And the Winner is... RD-9! Again...

Was Dashing out to check trails and such and grabbed an RD 9 for a lighter day outing thinking it had a folding lock back in it as it turned out to have fire steel in it.

Well using it like my RD 7 for woodsy tasks it was a bit more clumsy than the RD6 and RD7 but it worked pretty well given it has a FFG and great choil to work with. The handle is a bit smaller, the sharper handle corners are easy to deal with sand paper. It works great for smaller tasks I think than the RTAK II would. The 9" blade makes it pretty versatile for wood splinting and such, it does good for a one knife option if one was needed to do all things. To bad they streamed line production to just the RD6, RAK, TFI, TANTO, and Falcon for the RD line.
 
The rd9 has recently spoiled me for other okc rangers, I can’t figure out why they dropped it. I still don’t own any fixed 1095 rats. I think once Ontario switched to 5160 they pulled ahead of the competition, with the exception of certain designs by Ethan Becker. Somehow, someone—I read it was Dan Maragni, formerly of CS—pulled production out of the doldrums of broken lawnmower blades and back to the roots of great choppers. Or so I’ve heard, but I regularly do bet my life on the rd9 and the rtak2.(still wish the latter was sabre ground!)
 
I hear you! A big saber ground full handled chopper like the RTAC2 or a SP-51 version of the woodsman with a thumping and whumping hilt would be perfect for woods whopping, chopping, thwacking, whacking and so forth! I had to go to Ehtan Becker Designs to fill a knife needs or to as they most have thumping and whumping hilts with saber grinds. I'd like to see them make a RD 9 sized TANTO! Man that would fill ALOT of needs! :D
 
I hadn’t thought of the Woodsman version of the 51 but I love it! Of course the handles need a makeover, but even as ffg a pretty good chopper, as a sabre it would be unstoppable
 
Yes the FFG can be a good chopper for woodsy chopping. But the saber grind is better for the wood chopping and batoning. Hence my grabbing as many SP-51s I could afford, my only complaint about them is no thumping and whumping hilt. Hence I put an RD with them, the TFI rides nice and light with the bigger blades.
 
By thumping and whumping hilt do you mean full exposed tang/skullbreaker? I don’t have mine with me to check, but if you can spare the real estate you can cut the rubber off up to the tubing, I think. Awhile ago I removed the handle on one of mine to slip on a guard from an sp10
 
Yes a STRONG full exposed Tang. The RDs got them in spades! A good thumping and whumping hilt is always a big plus on any knife. It makes it an even greater and more multi-purpose tool to take.

Some thing that strong can be used for skull breaking I suppose.
 
Only the RAK has a true skullbreaker. The others I guess are thumpn-whumpn hilts as you say.
 
The spike on the RAK is also handy for breaking hard packed ground I found so I didn't have a friend cut it flat for me.
 
I ground off the last 3/4” off my woodsman and it now has a skull breaker without sacrificing any utility from the knife! It also fits perfectly in a $10 Kabar big brother sheath. (The sheath it came with got wrecked when the glue of the insert got hot and melted, causing the knife to cut its way down and out).It really chops past it’s looks, maybe , because of the added weight of the thick full tang. Do any sp50,51,53 owners think micarta handles would be terrible, as in painful for chopping? I already fitted a guard from an sp10 onto it, so the fingers won’t rub up against the blade
 
THAT SOUNDS SWEET!

How do you think the Woodsman would stand up against the RTAK II?
 
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While the rtak2 is one of my favorites, the woodsman outchops it on larger wood or when reach isn’t a factor.
 
Dang you Yanose! I got the Woodsman because of your experience! My 3rd FFG large blade... RD9s probably will be used for the heavy grunt work.

Think it must be a cyber-monday thingy it was for just under $71! Been thinking of getting a woodsman as it got a choily thingy and full tang.
 
I have 3or 4myself but I always got my rd9 user (must be almost 10 years old) nearby!Careful letting that sheath get too hot! Lemme know how it does against th sp51!
 
Ever try the recurve version, the night stalker or ns9? I think is what it’s called I saw one for sale the other day. It’s the same 1/4 slab of 5160
 
Roguer said:
Dang you Yanose! I got the Woodsman because of your experience! My 3rd FFG large blade... RD9s probably will be used for the heavy grunt work.

Think it must be a cyber-monday thingy it was for just under $71! Been thinking of getting a woodsman as it got a choily thingy and full tang.
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My work isn’t done until you’ve beaten an rtak2 to what you thought was it’s death and when you inspected it more closely it laughed “is that seriously all you got?” I’ve bought them as low as $65, and yes, they are ffg. I’d send you one, but I’m not a gold member
 
I looked hard at the RD NS 9 but went for the RD 9 again as could get only one. I was getting a a few things when sales were going on, I gave half of my new OKC knives away to people who I knew who could use them. My little brother was the biggest scorer from me as I gave him a few of my surplus blades, it should cover most his out door needs for a long time. I told him to mix and match what is best for him and if some thing he don't use as often, STILL keep the low used stuff as it may come in handy.

