Mcusta Quality?

H

Hair

Joined
Nov 9, 2005
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I want to buy an Mcusta knife because I want something with a Damascus blade for my collection and I really like the look of Mcusta handles (I don't have anything in damascus, so that is a hole in my collection right now). At a bit over 100 bucks, they look like a great deal, and I have heard they are good knives, so I know they will be good quality.

My question is how do they compare to knives like the SERE 2000, Manix, and Military, which are about the same price?

By paying extra for that damascus, do I lose quality and performance versus knives of the same price? How much do I lose?

I ask because I would also like to buy a SERE 2000 and am wondering what the quality and performance difference between it and a similar priced Mcusta will be.

I don't mind if the Mcusta will be a bit "worse" than the SERE 2000, as I am getting the damascus blade. But I want to make sure the Mcusta will still be a good knife for the price, damascus aside.

Thanks in advance.
 
No hand on here, but I havent heard anything bad said about them. Undoubtedly an owner will chime in soon enough.
 
It's a strange knife. I have the "Take." I don't like it, but I don't want to get rid of it either. It's small and slippery. I put notches on the top of the handle just to have something to stick to.

But I doubt there is a knife that can be sharpened so DANG sharp so easily. Like a scalpel.
 
Hmmmm....don't know. I fell for the "bamboo is the symbol of intelligence and courage and rhizomes that will take over a yard" stuff and got the Take.

Or ...TOOKY.

:D

The quality is there in spades, but it's slippery and cold and heavy.

But it IS a neat gent's knife.

Uh, what's a "gent?" Is I one?
;)
 
I read that they are made in Seki which is known to make good knives a la Spyderco.

"By paying extra for that damascus, do I lose quality and performance versus knives of the same price? How much do I lose?"

I haven't even held a damascus blade, some say performance is superior, but I think that it will be as good as the steels it's made of, which is generally pretty good stuff.
 
I have a Mcusta with cocobolo handle and love it. Incredibly sharp right out of the box (much sharper than my Benchmades, but I doen't own a Spyderco to compare it to).
Looks great, very smooth opener, the Damascus steel blade is impressive, and the tip is like a needle. Carries deep in the pocket too.
 
I have a damascus basic in qunicewood, a solid VG-10 basic in micarta, and a Yoroi. All of them are excellent - they're all liner locks, and all of mine are fine, functionally. On my Yoroi, the liner engages a bit high on the liner (about 50%), but it's dead on the VG10 core, and it really is to small to do anything that would cause the liner to wear. The other two are right on the near edge of the tang.

They really are needle-tipped. I've been using mine to pick splinters. The damascus is VG-10 cored, so no, you lose no edge performance. And as far as I'm concerned, the handles are excellent. No worries here, man.
 
I saw them, I really liked the materials and most of the appearance... but some of the designs seemed a little... I don't know... clunky.
 
The cutting edge of the Mcusta knives are VG10, laminated with damascus, so you don't have to give up performance. They are really nice, wellmade knives.
 
I have the "bamboo" handled one. I really like it, and it cuts as well as any other high-end production knife.
 
"My question is how do they compare to knives like the SERE 2000, Manix, and Military, which are about the same price?"

They compare with difficulty, as Manix twice bigger than Mcusta knife...

I 've got the one which his full damas and "hamered".
really nice stuff, i would say the same as Lavan.
It's too heavy, a bit slippery... but when you have it in hand, you can't stop playing with it. And really , really scary sharp, best of all my knives (even than my Caly ZDP189)
 
I don't own any of these yet, but I got the chance to look close at a couple awhile back. Most impressive, from what I saw. I'll be picking one up at some time in the near future.
 
MCustas are excellent knives, nice design, fine materials with well thought out construction at a very competitive price, but they are not really heavy duty users like the others you mention. They are smaller and more like gentlemans folders.
 
I just purchased the Gentleman's Folder from www.gpknives.com and I am very impressed. The handle shape is a little unique but the F&F is absolutely top notch. It was very sharp out of the box 30 minutes ago.
 
Thanks guys.

I thought the Mcustas were a bit larger, but them being small doesn't bother me. I was comparing them to the Manix and SERE 2000 because they are, at least from what I can tell, the benchmarks of quality and strength in that price range.

From what you guys say, the Mcustas do have good quality for their price, rather than just being an inexpensive way to get a damascus blade. That is what I was worried about. I know Mcusta knives are good quality, and a good deal since they have damascus blades. But I was worried that, damascus aside, they wouldn't compeat with non-damascus knives of the same price class.

I think I will get a Mcusta Kasumi and an Al Mar SERE 2000 in 2 weeks (can't do it this paycheck, so it will wait for the next)
 
Hi hair, they don't really have "damascus" blade, but more VG-10 blade sandwiched in inox damas...
So if you really want a damas blade, this is not the proper knife.
If you are looking for a gentleman folder, razor sharp and with a great look, it's the one !
As a gentlemen folder, don't expect to do extrem hard work with it:
1) lock is strong but don't expect to be "batoning" with it
2) angle of edge is low (=> razor sharp) therefore, durability decrease and you might dull it faster.

Anyway, it's a great knife in his range.:D
 
Just to echo what others have said… I think Mcusta knives are really nice. They have good grinds, open smoothly, and are extremely sharp. My Take has a couple of screws that stick out from the handle (which seems like a common problem) and some tool marks are visible on it if you look closely. With both of my Mcusta knives, the liner can scrape against the blade if you press down too hard when opening it. Overall though, they’re definitely high quality.

Mcustas don’t feel to me like they’re as solidly built as comparable Benchmades or Spydercos. For instance, there is a lot of flex in the clip on my Basic. Also, although the lock is strong and reliable, the liner doesn’t really slam into place when you open it. That’s not necessarily bad IMO, but it gives the impression that it’s not very heavy duty.

The damascus blades are really neat. Like Freddy pointed out though, the damascus on Mcustas is different than the solid, carbon steel damascus that you might find on custom knives. Mcusta probably uses some kind of machine to drop forge their damascus. The blades are very cool, but not quite as interesting as ones made from hand-forged, carbon steel damascus.
 
I have also one with the bamboo design handle. It is kinda slippery but it is really nice. I like it! Damascus layered VG10 blade looks nice. Got a small sheath for it and it is sharp!!If you do get one, make sure the damascus layers are even on both sides as some show more blade on one side.
 
My screws stuck up too far also. I filed them down. Be careful not to take off the whole Torx hole in em though.
 
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