M-tech, Tac-force, etc...How good are they?

[not2sharp]

They are the knife equivalent of a condom from the gas station bathroom coin operated machine. Do you really trust it?

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Then again, we said the same of Japanese made knives during 60s and 70s. Master Cutlery produces alot of cheap knives, they can do better, but it is probably what their market wants.

n2s

 

[hermit dave]

They have a couple Smith & Wesson SW24-7 on the auction site for cheap. I have 2, one plain and 1 half serrated. They are surprisingly well made. My go-to beaters.
Aluminum scales, SST liners, and a 440c blade.

 

[WilliamCody]

They have a couple Smith & Wesson SW24-7 on the auction site for cheap. I have 2, one plain and 1 half serrated. They are surprisingly well made. My go-to beaters.
Aluminum scales, SST liners, and a 440c blade.

Yeah, I think if you are going to go with an ultra cheap knife, maybe a s&w or schrade but those are just good "shanks" in case of emergency self defense. If you really want a decent knife for that same buck, go with the aforementioned Opinel or a Mora.

Mtech and Tac force are complete junk. J. U. N. K... As are any blades from the "mother company" master cutlery. really just a paperweight. And dont fall for mtech extreme either, just because they advertise 440c, they are as procey as real knives but maintain the same junky, dull, bad fit and finish, non ergo designs that make the originals suck. Don't waste your money because it "looks neat" you will regret it. Trust me I fell for it a few years back, luckily it was merely a 12 dollar buy, but lesson learned.

 

[Don Joe]

At 10-15$ each, and often times less, I couldn't stop myself from picking up a few of these folders. I'm sure if I tried I could break them, but I usually reserve more heavy duty tasks for fixed blades, so I don't mind if my folding knife can't serve as a pry bar. My question is, how good are these knives really?

theyre pretty good buddy. I like em a lot specially the mtech. take a heck of an edge and keep it like none i ever saw. cuts like a dream. couldn't ask for any else from a little knife. mine takes a beatin but is still kickin! cant beat it for the money! but not as good as smith and wesson. but its pretty hard to beat a s&w so thats not real fair. good luck palhave a good one. :thumbup:

 

[jasonbroni]

Well it's a wrap. He's definitely a troll... lol

 

[JohnnyMayhem]

I think that the only really good M-Tech was the Darrel Ralph licensed balisong that came out a few years ago. That one was pretty darn good.

 

[Mingecutter]

theyre pretty good buddy. I like em a lot specially the mtech. take a heck of an edge and keep it like none i ever saw. cuts like a dream. couldn't ask for any else from a little knife. mine takes a beatin but is still kickin! cant beat it for the money! but not as good as smith and wesson. but its pretty hard to beat a s&w so thats not real fair. good luck palhave a good one. :thumbup:

LOL, this guy and his posts. They make me laugh quite a bit. He's nothing if not consistent.

 

[ThePeacent]

DonJoe thinks that putting :thumbup: at the end of 98.5% of his posts is almost as nice as S&W, MTech, United Cutlery, Tac Force.
Let's just say some people are trolls, some plain ignorant, and a few are both those things.

As for the OP, for under 20 dollars

Avoid the brands that most folks told you to, they are just pure crap. Really, you can do much better for the money:

I've had years of those MTechs, TacForce etc., none are worth a buck, just save a bit more.

20 bucks will get you any of the ones pictured, which are way above the gas station knives. Even chinese brands are much better, SRM, Ganzo, Enlan...

If you cannot spend $20 on a knife, though, I doubt this is the appropiate hobby/forum for you!

 

[tltt]

The MTech 151 (Trailmaster clone, yes I know, a clone, but Cold Steel are unrepentant copyist sometimes, so :shrug: ) is decent for the money involved. I don't trust any of the really budget-y folders, as most tend to lock work that wears too easily. There are a few other fixed blades that sometimes pop up from these makers that are ok, but they're few, and far between.

