- Ontario RAT Model 1 · Drop Point3.5″ blade · 0.11″ spine · 4.95 oz · ~1.03″ tall
Ontario RAT Model 1
The Ontario RAT Model 1 is a 3.625" drop point folder in AUS-8, flat ground. The handle is Nylon 6, secured by a liner lock. At 4.95 oz it sits 54th-lightest of the 61 EDC folders here, where the median is 3.2 oz.
- Blade
- 3.5″
- Weight
- 4.95 oz
- Steel
- AUS-8
- Price band
- Budget
Everyday carry and general utility
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Specifications
Manufacturer-published figures, cross-checked against ontarioknife.com, knifecenter.
- Blade length
- 3.5″
- Cutting edge
- 3.375″
- Spine thickness
- 0.11″
- Blade shape
- Drop Point
- Grind
- Flat
- Steel
- AUS-8
- Overall length
- 8.625″
- Weight
- 4.95 oz
- Lock
- Liner
- Deployment
- Manual
- Handle material
- Nylon 6
- Country of origin
- Taiwan
Why a drop point
The default hunting and EDC shape, and the safest general answer. The spine curves down to the tip in a convex line, which keeps the point low and strong and leaves plenty of belly for skinning. It is hard to make a drop point bad at anything.
Every drop point here →About AUS-8
Japanese mid-tier that aged well: tough for its hardness and very easy to bring back.
1-5 is a relative ranking drawn from published composition and hardness, not a lab measurement. Higher is better on every axis, and no steel is a 5 across the board — edge retention and toughness pull against each other. All AUS-8 knives
What owners say
Drawn from 363 owner discussions of the Ontario RAT Model 1 since 2024. The opinions are theirs. The specifications above come from the maker.
What owners like
- Owners report long service under hard use: one has carried a RAT 1 for more than twelve years and says it has taken a ton of abuse, another has had one well over ten years and calls it pretty beat up but still going strong, and a construction contractor used an AUS-8 RAT 1 for nearly everything on the job for four-plus years.
- The AUS-8 is quick to bring back: one owner says it sharpens quick and gets very sharp, another has gone through a lot of cardboard needing only a strop, and a third hones theirs on a butcher's steel more than a strop.
- It arrives sharp: one owner who paid about $25 in 2015 says it came razor sharp and has held a better edge than knives they own from Benchmade and Kershaw, and a 2026 buyer found theirs nice and sharp out of the box.
- The thumb stud action wins praise beyond its price: one owner rates it among the best thumb stud actions, period, even against their $300-plus knives, and another whose RAT 1 did not open or close smoothly at first says it turned smooth within a few days.
- The thumb ramp gets defended: one owner calls the grip incredibly secure and comfortable, with the index finger sitting behind the pivot, and one owner who lost a red one at work bought another and says it cuts for days and is really comfortable.
- Price keeps it in work pockets: buyers report $25 in 2015, $17 on a sale and 60 euros, one shopper saw it at $43 in 2026, and owners use it as the knife they do not mind messing up, from an ugly job to the glove box.
- The pocket clip can be mounted in four positions, and the plain, usable blade shape and full flat grind are cited as reasons not to spend more.
What owners flag
- The liner lock has given out for some: one owner says normal grip pressure now causes severe lock rock or even failure unless they change grip to wedge the liner in place, and another owner reports the same thing happening to their RAT 1 and has been turned off liner locks since.
- Centering is hit and miss: one owner had two RAT 1s arrive off-center and fixed both by taking them apart and reassembling, while another's was off-center out of the box and they will not bother fixing it.
- The nylon pivot washers wear: one owner found theirs chewed up during maintenance and got significant blade play after discarding them, and another wishes the knives had never shipped with nylon pivot washers. Reassembly can go wrong too: one owner could not get the wiggle out after putting theirs back together.
- The factory clip has detractors: one owner hates the stock clips and puts titanium deep carry clips on every RAT, Benchmade Adamas deep carry clips fit after drilling the holes out a bit, and one wish list for the base model includes a standard deep carry clip, bigger hardware and better handle texture.
