Ontario Knife Company 499 Air Force Survival Knife 5" Sawback Blade with False Top Edge and Blood Grooves, Natural Leather Handle and Sheath - 6150 (Color May Vary),Black

It is very hard to find a better fixed blade knife for under 40 bucks that is made in the USA. I am not saying this is the best knife out there but you get a lot of knife for the money. I ordered two of them and couldn't be happier. Here is a littler review and some information on things I did with the knife.Audience: This is the perfect beginner knife for someone looking at getting into camping/hiking. If you are on a budget, you will have a hard time finding something better, yes Mora's are nice knives as well. I find this to be a great knife to keep in an emergency bag or in a vehicle. It is also a nice collector's piece since this knife design has been used by our military since the late 1950's!Quality: The knife and sheath are solid. My box says Made in the USA and it also had a card in the box that said it was made in the USA. I read some people say they had a sticker on the back of their sheath that said made in China but neither of my sheaths have that sticker. My hard guard is a little loose but it doesn’t bother me, it only moves when I try to move it. I soaked in in Neatsfoot Oil for 6 hours but it is still a little loose. I could always soak it overnight in oil again to see if it expands the leather handle more on the hard guard but not a concern of mine at this time.Blade: My blade wasn’t as dull as others have said but my blade profile was off. I am a rookie with knife sharpening so I am using this knife for practicing my sharpening skills. I would rather learn on a sub 40 dollar knife they mess up one of my more expensive knives.Knife Handle: The leather rings that make up the handle are very nice. The handle doesn’t have any type of protectant on it so I went ahead and soaked one of my handles in Neatsfoot Oil for about 6 hours. As you can see in my photos, the handle took on a dark rich coloring from the Neatsfoot Oil. After I dried the knife for 2 days, I put a coat of Mink Oil on the handle (and sheath) to help waterproof it. I like the pommel on the knife, good for hammering.Sheath: The sheath has a nice tan color to it but it was really stiff. I applied 2 coats of Neatsfoot oil on the sheath and it darkened it up to a nice rich brown/reddish color and it loosened it up a bunch. In my pictures, you can see one of the sheaths brand new from the box and one that I applied the oil to. It is nice that it comes with a basic sharpening stone but you could use replace the included sharpening stone with a Lansky or other Arkansas pocket stone if you want to carry around a better stone with the knife. You could also use the pocket on the sheath to store other items like a mini Bic lighter. I was able to put one in my sheath pocket and there is enough room to fit maybe a fishing hook, needle, match, etc.Conclusion: You will have a hard time finding a nicer fixed blade knife in this price range. It is a fun knife as well because you can work the leather parts how you’d like. I think on my 2nd knife, I will just apply Mink oil and skip the Neatsfoot oil. If you aren’t happy with the lighter tan color, it is easy to make it darker. I really like the pocket on the sheath and will just use it for the sharpening stone but you could get creative and put other items in there. Here is an idea, replace the sharpening stone with some survival items, tape one of those Wilderness Survival cards to the back of the sheath, and stuff some fishing line/cordage in the back of the sheath were the metal meets the leather and you have yourself a nice mini survival kit.

(2016) I am very happy with this knife. I was issued this model of knife in the mid 80's and this one seems to be even better quality than the one issued to by the U.S. Army. This version of the Ontario 499 has a better coating on the metal. Also the upper point on this knife is sharpened, something that I don't remember on my Army issued knife. Another difference is the leather sheath. This sheath has a metal shield over the outside bottom to prevent the knife point from penetrating the sheath on impact.I am planning on dying the leather handle and sheath dark brown, although I also like the raw leather look.5 Year UPDATE (2021): This is a 5 year update on this knife. This knife has a soft parkerised finish which will eventually rub off with continued use and placement in and out of the sheath. The protective coating is meant to protect the knife in storage and not to protect it forever. This knife will require some sharpening out of the box and throughout its use. I applied a coating of dye on all leather parts of the knife handle and sheath to help protect and to darken it some.The dye will eventually rub off and will need to be applied again.The sharpening stone will be of little use, except for tactical situations. This is a great knife designed for survival type situations and may not stay beautiful after use. If you are looking for a shiny beauty queen type knife, this isn't the knife for you. If you are looking for a survival knife, then this is it. I also included some photos of the, not included, fire starting rod attached to the sheath.

Where to start? For the sale price this knife is definitely worth it. The knife is extremely sturdy and the overall quality seem good. It's a bit smaller than I expected it to be but it's compact size seems to make it very handy without being too small. While the leather case seems to have been treated the leather grip itself is not. I knew going into this knife the grip was raw leather but some pictures seemed to suggest the case was raw leather as well so I was pleasantly surprised to find the case finished. The sharpening stone is nothing special and seems to be the same grit on both sides. The stone is however a nice added touch and will work just fine for a quick touch up in the field. The knife fits into the case a bit too tight but I'm sure it just needs to be broken in. The couple of things I wasn't too crazy about, well, when I received it, the knife had fallen out of the box and was floating around in the UPS package. The case seemed to have a few marks on it but nothing major and while the quality of the sheath seems OK it's not stellar. The one main grip I have is that the rivets that hold the stone pocket on the sheath actually scratch the knife blade from inserting and drawing the blade. The knife blade finish, which seems nice, was marked up the first time I put the knife in the sheath. I could probably find a way to remedy this but I pretty much planned on this being a beater knife anyways so it's not all the big of a deal. I do wonder how long it will take for the blade to wear the rivets down and if it will case a problem. If you're going to use this as an emergency knife for the car, truck, boat, aircraft or whatever, I'd say it will serve the purpose perfectly. If you're going to use it as a beater knife it will be excellent. If you're wanting a collectors piece that you can maintain in perfect condition don't put it in the sheath or find another knife. At least I won't be worrying about scratching it up now.