Ontario Knife Company Sold?

The Grendels said:
It reminds me a bit of what happened to SOG. Ontario Knives were just starting to offer some higher grade steel options and new products, before this happened. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a bit of a run on their products by people who know about this, over the next few weeks and months, which will no doubt be seen as a vote of confidence by the new owners if it results in any noticeable shift in the numbers.
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I've made a bit of a run on their products.
P0a7hVt.jpg

The site I went to to find out what high carbon steel it is(1075 at R 57-59) has this labelled "discontinued".
I have a traveller and a 5160 bushcraft field still coming, then I'm done.
 
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My most used knife. It works as a chef or paring knife. The pics exaggerate the patina on the edge, which holds a razor edge well. I think it was advertised as a hunting knife.
I considered buying more, but this one, and my Navy survival (circa ‘68), will outlive me, so…
IMG_3286.jpeg
 
GmpaJim said:
My most used knife. It works as a chef or paring knife. The pics exaggerate the patina on the edge, which holds a razor edge well. I think it was advertised as a hunting knife.
I considered buying more, but this one, and my Navy survival (circa ‘68), will outlive me, so…
View attachment 2258022
Click to expand...
I bought a 5.5" one like that in a sheath just before I heard the news. OKC was calling it a hunting knife; the jungle river was calling it a kitchen knife, despite the sheath.
I also bought the small game and fish knife in a sheath.
0juFwiZ.jpg

I think it would be cool if the brand-owner kept the OH line in carbon and got rid of the fake forging marks on the flats.
 
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I'm having flashbacks of the GSM buyout and ended up ordering a 14" Old Hickory butcher knife/machete. It will be my only Ontario knife aside from an 18" machete i attempted to re-handle. Not sure why I never caught the bug for Ontarios, but figured I might as well get one while I still can.
 
My RAT1 in AUS8 is one of my most used and reliable folding knives, because it's currently the designated room folder in the kitchen, where it toils daily in opening and breaking down of packaging (to save the edge of cooking knives for food prep).

I ordered one of the Old Hickory butcher knives, just in case the new company owners stop making them.
 
Oh boy. Ok, so as much as it pains me to make this post, I DO think it's pertinent information, especially if folks are thinking of snapping up some OKC knives before the end of the road comes.

So, I purchased three OKC fixed blades from Ontario's store on Amazon. Yes, purchased from Amazon, but the knives come from Ontario themselves, so these aren't fakes to the best of my understanding. Anyway, I purchased the SP1, SP5, and SP10, as their store was slashing prices on all three of these models, and given the sale of the company, I figured it was a now or never sort of thing.

The TL,DR version of the knives are this: if you purchase any of these, just know that you're purchasing a bit of a project. If you can't (or don't have the tools) to sharpen and/or reprofile larger fixed blades, then these aren't going to be for you. It's as simple as that.

The longer version: All three of these knives were purchased straight from Ontario's store on Amazon, as I said. They showed up quickly, and given the price I was candidly not really expecting much. However, what I didn't expect was that all three of these knives (with three very different designs clearly aimed at different use-cases) would come stupidly dull, with asymmetrical, uneven grinds that are so bad, it almost leads me to believe that OKC employees knew something was up before it all went public, and thus kinda mentally checked out at work. In addition to wonky offside grinds, these three knives are so stupidly thick behind the edge, it's clear to me that none of these were inspected before they were sent out.

SP1: The SP1 I got, the grind/sharpening job was so bad, the tip is flat out blunt (and so thick, it's like looking at a carpenter's pencil when holding the knife tip straight-up in your hand, and looking down. This is supposed to be a Kabar Marine stand-in, and I can tell you, I would hate to think of any Marines actually finding themselves in a situation where they needed something stabbed or cut, because the SP1 I got will do neither of those things without a significant amount of regrinding and sharpening work.

SP5: This knife was oddly super light, given it's thinner full flat grind. So, if you're considering it for a large knife which can do some chopping, it's my entirely unasked for opinion that there are better knives out there. Also, like the SP1, its tip is also really blunt, which is a result of grinds on either side of the blade that don't match. Further, it's also very dull, and oddly thick behind the edge, given that this is supposed to be more of a fullsize do anything sort of knife. I have to say it: if you can't, or aren't comfortable putting a reprofiling/sharpening job on a 10 inch blade, this knife may not be for you.

