EXTREMA RATIO TASK

Ok I've introduced EXTREMA RATIO in a previous blog on the ONTOS. But once again, EXTREMA RATIO, an ISO  certified company and NATO supplier (lots of people are claiming to be NATO suppliers- let's see their proof).

The Task comes under the banner of EXTREMA RATIO's "Multipurpose knives" 

EXTREMA RATIO says the TASK is  "for all day cutting". This is very apparent the moment you examine and hold this knife in your hands. Thick bladed knives, ie 5mm and above are great for heavy tasks like chopping and hacking away at various things and while they can certainly cut, they're not optimized for cutting tasks. Here comes the TASK by EXTREMA RATIO. With a distally tapering spine,

EXTREMA RATIO Spine view note the tapering blade

 flat grind and some vicious serration's, 




the TASK is perfect for cutting jobs. Finger/thumb gimping and a choil

EXTREMA RATIO TASK Choil

 for added fine control, add this to EXTREMA RATIO's already superbly ergonomic hanfle then cutting is going to be easy as. How many times have you tried to prep food in the camp/field kitchen with a thick bladed knife only to find it is very difficult to actually penetrate the food unless swinging the thing like an axe? Plus looking like an absolute amateur with no idea! Cutting hard vegetables, like: onions, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin/gourds, casava, taro, yams,

 or any hard vegetable is not a problem. No one is talking about what they are eating out in the field and that's because everyone is bringing their cheesy just add water meals ( and of course can't cook/prep food to save themselves) You must have a well designed knife for camp food prep, if you are serious otherwise you are just making things hard for yourself and as I just said looking like an amateur. Big thick bladed knives have their purpose but you just can't easily cut up the days catch (game or otherwise) with a thick bladed knife.

For food prep in a jungle/tropical environment the TASK will be great as most starchy foods (and hence full of energy) just so happen to be damn hard. Try cutting through casava without making a mess with a big thick blade, you can't. I 've been there done that. Bread fruit is the same, sugar cane, etc. The only exception will be coconuts where you will need a longer and thicker bladed knife, or actually be using a proper parang/coconut knife for the job ( I usually buy a local one when traveling-then you don't have to worry about carting something this big with you on a plane).

Ok you're saying hey but why not just take along a kitchen Knife because this will do the same thing? Or will it?

Here's why a kitchen knife won't do the same thing:

The TASK's blade has a slightly convex profile (that's blade not edge), a narrowed tip/spine, that with a stretch of the imagination might partially resemble a Wharncliffe profile in 2D but that's where the similarity ends. A characteristic of the Wharncliffe (I have several designed all made by Joseph Rodgers and Sons) is that the blade in the region of the tip was quite thick. This is not the case with the TASK. That being said the shape of the tip of the TASK will only force the cutting edge into whatever the tip is plunged, as  it is angled downwards, see tip image.

EXTREMA RATIO TASK tip

Unlike a "kitchen knife" where the blade thickness is basically the same along the entire spine, this is NOT the case with the TASK. Easily designed to penetrate and not flex up near the handle, an efficient delivery of energy into the cutting stroke can be achieved. You also have that ergonomic handle of EXTREMA RATIO's. Look at those serration's, everyone is saying they are a pain because: "I can't baton with them"! Seriously, this is only being said by people not deployed to the tropics that needs to cut vines in a hurry for shelter building, rope cutting on the coast or people who only buy a knife for batoning and should really be using a hatchet or an axe!

Serration's have their place but maybe not in an arboreal forest situation. Buy a knife for the environment you are working in. That said the TASK can also be used for food foraging,  (cutting mushrooms, bamboo shoots etc).

Let's look at the sheath.

Fully Molle compatible, padded, external flap





 to help prevent "catchup" on other gear/ bushes/scrub/vines etc . That is, dangling stuff getting snagged on the knife press studs and anchoring system.
 Now to the anchoring system, a hard polyamide (and removable- more on this in the video) insert to protect user and knife from damage. There is no rattle as this is a military knife. Comfortable padding in the sheath so as not to harm user if you have to lean on this system.

