Ontario RAT 2 Folding Knife, by Thomas Christianson

With a 3-inch, satin-finish, flat-ground, drop-point blade made out of AUS-8 stainless steel, an OD green nylon handle, and a cost of just $38.95 at Blade HQ at the time of this writing, the Ontario RAT 2 folding knife represents an excellent value for a solid, well-designed everyday carry (EDC) knife.

This knife is one of my favorites in the under $50 price range. If you need a good EDC knife and don’t have a lot of the green stuff, this one is worth a second look.

Background

Back in 2021, I reviewed the Ontario RAT 1 model for SurvivalBlog. I found it to be “a sharp, easily re-sharpened, durable, dependable, and effective tool.”

The RAT 1 is an excellent knife, but its 3.6-inch blade is just slightly on the long side for an EDC knife. I eventually decided that it would be interesting to take a look at the RAT 1’s little brother, the RAT 2. The 3 inch blade of the RAT 2 might help the knife to clip just a little bit more comfortably into my left front pants pocket.

I placed an order for the RAT 2. The knife arrived 6 days later via USPS Ground Advantage from Blade HQ, 166 Adwolfe Rd., Marion, VA 24354.

First Impressions

The product box is a simple paperboard box measuring 4.25 x 1.75 x 0.75 inches. It has a good amount of useful information imprinted upon it. The knife was designed in conjunction with Randall’s Adventure Training (“RAT”). After a couple of highly successful designs manufactured by the Ontario Knife Company, Randall’s Adventure Training turned to other manufacturers for the production of their designs. One of these later designs was the ESEE Zancudo that I reviewed for SurvivalBlog in November of 2023.

I knew that the Ontario Knife Company was formerly located in Franklinville, New York. So I was surprised to see their address listed on the box as 314 Lee Hwy, Marion, Virginia 24354.

It turns out that the Ontario Knife Company was acquired by Blue Ridge Knives on August 1, 2023. I am not sure what the current status of production is, after the New York plant was shuttered. The last reports I heard were not encouraging. It is possible that the company that began producing knives in Naples, New York in 1889 using a water-powered grinding stone might continue to exist as a manufacturer in name only, with all of its production outsourced to others.

Even prior to the sale, much of Ontario Knife Company’s production had already been moved overseas. For example, the RAT 2 design that is the subject of this review is manufactured in Taiwan. (Free China.)

JWR Adds: I did some digging, and found this news article: Ontario Knife Co. in Franklinville sold, 56 employees to lose jobs.

The Knife Informer website lists Ontario Knife Company’s production sites as: “USA, Taiwan, China”. So it is probably best to check the country-of-origin of any particular Ontario Knife Company design before you order.

The 3-inch drop-point blade of the RAT 2 is 0.09 inches thick. It is made of AUS-8 stainless steel. AUS-8 is a reasonably priced blade steel that has good corrosion resistance and is easy to sharpen. I like it better than many of the more expensive blade steels.

The blade is equipped with dual thumb studs for ambidextrous one-handed opening. The liner lock does an effective job of securing the blade in the open position with no wiggle or slippage.

Jimping on the spine of the blade provides better control for delicate cuts. I could wish that the jimping extended a little farther along the spine. It was too close to the handle to provide maximum benefit during the course of my testing.

The scales on the OD green nylon handle on the RAT 2 Folding Knife provide an excellent grip surface. The texture of the scales is a sort of faux-canvas-Micarta finish. An index finger groove in the handle helps to prevent the hand from slipping off the grip and up onto the blade. The four-position pocket clip is sturdy and effectively secures the knife in the pocket. During the course of my testing, I found that the clip could be difficult to clip onto pockets that have thicker seams along the top. The tip of the clip should probably be tilted away from the handle slightly more to make the process of clipping it into place easier.

The RAT 2 Folding Knife tips the scale at 2.75 ounces. It came out of the box very nicely razor-sharp.

The thin profile of the knife made it easy to access other items in my left front pants pocket while carrying the knife.

