RC-3 Blade length

J

jed meyers

Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Messages
36
Good day, everyone.

I have a bit of a problem. I've ordered an RC-3 knife and waiting for it to come to my country (Ukraine) sometime soon. The problem is that the knives with blade length of more that 9 cm are considered to be weapons and thereby I could possible have problems with that.

RAT Cutlery site says that the blade length of RC-3 is 3.375 inches which is equal to 8.55 cm. The main question is how was it measured? Ukrainian laws define blade length as the distance between the tip of the knife and the beginning of the guard/handle. What length does RC-3 have if measured as I said above?

Thank you.
 
Well, I hate to tell you this but the RC-3 from the end of the handle to the tip of the blade is almost 3 7/8" long. The 3 3/8" measurement is edge length. Personally I would rather measure edge length so a user knows exactly how much cutting edge they're getting on a knife but we will probably have to start adding the standard measurement which is handle to tip.

Sorry about this. If you want to send it back to us then we will refund your money.

Jeff
 
It's sad to hear but anyway it's not that big of a deal. Having a blade that is longer than 9 cm does not necessarily make knife a "weapon" in Ukraine, having a blade less than 9 cm always makes it a "tool" though.
Knife should possess a lot of characteristics to be a weapon in Ukraine - ability to pierce target more than once, form of the blade and handle, safety of a handle, etc. If the customs will become suspicious and hold the package they will send the knife for expertise - than I possibly would have some small problems with criminal analysts and customs officers. Otherwise it should be no problems except I would not be able to carry it around all the time. Anyway, that's what I bought the RAT folder for :)

p.s. Fallkniven F1 and SOG Pentagon are not "weapons" in Ukraine, so I think RC-3 should not be either, but I cannot be sure untill it gets certified as tool here.
 
Jed,

We appreciate you understanding. I updated the RAT Cutlery web site today so everyone would know exact measurements. If you do have problems, then let us know and we will take the knife back.

I'm thinking we may have to do a special edition of the RC-3 for countries such as yours. I know there are also some length restrictions in other countries also.

Again, thanks for buying and using our product and if there are any issues with the length, drop me a note and we'll do our best to help you out so you're not out a lot of money and can't use the knife. If we have to we'll even break the tip off so it fits the length requirements ;)

Best regards,

Jeff
 
Thank you for such great support.

I'll let you know in this thread how it went when the knives arrive.
 
No problem. Let us know how it works out.
 
R.A.T. said:
I'm thinking we may have to do a special edition of the RC-3 for countries such as yours. I know there are also some length restrictions in other countries also.
Click to expand...

NO! make it a regular model please :D even in places without restrictions, i think enough people would like a small edc sized blade to make the model successful :thumbup:
 
So happens a certain someone happened to send me an RC-3 today.

Got to say that this is about as useful a knife design/implementation as I've seen in some time.

Great size, shape, edge geometry and attention to detail (from the knife itself to the well thought out carry system).

Though my law enforcement/tactical days are now behind me, living in a woodland and mountain environment will find this knife useful on a regular basis. A lot of knife in a small package.

A smaller version for those that can't carry the full size RC-3 sounds like a great plan as well.
 
muchas gracias, amigo.

Glad you like it.
 
New update. The first level - completed. To my luck customs officers wasn't suspicious - today I received my RC-3 and Rat Folder. What should I say - beautiful knives :)
The next level would be getting them certified as tools in Ukraine to be able to carry them around on me. I'm planning to do that in January. My personal opinion is that expert will define RC-3 as a tool not a weapon because of the "dangerous handle". The expert should be able to hit the "target" (wood board) couple of times with "maximum force" (I know this is stupid but this is what's written in Ukrainian weapon testing methods) without his hands slipping on the blade. RC-3 does not have the guard so his hands should slip.
 
do you mean the tester will stab the wood board full force and if his hands don't slip it's a weapon??? even though the guard is small, it definitely works. it has never failed me. hope your tester has big hands and doesn't know how to properly hold a knife :D

good luck!
 
Thank you.
It depends on the tester and his personal opinion on the knife. It's like a lottery when it's not obvious whether knife is a weapon or not. We have really stupid laws out here.
 
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