Ontario Knife Company8848 Rat I Folding Knife - EDC Knife (Black)

ok, about the RAT. thing is a legend, until this thing came out, it was unheard of to have such a great knife, for such a great price. fit and finish is great, steel is decent for $20-$25, and overall its good for the price. but here's the good, bad, and ugly:GOOD: this thing has a great blade shape for EDC tasks, and the grip area is nice and ergonomic. the lock is very smooth and is easy to access. it is amazing for the price you pay, and at the price point, is hard to beat.BAD: the scales. I'm not asking g10 for the price, but they feel cheap. don't get me wrong, they are done very nicely, fit and finish is good, and the edges have been chamfered, but nonetheless, they don't feel all that high end. (they should not feel high end for the price, though.) another bad is, when I took it apart, the thing became unusable. I musta tried like, 7 times to fix the action and blade play, but no cigar. The thing was perfectly fine before I took it apart, but I had to, so I could clean out the sand from the washers. if you take apart knives, look elsewhere.UGLY: While the blade shape does well in practice, it makes the entire knife look like a folding kitchen knife. The gimping on the thumb ramp is widely spaced, this is bad because in use, I find more tightly spaced gimping to give better grip.CONCLUSION: Like I have said many times, it's great for the price, a couple flaws, but all around a good budget knife. Now I've heard some people say this is the best knife under $50, and I say that's a horses ass. there are soooo much better options for a $50 budget it's not even funny. you can get some civivis for just over $50, and they are so much better quality. Not even civivis, knives like steel will, those go for around $35. anyway, the rat 1 is a bit out of its time. there are better options and I think that it needs to be laid to rest.

This is probably the best value knife that you can buy anywhere for the amount of knife and the quality you get. The knife is really worth more that the current price Amazon is selling it at. Yes it is made in Taiwan but the quality control is excellent. I am not saying this is a perfect knife but it has stood the test of time and many including me think this is one of the top 5 EDC knives under $50.00 bucks.This is a Big Knife and it has a little weight to it, that is not a big deal but for some I can understand. I love the feel of the knife in my hands, the nylon 6 handles are okay, they do offer a bit of a grip but not like G10. The satin blade finish is really nice and I think AUS 8 is a decent steel for what you pay for the knife. I do treat all my knifes that might rust with FrogLube and keep them clean. That's just good maintenance. The clip is good, just enough bite to keep it from slipping out of the pocket but not enough that you have to pry it out.There are two issues though and really only one that I think is significant. First, I think I may have gotten one that has a stiff detent, mine was hard to open when I got it, but once you broke the detent it flew open. I gave a slight turn of the pivot screw and now it works well and the detent is manageable. It did move the perfect centering of the blade a little off but that is okay with me as it was only a little. Now the more serious one, I knew about this problem before I purchased the knife so I am not going to take any stars away from it because of this. The Blade in the closed position takes up almost the entire handle of the knife. If you rub lightly over the end of the handle curve you will not feel the blade at all, but if you apply pressure to where the fatty part of your finger starts to go into the handle you will feel the point of the blade on your finger. It could be a safety issue for a very small cut, it's possible. I carry this blade tip down so I don't think it will be a problem.That being said, I do really like this knife, I do think it's the best blade for the price, you get more than your moneys worth.

This Ontario knife is a classic with a great reputation, and rightly so. Rugged blade comes razor sharp out of the box, the build and fit and finish are all excellent. It's a beautiful tank of a knife.Ideal hard-use knife for outdoors, camping, hiking, etc. Pocket clip works great and although not a small knife if rides low in the pocket and does not protrude.Large (5 inch long) handle gives as much grip for your hand as if it was a fixed blade knife, and for most people that will be a good thing. Great ergonomics. Very fine checkering on the G10 handle (scales) does not catch or abrade on your pockets.Other reviewers point out that the black finish option available for the blade is prone to chipping and scratching, so the bright silver metal option on this knife for many is the way to go.An iconic knife from a solid company, made in USA, and a real value at the price. You can pay a lot more for any of the currently fashionable designer-brand knives and not have any more utility than with the original RAT (which stands for "Randall's Adventure Training"; Randall designed the RAT knife and Ontario makes it under license. Randall has his own interesting website and a line of knives, both made by Ontario and others.Note: this knife is not a 'flipper' and not spring-assisted. You have to manually open it with the thumb studs on the blade. Mine came pretty stiff out of the box and required a little oil to loosen up, after which it was fine and opens very smoothly.Ontario offers a lifetime warranty. This same exact knife is available in about a 30% smaller version sold as the 'Ontario Rat II', same qualitiy and features just a smaller version.