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Les George Talos or McNees Mac 2 3.5

The Fort

The Fort

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2012
Messages
4,332
Hey everyone, looking for some opinions on these two knives, from those of you who have owned both. I can’t seem to find much, as far as a direct comparisons between these two. I’m sure that one of them will be my next knife, but I keep going back and forth between the two. I recently got a VECP, second hand, from one of our very own and I love it. Side by side pictures would be great too. Thanks in advance for your opinions! Lance
 
My gen 1 Mac 2 and LG Talos are two of my personal favorites. Bearings versus washers would be the biggest difference. The Talos may be the better knife, but already having a VECP might make the McNees the better choice. Can't go wrong with either.
 
Can only say that LG makes a great knife and Jonathan and crew at McNees are wonderful people, though sadly I have not tried his knives out yet. I vote...get both 😁
 
I vote LG talos all day. I must admit I’m very biased. I do prefer washers vs bearings. I’ve never owned a Mcness but I’ve handled a few. It’s a good knife but I’ve never found them to be visually appealing enough to own one.

I’m sure eventually you’ll own both. The real question is which one first. 😉
 
I have both and really like both, though I've not had much time with the MAC as yet. If I could only have one, at the moment, I'd choose the Talos. For one thing, the lockbar on the McNees is very sensitive, so if you aren't holding it just so, and making sure your fingertips aren't putting any pressure on the lockbar, the knife will be hard to flick open with the thumbstuds. The Talos has no such issue, and it doesn't care how you hold it, it will snap out whenever it's asked to.
 
Clip on the mcnees kinda sucks too. Very light retention and does not like to fit over jeans well.
 
argyle1812 said:
Clip on the mcnees kinda sucks too. Very light retention and does not like to fit over jeans well.
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Admittedly, I don't love the clip on either knife, as I prefer deep carry clips, but the Talos has a smoother finish, so it clips to the pocket a bit more easily. I am really liking my new MAC 3.5, but there are some definite differences in design philosophy between the two.
 
Had a Mac 2 3.5 and I could not see what all the hype is about. Mine was pretty poorly made/finished and had a very unpleasant detent. I'd take anything made by Les George over another Mac 2.

I only have a button-lock VECP and a Defiant 7 Talos, so I can't speak to the specifics of Les George's frame lock Talos.

Edit: figured I'd add specific details rather than just saying the Mac 2 is bad. Mine and others I've seen had rough or inconsistent machining all around, with lines and features not matching up from one side of the handle to the other (minor gripe, but not acceptable on something this expensive). Mine had a taper to the blade profile that was probably due to the water jet cutting not being fully cleaned up/squared after cutting, so the stop pin only touched one small area of the blade and left a large gap elsewhere. The detent on mine was very hard to overcome if your fingers touched the lockbar. The opening stud was so small and unpleasant that it felt like it bruised my thumb, and if my hand was wet I don't know if I could reliably open the knife. The blade grind was fine but nothing revelatory like I keep hearing about; it's not any better of a blade than on a VECP or Talos. About the only thing I was impressed with was the blade length to handle length ratio, though I don't really care about that on knives I carry. To me, the Mac 2 feels like a knife that you buy not because it's a great knife, but merely because you've had everything else and you just want to try something different, even if it's worse.
 
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Only knife by lg that I find possibly appealing is the myna. Not a huge fan of the looks of the others. Not a knock at all, I hear he makes great knives and is a great guy. Maybe some day I try that myna. Have a Mac 2 and the thing fires out like a rocket. Not understanding these deployment problems with the Mac. Back of thumbnail and blades fires like it’s assisted. You can also switch out the clip with a hinderer clip. Same home pattern. Any how love mine. Good luck.

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norcalAF said:
All I'll say is that I have my third MAC2 on the way to me. The first two didn't stick. I have had four Talos(s) come my way. Guess how many I have left. 4 😁😂🤣
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I was waiting for you to chime in! You went the direction that I expected, as well. You’ve steered me right in the past, so I’m probably leaning more towards the LG, unless I stumble across a deal that I can’t pass up on a Mac 2. I feel like if I were to get the Mac 2 first, then I would still want the Talos, but if I get the Talos first, I might be done…………. 😜🤣
 
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