Testing

For a month and a half, I carried the knife on a regular basis, and used it for the mundane tasks of everyday life:
∙ Cutting a ranger band from an old bike inner tube. I used the band to keep a ratchet strap from unrolling in its storage bag.
∙ Opening bags of Cold Patch so that I could fill a pothole in my driveway. The Cold Patch residue was somewhat difficult to remove from the blade. It required the use of solvents and a lot of elbow grease.
∙ Cutting straps holding a shipment of chairs together. This allowed a group of volunteers to unload the chairs from a truck at our church.
∙ Cleaning battery contacts on a DVD remote after the old batteries leaked.
∙ Cutting off the end of a tube of caulk so that I could seal around the ceiling vent in our camper.
∙ Opening a dose of heartworm medicine for our dog.
∙ Opening the packaging on a new-old-stock spinning reel.
∙ Cleaning corrosion from the contacts on a clamp light in our camper. The old batteries had leaked.
∙ Opening a tube of flea and tick treatment for our dog.
∙ My wife, “Kari”, cut black olives for pizza while camping with our grandkids. (Note: the blade had been washed after opening the flea and tick treatment).
∙ Our son-in-law, “Sam”, cut apples and spread peanut butter on the slices for a snack.
∙ Cutting a stick to use as a poker for the campfire.
∙ Opening an emergency water pump kit that I hoped to review for SurvivalBlog. Unfortunately, the kit did not fit my well’s casing, so I had to send it back.
∙ Opening a new digital trigger pull weight gauge to replace the old one that had ceased to function.
∙ Cutting fishing line on a rod and reel.
∙ Cutting the frayed end of a broken emergency pull line for a garage door opener so that the pull could be reattached. One of the men in our church family had called while he and his family were away on vacation. They had a guest staying in their house during their absence, and she could not get the garage door opened. She needed to get her car out of the garage in order to drive to work. She had pulled so hard on the emergency pull line that it had broken. I consider myself a “full service” pastor. In addition to helping with broken garage doors, I have helped with a host of other tasks like installing a new battery in a widow’s car, helping another widow order airline tickets, answering computer questions for senior saints, and dog-sitting for families in our church.
∙ Cutting wet insulation in the basement ceiling after a leak under our kitchen sink had saturated the insulation.
∙ Cutting wires and tubes while disassembling a broken carpet shampooer so that the parts could be disposed of more easily.
∙ Opening a box containing a range cap to be reviewed for SurvivalBlog.
∙ Removing ivy and Virginia creeper from the base of an oak tree.
∙ Cutting wild grape vines that were entangling brush that I was clearing from the edge of our driveway.
∙ Prying open a key fob for a member of our small group so that they could replace the battery.
∙ Cutting a slice of smoked Edam cheese for a bedtime snack. Our daughter, “Rivka” had given us the cheese as a thank you gift for dog-sitting.
∙ Opening packages of beef jerky and snack sticks that Kari had put in my lunch box.
∙ Cutting flaps off of a cardboard box to use for igniting a fire in the fire pit.
∙ Opening a package of batteries for my own key fob.
∙ Removing a staple from a thick document that I needed to scan.
∙ Removing the seal from a gallon jug of bar and chain oil.
∙ Cutting wood shavings to be used in kindling another fire in the fire pit.
∙ Light batoning to prepare kindling in order to ignite still another fire in the fire pit.
∙ Opening a package of batteries for a laser pointer. I was preparing to use the pointer to direct attention to locations on a map during a sermon.

I found that the RAT 2 did an excellent job with all of these tasks, and more.

One task that the RAT 2 did not do well was helping to fix the fender of Kari’s car after an encounter with a concrete parking stop. I needed to go into the house to get my Leatherman Skeletool instead. The pliers and screwdriver of the Skeletool were necessary to complete tasks that a blade alone could not handle.

Conclusions

The Ontario RAT 2 is a great EDC knife at a great price. I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer

I did not receive any financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.