Ontario is the absolutely horrible way they treated Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin, to include trying to trademark Jeff's name and sue him to keep him from using his own name in the knife business. Ontario's reputation today is in large part due to Jeff and Mike and Ontario turned around and did them wrong.

Regardless, the Ontario stuff is not up to the quality of ESEE (due to the manufacturing process), but it is still more than most people will ever need. I kept my Ontario RAT-7 because it means something special to me--Jeff personally gave it to me in S. America. But the rest of the stuff, I did away with and won't buy them any more.

But, the quality of the knife itself is still pretty decent.

 

[Bradsknives]

I don't want to get off track here, the Ontario knives themselves are still pretty decent. The main reason why people are down on Ontario is the absolutely horrible way they treated Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin, to include trying to trademark Jeff's name and sue him to keep him from using his own name in the knife business. Ontario's reputation today is in large part due to Jeff and Mike and Ontario turned around and did them wrong.

Regardless, the Ontario stuff is not up to the quality of ESEE (due to the manufacturing process), but it is still more than most people will ever need. I kept my Ontario RAT-7 because it means something special to me--Jeff personally gave it to me in S. America. But the rest of the stuff, I did away with and won't buy them any more.

But, the quality of the knife itself is still pretty decent.

^^^^THIS^^^^

 

[sadclownwp]

All i was saying is that, regardless of anything that went down between the companies, Ontario makes a great knife, I'm willing to say the best knife per dollar of any knife company out there, when you compare knives in the same class. and the RTAK II petty much tops the list as a great survival blades under 100 bucks. Even that Nutnfancy guy loves it.

 

[Pale Rider]

Even that Nutnfancy guy loves it.

 

[tradertator]

Beat me to it! The guy talks like a ninja turtle.

 

[Pale Rider]

Beat me to it! The guy talks like a ninja turtle.

I like his videos because they show guns and knives in good light with good camera angles, but I can't stand listening to him! I usually watch about 1-3 mins (with the sound off) if I watch at all

 

[cosermann]

... Didn’t buy it local. ...

From where did you buy?

 

[Shoots4Fun]

From where did you buy?

Ontario-Knife-Store.com is the source for low prices on Ontario Knives. We have super low prices on Ontario Old Hickory Knives, Agricultural Knives and Industrial Knives.

I have talked to Brad since. I don't want to speak for him, but can likely get anything you want. Next time I'll try to buy local.

Hope it helps...