Ontario XM-3TBS

[ScottieG59]

I remember once hearing on the limited run of 300 Ontario XM-3TBS knives, though there is almost no information on the knife. Even the Ontario Knife Company website does not seem to list it. I have found several sites selling it at prices ranging from $69.99 (MidwayUSA) to close to $200 elsewhere. I have one on the way to me. I may not carry it, but it looks good. It has a button lock, which I think may be simply an auto without a spring. It has partial serrations, but Fox Knives of Italy, who made this for Ontario knives, seems to have easy to maintain serrations. This is the knife: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/717140/ontario-xm-3tbs-folding-knife-3875-tanto-point-n690co-stainless-steel-blade-aircraft-aluminum-handle-black

 

[goddardm]

I picked one up a few weeks back when I first saw that deal, at $69.99 ... for what you get (N690Co blade, Ti liners, etc.), it's a great price, so I couldn't pass it up. Larger blade, and much nicer overall than the XM1/2, IMO anyhow. Plus, it can be a user or a collector. I got one with a SN in the high 200's ... I was thinking of grabbing another one before the deal ends, but I saw a couple of reviews complaining about getting unnumbered blades. Not sure what's going on there - I don't really care about the 'limited edition' aspect per se, I just don't want to end up with a 'factory second', for example.

 

[OntarioKnifeCompany]

I picked one up a few weeks back when I first saw that deal, at $69.99 ... for what you get (N690Co blade, Ti liners, etc.), it's a great price, so I couldn't pass it up. Larger blade, and much nicer overall than the XM1/2, IMO anyhow. Plus, it can be a user or a collector. I got one with a SN in the high 200's ... I was thinking of grabbing another one before the deal ends, but I saw a couple of reviews complaining about getting unnumbered blades. Not sure what's going on there - I don't really care about the 'limited edition' aspect per se, I just don't want to end up with a 'factory second', for example.

There weren't any factory seconds made available on that knife, but I'm not sure exactly how the numbering worked. Probably just that only the first run or only the first X number were actually serialized. I'm kind of guessing there, it was a while ago and sometimes that sort of decision gets lost to the ages (meaning someone made the call without seeing a need to document it)

 

[ScottieG59]

My knife came with the # of 300 clearly marked. To me, this knife is a user, though it may not get a lot of use since I have more knives than I could count. They have their own safe. Anyway, I added blue medium loctite to the screws, and they all needed them. It seems Fox may not use anything on their screws, but I prefer that to the red stuff used by a certain Colorado company in some of their knives. I like this knife and it has excellent ergonomics for a knife with aluminum scales. It is not too thick and carries well.

I think some of the trash talk out there is to "corner the market" for resale on the secondary market. The "seconds" or "blems" I see are marked as blems, deeply discounted and do not include standard warranties. I doubt Ontario would accept a sub-standard product from Fox or any other company contracted to produce knives for them. I think the only reason there are still knives out there is that there is no publicity at all.