M-Tech Bargain Folders

[Andy_CN]

I'm tellin' ya, American knifemakers better watch out.
The Chinese are learning how to make decent knives, and they're learning fast!

With great support from the US knife companies who outsource their production to China

This way the Chinese cutleries get the experience how to produce knifes that comply with
international standards and can be sold successfully in the USA and other countries.

Andy

 

[sdt11670]

sdt11670,

Where can I find 'em? The laminated Swedish-made knife I have is HRC61 and the mono-steel carbon one is noticeably softer.

I have an Mtech fixed blade kerambit and it took a hair-popping edge on my Sharpmaker quicker than many other blades. It's kept its edge because it's been in a drawer ever since, but man does it look cool!

There are some frosts laminated blades on the online auctions with a hardness of 61-62 and kj eriksson carbon blades with an rc of 60. You can check around for the blades that get a point higher on the scale and when you find them they are never expensive. I prefer to use my $10 laminated blades to my $160 spyderco's because they will outcut them due to the blade profiles and they are about the same hardness but are much easier and quicker to respond to sharpening.The plastic handled swedish knives are not as hard as the wooden handled blades (none that i know of) but i loves these just as well and use them often!

 

[el dub]

M-TECH is chinese junk! Dont waste your money, instead save it and buy a real knife. A real knife is made in the U.S.A.,Germany,Japan,Italy,Spain and a few other countries. Something that looks like a knife is made in China.

That's what they were saying about Japan a few years ago.

 

[gadbuffalo]

I can't understand all this discusion on what is still a junk knife. We carry knives for a lot of reasons. The fact that they only cost $7.00 should not be one of them. When the time comes and you really need a knife that M-Tech in your pocket is going to let you down and let you down real bad. No cheap Chinese knife is worth it.

 

[Gryffin]

I can't understand all this discusion on what is still a junk knife. We carry knives for a lot of reasons. The fact that they only cost $7.00 should not be one of them. When the time comes and you really need a knife that M-Tech in your pocket is going to let you down and let you down real bad. No cheap Chinese knife is worth it.

The point is, these are not "junk knives". I've seen true junk knives, with sloppy fit, locks that don't lock the blade in the least, blades that won't even take a cutting edge, etc.

These M-Tech knives are at least as good as some "all American" brands like Gerber and Smith & Wesson and Harley Davidson sell, in fact better than many of those.

Would I rely on one for self defense? Hell no. Would I carry one as my only knife in the wilderness? Hell no. Will I keep one in the garage for opening packages, cutting up boxes, and general utility use? Hell yes.

You don't need a Sebenza to cut bailing twine. Hate to break it to you, but those Chinese knives are already outselling Benchmade, Spyderco, Kershaw, Buck and the like by an order of magnitude; an awful lot of people are finding them to be all the knife they need, and it's getting harder to convince Joe Sixpack that it's worth spending $70 on a "good" knife that doens't seem to do anything the $7 knife does.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

These M-Tech knives are at least as good as some "all American" brands like Gerber and Smith & Wesson and Harley Davidson sell, in fact better than many of those.

What is "all american" about any of those brands?

Fiskars bought Gerber and sent the company down the crapper, Harley Knives are just United Cutlery Crap & S&W is made by Taylor Cutlery, AFAIK. They are just more crappy chinese knives not worth owning. Get a Byrd if you want a chinese-made knife that is of decent quality.

 

[Gryffin]

What is "all american" about any of those brands?

Hey, you and I know who owns/makes them, but Joe Sixpack sure doesn't. To him they're American brands.

Get a Byrd if you want a chinese-made knife that is of decent quality.

I've got a couple, they're quite good. But it's not that I "want a chinese-made knife" at all, I prefer to buy American- or Japanese-made; I bought the M-Techs merely out of curiosity, the same reason I bought the Byrds.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

Hey, you and I know who owns/makes them, but Joe Sixpack sure doesn't. To him they're American brands.

True, but "Joe Sixpack" probably also thinks these are some of the best knife brands, because they last longer than the ones he normally finds next to the cash register at the gas station. There are differing levels of "Joe Sixpack" as well. I sold a Spyderco Harpy to a Joe Sixpack I know, and He definitely could tell the difference between that and the junk folders he had been using. Unless they are in acute denial or are just idiots, most ignorant people can be converted just by handling a quality knife.

 

[Artfully Martial]

My nephew bought an mtech, which I promptly replaced with a Byrd....

Actually, for a 20 dollar knife, it wasn't horrible. The liner lock was designed on the side of caution, fortunately, since it was poorly designed....if you opened it slowly, it worked fine, but if you flick it out (like I do) it got jammed between the tang and the handle. And not just like you have to put a little indention on your finger pushing it across.....you had to get like a butter knife and pry it out.

