What you said about "couple years ago you couldn't get knives like this for this price" made me think about how many good, low cost knives have come out recently. There's these two, ruike, real steel, tangram, offering good steels and features. Kershaw, crkt and budget spyderco (among others) should be shaking in their boots.
Mt. Baldwin American Kershaw Knives are quite good, the link was available on Amazon for a long time for $24. Spyderco’s cheaper offerings don’t have the best steel, but still quality knives. I don’t think either company has anything to worry about, but competition is always good.
The USA Kershaws are such great value and I love the Speedsafe. Think of them more as "semi-auto" and less as "assisted manual" and you'll be pleased. Glass half full perspective.
Got the Steel Will Modus partly due to the R2D2 blue backspacer, and was absolutely blown away when it turned out to be anodized aluminum. Great value from Steel Will, I think.
Slicey Dicey I was just talking to my mate about that very thing,I now like a smaller edc most of the time and find if my hand is squashed I go to the pinch grip and for most edc cutting tasks I do and it's really comfortable.
If going to be cutting a lot all day the cutjack mini is more comfortable but prefer the R2D2 in the pocket for carry. Truthfully we carry tools more than use said tools. Have both use for work but non work EDC choice is the Syperco Chaparral FRN. For about the cost of buying these two together can purchase a higher quality CTS-XHP that is a slicer.
Great video, I've been thinking about purchasing both. I recently found my RAT2 in AUS8 and fell back in love with it's action. I really enjoyed seeing them pitted against each other. I thanks for the info.
Not all D2 is created equal it seems. My Ontario Rat 1 + 2 in D2 holds an edge far better than my Modus and Cutjack. So much so, that I gave the Steel Wills to my grandsons. Probably a sourcing/heat treat issue @ SWill. Other than the soft D2, the Steel Wills were solid knives. The Steel Wills were about equal to Aus 8 for me, kind of a shame.
My cutjack also has an issue. Its off centered so I had to tighten it, but when I tightened it to where the blade was centered it was too stiff to flip out. Then I loosened it to where I could flip it out, and the blade was rubbing the scales. There is a tiny spot right in the middle where it doesn't rub but it also flips out, but it doesn't flip great and after almost no use it loosens a little and start rubbing. Not sure if mines defective or if I'm just that bad at adjusting knives but it's disappointing.
I looked foreward for a long time to get the cutjack knives. Lots of hype about them out there. I found them to be good blades, handles and steel. Detents were total rubbish on both. the large one too weak, the small too heavy. Resulting in very lackluster deployment for both. I will be giving them both away! makes me appreciate the rat 1 and 2 even more. YMMV.
I bought the small Cutjack from Amazon and the first one came mislabeled. The box was labeled Cutjack, but inside was a Modus! Back it went. The replacement knife had a jammed flipper. I could not get it to budge. The blade was free, however. I called Steel Will and they suggested that, if I was comfortable with it, I could open it up and look for a easily fixable remedy. After using a heat gun to soften the Loctite, one scale screw would not budge. Or, return the knife to them or return it to Amazon, which I did do. I’m off Steel Will for a while. I do own a green Rat R2D2. Currently it’s on it’s way to the manufacture for replacement. It had an issue with sticking when it hadn’t been deployed for a while. The company said that it was defective. I do absolutely love this knife. I do have small hands, so the size is perfect. QC on many knives is sometime lacking. Thanks for the comparo.
As I said above, it isn't currently (other than a handful of places that still have leftovers) and someone at Steel Will told me they weren't sure it was coming back.
Thanks for doing this video Bryan. Well done! I'm with you on a tie. It's too close to call for me. While my 2 Steel Will knives, both arrived with smooth action. The flipper tab on both, was a bit sharp around the edges. I took them apart, just to address that issue. No biggie, but was a pain I could have done without. The front finger choil on the Cutjack is very nice, and I love it. But the R2-D2, has a little landing area there too. Though it be much smaller and flatter. If choking up on the mini-rat. I pull my finger back a little bit, onto the front of the scales. On this Cutjack of yours. Is the logo on the knife, overly rough? Both of mine, are very raised, and rough. Cleaning the blade after use. Almost always includes scrubbing that logo area, and freeing it from little bits of this or that. It's quite a pain to clean, and is still even snagging a paper towel, or rag. Or whatever I am cleaning it with.
