Is Ontario RAT 1 (Randall Adventure Training) a blade from Randall Knifes?

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dslmac2

Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
45
I have seen this Ontario RAT 1 and others 5,6 etc...listed a lot.
Does anyone know if Randall Knifes in Florida make the blade or any part of the Ontario RAT series?
 
They also have no association whatsoever with this:
[video=youtube;NEjhK6qPa7c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEjhK6qPa7c[/video]
 
By the way, unless I'm mistaken, there's no company called "Randall Knifes" anywhere. Randall Knives yes, but not "knifes" as that isn't the proper plural form of "knife". If you want to be an acolyte of steel, and show yourself to be smart, the small stuff does count. Getting grammar wrong may lead people to think you ill-informed or a rube, which makes the entire knife community look bad.

For your question, there are 3 companies involved in your question:

Randall Made Knives: the traditional knife company that makes knives like they have been for generations. ~5 year waiting list to get a knife you order, as they are hand forged and don't have much production capacity as a result.

Ontario Knife Company: A large company that has been in business over a century. They originally were contracted to produce the RAT (Randall's Adventure Training) series of knives for the adventure program. Eventually, the training outfit was unhappy enough with Ontario, leading to:

Rat Cutlery/ESEE (founded by integral members of Randall's Adventure Training) The name Rat cutlery was chosen first, but trademark disputes led to the Rat cutlery company changing their name to ESEE. They produce knives that are largely like that produced under contract with Ontario, but are considered higher quality. Their handles are smaller, more ergonomic, and the micarta is treated in a more pleasing fashion (IMO, anyway).

Zero
 
while we are beating the esee/ontario issue, I have a question: did the rat-1 folder became the reason of the split between them? from what I understand, Jeff and Mike didn't authorize the folder, it was more like ontario wanting to capitalize on the RAT line popularity. Was the folder the cause for the beef/split?
 
so I guess Ontario Rat 1's have never been discontinued ?......I remember a lot of people saying in the past few years Ontario stopped producing them but in 2011 they released new ones with different colored handles, they even recently made special exclusive Rat 1's with a Spider web design and Tiger Stripes on the blade.
 
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