Opinion on Extrema Ratio knives

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Hermit_Knight

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Mar 19, 2018
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These knives are pricey and I have heard both good and bad about them, are there any owners of them if so let me know what you think about them. I have my eye on the suppressor or the Arditi dagger. Thanks.
 
To me they are ugly and overpriced for the materials in comparison to what's out now. Wouldn't even consider one tbo. They do make a folder with a lock for fixed blade function which is interesting but not for me.
 
Hermit_Knight said:
These knives are pricey and I have heard both good and bad about them, are there any owners of them if so let me know what you think about them. I have my eye on the suppressor or the Arditi dagger. Thanks.
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I own three and each one came with an issue. (Not including the rediculous obtuse edge 1 of them came with).

The dark talon: the freakin blade hits the standoff when the knife is closed putting a nice big chip in the edge. Luckily the knife came with an even bigger chip in the edge than the standoff chip to make the standoff chip not seem so bad.

Its the knife on the left.
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M1a1: genius designers put a lock on the folding caplifter/canopener/screwdriver. That lockbar pushes over the nylon washer that goes on one side of the can opener. It doesn’t affect function but it’s stupid. This is the knife that came with the rediculously bad edge. Overall I like this knife once I had the edge redone. It is a great option if you ever wanted a really heavy locking swiss army knife.

Its the knife on the right.
gsvYFTr.jpg


The Pugio: Came with a retarded sheath that the knife rattles in that would look way out of place anywhere but on a SWAT team member. Too bad because otherwise I love this knife.
s6lZoPt.jpg


Also wanted to add they released a knife (the Mamba I think) that comes with a built in pull through carbide sharpener that works every time you sheath and unsheath the knife. Pullthrough sharpeners destroy knives and I find it insulting they would include it.
 
They make some blades that don't look bad, but they all have this same ugly ass handle form that they stick with.
It's got that real crisp impression that seems to go against everything about ergonomics that have developed over the last 100 years.
 
I don’t know how they handle their business now but in the past they have been all claims but if you break one.. you might get discount to buy you new one!
They should be good for cutting pizza and spaghetti though.
 
Hickory n steel said:
They make some blades that don't look bad, but they all have this same ugly ass handle form that they stick with.
It's got that real crisp impression that seems to go against everything about ergonomics that have developed over the last 100 years.
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Yeah ! What's up with those handles ? Almost none of their handles ever appealed to me . :thumbsdown:
 
ER is an Italian conmpany.

'nuff said.

Nothing against Italy per se. Ive travelled there and part of the country is beautiful and some of the people are nice.
Its just that the Italians have a certain 'anarchistic' approach to production, as evidenced by Lapedog's post.
As often is the case with Italian made stuff how ever, it can look great and/or innovative - also as evidenced by Lapedog's post.

OP mentions, that his interest in ER might be for collecting purposes; if you just want to collect these, im sure, they'll do fine.

(Cue a horde of hard core of Col Moschin users, who reiterates how well the knives work for all kinds of tasks on an every day basis:))

PS that Pugio looks great.
 
I am a dagger collector and I have 2 of their FS daggers. Both are very well made and as good as any production knives anywhere.

I think it is important, when critiquing manufacturers, to draw a distinct difference between what I perceive as poor design, versus quality.
Granted some of Extrema Ratio's other designs do not appeal to me but the quality of the knives is excellent. In my opinion the same could be said of many other top manufacturers.
 
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I handled a couple models and while they "look" cool, I don't think I would ever buy one. The fixed blades are anything but utilitarian, meant more for stabbing and prying than cutting anything. The folders... unless you stick to the thinnest ones, same deal, too thick and obtuse angles to be useful. They weight a ton as well.

The RAO is just... interesting, but I cannot see where it would fit.

And then you look at the prices and for that amount of money my feeling is that you should be getting better steel and materials.
 
E.R. are generally very overpriced, their main market target is people who don't know anything about knives and are attracted by high-priced tactical designs.
 
As an alternative to ER, check out Fox Cutlery. They have a few very nice daggers.
They're not cheap, but they make a good knife.
A few examples, Fox Elite, Fox Modras and Fox Modern.
 
JPD1998 said:
As an alternative to ER, check out Fox Cutlery. They have a few very nice daggers.
They're not cheap, but they make a good knife.
A few examples, Fox Elite, Fox Modras and Fox Modern.
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I just checked them out and they seem to use the same steel and are a fair bit cheaper with some nice designs.
 
For all I have no use for one these days other than a collectors piece I do like their Extreme Ratio Col Moschin fighting style knife with the Tanto tip . Someone else mentioned the Cold Steel Recon Tanto knife which I expect would be a great tactical fighting / utility knife in extreme environments but for me the tip is too squared off (no doubt very powerfull tip ) but I prefer the aesthetics of the Col Moschin tip.
 
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