Review
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| RAIDOPS Soldier Spirit RD* thick G10 scales and scale bolts flush with the grip, a high sabre flat grind and superb tip. |
RAIDOPS
A Korean company producing some very funky and practical designs. Established in 2005. They manufacture in Korea, Taiwan and Italy. (see my previous article about another great knife from RAIDOPS).
The company ethos encompasses ergonomic but also survival and functional design. In light of this, my observation of this blade is in agreement with that company ethos.
The RAIDOPS Soldier Spirit RD, a full tang fixed blade of D2 tool steel, with a listed HRC of 57-59,
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| As the laser engraving says........ |
perfect for "survival" "Outdoor" pursuits. At 6mm thickness, this is really the upper limit of sheet thicknesses I'd ever recommend, as a thick blade is a heavy blade.
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| 6mm thick, chunky but comfortable gimping, chamfered/beveled edges and a black stone wash treatment form part of the Soldier Spirit RD's defining features. |
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| You know you have this knife in your hands when you put your paws on it! Initial thoughts |
The sheath is a horizontal carry only and this totally makes sense as the Soldier Spirit has what could be a vicious butt end and a horizontal carry will avoid any conflict with ones elbows if it was carried vertically. I like this little design thought here too. I also like horizontal carry options.
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| No, that's not a missing rivet! It is for a small accessory Krab according to the knife manufacturer (I did of course check!). |
It's a "Tek Lok-like" belt fastener and fully adjustable and works just fine.
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| Various belt widths are easily accommodated although like all of these types of belt locks the standard tactical belt works best and or smaller in size but certainly no bigger. |
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| The "lock" bar (my finger pointing towards it) to prevent accidental release of the clamp. However, you have to really squeeze these things pretty strongly in order to disengage the catch. |
We do have an appreciable blade angle allowing good transition from the initial cut/bite to follow on through with the remaining cutting stroke-without you having a stroke!
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| Cutting up meat was no problem for the deadly razor sharp RAIDOPS Soldier Spirit RD |
What about other general food preparation?
Like I said a field knife is useless if it's only good for hacking down trees at best.
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| Chopping ginger, garlic and parsley, no problems! |
For such a weighty knife it is paramount to provide a grip which is exactly that, grippy! The design here does not fail this aspect. There is NO chance of the Soldier Spirit RD slipping from wet or dry hands, gloves on or off!
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| Heavy duty camp knife, with the "survival" ethos behind it in design. |
As there is a a glass breaker (bottle cap opener) at the butt, the weighty grip can only be an advantage for developing momentum for smashing glass. I noted the Box that the Soldier Spirit RD came in was labeled as "RAIDOPS Urban Tactical Knives"
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| Yes You can open bottle tops with it Or lids or pry objects with it. |
The blade finish.
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| The edge bevel was even along the entire length of the blade and deadly sharp. |
Well I'm not hung up on a blades finish as I'm a user not a collector and so my blades soon loose any of the original finish that they came with but I feel I should mention something about this blade's finish.
Stone wash black Finish
Stone washing is essentially the application of abrasive materials (stone) and a chemical reaction to change the surface nature of the steel.
The RAIDOPS Soldier Spirit RD (433gm) has the weight of a similar sized Becker (422gm) -(the Soldier Spirit is about 10mm longer) but the blade design IMHO (I've used the Becker BK22 enough to know) of the Soldier Spirit is much better as the sabre grind is higher than the Becker. Since the Becker is also a weighty knife, it's smooth grip is not grippy at all once the hands are wet, not so with the Soldier Spirit, you will not loose it from your hands at all.
Not too big not too small
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| Just a fraction over 5 inches long, the RAIDOPS Soldier Spirit RD, is not too big and not too small! |
Chopping open this coconut was no problem at all and the handle was quite comfortable either cutting into it or chopping.
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| The BCT "Coconut Test" for chopping and cutting through fibrous materials. The RAIDOPS Soldier Spirit RD passed with flying colours! |
How about any of that bushcrafty stuff???? Like feathering?
Ok I tried it out on some plum, both the heart wood (the darker material) and the softwood. This was NOT seasoned wood, those tests to follow!
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| Easy to feather PLUM wood with the Soldier Spirit |
Ok this was just a "taster blog" on the RAIDOPS Soldier Spirit RD just to whet your appetite! Stay tuned for the video review on BushCampingTools.
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