Mission Knives: "Toughest knives on the planet"?

I believe Mike Turber did a comparison between a Mission Knives and Tools knife and a Mad Dog knife. I can't really remember the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure Mission Knives got the better rank. The Mission knife tested used the A2 steel.

Try doing a search in the archives.
 
Ferrous metals are nutrient to bacteria. Although it is a slow process, deterioration is there. So when you have the bacteria (bugs) and corrosion (rust, water, etc.) it speeds up the deterioration process. That is what is meant by bacteria. Screw the neosporin and break out the tetnis shots!
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i learn something everyday here.

Thats it i am adding copper to my blade steel, that will teach those bacteria a lesson, my blades oughta be heat treated then pressure treated
 
I bought a MPF last year from Mission and I love it. I got the tanto point without serrations, I've found that I do have to sharpen it alot more often than my steel blades but it does take a nice edge and cuts well. It is very well made, I got it from ProEdge knives and the owner of ProEdge told me the lockup was as good as his Sebenza. I have never owned a Sebenza but I have handled them at knife shows and one day I will buy one, they are awesome knives also but so was my Spyderco Chinook, and it locked up like a vault also and it was just a lockback. Are they the toughest knives on the planet, probably not, but they are a very specialized tool, with unique features. Why did I buy it? Because I thought it looked very cool and I liked the idea of having an all titanium knife. And my co-workers think it is pretty cool also, they think I'm nuts for spending more than $50.00 bucks for a knife but they have some goofy hobbies too. I probably could chop my Mission knife in half with my Steel Heart, but why ruin two awesome knives? I carry and use my MPF everyday and I'm a happier person for it and if I'm happy I've found thats all that matters.:D
 
I have owned and abused pretty much every knife Mission makes and have done my best to damage or break them on a occasions without any success. On one occasion I used a rock to hammer an MPS about an inch into a small crack in a granite cliff. I hung on the handle, which was quite uncomfortable, and bounced up and down on it. The knife flexed quite a bit but never stayed deformed. It took a good bit more pounding to get the knife unstuck but it came through undamaged other than some scratches in the sandblasted finish. I have pics of this and if anyone is interested email me and I will forward them to you. I would post them here but I?m too lazy to find a photo hosting service right now.

On another occasion I beat an MPK as hard as I could against an iron fire pit ring while camping. When I hit the flat of the blade it basically made a good clank and flexed a bit, the knives are definitely not brittle. What was really amazing is when I gave it a good chop. The iron fire ring had a nice mark in it but the blade edge was completely undamaged.

In addition to the previously mentioned resistance to bacterial attack it is also worth noting that the knives might actually have a slight anti-bacterial effect. As everyone knows titanium has a natural oxide layer which forms on the surface and is self healing. Titanium dioxide has been shown in laboratory experiments to have some anti bacterial effects which are enhanced by the presence of some nitrogen. During the heat treatment process Mission uses for their blades nitrogen in the air reacts with the titanium which sometimes gives the blades a very light golden color. To my knowledge nobody has bothered to set up an experiment to test the anti bacterial effects of a Mission knife but the possibility is certainly there.

Someone mentioned titanium breaking if the blade gets scratched. Some titanium alloys are very notch sensitive but this is definitely not an issue with Mission blades. The only place where I have seen this as a problem is with the threaded sections of a mine probe. If you take a few sections of probe rod and really bend them the threaded area will break off.

In response to Lizard King I must confess my ignorance and am curious what the ?other name? of hytrel is. Kevlar like a quite a few other materials can be mixed with plastic and molded to shape. It?s funny that you mention Ti/SiC MMC. I have experimented quite a bit with the stuff and I gave some to Ken Onion to make some blades. It is a marvelous material with one major drawback being the truly enormous cost. I have only had a single custom plate made up and it works out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 a pound. Basically it?s just way too expensive for anyone to make many knives out of on a large scale.