- At about 4.95 oz it feels big to some: one owner moved to the smaller RAT 2 because the RAT 1 felt too big, another found it a bit bulky for everyday carry, and a third lists it among the least used in a rotation and calls it a bit big.
- AUS-8 edge holding draws complaints: one owner says it does not hold an edge well, another expects it to dull sooner and finds burr removal like working with playdough, and one RAT 1.5 owner judged they would already have sharpened the AUS-8 version twice; one owner also finds the primary grind too thick behind the edge to cut well.
- The unsharpened section ahead of the handle draws criticism: one critic calls the slippery blank ricasso useless and ugly, and another says it exists only to design around the pivot, which leaves the edge starting too far from the finger.
- It closes fast when new: the owner who paid $25 in 2015 sliced their thumb open on the first day when the slick blade shut faster than expected.
Twelve years of abuse in one owner's pocket and four-plus years on a construction site in another's are the long-service stories behind the RAT 1. It is a 3.625 in flat-ground AUS-8 drop point with a liner lock and Nylon 6 handle, made in Taiwan, about 4.95 oz, in the Budget band. Owners carry it as a knife they will not baby: daily at an ugly job, in the glove box, as a new buyer's yard work knife, and for everything a contractor cuts once the cheaper knives have handled sandbags and staples.
One owner found it razor sharp out of the box and another's action loosened up within days; one owner ranks its thumb stud action with knives costing several times more. AUS-8 is the trade: owners like that it hones back on a strop or butcher's steel, while one says it does not hold an edge well and another finds the grind thick behind the edge. The hardware is where owners report trouble, with off-center blades fixed by reassembly, worn nylon pivot washers, and one liner lock that began to rock under a normal grip. One owner swaps titanium deep carry clips onto every RAT, and Benchmade clips fit with drilled holes.
The RAT 2 is the smaller alternative: one owner moved to it because the RAT 1 felt too big. One RAT 1.5 MagnaCut owner found it noticeably lighter than the RAT 1 and judged its steel far outlasts the AUS-8. The D2 and S35VN RAT 1 versions also come up for people who want a different steel in the same frame, though one owner prefers their AUS-8 RAT 1 to their D2 one.
Is the AUS-8 in the RAT 1 good enough, or should I get the D2 or S35VN version?
AUS-8 is described as easy to sharpen and pretty tough for a beater, and one owner likes their AUS-8 RAT 1 better than their D2 one. Another owner says AUS-8 does not hold an edge well. One owner of three D2 RAT 1s says they stay sharp a long time, while another broke a D2 RAT 1 and thinks 1095 would not have broken.
Why does my RAT 1 have blade play after I took it apart?
One owner discarded the worn nylon pivot washers during cleaning and got significant play even with the pivot tight, and went looking for replacement washers of the right thickness. Another could not remove the wiggle after reassembly. A used RAT 1 may also be missing parts: one eBay buyer found only bronze washers and no Teflon ones, and had always found it less smooth than a RAT 2.
Should I get the RAT 1 or the smaller RAT 2?
One owner moved to the RAT 2 the week it came out because the RAT 1 felt too big, and another found the RAT 1 a bit bulky for everyday carry and bought RAT 2s for friends and family. One owner with tiny hands uses the RAT II for that reason.
What deep carry clip fits the RAT 1?
One owner notes Benchmade Adamas deep carry clips fit after drilling the holes out a bit, another installed a Benchmade stubby clip on a D2 RAT 1, and one puts titanium deep carry clips on every RAT they own. The stock clip can also be moved between four mounting positions.
Is the AUS-8 RAT 1 being discontinued?
One 2024 buyer picked up a couple fearing they were going away, but they were still being made: Blue Ridge remained the importer of the same factory's RAT folders, and new S35VN versions had just come out. In 2026 one shopper saw the RAT 1 at $43.
Features
- Liner lock
- Flat grind
- Made in Taiwan
- Stainless blade
