Ontario RAT 2

Reviewed 09/19/2017 by Travis

-Price Paid: $28.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

There's a lot to like about this knife. The blade comes very sharp. Not super important because it is very easy to sharpen (as is to be expected of AUS-8). The action works. It's not like a drop shut kinda smooth, but you can open it one handed and you can close it one handed, which at the end of the day, is all I really want.

In fact, the action does one better to my needs. You can flick it out WHA-POW and it sure does feel good.

The clip is fine. It works. A lot of people don't like that it's painted. I don't give a RAT Model II's ass though, so I'm just fine with it working. I don't plan on selling or trading this knife so I'm fine with the clip looking beat up as long as it continues to work. On the subject of the clip, I do wish there was a cheaper option at a deep carry clip. The only one I have seen is $30. I'm fiiiiine carrying my knife like this. Being a little deeper would be nice, but it's not necessary, and not worth $30 to me.

The biggest short coming of this knife is how it feels to hold in the hand when you are cutting things (and that's a pretty big short coming). I don't have the largest hands. I wear a small size glove. This knife feels cramped in my hand. I want to grip it three fingered because it's so cramped, but then it's not very comfortable because my pinky can't find anywhere to live.

There are also so minor issues ergonomically. The lock bar isn't very comfortable to use. It roughs up my thumb a little bit and I'm not a super big fan of that. The scales are also a little hard to grip when using gloves. For 90% of the tasks I do, I don't need gloves, so this ends up being fine, but my ideal knife would be able to be useable when I'm wearing gloves. I didn't ding any points because of this fact, but I definitely did over the 3-4 finger grip.

End of the day though, if you have $30 and want to buy a knife that functions well as a knife, and should last you for a while, I think this is probably the best choice. If you're not allergic to nickel, I would probably steer you towards the ESEE Zancudo. It was designed for more varied hand sizes and comes in both AUS-8 and D2 steels. The D2 requires a little bit more care, moisture wise, but requires a little bit less sharpening care. For me it's a wash. For most, the D2 is a welcome upgrade.

If you are like me though, and a stainless steel frame lock with unknown nickel content is a deal breaker, I think it's hard to do better than a RAT II for $30

Reviewed 08/14/2014 by Andrew

-Price Paid: $28.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

This is one of those knives that is so near perfection you can taste it, but still falls short. Before I go into what I'd like to see with this knife in future designs or possibly sprint runs, I'll explain its current positives. first and foremost is the ergonomics. This is one comfortable knife to hold, I can get all four fingers on, and it fits right in. I wish it was just a tad bit thicker, but the slim design has its positive features as well, such as in the pocket. So I'll take the good with the bad and give the ergos a 10. Next on the positive list, is the blade. Its a nice shape with a good belly and a great tip, full flat grind too. The jumping is nice and actually causes your thumb to stick into it, and the blade can get razor sharp with the aus-8 steel. No its not the best steel in the world, but its definitely not bad and at a $28 tag I'll take it. Next positives are the features such as clip placement, tip up or down either side. Decent clip too, but nothing too special. It has a low profile out of the pocket when tip down, when the clip is tip up the knife does show a little bit more though. All of this makes for a great value knife, it has enough things right with no major downfalls at a good price. Now for the improvements it could use. The biggest being the scales. They are made of a FRN, and they just feel cheap. They have good grip and were cut properly, but they are just made from cheap FRN. I feel if they used G10 instead, maybe raised the price $5 or whatever to compensate, it would really increase the value, quality, and overall feel of the knife. I'm contemplating getting custom scales made for this knife, but I'm still not sure if it'll be worth the cost and effort, since its still very good as is.

Reviewed 07/27/2014 by knifeguy

-Price Paid: $28.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

i love this knife!!!! it is one of my favorite knives. and for the low price it is a great deal . now the coating on the blade and pocket clip is pretty much paint it does get scratched very easily so i would recommend getting the satin finish instead of the black coated one. the blade is very sharp. it is a very smooth opening knife and the lock up is very strong. but if i ever lost this knife i would buy another one in a heart beat.

Reviewed 12/14/2013 by Darren

-Price Paid: $26.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

The Rat 2 is one of those rare knives that actually lives up to the hype. Build quality is remarkable for a <$30 knife. Heck, it's better than knives I own which cost significantly more. I now own three and quality has been consistent. Deployment is smooth as silk. Lock up is solid and early mid. Even grinds. Scales mated perfectly to the handles. Blade centering is dead center. All around fit and finish is flawless on mine.

I make custom micarta handles, but have no complaints about FRN from a functional standpoint. AUS8 doesn't hold an edge like S30V, but it seems less prone to chipping. Easily stroped back to sharpness in the field on my leather belt. The full flat grind is very slicey.

My first impressions were that it was more suited to gentleman carry, but so far they've all held up to more serious use within the limitations of size and design.

Not my favorite when it comes to ergos, but better than most and actually provides a fairly secure grip. I do think some minor design tweeks could bring the edge a little closer the handle. The thumb ramp and jimping is great. I can very easily lay my thumb over it up onto the spine if need be. Quick and smooth flick opening, but a slowed controlled opening is difficult for me to accomplish. The clip has functioned well. My only complaint is the paint wears off very easily. They should have just stonewashed it and left it bare.

There are a few decent folders out there in this price range, but the Rat 2 is by far my favorite. Sold some of my higher priced folders because I actually prefer the Rats instead.

Reviewed 11/22/2013 by Aaron

-Price Paid: $27.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

This is a great budget edc blade. Small, lightweight, well designed, and at a great value. The handle is a little small for my large size hands and the AUS-8 steel will not hold an edge as long as SOG or Cold Steel's AUS-8. All and all, for under $30 a great little blade.