Not a fan of 3 inch knives. I have the Rat 1 in d2 and the 3.5 inch frn cutjack. My Rat 1 is smoother, although I haven't disassembled the cutjack to clean and oil which might get it smoother. My Rat 1 in d2 has a late lockup compared to my aus 8 version. I'd say they each have their pluses and minuses, I enjoy them both. Value wise you can't go wrong with either.
Agreed. No bad choices between these two. I have a Rat 1 D2 also and considered getting a 3.5 Cutjack but the comparison would probably be exactly the same.
Slicey Dicey For $43, the 3.5 frn cutjack is a no brainer. Mine was a little stiff out of the box and I know they use red loctite on their pivots so I haven't taken it apart. But after a lot of flipping it's starting to smooth out more.
FWIW - My 3" Cutjack came right apart with no issues. I polished the bushings and lubed it and put it back together. Came out great. Don't be afraid to take a shot at taking it apart.
Slicey Dicey I seem to have a knack for stripping screws. I got a spyderco shaman and the pivot screw on the clip side wouldn't budge. Heated it up and still wasn't moving. I gave it just a little extra torque and bam, stripped screw. I ended up hammering a T10 bit into the screw and managed to unscrew it. Waiting for spyderco to mail me a replacement screw. So I'm now leery of disassembling. I usually use Wiha drivers and the bits are extremely hard so that may be the problem. I have a cheaper set of drivers that are softer that I should probably try first before the Wiha's. I stripped a scale screw yesterday on a new Real Steel H6 special edition. I should be crowned the king of stripped screws...lol.
Love the video. I own both of these knives and I'm on the fence as well. I'm leaning toward the cutjack for the ease of deployment and closing, however they are both great performers. And would not hesitate to recommend either of them.
Nice work on the review. I have both and prefer the Cutjack for a few reasons but the action is the most significant. The Cutjack is available in other colors though; mine is blue frn.
I recently received a blue one. The blue coloring is rather dull. From a distance or in low light it can look black. There is no "pop" to the blue color.
I have purchased a cfk d2 bushcraft fixed blade knife and there's no comparison in the steel. I think the china d2 isn't near 60 to 62 rc like the german steel. The cfk is a monster cutter
Slicey Dicey i'm pretty sure they are the same. Took a speedy sharp to all 3 and ratii and cutjack feel the same and softer than the german steel. I still carry the rat2 and cutjack and like them both but cutjack has a sluggish flipping problem. I need to open it it seems to be maybe missing a washer on one side, fine racing bicycle oil doesn't help much.
Great video I love them both and have them both but o gotta say I lean towards the Cutjack more than the Rat I think it's the wider blade and finger choil that I prefer but both great knives.... Take it easy "Slicey Dicers".🤘👊👍 #SliceyRocks
Two of the best budget blades.. I've had both (AUS8 Rat) and have used them a lot.. But, for a little more money you can get the Spyderco Delica which IMO is a higher quality knife..
I don't know... I'd rather have D2 than VG10 and now the Delica is approaching twice the price of these after the recent price hikes. Delicas are great but given the price difference, I don't think that anyone is debating between these two and a Delica.
This right here. It may be 4 years later that I'm replying but how many years was the delica out 4 years ago when that comment was posted? ...short answer: several years, and it's been 4 more and here in 2022 the delica is probably the best complete package offering peaked performance per price point.. (and that's after the last uptick of the greasy opportunistic spydie tax even). And while I agree it IS approaching it's limit within the diminishing return margin -whatever that even really is in the epic universe that is the knife world, it's still a very earning knife, meaning that it earns it's keep for the money one can buy one for. And VG10 over D2 any day. At least Spyderco's (seki) VG10. It may not be exotic or technically "super" compared to whatever high speed, militaristic, space age steel.of the future (that's only hot for today). And while D2 certainly isn't space age by any means it is a bit of a bandwagon fare, probably partly due to manufactures in China being able to process and produce it fairly easily for enough to be worth doing it but there's a.reason for that: demand. D2 is definitely my choice over most other common offerings such as aus 8, 8cr13movmsldofnfkrodkmr33r9wksmeo.44t-sdr42.0, and most 440s... VG10 is tried and true and it pairs nicely with a tried and true knife like the delica.