SP10: This knife is REALLY heavy. Like, it's clear that this knife's job is to be a big chopper, a job I think it will excel at, so that could be considered a pro versus a con. Oddly, of the three I purchased, this knife has the pointiest tip, and while the edge is still pretty dull and thick behind the edge, the only thing this knife really needs is a sharpening, considering its job is to chop through stuff, not really be a competent slicer.

The sheathes: it's been talked about before, but I can confirm: these aren't great. For one thing, the cheap inner plastic sleeve on each sheath is so "rumpled" that it takes a bit of work to insert the knife into them the first few times. This was common across all three knives I purchased.

One pro against all these cons would be: the handles are all very comfortable (given that they're all more or less the same). None of the three knives I received had any fitment issues, or issues/flaws in the coatings. They LOOK good. So, that's why I would stress that if you don't have an issue reprofiling these thick-as-a-slab-of-cheese (and about as sharp) edges, I think there ARE some really good users here. I just think it becomes a difficult proposition when you could just order a Becker BK9, or a Tweener of your choice instead, and those are always ready to rock right outta the box. It'll be more or less the same recipe, except with better edges and sheathes for a nominally greater amount of money.

To wrap up, I'm going to keep all three of these knives because I don't have an issue making the changes I've talked about above, plus the heavily discounted price I paid for all three means that these knives are kiiiiiiinda inline with what I paid. A shame. I debated even making this post, but at the end of the day, not everyone has the cash to throw at knives which may not be what you expect to receive, so I wanted to make sure my experience was out there. If it had been one knife, I wouldn't have said anything, but all three? Delivered within a few days of each other? Hard to believe this was a one-off, or not indicative of entire batches of their final inventory, but that's just my opinion only. Anyway, here they are:

XV6Oi74.jpg
 
buckfynn said:
jbmonkey jbmonkey From the SEC filing it looks like Blue Ridge Knives bought OKC outright. So it looks like they have the right to use the Ontario Knife Company name and any trademarks.


From the link below:
"On July 10, 2023, Servotronics, Inc. (the “Company”) and its subsidiary, The Ontario Knife Company (“OKC”), entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”) with Blue Ridge Knives, Inc. (the “Buyer”), pursuant to which, upon the terms and subject to the conditions thereto, Buyer has agreed to purchase substantially all of the inventory, intellectual property assets, tangible personal property and goodwill of OKC (the “Business”) for an aggregate purchase price of $2.1 million, subject to adjustment based on inventory values at closing (the “Transaction”)."
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Only about $2 million? The company employed about 50 full time presumably skilled workers. 2M/50= only 40,000 each, I'll bet those employees were paid more than 1/50th of the total company value; I'll bet sales and profits weren't enough to pay the employees much longer. Nobody got rich here.
 
Quiet said:
Oh boy. Ok, so as much as it pains me to make this post, I DO think it's pertinent information, especially if folks are thinking of snapping up some OKC knives before the end of the road comes.

So, I purchased three OKC fixed blades from Ontario's store on Amazon. Yes, purchased from Amazon, but the knives come from Ontario themselves, so these aren't fakes to the best of my understanding. Anyway, I purchased the SP1, SP5, and SP10, as their store was slashing prices on all three of these models, and given the sale of the company, I figured it was a now or never sort of thing.

The TL,DR version of the knives are this: if you purchase any of these, just know that you're purchasing a bit of a project. If you can't (or don't have the tools) to sharpen and/or reprofile larger fixed blades, then these aren't going to be for you. It's as simple as that.

The longer version: All three of these knives were purchased straight from Ontario's store on Amazon, as I said. They showed up quickly, and given the price I was candidly not really expecting much. However, what I didn't expect was that all three of these knives (with three very different designs clearly aimed at different use-cases) would come stupidly dull, with asymmetrical, uneven grinds that are so bad, it almost leads me to believe that OKC employees knew something was up before it all went public, and thus kinda mentally checked out at work. In addition to wonky offside grinds, these three knives are so stupidly thick behind the edge, it's clear to me that none of these were inspected before they were sent out.

