R2D2 Knife

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Blackhorse

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Finally, after several years I ordered the li’l brother to my Rat 1, made by Ontario.  It’s the Rat 2, or R2.  And since the blade is the very practical D2 steel it’s known as the R2D2.  Looks like a great EDC size, though I often carry the R1 now and have no problems with it at all.  

To match my R1 I chose the carbon fiber scales.  The carbon fiber used in these isn’t the highest end CF out there, but I like it.  It has a very solid and secure feel in the hand.  

Stock photos below show the R2 and both together in a size comparison.





 
Very good looking knives. I had never heard of them before. How well do the blades hold an edge?
 
Comments...

So long as you get the D2 steel it holds an edge exceedingly well.  D2 is known for that.  I’ve seen rope cutting tests in which this D2 outlasted the other steel the knife is offered with, AUS - 8, by a factor of 2 to 1.

Re the carbon fiber.  Actually I think these CF slabs make the knife weigh in very slightly heavier than their plastic scales.  Weird, huh?  These specific CF scales have lots of buzz.  Some love it, some hate it, many don’t care.  It’s claimed to be a thin sheet of CF over plastic by some, but if you take the scale off the knife it’s the same on both sides.  I’ve heard that it’s CF and G10 laminated together.  I doubt that too.  That would be more expensive than just using a low cost CF.  

In the hand the CF looks two dimensional (as opposed to that 3D look some CF has) and is quite shiny.  But it gives me a good grip and feels rock solid.  Whatever.  Their plastic scales are $10 less than the CF...I can do the $10...and did.
 
If you want a really high end steel for a bargain price look at the LA Police Gear TBFK. Honest to gosh S35VN steel...about twice as wear resistant as D2, etc. Many online Knife guys have tested it and vouch for it being S35VN.  I just got one in today and it’s a real sweet heart.  Sculpted G10 handle, flipper, ball bearing swivel, deep pocket clip.  I got the black stone washed blade one but they do a satin blade as well.

Note:  everybody bitched about the clip being on the wrong end so current models have the clip on the correct end and to do that they had to do away with the lanyard hole.



 
Cool. Enjoy.


And if you want the BEST uTube site for steel, knife and edge retention testing check out the “Cedric and Ada Gear and Outdoors” site.

https://youtu.be/4A6Ai42O-4s

If you subscribe and then go to his site you can look up many knives and/or blade steels and see his real world testing of not only the factory edge...but further testing on whether it does better or worse being reground to a steeper angle as well as highly polished vs left rough. For example he’ll take a knife with a 20 degree factory edge, test it, then resharpen it to, say, 17 degrees or whatever. Then retest. He always uses the same braided sisal rope to cut. It’s actually VERY interesting. And he has results pages you can download. In some cases he’ll regained a pretty standard steel to something extreme and get incredible results. Sometimes worse. Very instructive. In one case he took a high end Italian blade of Uber steel and got really really crappy results. Then with another of the same thing got really good results. Try 60 cuts vs 300 cuts! Wild! Recommended.
 
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