Sunday, February 14, 2016

Randall's Adventure Training (RAT) RC-4 Knife

The following knife is a Randall's Adventure Training (RAT) RC-4.  It is the precursor to the Esee 4.  

I purchased the knife used with an excellent convex grind.  This is the first knife I have purchased which I could easily sharpen to the point it cut hair off my arm.  Unfortunately, I only used the knife a handful of times.

The thin handle and thickness of the blade from cutting edge to spine made it feel a little clumsy.  The knife was certainly sharp but it seemed there were only a few things it did exceptionally well.  It was certainly not good for feather sticks, carving, or any kind of intricate work.  I worked on the spine some to get a good 90 degree but it didn't do well at striking a fire steel.

I added a few green liners in order to thicken the handle.  They also added a bit to the appearance of the knife.  I did not glue them in but instead just had them held in place by the three screws.  I was a little worried but the handle still locked into the sheath despite being thicker than normal (by about 1/8").

These knives are highly recommended but it just did not work for me.  I ultimately sold it off to someone else using the Bushcraft USA forum in order to gather money to try out something different.  I used the money to get the Halfbreed Decker shown on this site.





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