It took almost 2 months to get to me.. but check out my new toy:
The ATAX is a blade designed by the late Ron Hood, to be the ultimate outdoor companion and talk about a conversation piece!
So what is it?
It’s an AX…
A knife
A skinner
A wire cutter
A range finder
A compass
An Inclinometer
A clock
A wrench
A hammer
A rescue tool
A survival kit holder
A fire bow bearing
An arrow launcher
A field level
This knife really tries to have it all.
Whats it made of?
SPECS:
- LOA: 5.5 inches
- Width: 4.5 Inches
- Thickness: 1/4 inch
- Steel: 1095 Tool steel
- Weight: 16 oz
- Handle: Linen Micarta
- Sheath: Kydex (Reversible for left or right hand use)
The feel of this thing in your hand is absolutely amazing. I have a large hand and the handle still fits it comfortably. It comes razor sharp out of the package.
Is there anything wrong with the knife?
The Atax is an extremely intimidating and impressive tool as far as looks and build quality go. But lets be honest, its going to be a little much for most people.
Most normal people won't know how to use the inclinometer, the field level, or the compass.
The “storage compartment can only hold some very small items., like for instance a few yards of fishing line some hooks and split shot at most.
This blade was built for brute force, and is definitely not suited to intricate work.
The price on one of these is pretty high, running close to the $200 dollar mark. They only make these knives in runs of 50-100 at a time ( hence why it took almost 2 months to get mine)
Bottom Line:
The Atax is a very well built knife from a legend in the survival community.
If you have the extra cash or want to give a great gift to a survivalist this would make a great addition to their knife collection.
It has a ton of useful features but many of them are made for much more skilled hands than my own.
It has a limited availability and if you can't find it through the amazon links I provided above click here:
http://www.survival.com/atax.htm
The above link will also show you images of the ATAX in use.
I bought it based on the WOW factor… but this is a bit rich for my blood, any suggestions for a great quality survival tool that is under $100.00?
I’ll go along with your comment on it being a little too rich for your blood, it is for mine as well. I purchase my equipment not because of a name behind it, but because of how well it fits into my overall survival strategies. For instance his fire starting trick with the stick is clever, but there are much better tools out there for starting fires without resorting to a stick, one which is called a “fire piston”.
Before retiring, I was a production manager, and I know cost of manufacturing. What they are asking for the clever tool is way over the top even for an American manufacturer to produce. He could recover his cost through “Economies of Scale” if he sold them for half that. While it might take a little longer to recover his developmental cost, he could, as the first in the field, would place his unit above all others establishing it as the premiere product to have by a buying public.
Nice looking tool , but if your interested in survival tools , i found a website i believe the prices are right , and i gave them as a suggestion to my mother where and what i like to have , this last Christmas ! smkw.com Now Their tool may not be as rugged looking as the comb survival tool , but the prices make up the differences !
Sometimes the name guarantees the quality. I’ve not seen this product first hand, but I do think it is a little high for what you get. The “Randall Made” Orlando, Florida mark is a guarantee of quality in the knife world. Randall’s are famous all over the world (free world, at least)and are much sought after. In fact they are now almost 6 years out for an order placed today. AGRussell is along established company-the owner is a founding member of the Guild. You’ll pay market prices, but you don’t wait 5 years either. Spyderco also sells them. So is “Martin”. We’d all love to get the $325,000 Bentley Mulsange (sp?)for the price of a Mini Cooper. I don’t see that happening though. Remington’s 700 rifle have a design flaw you’ll never read about, but it’s there. So you are right there-name is not the only thing that counts. Then again, you can’t beat Craftsman hand tools for value. No, they are not Snap-on, but for the average non-professional they are good enough, and if you break it, take it in and they’ll give you a new one. Free. And low priced stuff is usually cheap for several reasons-low quality control, cheap materials that fail quickly under hard use, and others. In my mind, cheap and high quality are generally mutually exclusive. And, I ask, what is life worth? Risk a fairly strong likely-hood of failure, or pay more and be reasonable certain you won’t be failed when the chips are down?