New From Extrema Ratio The RAO STEEL Fixed Blade EDC

 New From Extrema Ratio The RAO STEEL

Here is a glimpse of the new RAO Steel from Extrema Ratio. It comes in 2 versions, a dark stone washed N690 steel and a Nitrogen steel version (shown above) which is uncoated (great for everyone concerned about knife coatings and whether they are food safe or not!).

It's a sort of fixed blade, bare bones, tactical-esque  field knife for those on the go, with the no nonsense super easy to maintain RAO folding knife original blade shape. Light in weight but super strong and according to ER "Indestructible"*

This image (directly below) was taken by me at IWA 2025 this March. Please note: The knife itself does NOT come with the paracord wrapping, this was simply done for show at the convention and wrapped as such will NOT fit into the supplied scabbard. More on this later!

Photo by author  at IWA 2025

The knife has a 5mm spine thickness and as such as a monolithic design is basically indestructible* The following product pictures supplied from Extrema Ratio! (You all know my field pictures are a whole lot better LOL!) 

Just wait for mine!! See below additional images of mine.

This darkened version shown above is the N690 version and needs no introduction

Personally, I would rather have seen this knife released in 6mm thickness instead of 5mm because I think the USA market which is unquestionably the biggest knife market, has a thing about 1/4" - 6mm thick knives even if 6mm thick knives can be too thick somethings! That all being said, the 5mm thickness is NOT a detriment to using this knife and of course decreases the overall weight of a EDC type carry.

* No knife is REALY indestructible however within the limits of reasonable use and even somewhat unreasonable use as apposed to sheer ABUSE, this knife can take it for all outdoor pursuits.

Stick around for my video field reviews!

@BushCampingTools

Don't forget before cord wrapping to actually make your blade safe for handling!
A mix of a classic Strider wrap

Note:

In order to really use this knife one needs to cord wrap the handle otherwise it is a gloved hand only that is needed due to the shape of the tang.

 It looks funky and it IS BUT in order not to use gloves you must cord wrap the tang. There are hundreds of ways to do this plus more but i just used a simple "Strider" type wrap.

The Nitrogen alloy version seen above in MY images has a HRC of 58.

Ok as I indicated the only way to successfully use this knife I believe is to cord wrap the handle. That's perfectly ok if you understand this before purchasing this knife. Once cord wrapped it's a veritable mini beast of a knife with a military proven blade design.

However, there is a caveat! If you cord wrap the handle it will no longer fit into the minimalist scabbard, 

As to the strap material I have requested this information from ER and am awaiting a reply. However, I'm sure it is of some "military grade" flexible plastic but let's see eh?

without some basic modification, ie the use of an appropriate hot air gun  and some careful remoulding of the Kydex scabbard. This is NOT a difficult task. I however, chose to make a more "organic" scabbard consisting of homemade corrugated cardboard micarta and 100% cotton micarta all made with water clear casting epoxy resin cured overnight at 25C. Ok it's not finished as yet but here is a sneak preview.

This very thin but very strong scabbard also features a thin PET liner to prevent the blade from damaging the scabbard.

Once the resin is fully cured then it will be super strong.

Here is my finished friction fit scabbard with a more narrow lateral profile. It also features approximately 3.5m of 2mm static climber's accessory cord from the famous French climbing equipment manufacturer, Simond (made in France). The paracord wrap is made in the USA 550 paracord, not my favourite cordage as paracord is too dynamic and always twists but is fine for cord wrapping a small knife such as this.

This scabbard may look a little "Heath Robinson" however, it serves a purpose for me.

Ok let's look at this knife in more detail

Certainly the bare bones knife is great for "customisation" and this will appeal to those who enjoy this sort of thing. In fact i think it would be very easy to 3D print one's own handle too. Maybe I'll make up a little Fusion 360 file one day!

For those of you not familiar with the Famous RAO folding knife series from Extrema Ratio. This blade shape was chosen by  the 185th Rgt. (Ricognizione e Acquisizione Obiettivi) Target Acquisition Regiment, tasked Extrema Ratio to develop essentially a folding field knife that could be used in a survival situation. From this the RAO folding knife was born, basically an indestructible folding knife. Further to this model, future ergonomic improvements followed with the RAOII series. 

Regardless of what others may have said, I have over the years demonstrated their excellent versatility and durability along with field maintenance across both hemispheres; not from my "bedroom or garage". These are very durable and strong folding knives.

See my (written and extensive)  main review here:

and here too

along the video field review with here too

Ok, so now in 2025, Extrema Ratio showcased the RAO STEEL at IWA 2025. This as you now know a lightweight fixed blade EDC knife which carries a very similar blade design to the RAO knife. One might be thinking: "oh they have run out of ideas"! No, this is a greta idea because of the proven versatility of the tanto type design for super easy field maintenance by the enlisted operator.

This is a very thick un-sharpened tip, so no chance of tip damage should the knife be used for penetration tasks.

Just like on the folding version the spine has a generous amount of non-finger damaging gimping (only about half is shown here due to my cord wrapping!)

Red arrows indicate a fals edge whereas the white arrows indicate cutting surfaces. Once can see that the main blade is not quite totally flat but very close to it with an ever so slight outward curvature. None the less, an simple field maintianable design. 

Now to the Business End of Things

What alloy of "Nitrogen steel" are they using? Saying "Nitrogen steel" could be anything and I think they should change this marketing tactic because these days end users for whatever reason want to know what they are buying.  

The simple answer is I do not know at present and have requested this information from ER. Suffice it to say that the stated Rockwell hardness is listed on the blade as HRC 58. There are several such cutlery grade Nitrogen steels which would fit into this HRC range. They say it is easy to field sharpen and maybe I'm thinking it's not Nitro V but then let's not guess eh. Maybe I will ask a friend to use his X-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine to test the steel and simply put my findings here? Let's see what ER says.

I have cut one year old birch timber with the knife and certainly the edge is holding up just fine.