Side view note fully adjustable leg strap. See how the
outer flap covers the the securing press studs and hard
polyamide insert

Backside, leg strap visible and Molle loops

Front side external flap removed showing positively secured
knife retention system

Anyway this is just to whet your appetite and I'll be field testing EXTREMA RATIO's TASK in the Australian wilderness over the coming months, so look out for that video!

BCB Ultimate Survival Kit is PATHETIC

The Ultimate Survival Kit from BCB

First impressions: The aluminium container looks sturdy.

Ok that’s it, the rest is a bad story. The Ultimate survival kit retails in the UK for approximately 30 pounds sterling, it contains basically a few pounds of junk! And is a gimmick. I’ll explain why.

The synthetic rubber seal of the lid doesn’t sit right and from it’s design will never seat correctly into the lid. 

Synthetic rubber seal does not seat properly and came twisted

In fact when you invert the lid as you do, ie place it onto the bottom half of the container, the seal falls out immediately or becomes misaligned.

The contents: let’s start with what was good.

A reasonably sized (in thickness) fire steel BCB brand made in China. Ok that’s it.

The other garbage?:

A tampon, they don’t cost anything and are a gimmick, I’ll explain later.

 A chemical light, which are good but this one was already broken inside. That is the glass ampoule containing mixture “B as apposed to the other component, had already been spent up. A common problem when supplied like this, as nasty people think it’s fun to break these and since they can not be seen due to the light protective foil covering. Used to happen all the time at our local boating shop.

A cheapo folding multi-tool brand less, very poorly made.

A condom, again useless for real water collection without making a protective carrying cover to support the weight of water to be of any use in it. They also cost nothing.

Unbranded wire saw with crimped looped ends. Must be used with toggles!

Crappy looking button compasses, I’d rather make my own than trust these. Can’t use them walk a bearing only know which is NSE or W. If you loose/wear glasses, you will  never be able to read such a small face. Total gimmick.

Take away food sachets of table salt (ever heard of drinking your own sweat?). Better to supply real hydration salts, ie Gastrolyte etc.

Water sterilization tabs (ok these could be useful)

Zip lock bag, waste of time, cost them nothing to supply this.

A wooden pencil (assuming you have some dry paper to write on or haven’t lost the plastic instruction sheet).

A candle, alright, this is ok if it is a long burn one (I’ll be testing it too don’t worry about that).

A silver mayday reflector (come on you can make this out of any shiny surface by poking a hole in it) of dubious quality (use watch face, optical glasses, knife blade, box that all of this crap came in etc. Cost them nothing.

Fishing hooks and sinkers and a small amount of fishing line, this is just ok.

Not enough line to catch anything except a headache trying to do so.

Some BCB branded pathetically weak looking book matches

A small section of broken hacksaw blade for the fire steel striker

Some thin nylon cord

A small amount of wire, labelled as “Gold wire” Gold in color maybe LOL!

Some plastic survival instructions (ok these are ok if the one reading it doesn’t need glasses) Bit late to be reading though if you are opening this kit for the first time.

Safety pins can be useful.

A plastic whistle (mine was broken- a small part and choking hazard had come loose, I had to put it back into the whistle. Cheap garbage.

Needle and weak looking thread and a two small plastic buttons.

Some more thin nylon cord.

Finally a single edged razor blade (ok this is good)

Summary

Now I will explain in detail why this is rip off but more importantly something not be relied upon if the situation turns bad.

The BCB Ultimate survival kit doesn’t contain not one piece of first aid material (I won’t make any crude jokes about the condom or included tampon). Not one plaster; alcohol pad, or sterile bandage. This is a MUST, if it is only one of each.

The fish hooks and tackle is OK but better to replace them with quality hardened steel stainless fishhooks for a serious survival kit.

Multi-tool, the jaws did not meet, ie close together properly, a sign of poor workmanship/lack of quality. Maybe in pinch you could use them to extricate a fishhook from your lunch! I’d throw them away to recycling.

