Around 60 BC, Rome was bothered by a host of hostile tribes in Gaul (parts modern France, Belguim, Germany and Switzerland). They would raid Roman caravans and attack Roman-allied forces in the area. The troubles slowly built over the years until all out war broke out in 55 BC. By that time, the tribes weren’t just bothersome, they were threatening the Roman citizens in the area and reputation of Rome itself.

And Rome responded.

The tribes would raid Roman and allied forces and then hop on boats and melt into the woods on the eastern side of the Rhine River. Because they were using guerrilla tactics and were a much smaller fighting force, the boats didn’t represent much of a limitation. But when the Emperor himself, Julius Caesar, arrived to put down the Gauls, boats were not as practical. Plus, as Caesar wrote, they didn’t have the same dignity and style as other options.

Caesar arrived with 40,000 troops and the Gauls, thinking they were safe on the eastern side of the river, must have thought the Emperor was daft. But in just 10 days, thanks to the ingenuity and logistics might of the Roman Empire, Caesar’s men built the Rhine Bridge, the first structure ever to cross the famous river. Stunned, the tribes retreated further to the east. Caesar crossed the 1,300 foot long bridge with the full might of his army, burned a few rebel villages to the ground, and then, as the opposing tribes united into a single fighting force, he went back across the bridge, and destroyed it. This utterly smashed the morale of the Gallic tribes and crippled their ability to resupply. Caeser destroyed his enemy without ever fighting a battle. He so thoroughly destroyed them that the tribes would not pose a problem for Rome until centuries later. As a side note, this is but one example of Romans being straight up cold blooded. If you don’t believe me, read more about the Siege of Jerusalem just after Jesus’s death.

The story of the Rhine Bridge makes clear that it wasn’t necessarily battle prowess that made Rome what it was, but logistics. Getting 40,000 people anywhere without vehicles is impressive. The bridge itself was a marvel of engineering. Some of the piledriver designs used to build the bridge still exist and the recreations are, themselves, a marvel of engineering. The Rhine Bridge was proof that no one could match the might of Rome. Because of logistics.

If there is any organization that could stand toe to toe with Rome in terms of logistics two come to mind—the US military and Wal-Mart. I am not kidding about Wal-Mart. It is, without question, the most power commercial force on the planet. While other companies are worth more (sometimes) and some have more people, the combined size and annual revenue of Wal-Mart is staggering. Wal-Mart’s annual revenue would make it 13th in terms of state GDP. Wal-Mart’s annual revenue, is, for example, more than the entire GDP of Michigan, where cars are made. Its 2.1 million person workforce would make it the 37th most populous state, tied with New Mexico. Wal-Mart is a juggernaut, the likes we have never seen outside a government entity.

The Ozark Trail 7.5 inch knife is their Rhine Bridge to the knife world. We are all on notice. The game has changed.

Here is the product page. The Ozark Trail 7.5 inch knife costs $9.95. Here is a written review. Here is a video review. There is spotty availability, largely because the OT continually sells out. I had to order mine to a store in New Hampshire, so this was truly a legit knife for less than $10.

Finally, here is my review sample:

Quick Review Summary: A masterpiece of logistics and a decent design, too.

Design: 2

The beauty of the Benchmade Bugout can be found its simple, clean lines, not its innovation. In a way it is what you get when you “average out” all folding knives. So the notion that the OT is a stolen design rings false to me. There are only so many angels that can fit on the head of a pin. And, interestingly enough, I think the OT’s very simple design has one improvement over the Bugout and dozens of other knives—no exposed rear tang. It is a little thing, but it makes the knife much better. No gap to catch lint and more of a guard.

Fit and Finish: 1

The lock up isn’t the greatest. It has a little bit of the mid 2000s Benchmade Axis Lock wiggle. But it is not bad. It is about the same as my old Benchmade 555hg. If it was acceptable then, it is certainly accepted now, especially on a knife that is $10, which is going to be a repeating theme.

Grip: 2

Thankfully the era of “high grip” knives is over. No more Tec-Trac inserts (i.e. 120 grit sandpaper), no jimping everywhere, and no more ultra coarse G10. Good grip is based on good design alone and here the handle is quite nice in the hand. I wouldn’t want the material any slicker, but the shape is what makes the difference, with a good neutral shape, a nice bulge near the end (there is no non-innuendo way to write that, I tried as follows: “shapely mass,” “beefy back end,” and “flare out at the end”) and a real guard thanks to the portion of the handle that covers the exposed rear tang. In addition to all of this the clip stays out of the way. If this were a $200 knife, this would be a good handle shape.

Carry: 2

With just the right size and only partial liners, the OT isn’t heavy. It is not quite as light as the Bugout, the knife it is an “homage” to, but it is manageable in the pocket. I will say that if you dislike the “plasticky” feel of the original Mini Grip or the original Bugout, it is here in spades.

Steel: 1

D2 isn’t great, but it is also not bad. This is not CR-ap. And Wal-Mart smartly added a coating to the knife literally covering up D2’s biggest weakness. I do think it is really D2, its held up quite well over the three or four months I have had it and only needed one sharpening after a weekend of heavy use while camping.