I'll probably get another RD9 or RD 7 next if can before they are all gone. The RTAKII will still be available is one reason I never got one yet. The SP-51s going bye bye made me concentrate on them. As with the SP-53 still being available I gave one to my brother in place of the intended SP-51 I was going to. The SP-51 isn't the chopper the SP-53 is but field wise its easier to maintain and still just as good batoner. The SP-53 and SP-51 are my dedicated heavy use woods blades. And I mean HEAVY USE. It replaces a hatchet for me on most outings as for me its safer to split wood with batoning it, for bigger expeditions or longer ones more wood killing stuff comes along.

The RD9 for me is becoming the general purpose one take all with a light knife along for GP stuff. As its more multitool than a dedicated woods chopper. The RD9 is a knife that can chop and do some woodsy bushy stuff. The SP-51 and SP-53 are choppers and can do some knife stuff, the SP-53 seems to do it more better because of its blade re-curve where you can use different parts of the blade and angles of it to do things with.
Where the RD9 with its choil makes it like the other RD knives a decent, not good as a super uber niche knife uber thin breakable blade bush craft knife, do bushy stuff knife.

I figured out the reason I favor knives like the large real knife types. I remember the Finnish Sami knife a relative used and showed it to me as when I was more young and foolish and he told me every thing it has done, I tried to get one buy my old man was "Thats why to big of a knife!" said the one who made me gut a deer with a 1 1/2" inch victoix swiss army knife.... It does every thing the more "Modern" larger blades do, being it comes from part of my cultural heritage I guess it stuck in my head.

I keep an RD9 in my car with and RD Tanto for in case go off road in the boonies or break down. Since its a car an axe and saw also ride a long in it, and an SP-51/53 if I didn't take it out for some other task I really needed it for. Oh and a SPAX as it accidentally was in the car when some one needed to turn off some thing fast they grabbed it and turned it of guess they knew it could do that. So I keep it in the car now as well.
 
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Roguer said:
I looked hard at the RD NS 9 but went for the RD 9 again as could get only one. I was getting a a few things when sales were going on, I gave half of my new OKC knives away to people who I knew who could use them. My little brother was the biggest scorer from me as I gave him a few of my surplus blades, it should cover most his out door needs for a long time. I told him to mix and match what is best for him and if some thing he don't use as often, STILL keep the low used stuff as it may come in handy.

I'll probably get another RD9 or RD 7 next if can before they are all gone. The RTAKII will still be available is one reason I never got one yet. The SP-51s going bye bye made me concentrate on them. As with the SP-53 still being available I gave one to my brother in place of the intended SP-51 I was going to. The SP-51 isn't the chopper the SP-53 is but field wise its easier to maintain and still just as good batoner. The SP-53 and SP-51 are my dedicated heavy use woods blades. And I mean HEAVY USE. It replaces a hatchet for me on most outings as for me its safer to split wood with batoning it, for bigger expeditions or longer ones more wood killing stuff comes along.

The RD9 for me is becoming the general purpose one take all with a light knife along for GP stuff. As its more multitool than a dedicated woods chopper. The RD9 is a knife that can chop and do some woodsy bushy stuff. The SP-51 and SP-53 are choppers and can do some knife stuff, the SP-53 seems to do it more better because of its blade re-curve where you can use different parts of the blade and angles of it to do things with.
Where the RD9 with its choil makes it like the other RD knives a decent, not good as a super uber niche knife uber thin breakable blade bush craft knife, do bushy stuff knife.

I figured out the reason I favor knives like the large real knife types. I remember the Finnish Sami knife a relative used and showed it to me as when I was more young and foolish and he told me every thing it has done, I tried to get one buy my old man was "Thats why to big of a knife!" said the one who made me gut a deer with a 1 1/2" inch victoix swiss army knife.... It does every thing the more "Modern" larger blades do, being it comes from part of my cultural heritage I guess it stuck in my head.

I keep an RD9 in my car with and RD Tanto for in case go off road in the boonies or break down. Since its a car an axe and saw also ride a long in it, and an SP-51/53 if I didn't take it out for some other task I really needed it for. Oh and a SPAX as it accidentally was in the car when some one needed to turn off some thing fast they grabbed it and turned it of guess they knew it could do that. So I keep it in the car now as well.
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I feel you in a way; when I’m pissed at some wood or plastic contraption that I’ve decided it must be taken out back and terminated with extreme prejudice,the rd9 is almost always the executioner. The rtak2 is more like what I use when some really knotty wood needs to be smaller pieces
 
The RD 9 has a REAL use choil, and a fill 1/4" spine are what make it more attractive to me. Now if OKC out a high saber grind on the RTAKII I'd be singing its praises or made a 1/4" spine saber grind RTAKII type I'd be all over that. The choil may "Cut down on Batoning Width!" some would say, but the RD9 is big enough for most batoning jobs.

For a more multi-toolish big FFG the Woodsman seems usable, with its choil and sharp edges for doing some scrapeiy stuff and such them bushy craftiness people seem to like to do. Its still a knife that can chop to me, but that's its point I think to make a knife that can cover all bases even if not as good as a smaller more unique niche knife but it can do them. If it was all I had in bad situation, I know I could trust my life on it. Just tennis tape the handles before going out!
 
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