Smith and Wesson, Fury, Frost, United, Taylor, etc.... have all offered decent knives in the past, and occasionally still do. But once a maker gets locked into the public perception that it's a budget brand, it's a hard hole to climb out of.

 

[T.K.C.]

They are garbage.
Quality over quantity.

 

[JR88FAN]

As a teenager, I guess this post is for me- a bunch of my friends have one or a few Tac-Force or MTech knives- and I don't know how many others I talked out buying them. They are basically crap folders that look nice- none of those knives hold an edge and hell, they list their steel at "stainless steel" -not a good thing in today's marketplace where there is an abundance of lower end, but high value steels (8cr13MoV, 420HC, 440C, etc). Fit and finish is consistently off, no edge holding, cheesy styling, and made in China. I don't like them and if you have experience with quality knives you won't either.

That just about sums it up....

You get what you pay for, and sometimes, even less.

 

[inkynate]

I haven't tried any of their folders, but I have a few of their fixed blades and they generally seem pretty solid to me. I used them mainly for grinding/mod practice but keep them around because they cut really well now.

MU-1130, literally paid $8 & change shipped off Amazon (on sale):

Another pic showing the MU-1130 pre-regrind and a heavily modded MX-8108 with an ESEE-4:

Don't get me wrong, I'm not selling my ESEEs, Beckers, or Bussekin, but I actually haven't found them to be crazy terrible or anything. Sharpen super easily, normal edge retention, no real complaints so far.

 

[Etna]

I consider S&W and Schrade to be above the M-Techs and Tac-Forces. For one, they at least make knives that feel solid in my hands, and the 7cr17, 8cr13mov and 9cr18mov steels they use are definitely better than the mystery stainless steel that M-Tac and Tac-Force advertise on their knives.

Of course, this lies on the key assumption that M-Tac and Tac-Force are withholding the type of blade steel used either because they are too low-end to be named, or because it's so bad it hasn't even got a name.

Are they functional knives? Of course they are. Heck, if even Gerber can sell a knife with mystery steel for $30 that can survive the abuse that I put it though my military training, there should be little doubt that an M-Tech or Tac-Force can be used for a light everyday utility knife. Don't be caught in the mindset that unnamed steel = crap steel.

I have never used an M-Tec or a Tac-Force, so I have no idea about the quality with regards to assembly and construction. At best, it will do everything you expect a light-use everyday utility knife to do, all for $10. At worst, it will just fall apart after some time and you'd be out $10. I'd think that giving up three Starbucks coffee is more than enough to recoup that loss.

And don't get suckered into thinking that paying a higher upfront cost for a better knife saves money in the long term. Say that you buy a Kershaw for $30. That will cost about three M-Techs or Tac-Forces. How long will you expect to use that Kershaw for? 10 years? 20 years? If you are the type that sees knives only and cheap tools, chances are you'd lose that that knife before it ever sees more than 5 years of use. Alternatively, if you are the type that abuses your knives to hell, that Kershaw will probably fail at the time time as an M-Tech or Tac-Force, or just a bit later. Which is less upsetting: losing a single $30 knife, or losing a $10 knife and having two more to fall back on?

That said, there are plenty good knives for that price tag. The Chinese brands line SRM, Enlan and Ganzo put out amazingly well-built knives for $10-$15, and I would know because I own many of them. And I've also had good experiences from S&W and Schrade knives; they are much, much better than what most people give them credit for.

 

[Curtis_Lowe]

They are the knife equivalent of a condom from the gas station bathroom coin operated machine. Do you really trust it?

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When in doubt double bag.

I have an mtech dagger someone gave me. The f&f, while not horrible, is still bad. I honestly don't think it's worth it. For the price of 2 cheap tactical folders you can get an inexpensive kershaw or for the same price an opinel, douk douk, etc. There are plenty of inexpensive knives that are better quality and will probably last longer out there.