[SOLVED] - New Rats, Small Issue

T

tatteredmidnight

Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
335
Hi,

I just received my first Swamp Rat knives, I'm blown away by the feel of these, outstanding. Balance is dead on, ergos are wonderful.

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So i only have one small problem,

RMD1.jpg


The powder coat is chipped right at the base of the choil, on the ricasso side.

I don't think this is enough to spoil the knife for me, The knife was intended as a user so this will be only the first of many blemishes to end up on it. I am thinking of touching this up with some black nail polish and moving on with my life :D

In any event, FANTASTIC knives from my first impression. Love the design, Love the feel, and Eric really got these out to me quickly.

Thanks for the wonderful knives,
Adam
 
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That isn't a chip in the coating, it is a personal touch of character to distinguish itself from all the others that look like it.

No go beat it like a rented mule!!!
 
HOLY COW! That is one close-up picture. I wish I was able to take such clear pics.

If you aren't happy with it send it back and we'll take care of you, however, if it is going to be a user personally I'd just start using it ;)

Either way let me know ratknives@insightbb.com

I'll make sure you are taken care of no matter what you want to do.

Eric
 
Eric,
thanks again for being so prompt, i wish everyone i dealt with professionally was as prompt. I have discovered another, similarly sized chip at the tip of the blade on the same side.

These issues are not a big deal, its not worth sending the knife in, and i look forward to doing faaaar better to it in the coming days :). I did want Eric to be aware of the issue though, as a company can't address issues they are unaware of.

Overall I'm very pleased with the quality so far, i'm gonna go sharpen them and beat the hell out of them, I'll try to take some good shots of the aftermath.

P.S. The pic is a result of several years of photo school, a Nitecore D10 flashlight for lighting, and a Cannon SD600 Digital Elf point and shoot.
 
First..... Why do you have black nail polish!!!! :confused:


Second: That is SR-101's way of telling you it want OUT! ;)

.
 
DWRW said:
First..... Why do you have black nail polish!!!! :confused:
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Some questions are better left unanswered.

DWRW said:
Second: That is SR-101's way of telling you it want OUT! ;)
Click to expand...

Nekkid SR-101 is just evidence that the blade and I have become really close. :D Chemical stripper is fast but wearing the coating off from outdoor work and batoning is more fun.**

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** It's easy to be glib when I hear that you plan on using the heck out of it anyway. If you're looking for a showpiece for the mantle (nothing wrong with that, I own several like that too,) then the Shop will take care of you. No question. :thumbup:
 
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Once you start using the knife you will get quite abit of wear and tear on the coating, as you would with any knife brand. This is strictly cosmetic and has no impact on the function of the knife.

I look at it as similar to when one buys a new pickup truck. It looks good for awhile and you really feel the pain when it gets its first few scratches, but in the end it when there are more scratches/dings, that is when you will really get some serious and fun use out of it.

Unblemished knives sold on the exchange forum are often knives that have never been used. If you buy a Swamprat knife you definitely want to use it.
 
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HA, touche, the nail polish would have been purchased for this purpose except things have taken a turn for the worse. I don't mind a worn knife, i just want to be the one who gets to do the wearing.

What follows is not bashing SRKW, i am very excited about this knife. Unfortunately i now believe there is a more serious problem with the coating on this particular knife. I will be taking Eric up on his offer to send the knife back tomorrow.

After stopping by a friends hose to cord wrap my warden I headed home and lightly stropped my RMD, perhaps 4 times per side. When i put the RMD down a sizable chunk of coating flaked right off the tip of the knife.

sorry for the bad pic, ironically i left my camera at my friends house as i was wrapping the warden to check its model number for my earlier post.
IMG00029-20100914-01112.jpg


The powder coat on my warden is flawless and appears very durable.

This in no way sours my opinion of SRKW, in fact my friend is now ordering a HRLM after seeing and feeling my RMD. From what it looks like, this appears to be a freak coating accident that could happen to any company.

My only regret is having to pack the RMD back up after only spending a few hours with her.

-- Adam
 
Yes, i am extremely pleased with the speed and quality of service i am receiving from SRKW.

Its important to remember than ANY company can have manufacturing hiccups, and its how they deal with them that shows the companies true colors. In this case, SRKW is going above and beyond what is expected of them.

I will update this thread as things progress, so far a big thumbs up for responsiveness and service, and from what i've seen here, i don't expect that to change as this progresses.

Can't wait to get her back so i can beat the coating right back off of her.

