Ontario Spec Plus Tanto 8" Blade Knife
Jun 23, 2010 19:56:16 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2010 19:56:16 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Ontario Spec Plus Tanto 8" Blade Knife review[/glow]
By
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
By
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
Although I love swords, every now and then I have knife cravings ; the urge to buy a new knife to foul around with (beeing an urban kid that avoid fights and the woods, I rarely/never get the chance to actually use my knives for anything else than backyard cutting). So, to share the joys of knivesoolism, here's a review of one my fixed blade knives. I will later make a few more reviews, of the other blades that I own, but for now, let me introduce today's subject :
Introduction
I bough this knife more than a year ago, from knifecenter.com. Price was 52 $ US, shipping was very quick and affordable, thumbs up to the seller for that.
Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, this knife is discontinued, it isn't available anymore at knifecenter.com, but if you like this review, you can try this product, which is very similar ; www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=ONFF13
Here's a few numbers ...
Overall lenght :13 ''... more or less
Blade lenght : about 8''
Fittings
The blade is a bit thick. The back is about 3/16'' thick and keeps that thickness until the last few millimeter of the blade. It is painted with an opaque black coat. This coating will likely wear very quickly if this blade is used ; I easily removed small parts of it after cutting a pair of water bottles and by stroking it with a another knife's blade.
The blade is tanto-shaped (a funny name, in my honest opinion, because real japanese tanto didn't have this angular look) ; the edge is almsot completely straight and takes a sharp, angular turn toward the tip.
The edge is paper-cutting sharp. The sharp angle of the tip (see the close-up picture) would make snap-cuts very efficient and damaging with this knife, in my opinion. However, the straight blade would also make the blade less strong when chopping or batonning wood, compared to a similar-sized knife with a curved/bellied edge.
The handle is made of polymer. It is black and offers a good grip. It's ergonomics are simple but efficient. Also, I think this grip could easily accomodate any size of hand ; when holding it, I still have a free inch of handle left.
The pommel has a lanyard hole and comes with a black-shoe-laces-like short lanyard. Like the rest of the handle, it is quite solid and I think it could be used as an improvised hammer, whatever you have to pound a nail, stake or bad guy's face.
The hilt seems very tough. It is madeof polymer, too, but seems to contain some metal too (it is very, very rigid and seems to contain a hard core). It offers a very secure grip and allows the user to make jabs and thrust without having his/her hand slide off on the edge. I don't know how well it would resist a cut in a knife fight (compared to a full-metal hilt, for example), but in my opinion it would offer a better than nothing protection for your precious fingers (but I think the best protection would be to not get into a knife fight...).
The scabbard is made of cordura, it has a leather belt hole. It comes with a pair of straps to keep the blade secure (and by secure, I mean more secure and tight than the insides of a Smart Fortwo). Without the snaps on, the blade is more or less secure, it will fall out of the sheath with a slight shake if held upside down. In this case, the knife will be very easy and quick to draw, but it won't be very secure if you have to travel around. Putting just one strap on will make the knife very secure but impossible to draw quickly.
The bottom of the sheath has a hard plastic loop that comes with a long lanyard. I have no idea of its use, but I guess someone with more practical knowledge of knives will find a use for it ... Overall, this seems like the kind of sheath that would be tough enough to be carried in the woods, but I don't know how good it would be in a combat situation.
Handling and cutting
Compared to the other fixed-blade knives that I own, this one is the one that feels the heaviest (it also happens to have the thickest blade ...). The blade feels strong in the cut, thanks to this weight. However, it also feels a bit less lively than my other knives. However, I am not certain that this will severely decrease this knife capabilities has a fighting weapon ; I had no trouble handling this knife and wouldn't feel much hindered by its weight if I had to use it in close-quarter combat (again, take this with a pinch of salt, I have never been in a CQC situation ...). However, keep in mind that, for pure fighting, they are other, more lively blades around.
I may also add that this increased weight could be useful if you have to use this knife for tough, field tasks.
I have made a very short clip of me and a friend cutting some waterbottles with this knife, it may not sate your backyard cutting craving, but anyway, here goes ...
Conclusion
Pros
-Cool-looking blade
-Tough, useful sheath
-Sharp edge
Cons
-Cheap, fragile black coating of the blade
-A more curved blade would've been better for working tasks
-Jack-of-all-trades ; decent for fighting or field work, but doesn't seem very good at neither ...
Overall, I still like this knife. It's tanto blade is sexy and attractive, it was what attracted me to this product in the first place and I still like its look. Althought this knife wouldn't be my first choice for the woods or combat, it is my only knife that seems capable of doing decent work in these two domains.
That is all I have to say about it, hope you've enjoyed this review, because more are coming !