I love my RTAK-2. Sometimes I think it belongs in a shrine. I take it out and handle it when I am particularly steamed over the woes of the world. My blade is green anodized and it is 5160 spring steel. It is shaving-sharp and is ok for chopping, but a good hatchet is better. The balance is not oriented for chopping, and the sweet-spot where you want the energy applied to split a log or gut down a small tree is small. If you hit the object too close to the handle, you will get vibration in the handle every swing. I bought mine for self-defense purposes. It will be absolutely lethal in that role, and vibration will not be an issue. If I had to carry only one knife, it would probably be this one, although I do have a garden variety Gerber Prodigy that will also get equal consideration. The Gerber Prodigy is a fixed-blade utility blade. Thick, a workhorse knife and excellent in the survival role but weak in defense. The RTAK-2 - great in self defense and much better than the Gerber in shelter building. Buy both :)

I go camping a lot and I don't like buying firewood. I bought this knife because my esee 4 is a little too small and I wanted a bigger knife. This knife lasted me 2 logs. Made it through the first one just fine but the second one put a huge warp right in the middle of the blade edge. It's so bad the knife is unusable now. It was a log that was already split, I was just making it smaller and got caught on a knot. I don't know if they have a good warranty but I don't care because I don't even want a replacement. I don't know what steel they're using now or how they heat treat, but it's a joke. Made me laugh at least.

The knives are well made, the handles are smooth. Not the biggest fan of the sheath, but that’s not the real focus of this product. I look forward to using them in bush craft works.

Blade too thin from the edge to about 1/2" above the edge. Will be easy to roll and/or tear the edge. Otherwise, I like it. Well-made. Handle fits my hand very well. I wear 3XL glove size. Worth the price. Recommend.
BTW, nothing beats a SP-10 Raider Bowie ... no matter the price. Practically indestructible.

The knife I purchase has a reticulated edge. It's not supposed to. Whoever made it was very careless. QC was napping as well, apparently. Nonetheless, it performs pretty well. But I've bought several RAT knives: TAK-1, RAT-3, and RAT-7, and all were very well made and we're excellent performers. But that was six years ago. This RTAK II was disappointing.

Someone asked about the steel. Since Ontario doesn't seem to want to address this,(I sent an email, and no one responded) I will. The original RTAK II had a 1095 blade. There were some well documented failures, (YouTube) and the steel was changed to 5160. A great choice. Lately, perhaps to reduce costs, they seem to have changed to 1075. Not a bad choice for a chopper, but I believe they are using 1075 for their smaller carbon steel knives as well. If that's true, I will buy my knives elsewhere. I'm not a fan of 1075. Another maker uses it extensively, and I don't buy their stuff either.

Ontario has a long and illustrious history. I hate to see it going the way it is.