Blade Shape: 2

A classic drop point shape just fits this “quintessential” (or as some will say BASIC) design. There is not much to say, other than to remind you that this is a good blade shape for most uses. Given the intended audience, this is the right choice for Wal-Mart’s designers.

Grind: 1

The soul of a knife is the grind. Grinds, unlike other parts of the knife or materials included, can’t be gimmicked or overcome—the only way to get a truly superior grind is to have mastery of grind AND the time to do it right. And thus the only real issue with Wal-Mart’s knife is the one thing their mastery of logistics can’t overcome. The cutting edge is a bit wobbly and the hollow grind is prone to binding in denser material. If you are a non-knife person, this grind will seem pretty decent. But if you have used a TRM N2 you will instantly grimace when you run the OT through three ply cardboard.

Deployment Method: 1

The thumb studs are pretty generic and they work well. If you know that hitched blade path of a sliding bar lock opening knife, you will feel right at home here. Is it great? These knives are very, very rarely great, but this is no worse than the standard Benchmade. You CAN make sliding bar lock knives really top shelf in terms of deployment, but it is not easy. The Bel Air and the TRM Bulldog are my two favorites in that regard and this is a step below them.

Retention Method: 2

For all the angst that clips cause knife companies, Wal-Mart got this 100% correct. It is a fairly generic but it is a good stamped, deep carry over-the-top clip that stays out of the way when the knife is in hand. I think we are slowly getting close to a consensus design for these clips and like with standardizing controls for FPSes is probably not a bad thing, especially when, sometimes, clip design and implementation goes so horribly wrong (see: Spyderco Brouwer).

Lock: 2

Did you ever think, in those halcyon days of the early aughts that you would see not just a budget sliding bar lock, but a really high quality, BUDGET sliding bar lock? Well, here you go. I have owned the knife for a few months and it is still a bit of a shock to pick this knife up and realize how far we have come, basically, in the span of this blog’s existence.

Other Considerations

Fidget Factor: High

With a good thumbstub and a fidgety lock, the action keeps you entertained for a while.

Fett Effect: Moderate

The coating will wear off and when it does, the knife will look cooler.

Value: PEAK

$9.95 for a legit knife? Yes please.

Overall Score: 17 of 20

This is a very good knife, price blind. When you consider that it is $9.95 it becomes one of the most compelling pieces of gear on the market. Folks that dismiss the OT as a gimmick or a knife-shaped object are both snooty and wrong. For a very large percentage of folks, this is more than you will ever need in a folding knife. For true knife enthusiasts, once they get over the marvel of logistics that is the OT, they will find a few things that aren’t quite state-of-the-art. The grind has a bit of drunken unmastery, the steel while good for the price is well below par for what you expect in the enthusiast world, and finally, the deployment with its distinctive hitch, isn’t my favorite. But make no mistake—the OT invalidates dozens if not hundreds of budget folders on the market. Why buy a brand name knife with 8Cr steel? Why drop four times as much on a knife with similar features and D2 blade steel?

This is the Rhine Bridge moment for the knife world. This knife might not be the most compelling thing for knife enthusiast, but it is unquestionably an existential threat for a bunch of companies. The budget lines at WE/Civivi/Sencut, Kershaw, CRKT, Cold Steel, Gerber, Spyderco, and others just doesn’t make sense anymore. Why would you hunt down something with 8Cr or less steel, pay more for it, and pay for shipping when you can run to one of thousands of stores in your neighborhood and grab this knife for so much less? Perhaps it is time for some of these brands to move further up the price scale and leave the budget space to Wal-Mart and the Ozark Trail and a rabble of nameless faceless knives on Amazon.

And just to be clear—the EDC below is pretty damn good and it was a total of $34. As good as the OT is for knives, the Convey S2+ is even better for flashlights…review coming soon.

Competition

Let’s just block off a huge swath of knives. If you are looking at a knife under $50 that has one of the following steels—440A, 440B, 420HC, or 8CR or less—the OT is just better. That covers literally hundreds of knives. Thanks to Wal-Mart, none of them really make sense as a purchase anymore. I think Buck’s 420HC is a real competitive advantage, so they dodge the bullet, but for the vast majority of more budget conscious knives the OT beats them in every way.

But the problem is worse than that. The OT invalidate s bunch more knives. There is really no reason to buy OTHER D2 production knives. The OT does just about everything well enough to make similarly steeled knives that cost more kind of silly. So the original Kershaw Iridium, for example, makes almost no sense. Similarly, there are dozens of no-name knives on Amazon (some of which are straight up stolen designs) that sport D2. The OT renders them stupid purchases as well. This leaves very little reason or justification for purchasing probably thousands of different knife models.

There are a few knives in this ultra budget range that still make sense. The Victorinox Bantam with its 1.4116 steel, super thin profile, and additional tool is a compelling comp. Its more expensive, but not that much more—$10. The Buck Bantam or Buck Solo gives you a better steel (Buck’s 420HC performs exceptionally well) for, again, about $10 more. The snappy action of the CRKT Drifter and G10 handles are nice, but the steel is probably worse and the price is higher. But these are a handful of blades that are capable of standing up to the OT. And, they are all, without exception, twice as much. This is the threat that the OT represents to the knife world. Rome has arrived.

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