- Joined
- Oct 9, 1998
- Messages
- 1,767
<CENTER>MT SOCOM M/A, TANTO, BLACK-TI COATED, PLAIN EDGE.</CENTER>
MT SOCOM Manual Action next to BM Manual Action Chisel-Grind Stryker (910CGSBT).
Well, I've had this knife for a couple months, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with it. I can't remember exactly what I paid for it, but it was probably around $160.
Blade Grind Lines: The grinds are about as perfect as they get. There are extremely minor imperfections with the grind, but I'm very picky and you really have to take a lot of time looking for them. Sometimes I take an hour just looking over the grinds on my blades. All my friends have asked me if I had nothing better to do than examine my small knife collection. Grade: A.
Blade Shape: The shape is pretty good looking, and very efficient for cutting. The spine is thick for good durability, but the edge is fairly thin. It does a very nice job opening my mail and packages and stuff. Most of my work has been pretty light, but I've probably done some wood cutting with it before. Grade: A+.
Blade Coating Durability: The Black-Ti coating on this SOCOM is a little bit less than what I expected. It didn't have the smooth and rich black of the Benchmade coatings, and surprisingly it didn't seem as durable either. I had always heard that Black-Ti resisted scratching better than Black-T (which is better than Benchmade BT2). However, it seems that Black-Ti shows wear more than BT2. Not too cool. I recall having a BM 910BT that showed less wear with similar usage. Coating strength isn't too important in my opinion for a using knife, but I seriously expected a better coating. *Grade: D+.
* New Grade: B-... It ends up that I was mistaken about the reason why the coating was stripped. It wasn't because of usage that the coating because worn, it was because I stropped at too low of an angle and rubbed the coating off on the leather with Jeweller's rouge.
Blade Centering: One of the most annoying things for me is to have the blade rub the handle during opening and closing. This problem is usually caused by a loose pivot or by poor blade centering. I am glad that my SOCOM has neither of these problems. The blade is centered almost perfectly. The tip of the blade is only 0.1mm off center. This is most likely due to the extremely thick (and powerful) liner lock exerting pressure twisting pressure on the blade. I'm very picky, and without extremely close examination, it appears perfectly centered. As far as most people are concerned, the centering is perfect. Grade: A+.
Blade Play: There is no blade play in this folder. Grade: A+.
Blade to Handle Ratio: The ratio of the blade to handle is perfect. Some knives seem to have the problem of a huge handle but a dwarfed blade. The SOCOM maximizes use of the handle length. Grade: A+.
Opening Smoothness: At first the opening action seemed a little stiff, but after a lot of openings and a little bit of Hoppes oil, it became smoother than my Benchmades while maintaing zero blade play. Grade: A+.
Handle: The handle shape is very well designed, and the hard anodized 6061-T6 aluminum has a good texture to it. The thumb ramp is comfortable and it doesn't hurt my hands while using this knife for cutting work. It's got a very hefty feel to it. I have no complaints about this handle design. The hard anodize coating on the handle is very durable, I recall dropping the knife onto gritty ceramic bathroom floor, and there was only a little half millimeter mark where the back of the handle slammed into the floor. It seems to have slid on the gritty ceramic floor, but no scratching was done to the handle. On the half millimeter mark on the handle, the anodize isn't stripped, it just looks like a very tiny dent. One thing I especially like about this handle is that there is a nice thumb ramp on the handle, but also there is another set of grip lines on the blade so that you can hold it normally or choke up on the blade for finer work. Grade: A+.
Traction notches on the handle thumb ramp and on the blade.
Spacers: The spacers are part of the handle, unlike many other liner lock folders that have steel cylinders or G-10 spacers. This design makes sure that loose change can't get into handle and ding the edge up while it is in your pocket. This is important because some people like to put their pocket knife in the same pocket as their change and keys (shame on you!). With the MT design, nothing gets in, but there are still little slits in the "spacer" to vent out pocket lint or fuzz. Grade: A+.
The back design of the MT has small slits that keep loose change out.