Other than that significant flaw, it was so/so.

I just don't really see the point when you can buy a Byrd for comparable price.

If we want a real deal though, I think we needn't look further than an S30V Native at Walmart or a Delica or even a minigrip.....

 

[Confederate]

You take a relatively inexpensive Byrd and you've got a great deal. A $7.00 Chinese knife also can be a good deal if you know your limitations. Can you thrust the blade into a door and pry it open? No, but you can't do that with many, many knives people carry: like these slip joint knives.

Where is a Chinese knife likely to fail that an American crap knife won't? Hard to tell. I can honestly say over the last few weeks an M-Tech would have done me about the same as what I normally carry. But in an emergency situation is where you'll see the advantages of that expensive tactical you bought. Cutting through seatbelts, prying locks, etc.

 

[sdt11670]

Are the M-techs put together using teflon bearings? If so that is where it will likely fail first. I dont care who's name is on the knife or where it is made if it has teflon bearings it is crap! I have replaced them for kids in gerbers and CRKT brands after using them and using them alot since they are the only knives they usually have, the blades have so much wobble it is pathetic! I do have a chinese blade or two as well as many blades from other countries and when it comes to low cost knives that really perform they are generally scandinavian blades. I have some very high quality blades from Japan, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. but they are in about the same price range as american knives, i have a few quality blades from taiwan such as the Ka-bar Doziers, short heavy bowie and Camillus heat. But i have only had one blade made in china that seems to hold an edge and it's a Taylor made Schrade Sharpfinger which i bought for my Sharpfinger collection but i do not use it much and suspect that most have not been properly treated. I have seen far too many knives made in china that either could not be sharpened or would not hold an edge and they usually just fall apart. My preference is usually always american but i loves knives and will use any blade that will perform, I purchased the Ka-Bar short heavy bowie and found that even though it is made in Taiwan it is a fantastic hard use camping blade and i use it often but for each foreign blade i have, i own several american blades for the same job for example i have five Beckers in my camp knife arsenal and the ontario and a couple of Ka-Bar's among others. But still i recommend the Taiwan made Ka-Bar's to anyone but only if they already own at least one American made blade. The way i see it is if you are only going to buy one knife for special purposes always buy american first unless of course you are not an American and would probably want to support your own economy.

 

[Confederate]

Easy there, cowboy, I know there are a lot of folks who don't like teflon bearings, but I know people who have carried knives with teflon bearings for years and years without any problems. Still, if you were my next door neighbor, I'd ask you to replace the ones on my knives because I don't exactly like them myself. But still, like I said, there are lots of folks who have carried CRKT knives every day for years and have no complaints.

Me, I don't as a general rule like liner locks. Some have better designs than others, but all things being equal, I'll take a good lock back any day. I've seen more blade wobble in liner locks than just about any other type, too.

One of my favorite knives is the Cold Steel Pro-Lite. It's got a long, heavy tanto blade and it's great at cutting and prying, though I wish it was made from AUS 8 stainless. But the M-Tech is a knife you can throw away or toss into the trunk if it becomes loose. I even have a Maxam hawkbill that's pretty strong. It's got a thick 420 blade that sharpens to razor sharp and I've even done some light prying with it. (Also makes a nice blade to carry in parking lots at night.) After a few years use, one screw dropped out of it, but the whole knife is still tight and cuts nearly anything. A few swipes in the little pocket sharpener than I keep in the desk and the blade becomes sharp again. But even when it loses its edge somewhat, the knife still cuts admirably. I'd take it over a Gerber Paraframe any day of the week because that knife won't cut anything.

But the whole gist of the thread is that as companies like Gerber and CRKT begin to use 420j2 blades, it brings the whole Chinese imports up a notch by sheer default, because there's really not a whole lot of difference in steel quality when it's that bad; 420j2 doesn't care about sub-zero quenching a whole lot -- steel can get so bad and then it starts bending.

I'd like to see American companies not take the corner cutting methods they're doing. (I mean, try finding out what kind of steel Gerber uses nowadays. It's not in their catalogs or on their websites. If you write their customer service, they won't answer.) Why should I even take the chance? If it's got Gerber on it, I just won't buy it. At least with CRKT I can look up the knife and see what blade material it uses.

I hate buying Chinese for the sheer fact that I hate the Chinese government and because they're still killing millions of people. (Old habits die hard.) But it seems impossible to boycott Chinese products because just about everything is made there. But they are quick learners. That they're buying up all the gold they can get their hands on shows me someone there knows what they're doing.

This isn't the hawkbill I have, but it's close.