Packets of take away/take out food salt??? Ok so I see they are intended for re-hydration or just making that survival meal a little less bland, maybe even treating some diarrhoea? Better to have supplied proper re-hydration salts, as we don’t just sweat sodium chloride, what about all those other electrolytes?

Condoms are a gimmick when it comes to transporting water. Firstly, they do break/tear/easily get holes in them, and can not be relied upon without some woven or cloth bag for protection. You can’t easily collect water with them as they are collapsible and require support.

 Maybe you can cook something in the tin that all of the above came it but then you won’t be cooking much. It’s better to learn or know how to cook directly on or in the coals of the fire or smoke something.

If this is the Ultimate Survival Kit then I’d really hate to see the other versions. Don’t get hung up on this gimmick and pay 30 pounds for it.

I’d include solid fuel tablets (if you are not flying with the kit), first aid, fire steel, quality hooks and 5 to 10kg breaking strength fishing line. Tampons and condoms are for survival mall ninjas.

2/10, one for the cheapo steel and one for the aluminium box, which by the way is not really even splash proof.

BCB may be involved with Military organisations but seriously guys, this is far from an Ultimate Survival Kit, more likely an Ultimate survival gimmick. If I have to make a comparison to the Kizlyar Supreme Survival kit then with the exclusion of the tin and it’s cheapo credit card knife, then the Kizlyar Kit is far better in contents.

Real Survival Situations

REAL LIFE SURVIVAL SITUATIONS AND THE ROLE OF YOUR KNIFE


There are many knives branded with the label "Survival" and there are many videos showing some of these knives in action (but of course not during a real survival situation-who is going to holding the camera??)  But many videos and even more blogs don't talk about the environment the knife is used in. For example, a survival situation on a island surrounded by the sea Vs a tropical jungle environment. What could you be doing with this knife? Stainless steel is it necessary? Even in a marine environment? What will be the most useful blade shape? Does it matter? Maybe you won't have a choice when the shit hits the fan.
Can you easily sharpen it? How resistant is to breaking, falling apart with time? How comfortable will it be in the freezing cold Vs continually wet?
Everyone talking about  survial but how many of us have actually been involved in a situation? or are they talking BS?

Survival situations are often of very short duration, not like in the movies, ie lasting for months at a time or years stranded on a deserted island.

Let's look at survival scenarios. They could be long term or short term in duration before help is possible.

Without warning:

Man made:-acts of war, sinking vessel etc

Without warning:

 Nature's wrath-earth quake, tidal wave, volcanic eruption, insect attack, animal attack etc.

Little warning:

 Natures wrath: tidal wave, sinking vessel, flooding: (canyoning, caving , topside , equipment failure (SCUBA diving)

With warning:

 No outside help possible.

For example 1: A situation that does not directly involve you but a party or party members (for example, an expedition gone wrong, party member injured or becomes irrational) Time to notice/act depends on the leader of the expediton.

For example 2
Lost -your party or someone else has become lost that your party has encountered, what to do?

 Example 3 Party delayed due to injuries/sickness of party members, group is running low on food and water.

Ok now starting from the top. I have no experience with acts of war but the closest thing to this is being held hostage for about 30 minutes by armed rebels. Were there any knives involved in rectifying this situation? No sir! In fact if we had even attempted to become a threat, we were out gunned, out manned and in as close to as possible the middle of no where. The situation resolved itself by everyone keeping calm as these guys were looking for someone else AND even if they weren't, pulling your "Survival" knife would have got you shot immediately. The aggressors weren't checking for weapons, they knew we were out gunned and no threat plus they had the advantage.

 A sinking vessel, ok you need to swim and if you can grab a small knife of any kind grab one, though there are generally ones kept in well maintained lifeboats (if you are lucky enough) better to concentrate on swimming away from the sinking ship to avoid getting caught up in rising air pockets otherwise you are going straight down asap!


Without warning: nature's wrath-earth quake, tidal wave, volcanic eruption, insect attack, animal attack etc.