In my experience I would say that Mission stuff is definitely the toughest production blades in the world. It is not the best edge holder by a long shot but it does cut pretty well compared to steel and blows all other titanium knives out of the water.
 
Hytrel is to Kraton as G10 is to Rubber. Hytrel is extremely tough - to compare it to Kraton inaccurate to say the least. The ones I've handled are like rock in the hand.

Kevin
 
Hytrel Is a thermoplastic elastomers, It is a copolymer based on Polyester.

It has excellent fatigue life and abrasion resistance, i stumbled across it wile looking for materials for some of my projects
 
In a similar vein, the F-15 Eagle was developed as an eventual alternative to the Sopwith Camel. ;)
 
F-15 was developed in response to the MIG-25. After better data came out concerning the MIG-25 we found out that we went way overkill, thats why the F-15 is still one of the Greatest fighter aircraft in service today. The MIG-25 is still a neat aircraft, extreamly Fast (mach-3) but its engines have to be replaced afterwards, the US couldnt figure out how they were getting the material performance that the MIG-25 was reported to have, the US assumed they used Ti (since Al wouldnt cut the mustard) so the F-15 uses Ti, turns out MIG used stainless steel. The MIG-25 also has a very interesting Static RADAR array, very clever.



I have a Hytrel sample that is soft enough to be chewing gum, it all depends on which grade is used.
 
Arent Missions handles a mix of hytrel and kevlar? I believe it is the sheath that is hytrel only, but am not sure. The handle is extremely tough. If needs be, I can pound a nail with it.
 
Originally posted by LizardKing
Hytrel is to DuPont as Kraton is to Shell

:)
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You have been going on about Hytrel throughout this thread, and really, I can't see what you are trying to get at...what's your point?

Is it weak, inferior stuff? Does it fail catastrophically and normal or abnormal conditions?
Do you have any direct experience with hytrel, or whatever other names it is commonly referred to as?

Why not just say what you have to say, and quit beating around the bush already?
 
Mission's handle material, regardless of the name, is far more durable than Kraton. It is very resistant to flame, shows no excessive fragility when exposed to cold (freezer), and is very wear, cut and puncture resistant. You will damage it with extending pounding on hardened metal (nails), but it won't cause any gross failures, just localized impaction.

-Cliff
 
You have been going on about Hytrel throughout this thread, and really, I can't see what you are trying to get at...what's your point?
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My POINT! the handle is part of the knife, the toughest knives on the planet should have tough handles-Make sense??? SO the material they use would be IMPORTANT, and they use Hytrel and Kevlar.

I like hytrel! i am considering using Hytrel! To be honest it is probably one of the toughest handle materials out there. But there is a similar handle material out there that gets a bad name, and if the right grade were specified it could be nearly as good.
 
Originally posted by LizardKing
My POINT! the handle is part of the knife, the toughest knives on the planet should have tough handles-Make sense???
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Sure Liz, that makes sense. But what doesn't make sense is why you originally went to such lengths to cast aspersions on a handle material that you now evidently believe to be a good, tough choice for a handle material.
 
i always believed that it was a good choice, i wasnt trying to say that the stuff was bad, just that it is very much like Kraton another product that i dont think is bad.

I am designing some knives and Hytrel was one of the matierals that i was considering using.
 
Well, I recieved my Mission MPF-1 4 days ago, and I'm extremely pleased.
The fit & finish are at least as good as my Sebenza, the edge holding has been great so far, the lockup is rock solid but incredibly easy to manipulate, the action is super smooth, and it's comfortable to use, unlike my Sebenza.

Contrary to what some seem to believe, the edge holding is at least as good as 440C, and quite possibly a bit better, from what I have experienced so far.
Honestly, I had almost expected to have to sharpen it at least once a day, based on my preconcieved notions about Ti, but it's just not true.

I have not abused it, so I can't comment on the level of abuse it can take, but when I get around to misusing it I will post the results here.

The Mission MPF-1 is a real winner....
 
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