A Closer Look at the Ontario SP46 and SP47 Spec Plus Knives

We have been anxious to get some time with the new (to us) line of 5160 Ontario Spec Plus Gen II knives. I snagged a deal on the SP46 and SP47 camp-style  knives just so we could compare the two types of blade grinds up close and side-by-side. Here’s a photo review of two Second Generation Ontario Spec Plus knives along with some of our thoughts.

Gen II knives are water-jet cut from 5160 steel. Having been a machinist and metalworker all of my life, I truly appreciate the benefits of the 5160 steel and the water-jet cutting method.

The Gen II line of knives are available with blade lengths from 3.5″ to over 10″. These two knives have 6 inch blades and are basically twins except for the blade grinds. The SP47 has a “sabre” style grind while the SP46 is flat ground.  I like both styles of blades and it doesn’t take too much searching to find online opinions supporting one or the other.

You can see the grind differences in the photos above. The two main differences noted are the blade weight and the taper or lack of taper at the knife’s spine. The knives are not overly heavy but they do balance ahead of the quillion. Our SP-47 has a blade thickness of .193″ and the SP-46 is .197″. Both measurements were taken just in front of the quillion.

Another new feature with the 2nd generation knives is the factory sheath. Ontario is now supplying a new style MOLLE sheath with most of these new knives. It appears that the SP46 and SP47 must share a sheath with some of the other models since it’s a few sizes too big which kind of reminds me of having to wear my brother’s hand-me-downs when I was kid. Anyway, the new sheaths are a huge step up from most of the original Spec Plus sheaths from the past, IMO.

Our thoughts:

• The SP-46 and SP-47 are surprising large. Not that this is a bad thing but it’s definitely a step up from the go-to Gerber Prodigy knife that I’m used to using.The photo above should give an idea of their size relative to the Prodigy and the LMF II.
• We all agree that a kydex sheath is needed even though the new factory sheath has multiple improvements over the old style.
• The knife is extremely comfortable to use and fits my hand better than the Prodigy. I wasn’t expecting this to be the case.
• Most of us like the drop point skinner style blade design of the SP46. I especially like the fact that neither of these knives are serrated. I don’t hate serrated blades, it’s just that I would choose non-serrated blades first if the option was there.
• Neither one of these knives will replacing my Prodigy just yet, but I that may change over the upcoming year if/when we can get a sheath designed and the time to actually use them.

These knives are available on Amazon.
 
Ontario Spec Plus Gen II SP46 Knife (Black)
 
Ontario Spec Plus Gen II SP47 Knife (Black)

Here’s a heads up though: I just checked the Ontario website this morning and the SP47 was no longer listed. It looks to me like they have eliminated most of the sabre-ground knives from the Gen II line-up. If you are an Ontario collector,  the SP-47 may not be available for very much longer.

Ben