 How about these scenarios? Ok here I'll confine this to what I have personally experienced on more than one occasion:

Animal attack
 In this case attack by unleashed domestic dogs (2 dogs). I was carrying with me my EDC for the month, a FOX Spartan Leonida Combat Survival knife  attached to my waist and within easy deployment, a large 8ft tree branch with one forked end. Without warning except the sound of barking, two large mongrel dogs burst from cover at over 50 meters away. The barking was my only warning. No time to reach for the knife and spend the next 30 minutes fixing to the end of this stick I had! Not practical to try to defend myself with the Knife as it's reach is small. Use the stick man! Easily able to keep them at bay from both sides while at the same time keep moving to try to keep them in front of me. They did try to get behind me. Unfortunately for me I had to cross their paths several time but the second time I was better prepared, rocks: with these I started to attack them from distance until the got the message and backed off. Knives not necessary. Knives are short range weapons and better to keep your distance if you have that chance.

In the case of insect attack (they were bees) I simply tried to outrun them, I did get stung on my head where my hat did not cover at the same time trying to protect my face but if possible you can outrun them though in my case the distance was maybe a good 100meters before they gave up from their hive. I had the chance to jump into nearby water, this can be dangerous too if you don't know what you are jumping into or can't see the bottom clearly, you don't have much time, bees can actually fly very fast.
 The other situations, you will be looking for safety from these events


In the event of a volcanic eruption earth quake or tidal wave/Tsunami, no one is going to concentrating on getting knives if you want to survive these events.


Little warning: natures wrath: tidal wave, sinking vessel, flooding: (canyoning, caving , topside , equipment failure (SCUBA diving)

  Let's start with SCUBA diving. Here are two real situations:
Three divers, two very experienced, third, not a beginner but not much experience. Third diver begins to act strange under water at close to 80ft. This diver refused to acknowledge SCUBA sign language and in fact wanted to do their own thing contrary to the dive plan. Immediate recognition of the effects of Nitrogen Narcosis was paramount in the other two divers averting a possibly serious scenario from transpiring. 
Ascent was planned after a air check, one of the experienced divers was actually running low on air, buddy breathing between him and myself on obligatory safety deco stop, whilst both experienced divers held the third member from ascending too fast. All three were carrying diving knives, no use for a knife here at all.

 Second real situation. Inexperienced SCUBA diver's high pressure gauge blows off the high pressure line at shallow depth (under 10 metres). The instant this happens a large sounding crack is heard by me from the initial escaping air. No reason to panic as the dive had just begun, the actual diver involved was looking at all the air escaping, still breathing normally but no air content obviously was registered on their gauge as it was no longer connected to the hose.

Immediate action was to bend the high pressure hose in half. This almost stopped the flow of air reducing it to just bubbling. A calm ascent was planned from shallow depth, no need for no decompression dive safety stop due to the short surface to surface duration. All parties carrying diving knives, no knives required.

Caving situation:

Unable to untie, due to cold hands, an overhand knot in a muddy one inch tape in a caving situation. This tape had to be immediately retrieved to allow the party to continue it's journey safely. Action, using the serrations of one party members knife (we were all carrying knives), the nylon webbing was instantly severed.

Abseiling instruction gone wrong.

Failing to secure their loose clothing an abseiler is caught up in her desender unable to progress and over 25 meters from the bottom of the pitch. Instructor raps down beside them and cuts free her clothing (don't get excited- a loose fitting cotton sloppy joe). Lesson for all don't wear loose fitting clothing ever when abseiling.


Ok as you can see these are some simple "survival situations" of very short duration some requiring the use of a knife and others, despite carrying knives, did not.



Ok now I'm going to choose this following real scenario (as I happened to be the party leader at the time).

I can say we all looked back years later and laughed but it could have been very serious if some of us did not keep our heads.

Example 3:

 Party delayed due to injuries/sickness of party members, group is running low on food and water environmental conditions are extreme.

