ATR as an EDC and utility knife?

[gac]

I'm looking at getting a serrated ATR. But the blade looks pretty thick and the tip not great at piercing (mainly cardboard). Experiences to share?

[Halfneck]

Paging TazKristi. :D :spyder:

[Tank]

I edc'd my daily for about a year and loved it. Since the serrations are pretty aggressive I worked the edge on the sharpmaker all the time as it had a tendency to snag once in a while but I found by keeping it factory sharp it helped. Its a great EDC knife for sure. Now that my collection has grown it only sees pocket time only once in a while. But it is always At The Ready :D

[Episteme]

I love my ATR. Mine is Black with the serrated edge. I'd say that the tip is good for piercing things; it's a good combination of being strong and stout while also being a good poker.
The ONLY downfall of the great ATR is the clip; even after bending it to be less grabby, it still pulls my pants up when I draw it from the pocket. I'm thinking of taking some sandpaper to the back of the clip so it will let go of my pants when I need to.
Mike

[mark greenman]

In terms of fit and finish, smoothness, and aesthetic appeal, the ATR is the finest :spyder: in my collection. Easily.

In terms of perfomance, it's one of the worst. While it is certainly capable of destroying boxes for recycing and cutting ham for dinner, it is a very poor SD knife. On my "paper towel penetration tests," where I stabbed my knives into rolls of papertowels, the ATR's weird, robust tip would simply dent/crush the towel roll, rather than piercing it, while humble classics like the delica sailed through. Likewise, the beautiful serrations, which sold me on the knife, have terrible real world perfomance on heavy cloth, on which they snag every time. It was also pretty lousy at slicing buble wrap on moving day.

Overall, my ATR belongs in a museum of modern art, not in my pocket. However, plenty of people love theirs, so maybe I'm nuts.

[foggy]

[quote="gac"]But the blade looks pretty thick and the tip not great at piercing (mainly cardboard).[quote]

My ATR goes through cardboard well. As an EDC and utility knife an ATR is tops IMO.

[TazKristi]

I'm a little biased to say the least, but as most of you know... I love mine. It's always with me.

Taz

[D-Roc]

I'm pretty happy with mine, would love to see it come back as current production someday...

[smcfalls13]

Despite that it's not the proper use for a knife, I've used the ATR to pry open cans when the can opener went missing. That tip is extremely strong, and will have no problems piercing anything. If you need to put a hole in something, the ATY can do it for you :p

[SpydercoKnut]

go for it and you won't be disappointed but ditch the serrations

:spyder:

[GarageBoy]

Why no serrations for the ATR?

[gac]

Some are of the opinion that the serrations are too pointy and/or sharp and hang up on the material they cut. I'm thinking against this one and leaning towards a Para instead.

[mark greenman]

Good choice, I've never heard of anyone disliking their Para, which is why they're next to impossible to trade for on BF. I'd sugest the D2 model, it's great stuff, and you could always trade it later for a s30v, while the opposite would not be true.

Regardless, good luck and enjoy

Mark

[Mr Blonde]

Good choice, I've never heard of anyone disliking their Para,

Get ready! :D

I thoroughly dislike the Para, the tang sticks out to much when folded and the clip isn't lefty-friendly.

I do like my Ti ATR, it's serrations are shallower than the SS version. The tip on my sample is sharp too, though the fin does give more resistance than the sleek point of the Delica 3. I also think the Delica 3 is more prone to tip-breakage than the ATR. It's a trade off.

When cutting fine paper, newsprint or cloth, I have never experienced a snagging cut with (even 'deep aggressive') serrations. I can get my serrations, the scallops, hair shaving sharp and the S30V keeps them that way for a long time. My personal experiment with SE vs PE is that sharp serrations give a bit more resistance to the touch during the cut, but definitely no resistance. I also notice that a PE can lose its grip and not cut very deep at all. Also, when hitting a nail or button you can lose a plain edge, whereas the SE just bumps off and protects the other scallops. Furthermore, SE stays 'functionally sharp' longer than PE of the same steel. that is why I prefer SE for tactical folders (which doesn't necessarily include MBC).

Wouter

[bladese97]

:spyder: :spyder: :cool: :spyder: :spyder:I have 4 ATR's, 2 Titanium, and 2 ss, and all I can say is......I WANT MORE :eek: :eek: As far as Big Spyders, the ATR is my all time favorite, and I carry it with a small Spyder ALL THE TIME :D
Sal.....Eric....Kristi.....Team; Please bring the ATR back to life :D All I did to reduce snagging was sharpen it often, and file down the teeth some :)

[gac]

John Jensen has some ATRs if you are going to get more.

I just ordered a fully serrated Para off Ebay. I flipped a coin over the plain versus the serrated edge. I got the Para since 3" blades have been really handy so far and the compression lock looks neat-o.

[KaliGman]

In terms of fit and finish, smoothness, and aesthetic appeal, the ATR is the finest :spyder: in my collection. Easily.

In terms of perfomance, it's one of the worst. While it is certainly capable of destroying boxes for recycing and cutting ham for dinner, it is a very poor SD knife. On my "paper towel penetration tests," where I stabbed my knives into rolls of papertowels, the ATR's weird, robust tip would simply dent/crush the towel roll, rather than piercing it, while humble classics like the delica sailed through. Likewise, the beautiful serrations, which sold me on the knife, have terrible real world perfomance on heavy cloth, on which they snag every time. It was also pretty lousy at slicing buble wrap on moving day.