🤔 This RUclips by JT's Knive Life (ruclips.net/video/bDYQtbBuwXg/видео.html) , is want I'd expected to see in a 'A BATTLE TO THE DEATH' of two similar knifes. Just saying, not hating. 😏
Someday I'll have the knowledge and skills to do and film something like that. Just getting started here and other people do it better. I don't do anything until I'm sure I can do it at least as well as others.
What you said about "couple years ago you couldn't get knives like this for this price" made me think about how many good, low cost knives have come out recently. There's these two, ruike, real steel, tangram, offering good steels and features. Kershaw, crkt and budget spyderco (among others) should be shaking in their boots.
Mt. Baldwin American Kershaw Knives are quite good, the link was available on Amazon for a long time for $24. Spyderco’s cheaper offerings don’t have the best steel, but still quality knives. I don’t think either company has anything to worry about, but competition is always good.
The USA Kershaws are such great value and I love the Speedsafe. Think of them more as "semi-auto" and less as "assisted manual" and you'll be pleased. Glass half full perspective.
Got the Steel Will Modus partly due to the R2D2 blue backspacer, and was absolutely blown away when it turned out to be anodized aluminum. Great value from Steel Will, I think.
Never held a rat 2 so I take your word on this one you have earned that so far.im enjoying these battles thank you for taking the time.atb paddy😀☘👍
From watching your videos, it looks like you have pretty big mitts. I think you'd prefer the Cutack you already have.
Slicey Dicey I was just talking to my mate about that very thing,I now like a smaller edc most of the time and find if my hand is squashed I go to the pinch grip and for most edc cutting tasks I do and it's really comfortable.
just ordered these exact same knives 😃👍, currently edc my aus8 rat 2 and love it.
If going to be cutting a lot all day the cutjack mini is more comfortable but prefer the R2D2 in the pocket for carry. Truthfully we carry tools more than use said tools.
Have both use for work but non work EDC choice is the Syperco Chaparral FRN. For about the cost of buying these two together can purchase a higher quality CTS-XHP that is a slicer.
I love knives but I also like paying rent and eating not ramen noodles. I'm very excited to see companies using D2 level steels in $50ish range.
Great video, I've been thinking about purchasing both. I recently found my RAT2 in AUS8 and fell back in love with it's action. I really enjoyed seeing them pitted against each other. I thanks for the info.
Thanks for this video. I’ve been holding off on the RAT2, but now that the D2 steel model is out....I think now is the time to jump.
There is no time like the present! Cease the day... (Other motivational phrases)
Not all D2 is created equal it seems. My Ontario Rat 1 + 2 in D2 holds an edge far better than my Modus and Cutjack. So much so, that I gave the Steel Wills to my grandsons. Probably a sourcing/heat treat issue @ SWill. Other than the soft D2, the Steel Wills were solid knives. The Steel Wills were about equal to Aus 8 for me, kind of a shame.
Either knife is a good choice, but I personally chose the cutjack mini, because I really like the blade shape. I'm glad I did. It's a great knife.
My cutjack also has an issue. Its off centered so I had to tighten it, but when I tightened it to where the blade was centered it was too stiff to flip out. Then I loosened it to where I could flip it out, and the blade was rubbing the scales. There is a tiny spot right in the middle where it doesn't rub but it also flips out, but it doesn't flip great and after almost no use it loosens a little and start rubbing. Not sure if mines defective or if I'm just that bad at adjusting knives but it's disappointing.
