![]() ![]() We should also add that the RAT is available in AUS-8, and it’s a little cheaper. To date I’ve rolled the edge a half dozen times and taken it apart to clean and oil it at least a full dozen times. I’ve carried mine through a lot of dirt and done a lot of things it was not really designed to do. It fits well in any pocket, the blade profile is thin enough to make it slicey while the flat grind keeps the edge pretty tough. There are a dozen or so knives that are comparable if not better, but the truth is that if someone asks for an economic recommendation for a good working knife, the RAT II is the first thing in my head. The RAT II from Ontario Knife Company is still mostly considered king of the budget knives. But D2 also tends to perform best in smaller blade lengths, and thanks to the price point on it, a lot more companies are using it to pump out budget folders. He was the one to bring D2 back into popularity a few years ago, and his designs with Ka Bar are pretty highly regarded. Bob Dozier is possibly the man to thank for that. It seems like there are a lot more D2 folders than there are D2 fixed blades. Here are our top picks for the best folding and fixed blade D2 Steel Knives OKC Rat 2ĭ2 Folding Knives We tested a lot of D2 knives for this article, so we had to wear pants with lots of pockets on the testing days. If you want a quick rundown on what D2 steel is, why we swear by it now, and a few tips on taking care of it, you can find a big damn block of content like that at the bottom. Some are better than others, and some definitely cost more than others (although still less than they would be with another steel), but they’re all worth having in our opinion. So below is a list of D2 steel knives that we’ve carried and tested personally. The big problem is that D2 really needs a good heat treatment in order to perform well, and the more popular it gets, the more companies there are pushing knives with shoddy D2. The Cryo D2 steel found on many Off-Grid knives like the Alpha Dog pictured here has an excellent heat treatment. In the right hands, D2 steel can have better edge retention and overall performance for the price than pretty much any other option on the market (but I’m also clearly biased toward budget steels).ĭ2 is a tool steel so it needs a little more caretaking than true stainless steels, but its rise in popularity has made a lot of fantastic designs more accessible to the peasant mongrels like us who don’t mind cleaning a blade every now and then if it means being able to afford the knife in the first place. I will die on my cheap muddy hill about this. My Cheap D2 Folder is Better than Your Expensive Supersteel ![]()
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