Looking for budget EDC. <$30

lickback said:
That's how the rat 1 should be. It is a steel on steel liner lock, so it will be a very long time before it ever wears over any more than it is now. Titanium liner locks are what normally wears over to the side.
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Yup; the RAT-1 is the modern day Buck 110. I am an Emersonaholic but the Ti lockbar against the blade does eventually walk the lock-up to the right.
 
Hmm, calling a Rat 1 a modern Buck 112. That seems like a reasonable description of it. Their dimensions are almost identical except the Buck being fatter and a big heavier. Buck really should have something besides the 110 that competes in the $50 range with the Tenacious, Rat, and Link and the 110 ain't it. The Vantage may be the closest.
 
jason41987 said:
Hmm, calling a Rat 1 a modern Buck 112. That seems like a reasonable description of it. Their dimensions are almost identical except the Buck being fatter and a big heavier. Buck really should have something besides the 110 that competes in the $50 range with the Tenacious, Rat, and Link and the 110 ain't it. The Vantage may be the closest.
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They have the Skblades Smokerunner and the Shield, too bad they aren't regular production
 
I also learned something though. If I am going to carry a knife with a pocket clip, I prefer tip down. But since I have no need for a quick draw, I have no need for a pocket clip either. I cannot wait till the Opinel gets here to test out along side it.

I really cannot understand why people complain about the Rats weight. I don't even feel it.
 
Tip up or tip down, makes little difference to me. I typically withdraw the knife with thumb and forefinger. If the knife is tip down, my thumb is close to the thumb stud. The knife merely has to pivot on my thumb to be in position to open. If tip up, the knife is properly aligned when it comes out of the pocket, but I have to shift my grip along the length of the handle before I can open it.

In any case, I rarely carry a knife clipped to my pocket any more. Knives are not welcome at my workplace. I carry one anyway, but I am not going to announce its presence with a clip on my pocket.
 
That's what I am thinking as well. I don't need to be able to draw it in a second because I'm not going to be using a knife in self defense. If I need a weapon to defend myself with, a handgun comes out. So I will probably remove the pocket clip entirely.
 
And the Opinel finally arrived today. No packaging, just a letter from customs which is odd. Anyway, I have the knife. I could EDC this and I might actually do that over the Rat 1 if I can do some mods to it first. I do not have fingernails really, so getting a grip on the blade to open it is not the easiest task. I wonder if I could just remove the blade, widen the groove that it pivots in, and put this thing on bronze bushings. No longer pivoting on bare wood should really smooth up and lighten it and maybe also eliminate that issue some of you told me of about the blade sticking when wet.

As far as the size of it goes. I can get all four fingers on the grip and I do like how the cutting edge is close enough that it doesn't need some choil, however that also means there's nothing to stop your finger from slipping and with my large hands the edge of my index finger covers over the blade. I may have to buy a 9 or 10 and compare.
 
1) I recommend melting in a wax lube into the joint. Floor wax, carpenters wax and SnoSeal all work (in decreasing order of effectiveness).

2) IMO, Opinels handle better with a bit of tension on the pivot. If yours is too tight for your liking, stick the largest flat head screwdriver you can find, put it in the slot against the inner collar and slowly twist the driver to open up the pivot a bit. The Opinel is, by design, a friction folder and a free pivoting Opinel is more likely to bite you.

3) The traditional way to open a stuck Opinel is to tap the butt end of the handle on a hard surface to pop the blade open a bit. This isn't needed for a well adjusted and lubed Opinel.

4) If you really struggle to open an Opinel either due to a lack of thumbnail or weak grip, I recommend using a rasp to file in an "easy-open" finger groove. Google for "easy open jack knife" to get an idea.

5) The Opinel is a traditional knife and like the vast majority of traditional designs, has no finger guard. It's meant for cutting, not stabbing. Other traditional with this feature include sodbusters, nearly all slip joints, the Buck 110 to name a few. In Scandinavia, the difference between a child's knife and normal knife is the guard or lack thereof.

6) I wear XL gloves and prefer the #9 for EDC, although it is big enough that it carries better in my rear pocket. At this size, the Opinel 9 is really a large traditional and like all large traditionals that lack a clip, you need to figure out what kind of carry works for your life. I *HATE* belt holsters and I find these knives too big for front pocket carry. I run a seam up the side of my right rear pocket and find this works best for me. I'm carry a heavy 110 today and don't even notice I have it on me. YMMV territory.
 
I find that if I smack the butt end of the Opinel in the palm of my other hand, the blade comes out just enough for me to get a grip on it with my fingers to pull out. The more I use it, the easier it becomes. I also learned that I really like this 3 finger grip with my pinky finger across the butt end of the handle. It gives me protection from slipping if I had to do any kind of stabbing motion, and being beveled here it's really quite comfortable. Then the four finger grip bringing my index finger closer to the blade could be used in situations where I'd use the "finger choil" on the Rat 1. Overall it's a very comfortable knife and may be the one I carry.

