Chinese D2 Micarta Rat

Side O'Beef

Side O'Beef

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
352
I received my KC-exclusive Rat 1 in D2 with Micarta scales over the weekend, and I am a bit disappointed. The Micarta scales are the main issue. They just don't feel like as comfortable as other Micarta scales I have held, but more importantly, they just were not cut to tight enough tolerances than I would expect from OKC (I think the photos I'm posting show this).

Now, I am not going to assert in either direction that it is a result, but this one is made in China. Although it did say it in the website description, I did not notice when purchasing that this was the case. AFAIK all the other Rat 1s have been of Taiwanese manufacture. It's additionally weird since the upcoming D2/Carbon Fiber model is going to be Taiwanese as well. Hindsight is crisp, but I am not sure if I would have bought this knife had I noticed its origin.

Sure, it is a $50 knife, but I can name several $50 models (US-made) that I own that have a much better fit/finish.

I'm about 90% likely to return this to KC.

https://imgur.com/a/3xuEbLh
 
That's kinda crappy. At least in the pics, it doesn't even look like micarta. Specially made for KC in a Chinese factory instead of the standard Taiwan factory that makes all the other Rat 1's and 2's? Just doesn't sound right to me.
 
Can you do anything to those scales; to get them to fit better?
 
Bummer, I was looking forward to getting one. The Taiwan made ones were well put together and high value.

These don't look as refined.

Thanks for sharing this info.
 
I'm also wondering if I need to stock up on Rat 1 and 2 folders.

I really hope they don't move production to China for the AUS8 and D2 models.
 
Bob Denman said:
Can you do anything to those scales; to get them to fit better?
Click to expand...
You know what? I was going to make this into a mini-project, assuming that if I accidentally trashed the scales in the process, I would just pick up some 3rd party ones (as you probably know there are some pretty cool ones floating around on the inters), but I am just going to send the knife back to KC and eat the $6 or $8 it'll cost me to ship it back to them, plus the $5 they're going to deduct from my refund. What made this decision was that I posted a review of the knife on their site (essentially a gentler version of what I posted to start this thread), and they seem to have deleted it.
This was actually my first ever purchase from KC (I have been a long-time customer of BHQ and the smokey one), and this has left a bad taste in my mouth. This is taking up a trivial amount of my time and energy, but still too much.
 
My "D2-Rat2" clearly has "Taiwan" stamped on it...
Could it have been an intermittent problem; for production in Taiwan?
 
buckfynn said:
It is an exclusive made for and sold by Knife Center. I doubt Knife Center would be selling an OKC counterfeit.
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I'd probably give them a call with your concerns.
All the others they sell are made in Taiwan as you said and they are certainly a reputable company. The RAT 1 & 2's I've owned and seen have been consistantly excellent quality. The only ones listed with China as the source are the D2 blade with micarta versions. The AUS blades are from Taiwan.
Since there have been other types of products sold by resellers that were fooled (even some great Rolex fakes have been made there), I don't think that's an unreasonable question to ask. There have also been RAT 1's sold by others shown on other forums that appear to be Chicom fakes and if that's the case here, I'm sure they would be thankful you brought it to their attention. Even if it's a legitimate source but lower quality they'd probably like to know.
 
220-9er said:
I'd probably give them a call with your concerns.
All the others they sell are made in Taiwan as you said and they are certainly a reputable company. The RAT 1 & 2's I've owned and seen have been consistantly excellent quality. The only ones listed with China as the source are the D2 blade with micarta versions. The AUS blades are from Taiwan.
Since there have been other types of products sold by resellers that were fooled (even some great Rolex fakes have been made there), I don't think that's an unreasonable question to ask. There have also been RAT 1's sold by others shown on other forums that appear to be Chicom fakes and if that's the case here, I'm sure they would be thankful you brought it to their attention. Even if it's a legitimate source but lower quality they'd probably like to know.
Click to expand...

Good luck on getting a response from Ontario by phone or email. It might be a very long wait for you. Responding to customers isn't one of OKC finer points.
 
This is among the many reasons I don't buy anything I don't absolutely need and can't source elsewhere form that particular location. I'm surprised the seller decided to do that as they are reputable.
 
Thanks for the heads up thread. I have a pile of these things and I'm glad that I did that already. Man, a lot of changes seem to be going on in the established knife companies, and it seems you have to stay on top of the back stories, to know what you're getting these days.
 
Where they’re made isn’t near as important to me as how they’re made. Sounds like they need to step up their QC.
 
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