Overall, my ATR belongs in a museum of modern art, not in my pocket. However, plenty of people love theirs, so maybe I'm nuts.

In your original post regarding your test I stated that it is good for people to test their knives and see how they perform for them. I still think that this is a good idea. However, I have to question your dismissal of the ATR as an SD blade based on thrusting into paper towels, cutting "heavy" cloth, and cutting bubble wrap. I have yet to be attacked by paper towels, cardboard, heavy cloth, or bubble wrap. OK, there was that one time I was attacked by a shoe box, but I deserved it--I shouldn't have insulted his mother :D

This is not a slam on you or your preference in knives. I bring this up only because others considering the ATR may be influenced by this thread and may not realize that there are many variables in regard to any cutting "test" unless the items to be cut are strictly controlled and the exact same cutting angle and force is used on each cut when comparing blades (as in a machine does the cutting). Many things besides the depth of the serrations could be influencing your results. The angle at which the blade impacts the cutting medium, whether the cutting medium is free hanging or attached/backed by something, the cutting techniques used, and your skill level regarding the martial use of knives all can impact your results. Similar factors can impact on thrusting tests. I have seen some very significant cutting damage inflicted by skilled people using mediocre blades. Technique really can matter quite a bit. For example, in martial use, the push cut, draw cut, jab or hack, core, scrape, florete ("flower" or multi cut--a progressive indirect attack), and more can be used. Currently, for you, the ATR is not "the knife" to have. For others, a serrated ATR might do just fine.

[mark greenman]

In your original post regarding your test I stated that it is good for people to test their knives and see how they perform for them. I still think that this is a good idea. However, I have to question your dismissal of the ATR as an SD blade based on thrusting into paper towels, cutting "heavy" cloth, and cutting bubble wrap. I have yet to be attacked by paper towels, cardboard, heavy cloth, or bubble wrap. OK, there was that one time I was attacked by a shoe box, but I deserved it--I shouldn't have insulted his mother :D

This is not a slam on you or your preference in knives. I bring this up only because others considering the ATR may be influenced by this thread and may not realize that there are many variables in regard to any cutting "test" unless the items to be cut are strictly controlled and the exact same cutting angle and force is used on each cut when comparing blades (as in a machine does the cutting). Many things besides the depth of the serrations could be influencing your results. The angle at which the blade impacts the cutting medium, whether the cutting medium is free hanging or attached/backed by something, the cutting techniques used, and your skill level regarding the martial use of knives all can impact your results. Similar factors can impact on thrusting tests. I have seen some very significant cutting damage inflicted by skilled people using mediocre blades. Technique really can matter quite a bit. For example, in martial use, the push cut, draw cut, jab or hack, core, scrape, florete ("flower" or multi cut--a progressive indirect attack), and more can be used. Currently, for you, the ATR is not "the knife" to have. For others, a serrated ATR might do just fine.

You’re right; in hindsight I should have prefaced my post with a "IMO." My tests were far from a scientific or definitive, and they should not be taken as the final word on the SD potential of the ATR. Likewise, I agree that skill level plays a very important role- I've carried a knife for the last 15 years, but have 0 martial arts training with them. Given your high level of training and experience, I wouldn't be surprised if your results were dramatically more effective.

That being said, I test all of my folders the exact same way to asses, as best I can, their penetration and slashing capabilities. For the slash test, I just hold a thick dish towel in my left hand, and give it a straight down swipe with my right at ~15% power for me (I do perfect pushups, but I'm not super jacked or anything, I'm sure others 15% is far more significant.)

For penetration tests, I take 6 pack of paper towels, place it in a chair, sit in a chair opposite, and thrust straight forward at ~20-25% power (once again, ymmv.) If results are lackluster in that test, I'll place a single roll on the ground and try a icepick thrust at similar power to see how that fares.

Now, when I conducted these tests, I really, really, really wanted the ATR to do well, since it is a beautiful knife with unparallel construction in my collection. Unfortunately, tested against my entire collection, the ATR did the worst. It snagged violently on the dishtowels, and, try as I might, it just crushed the rolls of towels, rather than piercing it. Now, given your extensive background, I'm sure you could dispatch an opponent with a broken coffee mug or sharpened toothbrush. But, given my lack of background, I want every "edge" I can muster, and for me, the ATR's performance simply didn't cut it for EDC/SD. I really wish it did, but it doesn’t.

I value your opinion, so if there is something I'm missing here, or some sort of wrist motion/ other technique that could improve my results, I would love to know.

Take care,
Mark

[Bam-it]

I just saw a few ATR's on ebay for .99 start price. I have two there great. :)

[rocketbomb]

The ATR is a very nice knife. I like the blade a lot, mine is SE and cuts very well. It is one of my sharpest SE knives. Not a fan of SE, and wish this one was PE as well, but it does cut nicely. The blade is actually a bit thinner than you might expect. The swedge and high hollow grind combine to make it a very good slicer, especially toward the tip. The only thing I don't like about the ATR as and EDC knife is that it does look rather imposing.

Hmm... Going to have to think of a way to put more abbreviations in this post...