Ontario RAT II D2 Carbon Fibre 18

The knife came very quickly, which seems to be a HH tradition of sorts(!) and initially I was quite impressed. However, it was quite noticeable that the blade angles were imbalanced, and sharpening created a distinct burr when using a fixed angle stand. The blade was not very sharp as it came to me, but eventually, a little re-profiling and a good session with a lansky turn box had the knife at a very acceptable level of sharpness. The grip to my hands is ideal, but I have small hands and most people would probably imagine this would mean a small feeling knife. To me it sits very nicely and I like the carbon fibre; the overall fit of the knife is reasonable considering the price, and the lock is sturdy. Overall, a really good knife for the price.

Before I get into the details of this knife and the good and less good features, I have to say this is a nice looking folder that is remarkably sharp out of the box, the negatives that follow are minor things but ones that still niggle when I have just dropped £68 of my hard earned on it. Firstly I am not personally sure if the carbon scales are really worth the additional money vs the D2 FRN version. They seem to be a purely aesthetic feature and are really attractive,, however if you are looking for a tool you may be better off with the cheaper model. They look great with that 3D depth look that woven carbon fibre has,.but there is a down side to the carbon scales; they are really smooth and feel slippery, I can imagine when using the tool in any form of liquid the handle will slip in ones hand. Additionally fit of the carbon component to the steel parts of the scales could be better finished, it looks like the two parts of the scales - the carbon and the INOX were manufactured separately meaning there is a marked ledge between the two parts - this could be an intentional design feature but to me it looks like that there has been no finishing performed the knife when assembled. Something of note is that this knife was manufactured in Taiwan, it is not an American made blade - something to expect at that price I guess and not necessarily a terrible thing but of importance to some people when comparing knives before purchase as there is a perception of Chinese knives vs those made in the west. I am sure the RAT guys wouldn't put their name on something that wasn't up to scratch but still something of note. Also noteworthy is this is quite a small knife - I don't have particularly big hands and with my index finger in the choi,l only three of my fingers fit into the main part of the handle with my pinky finger sitting on the pommel like area at the back of the handle. If you have big hands it will be like a toothpick in your hand. The blade seems quite thin and is slightly flexible. The D2 tool steel should hold an edge well (it's not been abused yet to I hope it will be good) and the version I purchased has a black coating that looks like its been laser etched with the RAT logo. It is a carbon steel so should be treated with a coating to preserve it - it will rust if over cleaned and not coated. The pocket clip is quite robust and should stand the test of time and is retained by three small Allen type round head machine screws. The clip can be moved to the other side of the knife and reversed to it clips in your pocket the other way around. No suitable Allen wrench was supplied however so you will need one to move it. The liner lock is quite positive and the bearing has detents for open and close positions meaning it stays closed with no movement. If I were to comment about the lock it would be to say that it is a little too recessed into the body of the handle so operating the lock with your thumb is a bit fiddly and because of the small size of the knife using the thumb buds to open the knife is a bit cramp inducing to get my thumb in the right position compounded by the smoothness of the carbon scales making the knife slip in my hand when trying to apply enough pressure to defeat that detent that holds it closed. I haven't sliced myself yet but it's early days and if and when it happens I wouldn't be surprised if my thumb gets it when I am closing the knife. So now you see what I mean about niggles - there is nothing fundimentally wrong with this knife - it's a nice looking sharp tool, but for £65, if you exclude the aesthetic beauty of the carbon scales, I would expect a bit more.

I had been planning to buy a rat 2 with D2 steel for a while. This version with carbon fibre scales was just too tempting. Improves enormously on the original rat models with the higher quality materials but retains the "budget" price point. This is easily the match for much more expensive knives. A real gem and a great slicer.