Ontario Rat 1 or Spyderco Tenacious

Rat 1 vs Tenacious

  • Rat 1

    Votes: 43 79.6%

  • Tenacious

    Votes: 11 20.4%
  • Total voters
    54
R

Runt1122

Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
34
I have read several threads comparing these two great budget blades, but don’t ever recall seeing a poll. I was interested in what people would vote for between these two for general edc applications and last ditch self defense purposes.
 
I owned a Tenacious for exactly one day and returned it. I've owned my RAT1 for over 3 years and it is probably the best "bang for buck" folder on the market. Either that or the RAT2...
Also
The Tenacious in 8cr13mov is double the cost of a RAT1 in AUS8 and about $15 more than the D2 version.
I don't think G10 scales and a laser engraved tick on the blade is worth the extra dough.
 
Both are fine, but I'd take the RAT 1 or 2. Had a Tenacious and gave it away.

D2 is good, but I have no problem with the AUS-8 RAT offerings either. Very easy to maintain, and inexpensive.
 
The Tenacious was a good buy when it first came out (at least I got a good buy), and it's a good knife. :) Now, however, the Rat 1 or 2 are (and I feel always were) a much better bang for the buck. :thumbsup:
 
I own both and rarely carry either because I have a lot of other knives that are better than both of them.

Both are totally functional knives. I like the Tenacious better than the Rat 1 because it just suits my particular desires/biases better. For some reason I view the Rat1 as more of a camp type knife than one for EDC use but again that's simply based on my own particular perspectives.

Frankly, I don't think you can go "wrong" using/carrying either knife for normal use but, if you're you've got a limited budget, the Rat1 is obviously the better buy because it's cheaper.

If I had to let one go, it would be the Rat1 because I really don't need/use it. I'd keep the Tenacious (again because it suits me better) and also because I consider it one of a 3 knife Spyderco family subset which includes the Resilience, Tenacious and Persistence. I'd add the Ambitious to the subset too but that's just too small of a knife for me to bother collecting.
 
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Are shopping at Walmart right now? :) They have both models. Tough call. I'd go with the Tenacious. G10 And abit more pocket friendly size. Thicker lock too.
 
Rat 1, in AUS-8. Friends have been doing testing with the Rat models, and are finding that production D2 is badly underperforming. Gerald from Outpost76 on YT ran Rat 1 in D2 vs AUS-8 and got better performance out of the AUS-8. Also noteworthy: the D2 on that Rat 1 was the best D2 he had tested to that point.

Seems at least possible that D2 is being under treated.

Either of those will stomp on 8cr13mov.

So, the lowest price tag gets you the most performance.
 
dirc said:
d2 in a rat under performing?? how exactly, I'm really curious
Click to expand...

It was out cut in an edge retention test by AUS-8, each in a Rat 1, with matching edges and geometry.

Edited to add the link. Gerald uses the same methodology as Supersteel Steve:

 
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I've had it used both of these knives for all manner of tasks at work. I have a little bit larger hands and the handle size and style of the Rat 1 suits me much better.

For my common construction related tasks the Rat 1 performed much better in the hand. Although I use much higher performing (and more expensive!) steels on a regular basis in my knives I find the Rat 1 steel perfectly acceptable since it is soft enough that in a pinch I can touch it up on a piece of wet-n-dry sandpaper. It seemed to me that the Tenacious didn't perform as well and the wide flat blade was definitely harder to touch up out in the field.

The Rat1 carries better in my pocket, too. I don't like the big flat leaf design of the blade as it takes up too much real estate in the pocket. I really wanted to like the Tenacious more, but wound up giving it to a friend of mine after about six months of use. He always wanted a real Spyderco knife, so in the end everyone was happy.

Robert
 
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I'm a huge Spyderco fan, and 80% or more of my collection consists of Spydies.

With that said, I'd choose a Rat 1 or Rat 2 all day over any of Spydercos "budget" offerings. So yeah, Rat 1 is much better than the Tenacious.
 
I own both and like them both, but I carried my RAT 1 (AUS-8) more. Main reasons are (1) The smoother handle scales especially underneath the pocket clip makes the RAT 1 easier to clip to and unclip from the pocket, (2) The knife is not as wide when folded so it slips into my pocket with other stuff more easily, and (3) I could easily swap the placement of the pocket-clip on the RAT for tip-up carry. I tried to do the same for the Tenacious and one of the darn screws stripped, it's permanently tip-down now.
 
Rat 1 is the easy choice.
There is no reason to waste $40-50 on 8cr13
If you insist on a Spyderco design, go with the Byrd Raven 2. The Tenacious is garbage.
 
I own a Tenacious PS and a RAT 2... I like the RAT 2 better, but maybe just because even though I keep on buying them, partiall y serrated blades are tricky. Out of the two, I voted RAT 1
 
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