Thumb Stud: The location of the thumb stud was good, but the design of the thumb stud itself could have been better. After finding the pocket lining on my pants destroyed, I started examining the thumb studs on my pocket knives. I checked each knife's thumbstud location in my pocket when clipped. My examination of all my collection revealed that the culprit of the torn pants was my MT SOCOM for two reasons, one of which is the sharp thumb stud. While riding around my pocket, the rubbing of the stud against the pocket lining caused a ripping of the fabric. Other than this problem, the stud works fairly well for opening, though it is a bit rough on my thumb. I would suggest that MT round their studs off a little bit for future knives. Grade: C.
Torn pocket lining circled in red.
Side view of MT thumbstud design.
Lock Mechanism: The locking mechanism is fairly thick liner lock that is recessed into the 6061-T6 aluminum handle. I would estimate the locking liner to be almost 1/10" in thickness. When I first got it, it was extremely tight and required me to use the back of a pen to close it, but it seems to have loosened to proper tightness with repeated unlockings. It was suggested to me that you put a little bit of Tuff-Glide or other lubricant on the back of the blade where the lock engages to make it unlock easier, but I have found that it makes it worse. With lubricant applied to the back of the blade, the liner lock travels further and tightens more. It's pretty easy to disengage now, but is extremely durable. This is probably the most durable and reliable liner lock I've ever seen. Just needs to be given a "breaking in" period of time. I've done a lot of hard openings on this knife, and the lock hasn't shown any wear at all (isn't sliding further and further to the right). It was tested by having it beaten against the hard part of my knee repeatedly (I hit hard). It passed with no sign of failure and no movement of the liner lock. I don't like hitting desks because they can dent the blade. Grade: A+.
Powerful Microtech locking liner is very thick.
Pocket Clip: Since pocket clip placement is largely a preference and there is no commonly accepted standard of "good" and "bad," it is a little hard to judge the clip. As far as placement is concerned, I would prefer the knife to ride a little lower, but it is just a personal preferance. The clip is durable and doesn't bend out of shape even when given a prolonged clipping to thick fabric that would generally warp my Benchmade clips (make them looser). I mentioned earlier in my review of the thumb stud for this knife that there were two problems causing my pockets to tear. The first reason was the sharp stud. The second reason is that the head of the screw securing the liner lock bar into the handle protrudes from the handle just slightly under the clip. When unclipping my knife from my pocket, the small tear initiated by the sharp stud is made bigger when the screw head tugs on the fabric as well. The problem would be reduced if the clip rode higher and the screw head wasn't immediately beneath the end of the clip. Grade: B-.
Pocket clip design. Protruding screw head (circled) tears up my pockets.
Fit and Finish: This has to be one of the best finished folders I've ever seen. Hard anodize was very well done and the parts all fit perfectly except for some very minor mistakes which I will ask them to correct when I send it in for sharpening. This seems to be a problem with mine only, but it doesn't close 100% perfect, it closes about 99% of perfect (not perfectly tight close up, but almost). Also, on the inside of the hole where the lanyard loop goes, there is a tiny area where the anodize is not there (visible when you put it in good lighting and look at the lanyard loop hole). Grade: A.
Missing anodize is circled in red.
NEW - Edge Information: When I received this knife quite a long time ago, the first thing I noticed was how sharp it was. Brushing the edge up the hair on my head caused some hair to split and fall off. It shaved arm hair easily. After cutting cardboard, I noticed that it held it's edge very well. It resharpened extremely easily on a leather strop back to the hair splitting sharpness, though it lost a little bit of hair splitting ability. It seems to hold the edge a little better than my Benchmades, and has the edge more readily restored by stropping as well. Still doesn't resharpen as easily as my Opinel does, though. The low angle edge (probably about 15-degrees each side) cuts into cardboard rather smoothly after taking the fairly thick blade into consideration.
Overall Product Grade: A
Extremely well made knife and well worth the $160 or so I paid for it. It would have gotten an A+ if the pocket clip rode a half inch higher, the thumb stud had the last "ridge" removed, and the coating had been more durable.
