Ontario Knife Co. 8668 Rat-7 Fixed Blade Knife 7" Drop Point 1095 Black Carbon Steel Blade 5" Tan Micarta Handle for Outdoor, Tactical, Survival, Bushcraft, and EDC

I make every attempt to be fair and honest in my reviews, however you can probably tell from the title of this review that I am already impressed with this knife.Simplicity is its beauty. If you are looking for a workhorse, you don't search under racehorses. If you are looking for a sports car, you don't search for 1 ton trucks. This is in the 1-ton truck category. And I can tell it will be a workhorse. Made with 1075 Steel, which is high carbon Spring Steel, it may not maintain an edge quite as well as 1095 Steel, but it will be as durable or more durable. 1075 will not polish to a high gloss shine, so the blade is powder coated black, best for tactical situations.I am not going to complain about the blocky handles because you can see from the picture that they are blocky. And they fit my hand perfectly! My hands are about medium size to maybe medium large.The 7-in blade has a nice balance to it, and will carry your swing well into a branch. It kind of rattles around in the sheath, which although not leather, should hold up well through the life of the blade. Perhaps hold up even better than leather in damp environments.The one thing that I noticed that I was not extremely pleased with, was on the front quarter of one side of the blades the grind seemed to change. It's not a big deal for a knife that is going to be used for extreme duty, simply a little disappointing in a moderately expensive knife. As I said, overall I am very pleased and look forward to years of good service from the OKC RAT 7.UPDATE: The RAT 7 is difficult to find through any other dealer. And although the description on Amazon says it is made of 1095 steel, according to the OKC site description the steel is 1075. I double checked, so one of the two descriptions is incorrect. However, either steel will provide good service life, toughness, durability and sharpness.

I picked this up based on OKC's reputation. I know several people that carry their knives. Right out of the box, it looked great. Handle was a good fit for my hand, and it felt big and sturdy. Then I took it out of the cardboard shipping sheath, and this is where the disapointment started. The edge was nearly non-exisent, and that is not an exaggeration. When I checked it with my thumb, my first thought was "hmm, I'm going to have to sharpen this a little". Then I picked up a sheet of paper to give it a test, and it literally crushed, and ripped the paper, instead of cutting it. I know this isn't a $400 Stryder, or even a $150 ESEE, but at least drag it through a sharpener. I've got a $5 folder, that I bought at Walmart, and use as a box opener, that was sharper than this. After my shock over the edge, and figured I'll just sharpen it, and moved on to the sheath. This is one of the poorest designs I've ever seen. The look alone is pretty bad, but when you try to put the knife in it, the multiple straps get in the way. You basically have to use two hands to get it in. One for the knife, and one to get the straps out of the way. The sheath looks like it was designed for a completely different knife. Long story short, this thing is going back. I'd take a cheap no name brand over this.

This is a very sweet knife. My son chose this as his larger fixed blade survival/camping knife. Sheath is average at best, No quality issues just ugly and bulky and I will be replacing with a custom kydex sheath in short order. The knife feels real nice light and maneuverable in my hands. The knife blade is a straight edge cut, and the micarta handles have a nice gripy feel. There is also flat jimping grip on the knife spine, and along with the choil allow for fine detailed work that is not possible with my Kabar BK7. However, the Kabar is a much better chopper and does better at batoning wood. My opinion is the RAT 7 is a great knife for feathering, whittling, and slicing. It is not a great branch chopper or batoner.

Overall, a solid, mid/large knive at a sub $100 price point. Its not as refined in fit and finish as similar ESEE offerings, but its half the price. It came sharp, for a factory edge, very usable... however, since I'm a bit of an edge snob, it'll be reground and polished to meet my preferences. The grip fills the hand nicely, and its well balanced; a touch more aggressive grips would be an improvement.The sheath is serviceable, but mediocre. I'm assuming its not the same one uses a year or 2 ago. It has a kydex insert, so the nylon won't get cut up. The retention snaps swivel, so they're ambidextrous. The belt slide is sewn, so its not adjustable. It will fit (just) a 2" nylon duty type belt. It has no MOLLIE type provisions for belt attachment, though it has 3x MOLLIE loops and a lacing strap on the lower 1/2 of the sheath, for attachment to a ruck or such. Its a generally usable, medium duty sheath, disappointingly for a "Made in USA" knife, produced in the PRC...While not a top tier product, an excellent option at the price point.