Ontario Spec Plus Alpha Survival

For those who don’t know, Ontario Knife Co. has gone out of business. They have been known to provide excellent value knives for their price point. This knife is no exception. This knife is strong. It has a thick spine and full tang that is covered by a kraton handle. The handle is a bit squared off but not uncomfortable. Its handle can easily accommodate people with small or large hands. The edge does have a very thick grind to it but with the help of a grinder or worksharp it can become razor sharp. The 1075 steel takes a nice edge and is easy to sharpen. It can rust but the blade has a nice coating on it to protect and prevent glare. The blade is shorter but thicker than a ka-bar. The clip point blade allows for a very balanced tool. It can be used for utility, hunting, fishing, camping, etc. The only problem with the product is the sheath. It is mediocre but functional. The front snap will rub the coating off the blade but putting a thin sheet of plastic from any type of packaging can prevent that. I was lucky enough to have an old ka-bar bk 16 sheath laying around and it fit absolutely perfectly. Now that Ontario is out of business it will be impossible to find an American made knife at this price point. I bought two of these knives because I know every other American made knife like this is $100 and up. Many people like having custom sheaths made for their knives and for the price of the knife. The sheath doesn’t bother me. You can buy a 7 inch ka bar sheath and trim the bottom a bit. The bottom can be sewed back with an awl and boom. You have a nice sheath for an extra $10

As a collector and outdoorsman who uses knives all the time, I can say that imo Ontario is my favorite knife manufacturer. I now own 5 of their knives (all different models), so I knew this knife would be top quality when I ordered it and now that I have it in my hands, I can verify that it is indeed top quality. I'm impressed with every one of my Ontario made knives and they are Made in USA. The sheath on this knife is very basic but I like it and it is very well constructed. The knife itself is of the 1074/1075 carbon steel with a skeleton tang and the grip is some type of rubber molded onto the tang. I like the way the grip feels in the hand, it makes it very easy to choke up on the knife and put your thumb on the back of the blade for controlled cuts. I think it will be very good at all of the camping, hiking, outdoor jobs that I will be using it for. It's fairly light, not heavy at all and it's tough as a tank. I've heard people complain that knives from Ontario don't come sharp but they come with a cardboard sleeve on the blade and their is a waxy protective substance on the edge that comes right off with a few swipes through a v sharpener and then shaving sharp. This has been my experience with all of mine. It's tough, It's light, It's made in USA and it's a very good deal at under $30.

I'm impressed with this knife, especially for the money.This is something like an 'American Mora' in that it is no-nonsense and not excessively large, with a functional and comfortable grip. The Bowie-like profile gives it some character and the black "phosphate"* finish is attractive (it's a bit sparkly on the bevel, dark black on the flat). Comfortable to hold and use, it can take on light chopping tasks as well as batoning material up to about 8cm thick - even a bit more in a pinch. This is helped by the sensible design which takes the cutting edge all the way back to the grip, instead of wasting precious blade length like some other similar-sized knives. The blade is sturdy with a thickness of 4.8mm and the spine is fairly square. Not sure if it's square enough to get a spark because I don't use coated blades for that.Cons? This is picky but it seems the tang does not encircle the lanyard hole, which goes through the rubber only. However the main con is the sheath which is pretty lame. It's a super basic, even cheap looking nylon thing with square corners and no OKC tag on it. It's belt mount only, and the knife only goes in one way around. **Warning** The back of the snap that holds the retaining strap will scratch the knife's coating in no time flat if you give it a chance. I gave mine a good squeeze to unflatten it a bit, and also stuck some kapton tape inside to cover over the metal snap.* I went on the Ontario website to find out about this particular blade treatment and whether it needs to be oiled and found that this knife isn't even on their website!I think they could offer a second version of the knife with a straight spine - no clip point. That would slightly extend the wood splitting and hacking capacity for people that need it.All in all, a really nice knife at a nice price with a basic sheath.

It's hard to imagine, how would you make a classic better. Well, okc pulled this off. The okc spec plus alpha knife,imho is perhaps better than the son knife that i hold dear. First off, the handle design on this knife has a slim profile,the blade width has increased,but this knife is light. The owners of the son knife would really appreciate how light slim and damn rugged this knife is. The blade has the same thickness of the sp2, however the blade width allows the owner more blade control when doing times tasks. Most reviews on the sp2 complained about the knife being more of a fighter knife than a survival bushcraft knife. Okc knocked this new design out the park. This alpha knife does it all well, baton,feathersticks,sharp spine and light carry. To all my readers this blade is built to last ! The sheath is as basic as it gets, but it does secure the knife same snap retention as the sp2 sheath, but very basic. Also to the readers, and sp2 owners, no need to reprofile this knife edge, just a few strokes and it's ready for what you throw at her. My final thoughts on this product? For the price point you can't beat this. To all my sp2 owners, it's a must, when this knife gets in circulation and the buzz gets going it will not continue at this price point. Hope this helps in your decision.