  A 2 day hiking trip in trackless terrain, topographic maps and compass proficiency required, good physical fitness mandatory. Rope work involved. Season: Beginning of Summer in the Australian bush. First day, is one full days fast walk for experienced bushwalkers away from any place to go for help. Mobile phone signals unreliable/non existent.
During the second half of the day I notice along with two others that a party member appears to be abnormally exhausted. On questioning him, he says he is very thirsty. I see he is overdressed for the temperature and I instruct him to remove some clothing and have a drink. I examine his water supply and it is indeed very low ( he appeared not capable of doing the latter and this started alarm bells ringing for me) . Subsequently everyone had their water supply checked. For  several of the lessor experienced members, water was also low but not critical.

I now ascertained that the above person (we''l call them Jim- not their real name) needed to rest and have more water. We shared water as I had plenty and it was discussed that we should change our plan and head directly for a water source for everyone to "top up" their supplies.
on hearing this, Jim decided to race off through a tangle of vines and creepers that may have well been wire cable. He proceeded to pull out his Swiss army knife and attempt to cut his way through. An impossible task for a person in his condition and also using an impractical knife. On seeing my knife (a Ontario Spec Plus) he wanted to use this knife to cut his way along. He was becoming irrational and I demonstrated to him it was not practical to use the Spec Plus in such a situation, better to step over the vines. Jim was weak though and getting weaker. He insisted he had no water left but on searching through his pack I found several containers of cooked fruit; full of water and sugar, just what he needed but was unable to recognize this. I left the party in the shade and headed with Jim to a cliff face where I sat him down in the shade and within eyesight of not more than 5 meters, I climbed a tree near the cliff face and dug out a small  pool of water in a crevice in the rock face of about 25cm in diameter. The water now was quite muddy but this small pool allowed me to get a cooking pot into it and scoop out some water. Jim refused to drink the muddy water until I showed him it was ok. After drinking some water and knowing there was plenty of water to be found here his demeanor started to change for the better. Jim was a big guy and the last thing I wanted was to have to deal with an irrational physically powerful guy out of control in the wilderness. Once I knew he was going to be OK, I left him to get the others and then we all headed to a better water supply.

So in the above survival situation (for Jim) , there were 2 knives involved, neither of them warranted being used in this case and one could, had the wrong decision been taken by me (ie giving Jim the the Spec Plus) this knife would be placed in the hands of an irrational person and thereby possible a hazard to the entire party.

We did not need to use a big knife or small knife to extricate the party out of this situation. However, we did have useful knives on our carry.

MY POINT HERE IS, DON"T GET HUNG UP on the marketing hype or even Youtube land hype about Survival knives. Get experience and loads of it, with this real experience, if the time comes when the shit might hit the fan, you'll keep your head, your best survival tool and hopefully keep your life and those of others around you.

EXTREMA RATIO Extremely Good Knives

Hi all, well today I received 3  knives from EXTREMA RATIO for coming video field reviews and I’m going to start to preview them here in this blog. I hope what you read here will give you good background about this company's knives, at least the following models. I’ll give a general overview and then discuss each model on it’s own.

They are:

EXTREMA RATIO DobermannIV

EXTREMA RATIO Task

EXTREMA RATIO ONTOS SURVIVAL KNIFE

I’ve been following the progress of the Italian company EXTREMA RATIO  for some years now since its inception back in 1997 and I've got to say EXTREMA RATIO's knives are quite apart from anything you may have seen, fantastic  practical design and the finish which is exceptional right down to the boxes they are supplied in.

First observations:

All models came deadly razor sharp and I mean deadly as some cosmic surgical blade can only be! Not only were they deadly sharp but when I examined each edge at over X10 magnification, this is what I saw: 

Knife Edge at greater than lifesize note few grind marks

These knives were sent out of the factory with almost POLISHED edges! Beat that! There were almost no grind marks visible and that was reflected (no pun intended) in the mirror reflection from the edge! 

Now I know that these blades are hand finished and this clearly shows the dedication and workmanship of staff at EXTREMA RATIO. The other thing I observed straight away was that the bevelled edge was not some skimpy steep angled grind. This latter kind of knife bevel often found on mass produced knives from automated sharpening (or even if it isn’t automated grinding ) results in an edge that has limited cutting ability and will not last very long  and if the blade is used at shallow angles, it won't bite into the material you are trying to cut (That’s just plain  physics!)