SP1: The SP1 I got, the grind/sharpening job was so bad, the tip is flat out blunt (and so thick, it's like looking at a carpenter's pencil when holding the knife tip straight-up in your hand, and looking down. This is supposed to be a Kabar Marine stand-in, and I can tell you, I would hate to think of any Marines actually finding themselves in a situation where they needed something stabbed or cut, because the SP1 I got will do neither of those things without a significant amount of regrinding and sharpening work.

SP5: This knife was oddly super light, given it's thinner full flat grind. So, if you're considering it for a large knife which can do some chopping, it's my entirely unasked for opinion that there are better knives out there. Also, like the SP1, its tip is also really blunt, which is a result of grinds on either side of the blade that don't match. Further, it's also very dull, and oddly thick behind the edge, given that this is supposed to be more of a fullsize do anything sort of knife. I have to say it: if you can't, or aren't comfortable putting a reprofiling/sharpening job on a 10 inch blade, this knife may not be for you.

SP10: This knife is REALLY heavy. Like, it's clear that this knife's job is to be a big chopper, a job I think it will excel at, so that could be considered a pro versus a con. Oddly, of the three I purchased, this knife has the pointiest tip, and while the edge is still pretty dull and thick behind the edge, the only thing this knife really needs is a sharpening, considering its job is to chop through stuff, not really be a competent slicer.

The sheathes: it's been talked about before, but I can confirm: these aren't great. For one thing, the cheap inner plastic sleeve on each sheath is so "rumpled" that it takes a bit of work to insert the knife into them the first few times. This was common across all three knives I purchased.

One pro against all these cons would be: the handles are all very comfortable (given that they're all more or less the same). None of the three knives I received had any fitment issues, or issues/flaws in the coatings. They LOOK good. So, that's why I would stress that if you don't have an issue reprofiling these thick-as-a-slab-of-cheese (and about as sharp) edges, I think there ARE some really good users here. I just think it becomes a difficult proposition when you could just order a Becker BK9, or a Tweener of your choice instead, and those are always ready to rock right outta the box. It'll be more or less the same recipe, except with better edges and sheathes for a nominally greater amount of money.

To wrap up, I'm going to keep all three of these knives because I don't have an issue making the changes I've talked about above, plus the heavily discounted price I paid for all three means that these knives are kiiiiiiinda inline with what I paid. A shame. I debated even making this post, but at the end of the day, not everyone has the cash to throw at knives which may not be what you expect to receive, so I wanted to make sure my experience was out there. If it had been one knife, I wouldn't have said anything, but all three? Delivered within a few days of each other? Hard to believe this was a one-off, or not indicative of entire batches of their final inventory, but that's just my opinion only. Anyway, here they are:

XV6Oi74.jpg
Click to expand...
I tend to agree with all of your comments. Wonky grinds for sure.

My SP1s were all comically poorly ground, and needed file time to get them to even cut. I consider it a glorified Hori-hori, and for that it's great. Knife stuff...not so much.

The SP lines are blades that need to basically be finished to hit any type of performance standard.

But they still bring a smile to my face after the finishing, and are a hoot to bash around.
 
thats funny since my ct5 22" machete actually had fairly even grinds... a little blunt, sure, but perfectly fine for hacking branches

(I did get it a few years ago, but it is the 1075, which I think is better for abuse compared to their more typical 1095)
 
Quiet said:
Oh boy. Ok, so as much as it pains me to make this post, I DO think it's pertinent information, especially if folks are thinking of snapping up some OKC knives before the end of the road comes.

So, I purchased three OKC fixed blades from Ontario's store on Amazon. Yes, purchased from Amazon, but the knives come from Ontario themselves, so these aren't fakes to the best of my understanding. Anyway, I purchased the SP1, SP5, and SP10, as their store was slashing prices on all three of these models, and given the sale of the company, I figured it was a now or never sort of thing.

The TL,DR version of the knives are this: if you purchase any of these, just know that you're purchasing a bit of a project. If you can't (or don't have the tools) to sharpen and/or reprofile larger fixed blades, then these aren't going to be for you. It's as simple as that.

The longer version: All three of these knives were purchased straight from Ontario's store on Amazon, as I said. They showed up quickly, and given the price I was candidly not really expecting much. However, what I didn't expect was that all three of these knives (with three very different designs clearly aimed at different use-cases) would come stupidly dull, with asymmetrical, uneven grinds that are so bad, it almost leads me to believe that OKC employees knew something was up before it all went public, and thus kinda mentally checked out at work. In addition to wonky offside grinds, these three knives are so stupidly thick behind the edge, it's clear to me that none of these were inspected before they were sent out.

