Extrema Ratio T4000C SATIN

 Extrema Ratio T4000C SATIN

The ExtremaRatio T4000C is the little brother to the T4000. I own the blackened versions of both of these models and absolutely love them, especially the T4000C, ie the compact model-which gets a lot of use from me. In fact, the T4000C is a very popular model. However, many were asking about a non-blackened version. WHY? Well, my understanding from the social media is that many seem concerned* with using knives with certain coatings for food preparation. The blackened versions are just fine for military purposes where anti reflection properties are a must. However, for the civilian that wants to use such a cool design for food preparation, well that's another matter. Nothing beats an uncoated blade for food preparation. I mean how many cooking/chef knives are coated? 

Now there is no concern because ER have finally produced a satin polished finish of this great little model. The Extrema Ratio T4000C Satin finish not only looks great but is totally food safe and because of the polished finish, combined with the HRC of 58, this will indeed contribute to good corrosion resistance of this blade. 

The overall sturdiness has remained unchanged with a super thick spine that looks unbreakable. The tanto design is a winner in my book for many practical purposes in the wilds and this is nothing new since the Japanese have been using such designs for 100's of years, so something must be working right with such a design.

Just look at this "bomb proof" 1/4"spine! So just incase you want to (for some reason) shove the Extrema Ratio T4000C satin up to it's hilt into a cliff crack and stand upon it, I don't believe it will fail, 1/4" of steel is like thicker than many climbing pitons LOL! Easy to pull down clean as an Allen key, screw driver, coin or any other flat bladed object can be used to remove the handle bolt and screw.

Blade steel has remained unchanged ie Böhler N690 at HRC58.

The usefulness of this blade has been much spoken about and demonstrated in previous videos by BushCampingTools but just in brief here:

The blade tip of the Extrema Ratio T4000C lends itself to easy penetration of fish skin and animal hide. The blade lateral geometry is such that it is "not to thick and not too thin" for cutting purposes but of adequate thickness to handle the careful splitting of small logs for fire preparation if required. That's because the very strong looking tang at 1/4" (6mm) thins down past the hilt to a respectable 4mm spine slowly tapering towards the tip.

Preparing to finish a leather cow skin finger tab for my kid's long bow.

You don't need a pair of scissors to cut small holes if you have such a knife tip and a piece of wood to cut upon.

Such a knife tip is very easy to cut small holes in leather, here I made a quick but very functional leather finger tab for my son's bow out of split but thinned cow hide. Such finger tabs are way better than the El cheapo vinyl ones that come with kids bows.

The scabbard has remained unchanged in the Extrema ratio T4000C satin model and that's because it simply works, why change it? Full Molle compatible, plus easy belt carry or even in a deep pocket is easily possible. In fact I often have carried mine like this.

There is enough handle real estate for those with hand sizes up to 9 max for a super comfortable grip. It goes without saying, the ergonomic grip is the same as ever, and that is XLNT. Forprene grip, what to say, this stuff is here to stay for outdoor and military knives, it's super tough but can be made with different Shore hardnesses suitable for the end purpose.

The Extrema Ratio T4000C Satin version looks more "bushcraft friendly" as well and one is less likely to get "ribbed" for carrying what otherwise looks like a military knife (the blackened T4000C) on a hiking trip. Fact is, a satin finish is much easier to keep clean and hygienic than a matt surface finish like in their military versions, especially when covered in animal fat. 

One thing which may appear as a subtle design feature on literally all of their knives is that the fixing bolts or in this case singular bolt is set quite some distance from the hilt, so there can be no weak spots under load created by a hole in the tang near to a potential fulcrum point.

Essentially, if one wanted this knife before but was put off by the black coating, then wait no longer you can now take this classy little fellow out on your hiking, camping and hunting trips.

 A video review will be coming but I will give a heads up here, it probably won't say much more than my very first review of this model in blackened N690 stainless, because I haven't changed my mind in all these years about the usefulness of this small but sturdy knife from Extrema Ratio.

You can also see it here on the manufacturer's site

BCT

* As to whether black metal oxide coatings present any health problems, I think that is for the individual to research and come to their own conclusions.