 

[Andy_CN]

Have you already seen the (complete?) range of M-Tech knives?

http://www.dubosedistributors.com/MasterKnives.php?page=74
to http://www.dubosedistributors.com/MasterKnives.php?page=87

and

http://www.dubosedistributors.com/MasterKnives.php?page=90
to http://www.dubosedistributors.com/MasterKnives.php?page=95

Are the M-Tech knives maybe manufactured in the same cutlery as the
Smith&Wesson knives? Some of the M-Tech knives seem to look very similar
or almost identical to S&W knives, in my opinion.

Andy

 

[glockdad40cal]

i bought one of the negron bear claw models and was surprised.the lock passed the wack test and after some cleanup and polishing it opens fast and locks up good.i carry it daily in the front of my bodyarmor and have used it alot cutting screens etc.

 

[bladeprince]

I already posted but I’m reposting just for the heck of it.

Have you already seen the (complete?) range of M-Tech knives?

Sorry, but you are not even close. There are dozens more models.

I've sold hundreds of M-tech knives (and other cheap brands) over the years. I love knifes and collect them for a hobby. I also train in self defense using edged weapons and small fighting sticks (ie. kubotan).

I also sold some mid-priced brands like CRKT and Kershaw but the less expensive knives sold about 25:1 compared to the mid-priced knives.

Where did I sell these knives? At gun shows. If one knows what to look for and how to "test" and knife, good value can be found in M-tech's and others like Maxam and Jaguar, etc.

Even M-tech has different quality in their knives and probably different manufacturers. There are many M-tech knives that I wouldn't trust but there are also many on which I'd stake my life.

Many of the best M-tech knives have G-10 handles (like the original poster’s picture). Also, they make a very strong frame-lock that either has wood or micarta scales. The steel for both is 440A which is very good for a “cheap“ knife. Most cheap knives use 420 or AUS-4.

I would surely not compare M-tech knives to Benchmade or Spyderco. That's quit obvious. Admittedly some of their knives could be made with better quality control and better materials, most of their knives surely are not junk. What they are is a decent product to fill a certain price range need. Even people that can only afford $10 for a new knife because they have to buy for their family still deserve to be able to do have one. They won't get a Benchmade for $10 but they can get a pretty decent knife with pretty decent quality, considering they only paid $7-$15.

I don't do gun shows anymore but might do a few this winter. Who knows, and, if I were you, who cares...

Regard and good luck

 

[Confederate]

Have you already seen the (complete?) range of M-Tech knives? Are the M-Tech knives maybe manufactured in the same cutlery as the Smith&Wesson knives? Some of the M-Tech knives seem to look very similar or almost identical to S&W knives, in my opinion.

They also look similar to a lot of Gerber knives. Difficult to say. Some Smith knives aren't as hideous as they're made out to be. There's a neck knife Smith puts out that looks very much like the Gerber neck knife. Identical, in fact. I'd take a lot of Smith knives over Gerber knives.

 

[Andy_CN]

I noticed the similarities of some M-Tech (and some Master USA) knives
with the Smith&Wesson knives when looking at these knives because they
are quite special with the bullet in the handle.

M-Tech MT-105 (Item C on the picture)
http://www.dubosedistributors.com/MasterKnives.php?page=82

Master USA MU-1022 (Item D on the picture)
http://www.dubosedistributors.com/MasterKnives.php?page=111

Now compare these knives with the Smith&Wesson CK357C
http://www.wolfster.de/article_graphics/SWCK357C.jpg

The similarities are quite obvious, in my opinion

Considering the high prices of Smith&Wesson knives in Germany,
the above S&W CK357C costs about US$ 40-50, I would be happy
if the M-Tech and Master USA knives are available in Germany at
a somewhat lower price compared to the S&W prices.

They look cool and the quality should be okay for occasional use.

Andy

 

[darklight943]

I've got an M-Tech folder. Feels solid. Good cheapie and wouldn't be bummed if I lost it. On the other hand, pricing for a Gerber Air Ranger (Taiwan) at eknifeworks is only $14.99, and I'd much rather have that in the pocket for an EDC.

 

[Baphomet]

IMHO, most M-Tech knives are pathetic, but there are some halfway decent beaters out there, its just a matter of playing around with them a bit to figure it out hehe.

 

[Confederate]

That's what they were saying about Japan a few years ago.

Yeah, I remember in junior high that if something had "Made in Japan," it was the kiss of death.

The Chinese who made M-Techs take pride in what they do right and one of the sales reps said the people who've gone to the manufacturing plants in China tell him they really get hot if someone implies that they are junk knives. Their decision to use 440 steel while other Chinese manufacturers were using 420 was made as a way to show buyers that they're serious about raising the stakes. They know they've still got a ways to go, but they take pride in their product. I do have a few M-Techs and the pins and rods are straight and even, where often Maxams are hammered until they fit. The coatings also take more abuse than my Cold Steel teflon coatings, which immediately streak when cutting cardboard. (The M-Techs don't.)

So...stay tuned is the best way to put it.