Bronco
Moderator
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2000
- Messages
- 7,568
Well, the little brother moved into a new house this past weekend, and I, of course, was there to lend a hand with this always painful evolution. To make a long story short, by the time all the unpacking was done, we had amassed quite an impressive mountain of empty cardboard boxes on the side patio (enough to keep Chang in full production for months
).
Not surprisingly, everyone turned to me when the time came to turn this mountain into a somewhat more manageable pile. Anticipating just such a scenario, I quickly reached for my trusty MicroTech LCC M/A which I had purchased from the late, great James Mattis at Blade West just a couple of months ago (sorry Chief, it was kind of an impulse purchase
).
Every box received a total of 4 lengthwise cuts in each corner so that they could be laid out flat and bundled. Initially the heavy cardboard offered little resistance to the out-of-the-box factory edge of the LCC. No real surprise here. What was impressive, however, was how little the edge sharpness had degraded by the end of the exercise. The final stack of cardboard measured roughly 3' wide by 5' long by 4' high, yet the dullest portion of the LCC blade was still able to shave hairs from my arm. Granted it pulled them a bit, but it shaved nonetheless.
I have to give high marks to MicroTech for designing a blade with a very efficient cutting geometry. The knife was really able to zip through the boxes with no binding whatsoever. It also appears that they've really nailed the heat treat on this 154CM steel as was evidenced by the noteworthy edge retention. A couple of minutes on the leather strop that night and the edge was back to shaving cleanly and very close to where it had been at the start of the day. And for anyone who's curious about MT's stonewash finish, I can tell you that the blade showed absolutely no signs of wear or scratching at the end of the day. I also found the slightly wider than average handle to be very comfortable during periods of extended use. All in all I'd rate the LCC a very solid user in the under $150 price range.
------------------
Semper Fi
-Bill
Not surprisingly, everyone turned to me when the time came to turn this mountain into a somewhat more manageable pile. Anticipating just such a scenario, I quickly reached for my trusty MicroTech LCC M/A which I had purchased from the late, great James Mattis at Blade West just a couple of months ago (sorry Chief, it was kind of an impulse purchase
Every box received a total of 4 lengthwise cuts in each corner so that they could be laid out flat and bundled. Initially the heavy cardboard offered little resistance to the out-of-the-box factory edge of the LCC. No real surprise here. What was impressive, however, was how little the edge sharpness had degraded by the end of the exercise. The final stack of cardboard measured roughly 3' wide by 5' long by 4' high, yet the dullest portion of the LCC blade was still able to shave hairs from my arm. Granted it pulled them a bit, but it shaved nonetheless.
I have to give high marks to MicroTech for designing a blade with a very efficient cutting geometry. The knife was really able to zip through the boxes with no binding whatsoever. It also appears that they've really nailed the heat treat on this 154CM steel as was evidenced by the noteworthy edge retention. A couple of minutes on the leather strop that night and the edge was back to shaving cleanly and very close to where it had been at the start of the day. And for anyone who's curious about MT's stonewash finish, I can tell you that the blade showed absolutely no signs of wear or scratching at the end of the day. I also found the slightly wider than average handle to be very comfortable during periods of extended use. All in all I'd rate the LCC a very solid user in the under $150 price range.
------------------
Semper Fi
-Bill