How about the comfort? Not too many manufacturers are willing to enter into this discussion. Not so with EXTREMA RATIO.

What did I find? Unbelievable comfort and ergonomics! Seriously! This comes as no surprise, but I needed to experience it first hand. EXTREMA RATIO entered into a collaboration with the Motor Sciences department at the University of Perugia  for the design of the handles. 

Ok you ask what is Motor Science? It's kinesiology! This is the research of the mechanics of motion with respect to human anatomy. Smart move here from EXTREMA RATIO and as far as I am aware at the time of writing this article no other knife manufacturer does this.

Despite all three knives here being of different design, when I started swinging each knife (A test I always perform without wearing a glove or tying the knife to my hand with a lanyard) at no point during a powerful downward (and of course upward) swinging arc did these knives feel as if they were going part company with my hand. Now this is partially due to the frictional properties of the material the handles are made from, which is FORPRENE. The Forprene EXTREMA RATIO are using is a composite (glass fibre) with a Shore hardness of 80-90. However, a major influencing factor is the actual handle design. This grippy design feels great. That's right first impressions!  The end of the handle decreases slightly in size, NOT increases, so a swinging motion will tend not to open your last two fingers. The top and bottom profiles are rounded and the sides are partially flattened to provide a resistance to a twisting motion.

Forprene Composite handle

You know a lot of manufacturers put a lot of effort into the blades but not the scabbards or the actual handles, thinking, a handle is a handle and let's just bolt on some composite slabs and be done with it. NOT so here.

What did EXTREMA RATIO say about it to me:

The handle design was a result from a collaboration between the University of Perugia's Motor Sciences Department (see above).
For handle materials they collaborate with the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Florence, where tests are made on materials, structures and finishings.

Ok so FORPRENE is an absolutely industry proven elastomeric polymer. It is made right here in Italy from the S.O.F.T.E.R company. It’s has an extremely wide use in all sorts of industries. It can be manufactured to give a wide range of physical characteristics along with fantastic chemical resistance, even to some polar solvents, high resistance to stress (like impact) and abrasion, temperature extremes from approximately -50C to +125C!  and highly resistant to the effects of UV radiation! The handle colour is available in two choices, black or an Olive drab colour.

The handling ergonomics is also due of course to the actual blade geometry, ie it’s weight distribution and centre of gravity. Again we cannot ignore physics in the design of a great blade. This is a company where they have no problems in showing the public what tests they perform on their knives, test data/images, previous models and of course destruction test data. Why? Because they have absolute confidence in their products, that’s why. Backing this up is of course a lifetime warranty on EXTREMA RATIO knives. Serialized blades and a special lot number accompanying each knife, so that in the unlikely event of a manufacturing defect, the blade can always be traced.

Construction

EXTREMA RATIO state that all fixing metallic parts such as bolts etc “are virtually immune from oxidation”. Again what manufacturers are stating this in writing?

Blackening process

All of the above models came to me with a blackened blade. This is the Mil-C-13924 chemical blackening process that imparts a non-reflective surface.

Anti-Reflection Black Mil-C-13924

Don’t get hung up by thinking it improves the blades resistance to oxidation- it doesn’t really and as EXTREMA RATIO state: “Superficial coatings” (such as blackened blades) still need to be maintained. Common sense but it is written down in the “Ordinary maintenance” pamphlet that comes with every knife.

I should point out here that the Dobermann IV also comes with a polished surface finish and leather sheath system. The shiny surface may appeal to those who would like to use their knife, should the situation arise, to signal for help etc. something impossible to do with a blackened blade. On this note a blackened blade is much less obtrusive in a civilian situation, ie wilderness camping/hiking and personally this is something that is playing a significant role these days with increasing rules and regulations on knife usage around the world.