SP1: The SP1 I got, the grind/sharpening job was so bad, the tip is flat out blunt (and so thick, it's like looking at a carpenter's pencil when holding the knife tip straight-up in your hand, and looking down. This is supposed to be a Kabar Marine stand-in, and I can tell you, I would hate to think of any Marines actually finding themselves in a situation where they needed something stabbed or cut, because the SP1 I got will do neither of those things without a significant amount of regrinding and sharpening work.

SP5: This knife was oddly super light, given it's thinner full flat grind. So, if you're considering it for a large knife which can do some chopping, it's my entirely unasked for opinion that there are better knives out there. Also, like the SP1, its tip is also really blunt, which is a result of grinds on either side of the blade that don't match. Further, it's also very dull, and oddly thick behind the edge, given that this is supposed to be more of a fullsize do anything sort of knife. I have to say it: if you can't, or aren't comfortable putting a reprofiling/sharpening job on a 10 inch blade, this knife may not be for you.

SP10: This knife is REALLY heavy. Like, it's clear that this knife's job is to be a big chopper, a job I think it will excel at, so that could be considered a pro versus a con. Oddly, of the three I purchased, this knife has the pointiest tip, and while the edge is still pretty dull and thick behind the edge, the only thing this knife really needs is a sharpening, considering its job is to chop through stuff, not really be a competent slicer.

The sheathes: it's been talked about before, but I can confirm: these aren't great. For one thing, the cheap inner plastic sleeve on each sheath is so "rumpled" that it takes a bit of work to insert the knife into them the first few times. This was common across all three knives I purchased.

One pro against all these cons would be: the handles are all very comfortable (given that they're all more or less the same). None of the three knives I received had any fitment issues, or issues/flaws in the coatings. They LOOK good. So, that's why I would stress that if you don't have an issue reprofiling these thick-as-a-slab-of-cheese (and about as sharp) edges, I think there ARE some really good users here. I just think it becomes a difficult proposition when you could just order a Becker BK9, or a Tweener of your choice instead, and those are always ready to rock right outta the box. It'll be more or less the same recipe, except with better edges and sheathes for a nominally greater amount of money.

To wrap up, I'm going to keep all three of these knives because I don't have an issue making the changes I've talked about above, plus the heavily discounted price I paid for all three means that these knives are kiiiiiiinda inline with what I paid. A shame. I debated even making this post, but at the end of the day, not everyone has the cash to throw at knives which may not be what you expect to receive, so I wanted to make sure my experience was out there. If it had been one knife, I wouldn't have said anything, but all three? Delivered within a few days of each other? Hard to believe this was a one-off, or not indicative of entire batches of their final inventory, but that's just my opinion only. Anyway, here they are:

XV6Oi74.jpg
Click to expand...
the grinds have gotten worse on these last made models, this is so true. should be noted they coat the edges with a thick clear coating. I remove it via sharpening on stones......edges are still wide and thicker, but with the clear coating gone its a bit better......
 
Quiet said:
Oh boy. Ok, so as much as it pains me to make this post, I DO think it's pertinent information, especially if folks are thinking of snapping up some OKC knives before the end of the road comes.

So, I purchased three OKC fixed blades from Ontario's store on Amazon. Yes, purchased from Amazon, but the knives come from Ontario themselves, so these aren't fakes to the best of my understanding. Anyway, I purchased the SP1, SP5, and SP10, as their store was slashing prices on all three of these models, and given the sale of the company, I figured it was a now or never sort of thing.

The TL,DR version of the knives are this: if you purchase any of these, just know that you're purchasing a bit of a project. If you can't (or don't have the tools) to sharpen and/or reprofile larger fixed blades, then these aren't going to be for you. It's as simple as that.

The longer version: All three of these knives were purchased straight from Ontario's store on Amazon, as I said. They showed up quickly, and given the price I was candidly not really expecting much. However, what I didn't expect was that all three of these knives (with three very different designs clearly aimed at different use-cases) would come stupidly dull, with asymmetrical, uneven grinds that are so bad, it almost leads me to believe that OKC employees knew something was up before it all went public, and thus kinda mentally checked out at work. In addition to wonky offside grinds, these three knives are so stupidly thick behind the edge, it's clear to me that none of these were inspected before they were sent out.