I looked foreward for a long time to get the cutjack knives. Lots of hype about them out there. I found them to be good blades, handles and steel. Detents were total rubbish on both. the large one too weak, the small too heavy. Resulting in very lackluster deployment for both. I will be giving them both away! makes me appreciate the rat 1 and 2 even more. YMMV.
The blade tip on my R2D2 extends just past the liners. I found out the hard way. Has anyone else had that issue?
I bought the small Cutjack from Amazon and the first one came mislabeled. The box was labeled Cutjack, but inside was a Modus!
Back it went. The replacement knife had a jammed flipper. I could not get it to budge. The blade was free, however. I called Steel Will and they suggested that, if I was comfortable with it, I could open it up and look for a easily fixable remedy. After using a heat gun to soften the Loctite, one scale screw would not budge. Or, return the knife to them or return it to Amazon, which I did do. I’m off Steel Will for a while.
I do own a green Rat R2D2. Currently it’s on it’s way to the manufacture for replacement. It had an issue with sticking when it hadn’t been deployed for a while. The company said that it was defective. I do absolutely love this knife. I do have small hands, so the size is perfect.
QC on many knives is sometime lacking.
Thanks for the comparo.
Dang mate you’ve had some serious bad luck!
Great channel man. Been digging the content for a while now
Steel Will mini is also available in blue. I have one.
As I said above, it isn't currently (other than a handful of places that still have leftovers) and someone at Steel Will told me they weren't sure it was coming back.
I have the blue cj mini as well. Just got it a few days ago.
Great video thanks for another great comparison 👏👍
Thanks for doing this video Bryan. Well done!
I'm with you on a tie. It's too close to call for me.
While my 2 Steel Will knives, both arrived with smooth action. The flipper tab on both, was a bit sharp around the edges. I took them apart, just to address that issue. No biggie, but was a pain I could have done without.
The front finger choil on the Cutjack is very nice, and I love it. But the R2-D2, has a little landing area there too. Though it be much smaller and flatter. If choking up on the mini-rat. I pull my finger back a little bit, onto the front of the scales.
On this Cutjack of yours. Is the logo on the knife, overly rough? Both of mine, are very raised, and rough. Cleaning the blade after use. Almost always includes scrubbing that logo area, and freeing it from little bits of this or that. It's quite a pain to clean, and is still even snagging a paper towel, or rag. Or whatever I am cleaning it with.
Steve Kluver Yeah. It’s pretty rough.
Of course, your decision was to get both; I often do the same thing.
Scott G Hey! It’s “for research” ;) #seriousknifereviewer
Not a fan of 3 inch knives. I have the Rat 1 in d2 and the 3.5 inch frn cutjack. My Rat 1 is smoother, although I haven't disassembled the cutjack to clean and oil which might get it smoother. My Rat 1 in d2 has a late lockup compared to my aus 8 version. I'd say they each have their pluses and minuses, I enjoy them both. Value wise you can't go wrong with either.
Agreed. No bad choices between these two. I have a Rat 1 D2 also and considered getting a 3.5 Cutjack but the comparison would probably be exactly the same.
Slicey Dicey For $43, the 3.5 frn cutjack is a no brainer. Mine was a little stiff out of the box and I know they use red loctite on their pivots so I haven't taken it apart. But after a lot of flipping it's starting to smooth out more.
FWIW - My 3" Cutjack came right apart with no issues. I polished the bushings and lubed it and put it back together. Came out great. Don't be afraid to take a shot at taking it apart.
Slicey Dicey I seem to have a knack for stripping screws. I got a spyderco shaman and the pivot screw on the clip side wouldn't budge. Heated it up and still wasn't moving. I gave it just a little extra torque and bam, stripped screw. I ended up hammering a T10 bit into the screw and managed to unscrew it. Waiting for spyderco to mail me a replacement screw. So I'm now leery of disassembling. I usually use Wiha drivers and the bits are extremely hard so that may be the problem. I have a cheaper set of drivers that are softer that I should probably try first before the Wiha's. I stripped a scale screw yesterday on a new Real Steel H6 special edition. I should be crowned the king of stripped screws...lol.
