I decided that I'd go to a store that carried Mantis knives. You wouldn't believe how hard that is! Anyways, here are my initial impressions. Hopefully it'll help someone in the future looking for this knife.
Note that this is a mini review on the Mantis Classier Act (MT-2sc) only. The shop I visited did not have any of the other models in Mantis' Classy Act series. I believe this is vital because, for all I know, there could be a huge difference in quality as you step up/down in the Classy Act series.
Note2: I'm NOT in any way affiliated with Mantis. In fact, the only knives I own are Spydercos, Benchmades, and 1 Mtech throwaway to lend to friends. I aim to provide the best review I can based on my initial impressions.
Blade:
It's stamped S30V. I obviously couldn't test that at the store but I have no reason to doubt that it isn't. One thing I noticed was that the blade was fairly thin. I later called their headquarters and they told me that the blade thickness is 1/10th in (2.5mm). Another thing of note is that the blade isn't coated. On their website, it almost looks as if the blade is metallic black. Their "Slipstream" grind (as Mantis calls it) is different but it didn't really strike a chord within me. I will say that the grind is accurately represented though. It looks exactly like the one shown in the picture. As for the functionality, I assume it'd slice as well as any other hollow ground knife. Lastly, the tip of the knife. It's a very thin tip, which allows for delicate cutting. Please remember that this is a gentleman's folder. You shouldn't be doing any prying with it.
http://www.mantisknives.com/Product Zoom/MT2sc Classier Act/mt2sc_classieract.html
Deployment:
I'll sum it up right now. Super fast IF you have smaller hands. The reason I say this is because the deployment hole is fairly small. In addition to that, the triangular hole doesn't do justice for the deployment. It doesn't allow much of your thumb to fit as is but the fact that the hole narrows caused my thumb to slip several times. See photo below:
I feel that if the triangular hole was flipped, it'd be MUCH easier to deploy. Something along the lines of this:
The knife itself rests on phosphor bronze bushings (Yes I checked it out at the store with my flashlight! I got some looks when I did so but they're definitely there!). It deploys incredibly fast if your hand doesn't slip.
Handle:
Again, it's not accurately represented by the site. It looks FAR better on the site. However, it does have a very glossy appearance. As for the weaving of the carbon fiber, I can't say it was that impressive. In terms of it's appearance, I'm at a loss of words as how to describe it. It simply didn't look as good as the photos of other carbon fiber knives I've seen. Let me caveat this though.
I have NO carbon fiber knives and have yet to see a good weave that I like. I can't speak to what constitutes a good weave or anything related to the topic of carbon fiber. I'd recommend you go to Mantis' website and try to find a dealer near you that carries the knife.
Revision: Several of the forum members mentioned that the carbon fiber handles don't look real (see the posts below for more details). I can not speak to this but I can certainly imagine Mantis taking a step like this to reduce costs.
Moving onto the liners, there's no skeletonization! I suppose this makes sense though. They need to take small steps like this to keep the knife cheap. If you want to lighten up the knife, it has screws for you to take apart the knife and service/customize. Despite it not having skeletonized liners, the knife is VERY light at 2.0 oz. The reason for this is because of the thin blade and handle profile. The knife handle is very thin in itself, which makes up for the lack of skeletonization.
Lockup:
Admittedly, I forgot to check. Sorry folks! If you do have problems, Mantis has an unconditional lifetime warranty and I'm sure they'd be glad to help you.
Ergonomics:
Again, we see signs of the cheapening process. No jimping! Though one could argue that jimping ruins the looks of the blade. In addition to that, there really isn't anything to aid grip. The carbon fiber handles are incredibly slick! At best, you get a rounded handle to help you hold onto the knife.
Next, there's the liner lock. I thought this was very interestingly done. If you take a look at the pictures of the knife, you'll notice that there's a triangular hole drilled into the bottom of the liner. Believe it or not, that's the mechanism (for lack of a better word) used to disengage the lock. Despite the lack of jimping, it is incredibly easy to disengage. I think of it as having a thumb hole for disengaging the lock. Here's a picture:
The clip is tip down only. It looks like it might be reversible but I can't confirm that.
Customer Service:
While this does not relate to the knife, I thought it was worth a mention. In order to find out some of this information, I had to call Mantis' headquarters. I did not mention or even hint that I was doing a review of their knife so I believe I was treated in the same way any other customer would be.
My first occasion was to ask them how thick the blade was. The person answering the phone didn't know so she put me on hold for about a minute or so. I don't really mind waiting as long as I get the information.
The second time I really wanted to test them. I asked them if this knife was skeletonized. I already knew it wasn't but I wanted to see how well the people at customer service knew their product. The first person I spoke to didn't even know what skeletonized liners were. I was patched to someone at tech support. That person didn't know either so I finally explained what skeletonized liners were. At least he told me they weren't (which is true)!
Last thoughts:
I think this company will be hit and miss. Like RevDevil pointed out, some of their knives are horrendous. I got to handle a few of their other folding knives and just about everything was wrong with them (except the looks I suppose).
It seems people have difficulty finding where Mantis' knives are made. This model was made in Taiwan. Who cares? This is a beautiful knife at a great price. I can't speak to quality control as nobody else on the forums or anyone I knew had one.
All photos are property of Mantis Knives. The photos were used strictly for review purposes.
