Well got and fondled the Falcon and its um...short. Guess my hands are to big for it odd because they ain't that large. Gideon's Tactical did warn people about hand size of what would make or break it for them. For me its a pinky hanging off the end short. Ok but I figured it would be shortish when I got it, U-tube said so and showed so, so I was well faired warned on that part, I wanted to get that out in the clear about it. And not sound like a "Hey I ordered it and the handles are to short!" whiner 09er.
Now that that's out of the way, its sort of like a short sharpened brick but it's not at the same time. The choil, which IS needed because of the short handle can let one get up and do very close work for bushy crafty stuff with its sharpened brick 1/4 spine as the "height" of the knife comes to a FFG cutting edge. Giving it a nice ability to cut effectively. Like how a Woodsman or RD9's FFG can cut finer things than an SP-51. Its probably going to easily baton things given its 5160 steel. And from my other OKC 5160 blades it should be pretty dang tough to survive most abuse you do with it, with in reason that is. I don't know about its "Hunting Knife" value as I just got it and never used it for that, it probably will work well for a hunting knife as it can slice nice and small enough to cut and gut critters.
Would I get another one? Well to small for mostly so I probably would get another TFI as the TFI works well for many tasks. But given its a good bushy task doer and can cut pretty well and is tough as heck with the 5160 steel, I'm not getting rid of this knife either. I may strip it if it becomes part of a good game processing system. And its damn bomb proof and simple enough I'd trust a younger person to use it. But people with small and medium hands and smaller large hands or narrow large hands might love it. For me its the hand size of the handle, which I can understand its short because other wise the knife would be super handle heavy. This knife will be moved around as a back up knife or be paired with a dedicated chopper for bushy duties as it seems to be able to do that pretty well.
Am I sorry I got it? No, it was a calculated may to be short for me or not. Knowing how strong Ranger knives are due to the way the steel is treated and such its bomb proof and will work out as a bomb proof bushy blade for a day hike or back up. And see how it cuts up critters this season.
If I had a choice between a RAT 3 and a Falcon? Well seeing how small the Rat 3 is I'd pick the Falcon any day over a Rat 3.
On a side note, the knife I really wanted to get was an Afghan, but when OKC stopped making them, they all went gone and poof so fast because every one wanted one before they disappeared I couldn't find any. Like how fast the SP-51 disappeared I noticed after its final sunset production run was done.
I do find the RD6 does make a great hunting knife, I sort of regret giving my little brother my RD 4 now but well he needs it more than I do and I got other knives to cover most of my critter cutting needs.
Now that that's out of the way, its sort of like a short sharpened brick but it's not at the same time. The choil, which IS needed because of the short handle can let one get up and do very close work for bushy crafty stuff with its sharpened brick 1/4 spine as the "height" of the knife comes to a FFG cutting edge. Giving it a nice ability to cut effectively. Like how a Woodsman or RD9's FFG can cut finer things than an SP-51. Its probably going to easily baton things given its 5160 steel. And from my other OKC 5160 blades it should be pretty dang tough to survive most abuse you do with it, with in reason that is. I don't know about its "Hunting Knife" value as I just got it and never used it for that, it probably will work well for a hunting knife as it can slice nice and small enough to cut and gut critters.
Would I get another one? Well to small for mostly so I probably would get another TFI as the TFI works well for many tasks. But given its a good bushy task doer and can cut pretty well and is tough as heck with the 5160 steel, I'm not getting rid of this knife either. I may strip it if it becomes part of a good game processing system. And its damn bomb proof and simple enough I'd trust a younger person to use it. But people with small and medium hands and smaller large hands or narrow large hands might love it. For me its the hand size of the handle, which I can understand its short because other wise the knife would be super handle heavy. This knife will be moved around as a back up knife or be paired with a dedicated chopper for bushy duties as it seems to be able to do that pretty well.
Am I sorry I got it? No, it was a calculated may to be short for me or not. Knowing how strong Ranger knives are due to the way the steel is treated and such its bomb proof and will work out as a bomb proof bushy blade for a day hike or back up. And see how it cuts up critters this season.
If I had a choice between a RAT 3 and a Falcon? Well seeing how small the Rat 3 is I'd pick the Falcon any day over a Rat 3.
On a side note, the knife I really wanted to get was an Afghan, but when OKC stopped making them, they all went gone and poof so fast because every one wanted one before they disappeared I couldn't find any. Like how fast the SP-51 disappeared I noticed after its final sunset production run was done.
I do find the RD6 does make a great hunting knife, I sort of regret giving my little brother my RD 4 now but well he needs it more than I do and I got other knives to cover most of my critter cutting needs.