Love the video. I own both of these knives and I'm on the fence as well. I'm leaning toward the cutjack for the ease of deployment and closing, however they are both great performers. And would not hesitate to recommend either of them.
Do you mean .09in for blade thickness on the Rat 2? 0.9in is 9 tenths on an inch if my math still serves me.
Yep. I did.
Nice work on the review. I have both and prefer the Cutjack for a few reasons but the action is the most significant. The Cutjack is available in other colors though; mine is blue frn.
Santi Gonzalez No one seems to be restocking the blue and Steel Will said they didn’t know if that would be back.
I recently received a blue one. The blue coloring is rather dull. From a distance or in low light it can look black. There is no "pop" to the blue color.
I wasn’t impressed with my mini cut jack. Had to take it apart as well. Modus is a better choice
I have purchased a cfk d2 bushcraft fixed blade knife and there's no comparison in the steel. I think the china d2 isn't near 60 to 62 rc like the german steel. The cfk is a monster cutter
The RAT is Taiwan if that matters.
Slicey Dicey i'm pretty sure they are the same. Took a speedy sharp to all 3 and ratii and cutjack feel the same and softer than the german steel. I still carry the rat2 and cutjack and like them both but cutjack has a sluggish flipping problem. I need to open it it seems to be maybe missing a washer on one side, fine racing bicycle oil doesn't help much.
My Cutjack had a rough washer. I polished them both and it was great after that.
i'll try that in the morning, thank you much
The N in FRN in nylon
I know. Still just fancy plastic.
I have a Cutjack and it won’t flip
Great video I love them both and have them both but o gotta say I lean towards the Cutjack more than the Rat I think it's the wider blade and finger choil that I prefer but both great knives....
Take it easy "Slicey Dicers".🤘👊👍
#SliceyRocks
Two of the best budget blades.. I've had both (AUS8 Rat) and have used them a lot.. But, for a little more money you can get the Spyderco Delica which IMO is a higher quality knife..
I don't know... I'd rather have D2 than VG10 and now the Delica is approaching twice the price of these after the recent price hikes. Delicas are great but given the price difference, I don't think that anyone is debating between these two and a Delica.
This right here. It may be 4 years later that I'm replying but how many years was the delica out 4 years ago when that comment was posted? ...short answer: several years, and it's been 4 more and here in 2022 the delica is probably the best complete package offering peaked performance per price point.. (and that's after the last uptick of the greasy opportunistic spydie tax even). And while I agree it IS approaching it's limit within the diminishing return margin -whatever that even really is in the epic universe that is the knife world, it's still a very earning knife, meaning that it earns it's keep for the money one can buy one for. And VG10 over D2 any day. At least Spyderco's (seki) VG10. It may not be exotic or technically "super" compared to whatever high speed, militaristic, space age steel.of the future (that's only hot for today).
And while D2 certainly isn't space age by any means it is a bit of a bandwagon fare, probably partly due to manufactures in China being able to process and produce it fairly easily for enough to be worth doing it but there's a.reason for that: demand. D2 is definitely my choice over most other common offerings such as aus 8, 8cr13movmsldofnfkrodkmr33r9wksmeo.44t-sdr42.0, and most 440s...
VG10 is tried and true and it pairs nicely with a tried and true knife like the delica.
🤔 This RUclips by JT's Knive Life (ruclips.net/video/bDYQtbBuwXg/видео.html) , is want I'd expected to see in a 'A BATTLE TO THE DEATH' of two similar knifes. Just saying, not hating. 😏
Someday I'll have the knowledge and skills to do and film something like that. Just getting started here and other people do it better. I don't do anything until I'm sure I can do it at least as well as others.
👍👍👍 I know it's a work in progress, you are doing something for my enjoyment and I hope yours too, Thanks, it's still worth the price of admission. 😉
Cop out man.... after watching almost 20 minutes and it's a tie....
I calls it like I sees it. I still own both and still don't find one to be overall better than the other.