hmm, yeah, i was quite worried about this to at the time.
As far as quality with Ontario, it has been a bit spotty
You're quite right HD, but all the some, quality issues with the ranger production knives have been pretty frequent too. My semi-custom RD7 shipped with almost no edge on it, and I still haven't been able to make the tip sharp. In general, i wouldn't rate the RD series' (as bought from deals like brigade quatermasters) quality as being higher than that of Ontario's knives. In fact, I would say that my Ontario RTAK-II was higher quality than my ranger. To a certain extent, turning these knives into production blades may assure higher quality, but it will also flood the market and rob the brand of much of its cache
Bottom line: buy from scrap yard <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Could you imagine if Ontario made a offer to buy Busse or one of its Kin?
don't even joke, thats basically my nightmare scenario. Let us all pray that never happens. I don't think Dan, Eric, or Jerry would do that for any amount of money though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crossfingers.gif" alt="" />
