Anyone EDC a OHT?

[NutSAK]

The un-serrated part of the edge at the base of the blade is long enough to be useful for woodcrafting tasks like peeling bark and making fire sticks.

In summary, this is a great general utility blade.  Probably the best single blade knife I've ever owned for efficiently handling the widest variety of tasks.

Credit must be given to Vic - and maybe to the German Army for specifying this blade in the first place?
 
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I couldn't agree more Ringzero.  Like many other "unintiated" folks, before I bought an OHT I thought Vic had the serration/plain edge combo backwards.  After much use I've decided that, for my purposes, the serrations are more useful at the end of the blade.

[Grant Lamontagne]

My first OHT lost it's serrations almost immediately.  I think our own Dave Bowen has that one nowadays!

My second OHT I decided to keep the serrations, and I have to say I was pretty impressed by them, and after a little bit of use, the serrations near the tip made a heck of a lot more sense than at the base.  Having graduated from tactical knife combo edges I wasn't certain about it, but let's face it, if Victorinox does something, there's a good reason for it!

Def

[max6166]

Could one of you guys briefly explain the advantages of having the serrations at the tip of the blade? I don't have a knife like that and have been wondering about the topic for some time...

[Swiss Man]

I.M.H.O. the serrations at the front of the blade is great because what do you use serrations for to cut rope cardboard etc..

If there are at the beginning of the blade then you don't have to shove the whole blade into the material which would cause less snagging.

I like the plain edge on it also because you can strip wire sharpen pencils etc.. I like it next to the pivot.

[Anthony]

The blade shape and location of the serrations are great for cutting food also.

[jock1]

Am looking forward to getting my first OHT

[NutSAK]

Could one of you guys briefly explain the advantages of having the serrations at the tip of the blade? I don't have a knife like that and have been wondering about the topic for some time...

As mentioned, it works great for food preparation.  It's great for biting into thick plastic also. 

One application that I really notice a difference is cutting open large paper bags like feed bags or charcoal bags.  Instead of the normal stabbing and slicing as with a normal plain edge or combo edge, I just use a "slashing" action with the tip of the blade.  One slash will cut all the way through and across the bag.

[Steel Blade]

Could one of you guys briefly explain the advantages of having the serrations at the tip of the blade? I don't have a knife like that and have been wondering about the topic for some time...

As mentioned, it works great for food preparation.  It's great for biting into thick plastic also. 

One application that I really notice a difference is cutting open large paper bags like feed bags or charcoal bags.  Instead of the normal stabbing and slicing as with a normal plain edge or combo edge, I just use a "slashing" action with the tip of the blade.  One slash will cut all the way through and across the bag.

Anything to do with packaging, packing, unpacking this is the knife for me. I would carry it all the time, except that nowadays in the UK they are talking about jail sentences for certain knives.

Bob

[Swiss Man]

My first OHT lost it's serrations almost immediately.  I think our own Dave Bowen has that one nowadays!

My second OHT I decided to keep the serrations, and I have to say I was pretty impressed by them, and after a little bit of use, the serrations near the tip made a heck of a lot more sense than at the base.  Having graduated from tactical knife combo edges I wasn't certain about it, but let's face it, if Victorinox does something, there's a good reason for it!

Def

My first OHT went to my boy. My second edc OHT (new model) I screwed up while taking advice from someone about sharpening serrations instead of doing it like I always had.

It was so out of whack I had no choice but to take the serrations off and now I miss them.

[ringzero]

Having graduated from tactical knife combo edges I wasn't certain about it, but let's face it, if Victorinox does something, there's a good reason for it!

Def

Def, since you have such a detailed knowledge of SAKs maybe you could answer the following:

Was OHT a pre-existing Vic model that they sold to the German Army with new scales as the OH-GAK?

Or, did Vic design the OH-GAK specifically to Bundswehr specifications, then produce OHT as a civilian version?

If the latter is true, then it's possible that the German Army came up with the concept of the unusual blade found on the OH-GAK.

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[Grant Lamontagne]

Yes, no, maybe and twice! 

http://www.sosakonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=133&Itemid=35

The Trekker/Trailmaster was around first, but it didn't have the OH blade.  The OH blade design was developed in response to the German army contract, and added to the existing Trekker design.  They used OD green scales for the military variant, without toothpick and tweezers, but kept them in the black scaled civilian variant.

As far as I know (and this is speculation only) the German military wanted a serrated or partly serrated blade, but I don't think there were any requirements regarding their placement.

Def

[ringzero]

As far as I know (and this is speculation only) the German military wanted a serrated or partly serrated blade, but I don't think there were any requirements regarding their placement.

Def

Thanks Def.

Seems likely that the Bundeswehr demanded that Vic develop a new blade style and Vic came up with something they might never have developed if left to their own devices.

The OHT blade just seems to be such a radical departure from Vic's previous blades...

Vic seems to rarely go with new, radical ideas - they seem to prefer a glacially slow evolutionary refinement of their existing models.

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[David Bowen]

Yes indeed Def I do have your OHT, only one I got too. Just got done bragging about it to a couple people  Thanks as always buddy.

[Grant Lamontagne]

No problem Dave- keep it safe!  It was the start of an era for me, and I may come looking for it someday! 

RZ- it's very possible.  Victorinox doesn't do anything without several decades of careful planning, or a giant kick in the bottom like a military contract.  As far as aI know, they took over the whole GAK contract, while they only had a small fraction of it previously.  See this article on SOSAKOnline from way back to see how many contractors there were previously.

Def