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!