Sheaths

Sheaths are all well designed and the stitching is very nice and even. There is nothing weak looking. The Dobermann IV even came with an extra plastic reinforced retention strap, presumably when the first one wears out (more on this in a later blog!). I couldn’t fault the scabbards  and that’s why they carry a whopping 6 year warranty! Who is warranting their sheaths like this? As I said I'll review the sheaths on an individual basis later, this blog is just to whet your appetite!

Of course EXTREMA RATIO are manufacturers of knives for military usage so again it was no surprise that all of the above models could be inserted and removed ABSOLUTELY silently into their scabbards/sheaths.

Let's start with the:

ONTOS Survival Knife

What a great name! From the Greek, meaning “THING” and this knife is a “SomeTHING” for sure!

Survival knives, wow what can be said here? Generally people start thinking of hollow handle RAMBO style knives, or knives based on similar design sporting vicious looking (and mostly ineffectual) saws or what manufacturers would have you believe are saws. Have you ever tried using them?

I’ve had these hollow handle knives in my hands both expensive and cheapo. The biggest problem is not actually the hollow handle but the lack of ergonomics of a metal hollow handle (that has to be made strong enough) against justifying placing a few “survival items” inside this handle and a pommel, which, if you damage it, either you will not be able to retain your precious “survival stuff” or not be able to unscrew it to retrieve your materials! Plus there generally isn’t a lanyard hole on these types of knives, so what happens if you drop it down a hole because you can't secure it. Sorry, a lanyard hole IS mandatory on any knife being marketed as a "survival knife". Hollow handle knives, to be strong enough to resist breakage due to levering action must be made from metal. How about using these kinds of knives in sub zero temperatures without gloves? No chance or with an ambient temperature of 30C and above? Burnt or stuck fingers I bet!

The ONTOS a knife that can truly carry the label of Survival Knife!:

The ONTOS was designed from the ground up.

What do I think about the design?

As I said above, the knife is very ergonomic due to it’s balance of weight and the design of the FORPRENE handle. There is a lanyard hole so if you are working at height or over a crevasse or simply somewhere that if you drop your knife you will loose it (river, lake, cave, coastal shore etc) then this is not a problem. The use of Forprene means that your hands will not freeze to the handle in sub-zero conditions, nor will it burn from the heat of the desert, if this knife is left even for seconds in the blazing sun.

The butt end 

Pommel region and lanyard hole

is that same for all EXTREMA RATIO fixed blades  which, could be used as a glass breaker. The extension and design of the butt means you wont be damaging yourself on some sharp bit of metal. For glass breaking it’s just not necessary to have a sharp butt end glass breaker but for some reasons many manufacturers design knives like this. Full marks to EXTREMA RATIO here for thinking this out. Just another of their well thought out design features.

The blade is thick where it needs to be 

ONTOS Spine view

and has powerful feel to it. It has a simple edge geometry. It's a convex grind on the cutting edge for superior edge strength compared with a basic flat beveled edge. The blade shape makes for easy field sharpening, or in unskilled hands (maybe someone with you when the sh*t hits the fan may have to use your knife if you are incapacitated and maybe that person has no or little skill in sharpening knives. Simple blade geometry is crucial for anyone trying to market a knife under the label of “Survival” The ONTOS certainly passes this test of mine. 

ONTOS Specifications at a glance

The cutting tip is a western style Tanto. The main blade edge is slightly convex. Now this latter point means despite this being a heavy duty knife, the edge design is perfect for light weight food prep by a simple rocking motion of the blade. Pretty smart eh?!

There is a false edge at the tip running back about 67mm to a section of full thickness spine for a distance of about an inch or 25mm. This is followed by a section of deadly sharp (but shallow in height) serrations. Shallow serrations are less likely to sustain damage if they sustain a striking blow. Serrated edges ARE great for rapidly cutting ropes  and any fibrous materials plus slicing through man made materials such as rubbers and plastics. 

Spine Serration's

No nonsense thumb/finger rest

There is a generous  area to rest your thumb on. I measured a 

spine thickness of about 6.38mm which runs to 11mm from the tip! You are not going to bust this tip! Despite it’s heavy appearance the ONTOS is not what I would call a heavy knife weighing in at 406 grams/14.3 Ozs, with full survival kit at 1kg. The survival kit and diamond sharpener (installed in a side pocket on the optional survival kit pouch)

Diamond impregnated sharpening surface, use with water

Sharpening Instructions

weigh in at 290gm, so the scabbard and pouch weigh approximately 304 grams.