-- Adam

EDIT: checked my phone and i allready have a response from Eric.
I sent my email at 11:15 and i got a response by 1:40, outstanding.
 
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tatteredmidnight said:
Unfortunately i now believe there is a more serious problem with the coating on this particular knife.
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What's the "more serious problem"? Just curious because mine has flaked off in exactly the same spots.

Not that I really care, it's been riding my belt for a couple weeks now and the rest is wearing just fine. Smoothing out from use like I'd expect, but no other chips. I really love this knife.
 
We were in the tobacco field one day when my father said "Richard, let me sharpen your tobacco knife."

Uncle Richard handed over the knife and my father started fussing. "You put a pretty big gap in that edge when you hit a rock! Try and be more careful!"

Uncle Richard replied "Well, give it here and I will put another right next to it so you can't see it."

IOW, go use it so it will disappear. :)
 
Sorry I let this idle for a while, I've been swamped (pun intended) at work ( i do IT and everything is an emergency ).

Well I've sent it in and I'm waiting. I got my delivery confirmation early last week, so my fingers are crossed that i will be getting it back soon.

I've now pre-ordered an RMDeux, I have the Warden ( and am experimenting making sheaths for it), and my friend just got his HRLM. Of the 3 knives I've held, 2 had flawless coatings.

The "More Serious Problem" was that by just touching the knife the coating was flaking off. I intend to use this knife, but I don't feel the need to justify my exceptions of quality in a purchase.

This is what i consider my final thoughts about the coating and quality:
Had i simply received it with some chips (like i had originally thought), i would have just kept the knife and beat the hell out of it. I consider flaking to the touch to be a defect though, so i decided to take Eric up on his generous offer to have it taken care of. Overall the quality of the knife did not match the other Swamp Rats I've now had the pleasure to handle.

The customer service has been exceptional so far, and I can't wait to get my RMD back.

The feel of these knives is awesome. They are so hefty and solid. I have become a SRKW addict i think. 3 SRKW knives in a month, my wallet hates me. I just can't help myself.

I will update this thread again when i get my RMD back, hopefully soon because I'm really missing it.

-- Adam
 
I got my howling rat a few days ago and can't keep my hands off of it. It's been a long process thinning the grind from about a 30 degree angle down to a 15, that steel is HARD stuff, but it'll pay off once it's done.
 
PayetteRucker said:
I got my howling rat a few days ago and can't keep my hands off of it. It's been a long process thinning the grind from about a 30 degree angle down to a 15, that steel is HARD stuff, but it'll pay off once it's done.
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This has been an issue with all of the SRKW's I've gotten. All are new purchases and none of the grinds have been what I'd call optimal. The grind on the RMD is one of the reasons i sent it back, but i didn't want to bring it up in this thread as i wanted to keep it positive. Near the belly of the knife the grind was noticeably rounded out and was not even. I confirmed this with Sypderco's edge angle guide and some magnification.

I've almost finished re-profiling the Warden. The grind was pretty even, but also was about 45* according to the edge angle guide. The HRLM and RMD are giving me nightmares when i think about re-profiling them. Even on my X-Coarse DMT its taking forever to re-profile that Warden.

I've just bought a craftsman belt/disk grinder. I'm gonna practice on a cheapo knife and if i get good i'll re-profile them on that.

If I'm not good enough on the grinder fast enough, I'm thinking of sending it out to Bladeforums member Richard J. He just did a kitchen knife for me. A 10" hand made Sabatiere from the 60's (the date is a bit of a mystery). From mailing the knife out to getting it back took 4 days and he did a beautiful job.

BTW, this steel is MEAN. I love to sharpen and SR101 feels like it wants to cut even when its dull. Its difficult to quantify but it has an attitude. Very hard, VERY TOUGH (from the limited abuse Ive been aloud to give to my friends HRLM), and it WANTS to take a wicked edge. I've never felt any steel like it. I know it sounds like cheesy Busse-love but its the truth. You can tell a lot about a knife by what it feels like to sharpen it. These knives want to cut!

-- Adam
 
So i didn't have to wait long.

I got home from work today and my RMD was waiting for me. This one is stunning. I have no complaints, grind is great, it came sharp, coating is perfect. Lovely job on this, I'll charge my camera tonight and snap some pics tomorrow.

-- Adam

EDIT:
This issue is RESOLVED :D.

Eric, thanks again, wonderful service.

My new RMD is in every way satisfactory and more.

big thumbs up to the SRKW crew on this!
 
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