SP1: The SP1 I got, the grind/sharpening job was so bad, the tip is flat out blunt (and so thick, it's like looking at a carpenter's pencil when holding the knife tip straight-up in your hand, and looking down. This is supposed to be a Kabar Marine stand-in, and I can tell you, I would hate to think of any Marines actually finding themselves in a situation where they needed something stabbed or cut, because the SP1 I got will do neither of those things without a significant amount of regrinding and sharpening work.

SP5: This knife was oddly super light, given it's thinner full flat grind. So, if you're considering it for a large knife which can do some chopping, it's my entirely unasked for opinion that there are better knives out there. Also, like the SP1, its tip is also really blunt, which is a result of grinds on either side of the blade that don't match. Further, it's also very dull, and oddly thick behind the edge, given that this is supposed to be more of a fullsize do anything sort of knife. I have to say it: if you can't, or aren't comfortable putting a reprofiling/sharpening job on a 10 inch blade, this knife may not be for you.

SP10: This knife is REALLY heavy. Like, it's clear that this knife's job is to be a big chopper, a job I think it will excel at, so that could be considered a pro versus a con. Oddly, of the three I purchased, this knife has the pointiest tip, and while the edge is still pretty dull and thick behind the edge, the only thing this knife really needs is a sharpening, considering its job is to chop through stuff, not really be a competent slicer.

The sheathes: it's been talked about before, but I can confirm: these aren't great. For one thing, the cheap inner plastic sleeve on each sheath is so "rumpled" that it takes a bit of work to insert the knife into them the first few times. This was common across all three knives I purchased.

One pro against all these cons would be: the handles are all very comfortable (given that they're all more or less the same). None of the three knives I received had any fitment issues, or issues/flaws in the coatings. They LOOK good. So, that's why I would stress that if you don't have an issue reprofiling these thick-as-a-slab-of-cheese (and about as sharp) edges, I think there ARE some really good users here. I just think it becomes a difficult proposition when you could just order a Becker BK9, or a Tweener of your choice instead, and those are always ready to rock right outta the box. It'll be more or less the same recipe, except with better edges and sheathes for a nominally greater amount of money.

To wrap up, I'm going to keep all three of these knives because I don't have an issue making the changes I've talked about above, plus the heavily discounted price I paid for all three means that these knives are kiiiiiiinda inline with what I paid. A shame. I debated even making this post, but at the end of the day, not everyone has the cash to throw at knives which may not be what you expect to receive, so I wanted to make sure my experience was out there. If it had been one knife, I wouldn't have said anything, but all three? Delivered within a few days of each other? Hard to believe this was a one-off, or not indicative of entire batches of their final inventory, but that's just my opinion only. Anyway, here they are:

XV6Oi74.jpg
Click to expand...
I had heard of some of these issues with their new SPL Pack Knife that really put me off. Magnacut isn't something I'd choose to have to fight with to put a new grind on. As much as I'd like a knife blade made from Magnacut, I want to have a positive experience with that steel. There was a reason I ordered an Old Hickory butcher knife.
 
I must have lucked out, as the SP53 that I have ordered, came today (30 min ago) with quite a good (albeit toothy) egde:

hair53.jpg

It shaved my arm hair right out of the box, and the grind is nearly even on both sides.

paper53.jpg

It had some issues with 80g paper, but not as bad as the SP2 I got last week.

And for good measure, here it is with one of my BK14s:
comp53.jpg

That brings the total of my OKC knives to four: SP1-SP2-SP6-SP53. They definitely will outlast me...

The SP1&SP2 have been reprofiled, the 6 and the 53 are quite good right out of the box.

I cannot wait to put the 53 to work, it seems like a very capable hatchet, chopper, wood destroyer, delimber, bone crusher... :)

However, I will need to train with it, as it is really a heavy beast.
 
I owned numerous Ontarios decades back and every model was excellent. The past few years QC definitely dropped to disappointing levels, and I'm not surprised that competition finally took OKC out. Still it is sad when a solid American company goes down for the count.
 
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