- Chang
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-18-2001).]
[About 6 more edits between]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-20-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-20-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-21-2001).]
MT SOCOM Manual Action next to BM Manual Action Chisel-Grind Stryker (910CGSBT).
Well, I've had this knife for a couple months, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with it. I can't remember exactly what I paid for it, but it was probably around $160.
Blade Grind Lines: The grinds are about as perfect as they get. There are extremely minor imperfections with the grind, but I'm very picky and you really have to take a lot of time looking for them. Sometimes I take an hour just looking over the grinds on my blades. All my friends have asked me if I had nothing better to do than examine my small knife collection. Grade: A.
Blade Shape: The shape is pretty good looking, and very efficient for cutting. The spine is thick for good durability, but the edge is fairly thin. It does a very nice job opening my mail and packages and stuff. Most of my work has been pretty light, but I've probably done some wood cutting with it before. Grade: A+.
Blade Coating Durability: The Black-Ti coating on this SOCOM is a little bit less than what I expected. It didn't have the smooth and rich black of the Benchmade coatings, and surprisingly it didn't seem as durable either. I had always heard that Black-Ti resisted scratching better than Black-T (which is better than Benchmade BT2). However, it seems that Black-Ti shows wear more than BT2. Not too cool. I recall having a BM 910BT that showed less wear with similar usage. Coating strength isn't too important in my opinion for a using knife, but I seriously expected a better coating. *Grade: D+.
* New Grade: B-... It ends up that I was mistaken about the reason why the coating was stripped. It wasn't because of usage that the coating because worn, it was because I stropped at too low of an angle and rubbed the coating off on the leather with Jeweller's rouge.
Blade Centering: One of the most annoying things for me is to have the blade rub the handle during opening and closing. This problem is usually caused by a loose pivot or by poor blade centering. I am glad that my SOCOM has neither of these problems. The blade is centered almost perfectly. The tip of the blade is only 0.1mm off center. This is most likely due to the extremely thick (and powerful) liner lock exerting pressure twisting pressure on the blade. I'm very picky, and without extremely close examination, it appears perfectly centered. As far as most people are concerned, the centering is perfect. Grade: A+.
Blade Play: There is no blade play in this folder. Grade: A+.
Blade to Handle Ratio: The ratio of the blade to handle is perfect. Some knives seem to have the problem of a huge handle but a dwarfed blade. The SOCOM maximizes use of the handle length. Grade: A+.
Opening Smoothness: At first the opening action seemed a little stiff, but after a lot of openings and a little bit of Hoppes oil, it became smoother than my Benchmades while maintaing zero blade play. Grade: A+.
Handle: The handle shape is very well designed, and the hard anodized 6061-T6 aluminum has a good texture to it. The thumb ramp is comfortable and it doesn't hurt my hands while using this knife for cutting work. It's got a very hefty feel to it. I have no complaints about this handle design. The hard anodize coating on the handle is very durable, I recall dropping the knife onto gritty ceramic bathroom floor, and there was only a little half millimeter mark where the back of the handle slammed into the floor. It seems to have slid on the gritty ceramic floor, but no scratching was done to the handle. On the half millimeter mark on the handle, the anodize isn't stripped, it just looks like a very tiny dent. One thing I especially like about this handle is that there is a nice thumb ramp on the handle, but also there is another set of grip lines on the blade so that you can hold it normally or choke up on the blade for finer work. Grade: A+.
Traction notches on the handle thumb ramp and on the blade.
Spacers: The spacers are part of the handle, unlike many other liner lock folders that have steel cylinders or G-10 spacers. This design makes sure that loose change can't get into handle and ding the edge up while it is in your pocket. This is important because some people like to put their pocket knife in the same pocket as their change and keys (shame on you!). With the MT design, nothing gets in, but there are still little slits in the "spacer" to vent out pocket lint or fuzz. Grade: A+.
The back design of the MT has small slits that keep loose change out.
