Ontario Knife Company499 Air Force Survival Knife 5" Sawback Blade with False Top Edge and Blood Grooves, Natural Leather Handle and Sheath - 6150 (Color May Vary),Black

This is my idea of something that is what it's supposed to be. A good working copy of the original design. This is a rugged knife with a solid comfortable rugged grip and the rasp like saw on the back does work. The stone is enough to put a working edge on the blade and the sheath is solid.The clip is sharp for good or ill. The guard was put there for a purpose. This is a military knife and they had to face the fact that it might end up being used as a weapon of last resort.The handle is leather washers and will be damaged if they get wet often enough. In other words this knife is not a divers knife but then it was never meant to be a divers knife. There is probably something you can put on the leather to protect it if you are going out and it is raining, or wear it under your rain gear or just pull a balloon down over the handle.The sheath is solid.Th pummel is a useful hammer/pounder. That is you use the butt to crack nuts or flatten or reshape something. You need some tender: pound on a twig. You don't pound on the knife like it was a big nail or something.As one person demonstrated on Youtube if you try and baton something that is too large and pound on the handle and guard with a large stick you can ruin the handle: duh! I don't exactly see this as a problem because the only people likely to do crap like that would break just about anything doing something nobody with two cents worth of smarts would even consider trying but if you are absolutely stuck on stupid this knife may not be the right knife for you.As with the original this is a very solid knife that can get you through a very bad few days or even a very bad month because it can take a heck of beating and with a little touch up on the edge be ready to go again. What more can you ask from a survival knife?One further observation. This is a reproduction of a design dating back to the early days of the cold war and meant for limited but intensive use. It is what it is supposed to be be and it does a great job.I suppose a more modern design _might_ use stainless and synthetics rather than leather but that is about all I can see that might be worth changing in what is meant to be compact military issue survival knife.If you want to take it hiking, camping, or hunting it can handle that too.

It is very hard to find a better fixed blade knife for under 40 bucks that is made in the USA. I am not saying this is the best knife out there but you get a lot of knife for the money. I ordered two of them and couldn't be happier. Here is a littler review and some information on things I did with the knife.Audience: This is the perfect beginner knife for someone looking at getting into camping/hiking. If you are on a budget, you will have a hard time finding something better, yes Mora's are nice knives as well. I find this to be a great knife to keep in an emergency bag or in a vehicle. It is also a nice collector's piece since this knife design has been used by our military since the late 1950's!Quality: The knife and sheath are solid. My box says Made in the USA and it also had a card in the box that said it was made in the USA. I read some people say they had a sticker on the back of their sheath that said made in China but neither of my sheaths have that sticker. My hard guard is a little loose but it doesn’t bother me, it only moves when I try to move it. I soaked in in Neatsfoot Oil for 6 hours but it is still a little loose. I could always soak it overnight in oil again to see if it expands the leather handle more on the hard guard but not a concern of mine at this time.Blade: My blade wasn’t as dull as others have said but my blade profile was off. I am a rookie with knife sharpening so I am using this knife for practicing my sharpening skills. I would rather learn on a sub 40 dollar knife they mess up one of my more expensive knives.Knife Handle: The leather rings that make up the handle are very nice. The handle doesn’t have any type of protectant on it so I went ahead and soaked one of my handles in Neatsfoot Oil for about 6 hours. As you can see in my photos, the handle took on a dark rich coloring from the Neatsfoot Oil. After I dried the knife for 2 days, I put a coat of Mink Oil on the handle (and sheath) to help waterproof it. I like the pommel on the knife, good for hammering.Sheath: The sheath has a nice tan color to it but it was really stiff. I applied 2 coats of Neatsfoot oil on the sheath and it darkened it up to a nice rich brown/reddish color and it loosened it up a bunch. In my pictures, you can see one of the sheaths brand new from the box and one that I applied the oil to. It is nice that it comes with a basic sharpening stone but you could use replace the included sharpening stone with a Lansky or other Arkansas pocket stone if you want to carry around a better stone with the knife. You could also use the pocket on the sheath to store other items like a mini Bic lighter. I was able to put one in my sheath pocket and there is enough room to fit maybe a fishing hook, needle, match, etc.Conclusion: You will have a hard time finding a nicer fixed blade knife in this price range. It is a fun knife as well because you can work the leather parts how you’d like. I think on my 2nd knife, I will just apply Mink oil and skip the Neatsfoot oil. If you aren’t happy with the lighter tan color, it is easy to make it darker. I really like the pocket on the sheath and will just use it for the sharpening stone but you could get creative and put other items in there. Here is an idea, replace the sharpening stone with some survival items, tape one of those Wilderness Survival cards to the back of the sheath, and stuff some fishing line/cordage in the back of the sheath were the metal meets the leather and you have yourself a nice mini survival kit.