Ontario Knives

WillyD

WillyD

Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
244
I just saw a bunch of Ontario Spec Plus knives at the shop at reasonable prices (for Belgium that is). Have you guys any experience with them ? I know the 1095 steel they use will rust easily but to which stainless steel can it be compared? And how about the kraton handles ?

Thanx
 
Hi Willy,
I hate to post negatively, just try to keep my mouth shut you know but Spec plus stuff bothers me.
They are indeed carbon steel and can't be compared well to stainless steels in terms of rust resistance.
Thats not so bad in itself but the knives leave me cold.
Poor balance, no soul. Pretty good for a garden spade. Thats about where Id put em. Hard use ugly knife.

Although I hear the Frontier bowie they have has a blade similar to the Helles Belle Bowies. But with those miserable handles. The best thing you can say about the handles is they are round.

But then you saw them, if you liked them and they suit your purpose then get one. They are not very expensive knives so they should be cheap.
 
personally I think of them as beaters. If you can get them cheap, they are worth it. As for as 1095 its always been a good all around high carbon steel. With reasonable care the blade should last a very long time. 1095 holds a good edge, as long as it has had a good heat treat. The finish on these knives is not always the best. Ive seen a couple blades that had some small "crater like" crevices (where rust couyld take up home). The kraton does makes a good grip, but it will break down with contact to petroleum products. As far as the sheaths go they look nice, but I have seen some where the quality was lacking. You may be able to find a nice though. This is not to put them down, but just to give you an idea.

I hope this helps some
 
Thanx guys,

I just saw them real cheap by our standards, about 55 dollar and I thought I'd buy me a user. I have some experience with 1095 in Philipine Katanas but I just wanted to know how it would perform in a shorter blade. Now for the cutting performance how would let's say the tanto perform ? (compared to other (stainless) steels or compared to a knife below in my sig ? )

please keep the info coming
 
I have little doubt that 1095 can be heat treated to hold an edge quite well. My experience with Spec Plus is that they don't properly heat treat their blades, since mine didn't hold an edge for more than a few sticks. that was 6 years ago, they might have altered their process since then, but I doubt it. So if they won't cut, they make a good beater/digger right? Hmmm... I'd spend just a few more dollars and get a Becker or used D2 Kabar which will beat, dig, and cut.
Or go all out and get a SwampRat with lifetime unlimited warranty and never worry about knife failure again!
 
Like Cliff said; Get a Camillus/Becker (or two) instead. The Ontario knives are a long way off from reaching the quality of the Becker knives, at about the same prices.

Also, someone mentioned that the Ontario Frontier(sman) has a blade that's somewhat like that of the Hell's Bell...Not really, as the blade of the (Ontario/Bagwell) Hell's bell is stainless, alot thicker, and is wider.
 
Is heat treating an issue for all of Ontario's line or just Spec plus? I've been mulling over buying an RTAK as a camp knife.
 
All of the line, I have also seen problems with their machetes, and multiple large brittle failures have been reported here on the forums with the RTAKs. Get a Becker Combat Bowie instead.


-Cliff
 
Not much to add except that the handles are very uncomfortable and the edges are way too thick. Excellent prybars, poor cutting tools. I don't have one yet, but I would put my money into a Becker.
 
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