Here is a good article by Jeff Randall from RAT Cutlery. I like how he said give me a 3 bladed Old Timer and a $10.00 machete if he was going into the jungle.


https://www.knivesshipfree.com/ksfinfo/Newsletter/Jeff_Randall_Interview.html


Before there was RAT Cutlery, Randall was tromping through the jungles of Central and South America, training military personnel, law-enforcement officers and civilians in the art of jungle survival as Randall’s Adventure & Training. Through that experience, and leveraging his experience as a welder and fabricator, Randall and R.A.T. co-owner Mike Perrin saw the need for a better knife -- so they designed one.

From there, RAT knives were made first by Newt Livesay and then, from 2002 through 2007, under a licensing arrangement with Ontario Knife Company. After that, Randall and partner Perrin -- whom Randall describes as his “cloned brother” -- formed RAT Cutlery and began producing their designs independently.

Today, RAT is one of the fastest-growing brands in the cutlery industry -- it's certainly one of KnivesShipFree’s top sellers. With that kind of success, it’d be reasonable to assume that Jeff Randall has found a new line of work.

Not so.

“My heart’s still in the training,” he says. “That’s where the value is -- the knives are just a means to an end.”

“The biggest fallacy is that gear is necessary to survive. You can’t get by on gear -- you need skills. You need to prepare in every aspect of life. And if you don’t have the proper mindset, you’re going to die.”

It’s an attitude that Randall adopted at an early age. He still lives on the same 150-acre farm on which he was raised, the place where he learned from his dad and granddad.

“They showed me how to live off the land,” he says. “We raised our own food. I learned what I don’t need.”

Randall reflects that childhood experience in both his personality and in the type of student he seeks for his jungle-training courses.

“We want a person who’s master of his own destiny, an individualist. We’re not looking for someone who’s an expert in outdoor skills or a special-forces guy, just someone with common sense -- and no excuses.”

As the conversation unfolded, it got harder and harder to get the man to talk about knives. When he finally did, we got a surprise.

The day we talked with Randall, he was about to leave for Peru, where many of his R.A.T. students no doubt would be carrying RAT knives. He won’t.

"I never carry a RAT into the jungle -- I always carry someone else’s knife,” he says. “Really, just give me a three-blade Old Timer and a ten-dollar machete.”
What of RAT knives, then? More to the point, perhaps, why do people buy them?

“Oh, we’re 100% proud of the quality,” Randall says, with obvious conviction, of RAT’s American-made products. “We make our knives for people who use them, who take them out and knock the pretty off of them.

“I have no problems with imports, but right now they have an unfair advantage. We believe that the American worker is the most skilled, best trained and most motivated worker in the world. And even though the playing field isn’t fair, we’ve proven that RAT knives can compete with Brand X -- despite their unfair advantage.”

Now we were getting somewhere. Pressing further, past imports and made-in-USA, we saw that Randall’s pride in RAT Cutlery flows from an unshakeable sense of integrity.

“Look, I’ll stay in the knife business right up to the point that I have to lie to our customers,” he says. “If I ever feel that I have to sacrifice my principles to stay in this business, I’ll walk away -- and I’d rather walk away than lie.”

And so we got our answer.

RAT Cutlery knives -- and, we predict, the expanded range of survival products and tools that Randall says will be released soon -- are tough, honest, no-nonsense and all-American. They’re a mirror of a man who’s now somewhere in the Peruvian jungle, showing his students the skills they need to survive.

This is an excellent perspective from Jeff Randall and he makes a fine point. I can only speak for myself...but...while I continue to collect interesting survival gear and steel, I spend less time in wild places using it and I continue to get fatter and in worse shape. As of two years ago I spent over 100 days a year in the field for over a decade and did not feel limited by 25$ knives and a bedroll from the second hand store. My more recent obsession for steal and cool bushcraft items has become less about bushcraft and outdoor competence than a collection of really neat "stuff". Perhaps I am living vicariously through myself 10 years ago and this collection of "stuff" is an attempt to remain connected to the skills and life that I/we once had or would like to have. That being said, I will continue to collect steel because I enjoy it and look forward to the next time that I may potentially use it.

I have a great respect for those who still practice bushcraft skills on a regular basis but the reality for me is.... As I got older, sleeping on the cold ground under a pile of sticks and leaves is not as fun as it used to be. Now it is more fun to remember it and dream of it.

Yeah, now that I am old and fat, I have Busses and Maxpedition. Don't know how I survived the swamps with just cheap machetes, a boy scout knife, and some old military surplus rucksack. I may get a jungle hammock (extra tough model) and try it out. I hate sleeping on the ground.

I know guys a LOT bigger than you who sleep in camping hammocks, Vic... I'd be more worried about the trees coming down than a good heavy duty hammock failing.



My hammock setup has seriously extended the amount of time I spend in the woods. I don't get much vacation for week-long trips, but I'll go out in even the sloppiest wettest weather with my hammock, and be comfortable, when I knew I'd be miserable if I was on the ground in the mud in my tent.

The older I get and the more money I make the better gear I have.

I remember camping and sleeping in my tent with no sleeping mat, just in my bag. If I did that now I probably wouldn't be able to get up in the morning.

I still own a 3 bladed old timer and those are some sweet little knives. I never would have imagined buying a $400.00 Busse back then.

hey guys i really like your views i am new to the computer and scrapyard knives i got my first one at blade show west its a dumpster mutt before that i have a buck folder that was pops anyways about staying in the woods i am no pro or survival expert but after alot of cold or wet nights on the ground i feel its so much about state of mind like thinking about an ex girlfriend you think it was all fun and games until reality sets in its fun to stay out and get away from the grind but like you guys said its not always what it seems

That was kinda hard to read. Punctuation is your friend <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I am encouraged to hear than, MM. Now that the summer heat is leaving, the swamp is calling me. Nothing else sounds like the Altamaha at night. I need to find a good jungle hammock with the tent roof, mosquito netting and all.

Thanks for posting the interview. I enjoy Jeff R. a lot and appreciate his take a great deal.

Yeah, bananna-clip, thanks. I got it in an e-mail from KSF. I love this quote:

"I never carry a RAT into the jungle -- I always carry someone else’s knife,” he says. “Really, just give me a three-blade Old Timer and a ten-dollar machete.”

Look what I found on ebay. It's a 15 dollar machete (inflation). A brand new genuine Collins 14" machete.

still need a good machete. guess i don't need to spend more than 15 to get it though.

Thats a really nice machete HD.

I found that a cheap machete will do just as good clearing brush as a $200.00 large knife will, but chopping large wood is different.

I liked that quote he made about using someones elses knife and 3 blade old timer. Its funny, I have the same old timer knife and still use it once in a while, but I'm afraid to loose it since it has sentimental value.