Ranger Knives RD6
Review by Phil Elmore
The Ranger Knives RD6 is a general purpose large survival and utility blade. Manufactured of quarter-inch 5160 steel "triple-tempered" to 58 RC, the six-inch blade has an epoxy-polyester powder coat. quarter inch thick 5160 that has been heat treated and triple tempered to 58 RC. Overall length is eleven and three-quarters inches. My sample has tan canvas micarta handles (black canvas is also available). The knife ships with a Nylon sheath that contains a plastic insert and incorporates appropriate lashing strips.
The Ready Detachment 6 is visible lashed to my pack on the left of this photo.
I've tested the RD6 over the long term in both summer and winter conditions. I've used it to cut tinder strips, chop wood, dig holes, whittle improvised stakes, and pound those stakes into the ground (using the substantial, contured butt of the knife). I've used it to dig holes, clean brush, and once to puncture a tire. Through it all, the knife performed as asked and expected, quickly becoming one of my favorite large blades. The coating has held up reasonably well despite hard use, and the edge retention has been good too, though I've had to resharpen it several times with a diamond hone.
I had trouble getting the knife properly sharp at first, but I attribute that to my own botching of matching the edge grind, and not to the knife itself. Once I got my sharpening angle squared away everything worked out fine, and the knife was once again sharp and functional. It was superbly sharp as shipped, with a nice, ample grind on both sides.
The micarta handle provides decent traction (though is just a little slippery when wet). Its contours make it quite ergonomic, at least in my grip, and I found it very comfortable over extended chopping and cutting. The protruding butt (which has a lanyard hole) has also held up well to my using it as a makeshift hammer. The only real wear and tear, other than dings in the edge and scars in the powder coating, has been seen on the allen screws holding the handle slabs to the full tang. These have rusted after protracted exposure to damp conditions (not to mention more than a few "rode hard and put away wet" storage incidents, during which the knife was unceremoniously dumped with my camping gear for a few days before I got around to cleaning and putting everything away for the next outing.
The width of the spine makes the knife suitable for pounding through wood to chop it, though of course this is abuse of the knife depending on how you view such things. The spear point penetrates well and exhibits a distal taper -- it gets thinner as well as pointier as you near the tip. The knife really excels as a chopper because it is so heavy. The knife and sheath together weigh one pound, 10.8 ounces on my postal scale.
The Nylon sheath is a bit crude but perfectly serviceable, with built-in straps and grommets for lashing and a hook-and-loop retention strap on the belt loop. There is a pouch built in for carrying a smaller knife, sharpening stone, or other gear (I usually tuck a multitool in there).
I found myself wishing for thumb grooves on the spine of the knife, forward of the handle, but the choil helped compensate for this, giving me a place to put my index finger when choking up for closer work. The point of balance of the knife is right behind the choil.
This is an excellent, hard-use outdoors blade that will stand up to
moderate field abuse and remain perfectly functional. The maker,
Justin Gingrich, is a very personable fellow who is (last I knew)
active-duty military. He makes a good product, and supporting him
doesn't seem to me to be a bad thing at all. >>