Swamp Rat Knife Works RatManDu

Reviewed 08/31/2016 by knifeman245

-Price Paid: $160.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This is a good knife. Great steel and micarta handle. Great warranty from Busse. The fit and finish is 8 out of 10. Not as precise as Esee but not bad either. I have handled 4 Ratmandu's. the edges on all of them were very thick and not ground evenly. They struggled to slice thru printer paper. I think most people into the Busse family of knives care mostly about their sturdiness and ability to take a lot of abuse. Which is ok however I think that a knife the size of Ratmandu should be a knife 1st and be able to cut rather well. Also worth noting that some folks reprofile/thin down the edge to make them cut better. This may not be something for a novice to be able to do. Another point to make is that the knife is a decent value but not a great value. Similar knives can be hand for half the cost. Ontario 5 is a good alternative. If you're on a tight budget, don't let the Busse cult fanatics talk you into buying ratmandu, there are tons of similar knives out there and even come with sheaths. Just my 2 cents.

Reviewed 02/11/2016 by reviewer35

-Price Paid: $170.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

one of the best knives from SwampRat. Even with that said, the ratmandu is not without shortcomings. This knife is made out of carbon SR101 steel which rusts very fast (much like 1095) therefore SwampRat heavily coat it with an abrasive crinkle coat. This coating protects the steel but hinders cutting performance. the edge on my ratmandu came thick so it needs to be thinned out. This is very common with SwampRat knives. The choil on Ratmandu is unnecessary in my opinion but there's no option to have the knife made without it. The handle while being ergonomic is too thin which is the biggest disappointment. When wearing gloves, the handle is not an issue. I think it's a good and very solid, heavy duty knife. It's also on the expensive side and doesn't even come with a sheath. The knife costs $170 and when you add a kydex then you're investing $230. Not the best deal considering that there's knives out there just as good like Esee that come complete with excellent kydex sheaths and tons of other options. the high price tags and lack of sheaths is what is preventing me from obtaining more SwampRat knives.

Reviewed 12/06/2011 by Chris

-Price Paid: $139.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

This is the best knife I have ever owned. This thing can cut, pry, baton and then it will laugh and ask for more. It has a coating on the blade to keep it from rusting (it is heat treated 1095 steel) so only the sharpened part of the blade is exposed. Some may think the price is a little high, but quality is not cheap.

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