Thumb Stud: The location of the thumb stud was good, but the design of the thumb stud itself could have been better. After finding the pocket lining on my pants destroyed, I started examining the thumb studs on my pocket knives. I checked each knife's thumbstud location in my pocket when clipped. My examination of all my collection revealed that the culprit of the torn pants was my MT SOCOM for two reasons, one of which is the sharp thumb stud. While riding around my pocket, the rubbing of the stud against the pocket lining caused a ripping of the fabric. Other than this problem, the stud works fairly well for opening, though it is a bit rough on my thumb. I would suggest that MT round their studs off a little bit for future knives. Grade: C.
Torn pocket lining circled in red.
Side view of MT thumbstud design.
Lock Mechanism: The locking mechanism is fairly thick liner lock that is recessed into the 6061-T6 aluminum handle. I would estimate the locking liner to be almost 1/10" in thickness. When I first got it, it was extremely tight and required me to use the back of a pen to close it, but it seems to have loosened to proper tightness with repeated unlockings. It was suggested to me that you put a little bit of Tuff-Glide or other lubricant on the back of the blade where the lock engages to make it unlock easier, but I have found that it makes it worse. With lubricant applied to the back of the blade, the liner lock travels further and tightens more. It's pretty easy to disengage now, but is extremely durable. This is probably the most durable and reliable liner lock I've ever seen. Just needs to be given a "breaking in" period of time. I've done a lot of hard openings on this knife, and the lock hasn't shown any wear at all (isn't sliding further and further to the right). It was tested by having it beaten against the hard part of my knee repeatedly (I hit hard). It passed with no sign of failure and no movement of the liner lock. I don't like hitting desks because they can dent the blade. Grade: A+.
Powerful Microtech locking liner is very thick.
Pocket Clip: Since pocket clip placement is largely a preference and there is no commonly accepted standard of "good" and "bad," it is a little hard to judge the clip. As far as placement is concerned, I would prefer the knife to ride a little lower, but it is just a personal preferance. The clip is durable and doesn't bend out of shape even when given a prolonged clipping to thick fabric that would generally warp my Benchmade clips (make them looser). I mentioned earlier in my review of the thumb stud for this knife that there were two problems causing my pockets to tear. The first reason was the sharp stud. The second reason is that the head of the screw securing the liner lock bar into the handle protrudes from the handle just slightly under the clip. When unclipping my knife from my pocket, the small tear initiated by the sharp stud is made bigger when the screw head tugs on the fabric as well. The problem would be reduced if the clip rode higher and the screw head wasn't immediately beneath the end of the clip. Grade: B-.
Pocket clip design. Protruding screw head (circled) tears up my pockets.
Fit and Finish: This has to be one of the best finished folders I've ever seen. Hard anodize was very well done and the parts all fit perfectly except for some very minor mistakes which I will ask them to correct when I send it in for sharpening. This seems to be a problem with mine only, but it doesn't close 100% perfect, it closes about 99% of perfect (not perfectly tight close up, but almost). Also, on the inside of the hole where the lanyard loop goes, there is a tiny area where the anodize is not there (visible when you put it in good lighting and look at the lanyard loop hole). Grade: A.
Missing anodize is circled in red.
NEW - Edge Information: When I received this knife quite a long time ago, the first thing I noticed was how sharp it was. Brushing the edge up the hair on my head caused some hair to split and fall off. It shaved arm hair easily. After cutting cardboard, I noticed that it held it's edge very well. It resharpened extremely easily on a leather strop back to the hair splitting sharpness, though it lost a little bit of hair splitting ability. It seems to hold the edge a little better than my Benchmades, and has the edge more readily restored by stropping as well. Still doesn't resharpen as easily as my Opinel does, though. The low angle edge (probably about 15-degrees each side) cuts into cardboard rather smoothly after taking the fairly thick blade into consideration.
Overall Product Grade: A
Extremely well made knife and well worth the $160 or so I paid for it. It would have gotten an A+ if the pocket clip rode a half inch higher, the thumb stud had the last "ridge" removed, and the coating had been more durable.
- Chang
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-18-2001).]
[About 6 more edits between]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-20-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-20-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-21-2001).]