I may step it up to a No 10 but I seen somewhere that they were using the same size collars and rings as on the Opinel 9, but with the longer blade and more leverage provided insufficient locking strength. Did Opinel fix this? Does the No 10 use larger parts now?
 
I recommend thinking of the Opinel like a folding Mora. If you need to stab anything, you should be reaching for another knife, IMO.

As with a traditional Mora, for the sake of wood working, the cutting edge comes right to the handle, eliminating the need for a choir to "choke up" on the blade for close wood working. You are spot on to recognize this.

I find an unmodified #10 to be too big for my preference for daily carry. For me, its more of a carry in my pack sized knife. It is a half step bigger than a 110, for sake of reference.

The girth of the pivots change between sizes. There is no way different sizes could use each other's parts.
 
I could comfortably carry either the Rat 1 or the Opinel. But comparing the two side by side it is clear, I have more trust and faith in the Rat 1 than I do the Opinel. The blade is larger, stronger, thicker that I think it's going to be a more durable utilitarian tool than the Opinel. The Rat 1 just does a much better job instilling confidence in itself. Even if the Rat 1 wasn't one handed opening, I trust it more. The Opinel looking more like an old mans blade would be less likely to spook anyone when used in public, but I may put some wooden scales on the Rat which would have the same effect.
 
Hmm, I washed the Opinel, it got wet, and it got really tough to open and close. So what sort of wax do you use to fix that issue? and do you have to disassemble the knife? If I take this knife apart, I'd want to acid etch the metal bits with vinegar. Would the ring parts darken or only the blade?
 
jason41987 said:
Sure, but I consider multi-tools to be something entirely separate and the blades are never really that sufficient. So it's something I'd EDC along side a dedicated folding knife.
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The Letherman Skeletools are pretty good. The CX is has pretty slim design and actually have a decent blade, usually accessed like a regular famelock. Just an idea if a full blown multitool is too much. Also, for lightweight EDC, you could do worse than a Benchmade Bugout. Not the cheepest option though
 
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jason41987 said:
Hmm, I washed the Opinel, it got wet, and it got really tough to open and close. So what sort of wax do you use to fix that issue? and do you have to disassemble the knife? If I take this knife apart, I'd want to acid etch the metal bits with vinegar. Would the ring parts darken or only the blade?
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As stated above, wax works well. I recommend Johnson's Wax Paste, carpenter's (bee's) wax, or SnowSeal (wax based) leather treatment in that order of preference.

No need to disassemble. Just shove some wax into the joint area and melt it in with a hair dryer or heat gun.

I recommend doing this several times during the first month to allow the wax to penetrate and seal the wood in the joint area.
 
jason41987 said:
I could comfortably carry either the Rat 1 or the Opinel. But comparing the two side by side it is clear, I have more trust and faith in the Rat 1 than I do the Opinel. The blade is larger, stronger, thicker that I think it's going to be a more durable utilitarian tool than the Opinel. The Rat 1 just does a much better job instilling confidence in itself. Even if the Rat 1 wasn't one handed opening, I trust it more. The Opinel looking more like an old mans blade would be less likely to spook anyone when used in public, but I may put some wooden scales on the Rat which would have the same effect.
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You might dream up some tough cutting or prying tasks and use the Opinel and Rat1 side by each and then reporting back on your experiences.

Just never, ever rely on teh Opinel lock to prevent the blade from closing. You will cut off your finger when the lock ring pops off.
 
jason41987 said:
Hmm, I washed the Opinel, it got wet, and it got really tough to open and close. So what sort of wax do you use to fix that issue? and do you have to disassemble the knife? If I take this knife apart, I'd want to acid etch the metal bits with vinegar. Would the ring parts darken or only the blade?
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As stated already, melt some wax into the joint, or if you have some Frog Lube handy, that would really loosen the blade up.
 
I took this thread as an opportunity to melt some Sno-Seal into the joint of my old No.8. In the dry winter air it gets loose enough to open with the flick of a wrist, so I figure January is a pretty good time to try to seal out some moisture.

This knife is 30 or 35 years old, and predates the introduction of the notch to hold it closed, so it is a pretty good candidate to open up in the pocket, although it never has. If I can always remember to carry it tip down, I don’t see why it ever would.

The No. 8 is about as big as I would ever care to carry in a pocket, although I do have a 10 purchased expressly for some slimming modifications. For EDC, the No. 6 is my favorite.
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pinnah said:
As stated above, wax works well. I recommend Johnson's Wax Paste, carpenter's (bee's) wax, or SnowSeal (wax based) leather treatment in that order of preference.

No need to disassemble. Just shove some wax into the joint area and melt it in with a hair dryer or heat gun.

I recommend doing this several times during the first month to allow the wax to penetrate and seal the wood in the joint area.
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Yup. Even Vaseline works pretty well.
 
SALTY said:
Yup; the RAT-1 is the modern day Buck 110. I am an Emersonaholic but the Ti lockbar against the blade does eventually walk the lock-up to the right.
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I never thought about the Rat 1 like that but I think that description as a modern version of the Buck 110 is a good one. I m liking my Rat 1 with d2 steel more and more. Nice edc/work knife.
 
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