Mid-Tech

J

jvan

Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Messages
863
Would someone please give me the description of just what a Mid-Tech knife is and a couple examples of makers of these? TIA.
 
I believe midtech is a somewhat nebulous meld between custom and production. For example, a place that makes knives using production methods, but then say has people assemble them, sharpen and control quality at a much more intimate level. Mcusta named themselves for doing such...machine custom.

As you can see, how close the product is to production vs custom can vary greatly depending on how much is left to large production machines vs. Individual care/production. Thus, what is considered midtech is often somewhat blurry or debatable.

I would remember that in theory and reality there could be production knives that are better than custom if the custom maker does not take the time and care to control quality, use good materials, etc.


I don't own any customs, so if I'm incorrect, feel free to correct me folks.
 
The word midtech is very vague, it is rather a stupid label. If your parts are all CNC'd and you just grind blades and assemble knives, that's not custom nor midtech IMO. However, many people label said knives as such. To me, midtech is just a term someone came up with to make their knives seem "above" production knives.

Saying your knife is a midtech is like saying your knife is sharp. You might think its sharp, but I might not...
 
Best I can tell there is no consensus on its meaning. That being the case, it is essentially meaningless.
 
It was explained to me that they are custom knives made in batches, rather than one-of-a-kind.
 
Ken onion coined the term for a set of his knives that he handground the blades, yet employed outsourcing for the handles and some other parts. He wanted to solve the issue of offering a cost effective product that he still had a hand in making to supply the demand for his knives to those who didnt want to wait in line for a full custom yet still wanted something he had a hand in building. Since that time and much to his dismay the term was picked up on and has been applied to a variety of products that do and dont fit the definition Ken applied to his product. It would seem with the abuse of the term "Mid-Tech" for anything and everything it has lost much of its real weight. And it seems to simply be applied as a generic term by many as a datapoint of why a product should be considered above the rest of the production knives even though it very well may not have any real differences in materials or construction method to the average production knife. IMHO mid tech should be reserved for custom makers semi-production knives that still utilize the maker at some point in the production process. But usually this simply isnt the case.
 
It started out as someone else said as pretty well defined by Ken Onion, however currently as best as I can tell, most of the time it's now used to sell basically full production knives, many with custom makers names on them, that probably never did any significant work to the knife, selling for $400-$900 and consumers fight to plop their money down. The majority of which don't seem to have any better quality control, fit and finish, or blade materials than production knives costing significantly less. Certainly there are some great exceptions to that, where the fit/finish/QC are above and beyond, but it seems it's simply a term now used to sell at a higher price point, not a better product.
 
A cool, thing I'm seeing is that some production companies are starting to offer more models that are akin to midtechs and semi customs (in terms of build quality and materials).
 
Mid-Tech = Between High-Tech and Low-Tech. :D

As I understand it, it's a term used to identify a knife that at isn't quite a handmade/custom knife and not a mass produced factory knife. Think Chris Reeve Sebenza or Strider SNG, for example.
 
Stays Sharp said:
A cool, thing I'm seeing is that some production companies are starting to offer more models that are akin to midtechs and semi customs (in terms of build quality and materials).
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Thats kinda where my problem with the term lie. I have seen amazing productions and I have seen horrible full customs. So generally I am against the use of the term "mid tech" when trying to describe anything regarding quality whether it be good or bad. When someone states that they feel brand XXX is producing at mid tech levels i sorta cringe given I associate the term with how something is produced and not its level of fit and finish. Dont get me wrong, i know that they are simply trying to imply they feel that the quality of such a brand is above the standard (whatever that may be). Still i read it and it reminds me of wine tasters or fragrance critics who use descriptive words usually reserved for sound or sight to describe smell and taste. To me it really doesn't mean anything, call me weird.
 
If a maker calls his knife a midtech than i call it a midtech. If they make a custom version of something, and then make a cheaper version of it and call it a midtech, than its a midtech.
 
BenchCo Spydermade said:
I believe midtech is a somewhat nebulous meld between custom and production. For example, a place that makes knives using production methods, but then say has people assemble them, sharpen and control quality at a much more intimate level. Mcusta named themselves for doing such...machine custom.

As you can see, how close the product is to production vs custom can vary greatly depending on how much is left to large production machines vs. Individual care/production. Thus, what is considered midtech is often somewhat blurry or debatable.

I would remember that in theory and reality there could be production knives that are better than custom if the custom maker does not take the time and care to control quality, use good materials, etc.


I don't own any customs, so if I'm incorrect, feel free to correct me folks.
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The origins of the term is pretty cut and dry. However, its a term that has pretty much lost all meaning. To me, its essentially just a high end/low output production knife with a dubious claim how much personal/hand work the actual maker is putting into. Maybe they'll have some personal customization If anything, its probably one of the best ways to tack on a extra $500 to part someone with their money.

Every custom maker and every production company have their flubs. Yes, there are some very high end production companies out there like Chris Reeves, Microtech, Benchmade, and Spyderco that can meet or exceed some mid-tech companies.
 
PURPLEDC said:
Thats kinda where my problem with the term lie. I have seen amazing productions and I have seen horrible full customs. So generally I am against the use of the term "mid tech" when trying to describe anything regarding quality whether it be good or bad. When someone states that they feel brand XXX is producing at mid tech levels i sorta cringe given I associate the term with how something is produced and not its level of fit and finish. Dont get me wrong, i know that they are simply trying to imply they feel that the quality of such a brand is above the standard (whatever that may be). Still i read it and it reminds me of wine tasters or fragrance critics who use descriptive words usually reserved for sound or sight to describe smell and taste. To me it really doesn't mean anything, call me weird.
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I totally get what you're saying... And I find the wine and coffee taster descriptions to be quite ridiculous sometimes.

Regardless of the terms used and the confusion it ensues, I was talking more about: Benchmades rolling out those recent Gold Classes, Spydercos like the Chaparral 3, Native5 Ti, and Rubicon, ZT's like the 0454 and 0392, CRKT testing the market with the Ripple.... Knives that are nods to what some call midtechs or whatever (CRK, Hinderer, etc). So quality, level..I don't know but production companies are surely upping the ante.

Should we just call these "high end production?"
 
RevDevil said:
These days I think "Custom" is much more apropos for a marketing term.
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No doubt. Too many so called "custom" knives are by all definitions production. If you are making a run of 100-200 folders and they are nearly 100% CNC'd and each knife will be identical to the next sans maybe the scale material? Sorry that to me isnt custom.

Stays Sharp said:
I totally get what you're saying... And I find the wine and coffee taster descriptions to be quite ridiculous sometimes.

Regardless of the terms used and the confusion it ensues, I was talking more about: Benchmades rolling out those recent Gold Classes, Spydercos like the Chaparral 3, Native5 Ti, and Rubicon, ZT's like the 0454 and 0392, CRKT testing the market with the Ripple.... Knives that are nods to what some call midtechs or whatever (CRK, Hinderer, etc). So quality, level..I don't know but production companies are surely upping the ante.

Should we just call these "high end production?"
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That is what I call them. But for me the "high end" part is why I use it. It itself defines the meaning I am trying to imply. But then you would have people saying Im simply splitting hairs and that everyone knows what they mean when they say midtech. So I say people should say whatever makes them happy as there is no real definition,lol.
 
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