Ontario Knife Company 8679 Sp-1 Combat Knife with Black Nylon Sheath, One Size

For a knife that costs a little over $40, there is absolutely no better value than the Ontario SP-1. Full-sized, durable, high carbon steel knife made in the USA, this knife could easily be sold for double the price, and frankly I'm surprised they can offer it for this cheap when a comparable knife such as a KA-BAR costs $90. Ontario knives are extremely tough and can take a hard beating while still keeping an edge. The SP-1 is perfect for any sort of indoor or outdoor work tasks. The rubber handle is very comfortable and prevents your hand from moving or slipping during hard tasks. The sheath is surprisingly good and holds the knife very firmly in place. 1075 very easily sharpens and is not a pain to do.Of course, a knife this cheap has to have a few cons:-Like most Ontario knives, the SP 1 is "ugly." Ontario uses powder coating or parkerizing (this one is the former) for most of their knives, and they often look rough and utilitarian. That is because this is built as a work knife rather than a display knife, and the coating is exclusively to protect the blade steel from rust and damage. I personally like how this looks, but if you want a really pretty knife, you might want to shell out for a more expensive knife.-The knife did not come particularly sharp. It will still cut, but roughly tore through paper. I don't care about this because I sharpen my knives the way I want to when I buy them, but I know for some people having the knife come razor sharp is extremely important, so it's worth mentioning.-No trouble yet, but because the knife has a rubber handle over a rat tail tang, I am guessing that is going to be the first part of the knife to start to break down and fail with heavy use. If you store the knife out of the sun and extreme elements, it should last a long time, but if you are going to be very rough on a knife or using it for pounding tasks, like chopping and batoning, it would be better to pick a full-tang knife with hard scales.-This shouldn't need mentioning, but because there is always some ******* complaining that their knife rusted after they left it out wet: this is a carbon steel knife, not a stainless steel knife. It needs to be dried when it gets wet and regularly oiled. Obviously don't buy a carbon steel knife if you are too lazy to do these things.I would recommend this knife to anyone who needs a durable, quality outdoor knife for the cheapest price possible, and it also makes an affordable gift for knife enthusiasts who are introducing a friend or family member into the world of knife collecting.

It’s just what I expected the knife to be! I have had 2 other OKC Spec series knives before this one. Both of them are still in amazing shape considering the heavy use and abuse they have endured. In my opinion this is a high quality work/combat knife for a very inexpensive price. For roughly half of the price of a true K Bar knife. In most ways it’s just as good as a K Bar with one exception. The steel pommel on the K Bar is the only thing that makes a K Bar better. In a real close quarters fight that steel pommel is extremely useful and highly effective. However I do believe that the molded Kraton handle is better for the wet tropical and swamp region that I live in. It will not rot or mildew like a leather handle will in my area and it has a good grip texture. As a side note if this knife is like my other two OKCs? You will never have to worry about the molded grip pulling off of the knife blade! It has a full length tang that is just slightly smaller than the handle dimensions. The lanyard hole tube is installed through a hole drilled in the tang. It is not the long skinny rat tail tang that most larger knives have. I discovered this when I decided to replace the handle on one of my other OKC spec knives. I also confirmed that my other OKC knife has the same type of tang with a thermal camera. Now to the included sheath that came with the knife. I noticed that many people didn’t like the sheath when I was reading thereviews. Honestly these folks must be diehard traditionalist that don’t like anything but leather. Personally I think it’s a great tactical style sheath that is well constructed, has a stitched non opening belt loop, solid MOLLE strap, and 4 eyelets, to mount or carry the knife in multiple ways. I bought the knife to be permanently installed on my body armor plate carrier so I really like the MOLLE option already on the sheath. The bottom line is yes you can get a prettier more expensive knife. But you cannot get a better quality knife.

I purchased this as a camp knife, for backpacking and for bushcraft. I can confirm that the Sp1 is built like a tank and meant for heavy use. Because of that it has a utility look and feel to it.The stats - 7" blade, 3/16" thick, 5" handle and 12" overall.The Krayton handle is super grippy and comfortable. The upper and lower finger guards are made of the same material as the handle. The guards look fine and serve their purpose no problem.The nylon sheath is generic looking with a plastic insert. It functions well though as the blade fits snug with the button straps adding lock tight retention. No complains there.Some critiques - with my example the cutting edge was ground uneven. It was utility sharp but not hair popping. Some time using my Lansky sharpening set and I re-profiled the edge even and razor sharp. Lastly, the blade is set just a touch high with respects to where it meets the handle. Minor to me but IMO easily avoidable in production.For what you pay and what you get this is easily a 5 star product. I expect to use the SP1 for years to come and highly recommend.