I should point out here that the Survival kit is NOT a product by EXTREMA RATIO but of the brand BCB International. A quick word  here on it’s contents.

BCB Survival Kit Not from Extrema Ratio

The aluminium container is just ok. The contents like all of these types of kits is very ma ma and I’ll be getting rid of certain objects, and replacing with first aid gear, as for me in a survival situation, first aid is paramount. But more on the survival kit in a later blog and the video field review.

N690 EXTRA  Blade Material and Heat Treatment

Like all fixed blade EXTREMA RATIO knives (except the Landing Force, made of Ti alloy) the ONTOS has a Rockwell of 58. EXTREMA RATIO choose a Rockwell of 58 because for N690 this provides the best stainless corrosion performance and sharpening qualities.

 All EXTREMA RATIO blades are heat treated in a specialized  external facility using a vacuum-sealed furnace and heat reduction is carried out in a similar facility with a Nitrogen forced pressure treatment.

N690 EXTRA  from the Austrian company BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM AG, which by the way has been renamed to Voestalpine Edelstahl GmbH.

N690 (you can read all about here by following the link) is a Cobalt stainless steel of exceptional qualities for high end knife steel manufacture. I've been using several knives made with N690 for the past 3 years and they really hold an edge plus are great for working in or around watery environments, resisting corrosion. It's tough and can really take a beating.

The overall width of the blade is about 43 mm, fairly constant along it’s entire length, of which the latter is about 165/166mm or about 6.5 inches.

The full-length tapered tang (see below)

Full tang

is a mechanically proven design of EXTREMA RATIO’s but those in doubt will have to wait and see my field test of the ONTOS. The Forprene handle is fixed to the tang, like all EXTREMA RATIO fixed blades by  corrosion resistant bolts, 

Corrosion resistant handle fixing bolts

which can be simple undone with either a flat blade screw driver type blade or an Allen wrench. Note that the fixing bolt is the only hole in the tang other than the hole for the lanyard. This hole too is set some distance back from where there might a bending moment, ie there is plenty of solid steel between actual knife blade and handle fixing bolt.

There are plenty of places to strike a fire steel and the one inch section on the spine will enable you to baton with this blade without damaging the serrations (if you have to baton- where noise is not a problem ie not to disclose your position/frighten game or maybe your environment’s combustible materials don’t need to have the daylights beaten out of them to start a fire).

The carry system of the ONTOS

The functionality of the sheath is unbelievable! I mean it’s great! Let me tell you about it.

Side view with optional Survival Kit from BCB

Front outside view shown with Molle Survival kit
attachment

Backside view showing fully adjustable leg strap and carry loop
along with Molle attachments for direct pack transporting

The scabbard is fully MOLLE compatible both front and rear. Excellent stitching and attention to detail only instal user confidence in this carry system.

To remove the survival pouch you must first remove the survival kit and diamond sharpener. This will enable you to bend the pouch to access the 2 press studs to undo them. Once undone then slide the MOLLE straps out of the loops. This is a very tight fit and you may need to prise with a blunt object, the MOLLE loops, to allow the height of the press studs to pass under them. It’s not a problem and better like this than a sloppy fit especially if you are on the run/move! The last thing you want is a sloppy system. More on the carry system in the coming video reviews.

Buying an EXTREMA RATIO knife is a good investment when it comes to a product you can rely on.

Let’s face it, you really do get what you pay for and what is worth more? Your life or the cost of a knife at the end of the day? It doesn’t matter whether you are:

in combat or simply out in the middle of nowhere, if you are relying on your equipment to keep operating and safe from harm, whatever that maybe, then better to not have to think about whether the knife you took with you could fail you.

Once you start to doubt your equipment then you’re really in trouble.

 Up next the TASK from EXTREMA RATIO!