MMHW Knives

T

TheSurvivalist

Joined
Jun 13, 2004
Messages
174
Does anyone have experience with the knives of Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works?

I have never heard of this company before. The website advertises them as hard-use knives, and they appear to be built for just that. Do they take abuse well? Could one be used as, say.... a machete? These look like what I want in a heavy-duty work blade. Is the spring steel properly tempered?

I have never seen these knives mentioned on this forum. Maybe I was absent when they were. Or is it that there is some flaw in these blades?

So..... who owns one, and likes it?

TheSurvivalist
 
They don't get much mention, bu when they do it's always positive, real tough knives from what I have heard from thsoe that own them.
 
i did a search on here a while ago and it was a review on the white river bowie. It was all good they are robust choppers. My initial worry was the hollow grind but apparently Ted frizzel has the heat treat spot on.I am going to get something from them at some point,i am thinking about the deep woods bowie or the kukri looks very good.What one do you have your eye on?If and when you get one be sure and let us know what you think.
 
I have owned MANY, MMHW knives from Ted's standard line to one offs. I love them all. The edge on the customs i had came sharper than normal ted likes to put what he calls a working edge on them. If you order tell John you want them sharp or you can sharpen them yourself. The only short coming would be the sheaths, but if you get creative you can rig them up in many ways. Knives are tough, awesome heat treat. Balance is very good, but they are heavy knives, even the fighters. They move pretty well for there size, and i have had some big ones.
what can i say for the money awesome buy, even if they cost more awesome buy. Any other question email me or pm me, i am no expert but i have been using and buy teds knives for meny year, mmhw was the first custom i had.
 
Thank you very much for the responses. I really appreciate it.

I am interested in either the Deep Woods Bowie, or the White River Bowie for use as my primary wilderness-knife. I was drawn to these blades because they seem to be built extremely tough. My life may depend on the knife I use, so that knife had better be strong. I really need a knife that I can beat the crap out of; one which will easily take daily abuse for extended periods. I may need to use the knife as a machete, or to split wood, or built shelter. If I drop the knife off a cliff, it needs to be useable when I recover it.

A few extra questions:
How easily do these knives sharpen in the field?
How well does the hollow grind hold up to chopping?
Do the micarta handle slabs cause discomfort after long use?

I am really suprised that these knives are not mentioned more frequently. Many forumites are often looking for a heavy-duty work blade like these. If I decide to purchase one, I will be sure to post my experiences for all to see.

Thanks again for the info.

TheSurvivalist
 
How good are these at slicing? Even the smaller ones bear the thick stock, and it seems like that would get in the way of a hunter.
 
If you are willing to do about ten minutes of thinning work with a file and then clean up with a stone, they'll do superbly at slicing. They certainly lean more towards the hard use, general utility side than dedicated skinning use, but I've got a Golem (part of the Dervish line, back when Ted was still grinding them) I put a narrow V-grind on that will send factory Sebenza edges running off with their tails between their legs. ;) Or, as has been said, mention to John that you want a thinner edge.

Top quality--done simply but done right. MMHW (and Dervish) are serious tools.
 
I have one of Teds Bowies. It is great! He does put a steep work edge on them for heavy use. I thinned it out a little and it is a slicer and chopper. Teds blades are a great tool for the money and the product is top notch. I would love to see a nice leather sheath with them though. The kydex one that comes with it is a little thin IMHO for a knife that heavy. That is my only small week side to these great knives. You would not regret getting one for hard use. Here is a shot of mine. ;)
 
I just beat the tar out of my white river bowie. It always comes back for more, It is one of my favorite knives and the handle is the one of the smoothest fits I've owned on a knife
 
I just found this thread and, judging from the last post date, I don't know if anyone is still using it. But, here goes. I had Ted make me a knife about 3 years ago. I am in the Army and wanted a field knife that could be used hard. Prybar, hatchet, hammer. . . I called Ted and told him what I was after, did up some drawings modifying his Persian, and emailed them to him. In about two weeks I got the knife with the sheath and at a great price. I carried it in Iraq for a year and in training since and have abused the crap out of it. It has been fantastic. The steep angle on the edge grind is more like an axe and resists dents and chipping very well. I use a small diamond hone and Arkansas stone to maintain the edge. It will not get hair popping sharp, but I didn't want a skinner, I wanted an all around hard use tool. I highly recommend his products.
 
I have owned several and still have one of the DV 8's

I kind of feel like that they are really too big for knife chores but can't compare to a khukuri as far as chopping. I thought the edge was a bit too steep and I think they are kind of hard to sharpen compared to a khukuri or bolo. Ironically despite being harder to sharpen, which I would think would translate into edge retention, they also seemed to get dull a lot quicker than a khukuri or bolo.

They are neat and have a cool factor out the wazoo, but for actual work give me a khukuri and a small fixed blade any day.;)
 
Hollow,
If you ever get the desire, send that DV8 out my way and I'll send it back with an edge that'll bring out its charms. Ted's normal edges are (to my mind) way too thick, and thick edges are hard to get really sharp, and it's not that they're dulling more quickly, it's just that when a thin edge gets dull, it's still thin enough to "cut" for a bit (since cutting is nothing more than breaking a material in a very thin line). When a thick edge loses its fresh-from-the-stone bite, it takes a whole lot more force to make it work for you.

But I will agree, regardless of maker, I've never seen a bowie that'll out-chop a well made khuk. The only drawback is a decent sized khuk weighs twice as much as most bowies.
 
They're not mentioned frequently because new models aren't introduced very often. If you do a search, you'll find that they have been mentioned a LOT!
 
I have an EDMF Smatchet that there's no way I'd part with. It is 300 times the chopper of any of the MMHW knives I've had. However I placed another order with them over a year ago, they said the wait was a year, but they have never wrote me and said it was ready or responded to my emails:thumbdn: I like the edge and temper way better than MMHW though.
 
Hard to tell from those pictures--are all the EDMF handles cord wrapped?
 
I've got a modified Survival Bowie on the way, and can't wait to try it. Doesn't have any false edge, so it should be a little tip heavier than the normal model. Good looking knife!
 
My own experience with MMHW knives is a bit dated, but the ones I have owned have been well-made knives, although a bit on the heavy side. Also, an MMHW knife I once owned had a very loosely fitted sheath.
 
Well, I just got my Survival Bowie in the mail, and thought I'd post some first thoughts. This is a very sturdy large knive. The knive is somewhat larger than my CS Trailmaster, although the amount of sharpened edge is about the same. There is quite a bit of recurve in the blade. The handle is very comfortable, the micarta blends into the tang as well as any slab sided knife I've ever handled. It is nice and long in the handle, allowing a variety of hand positions. The handle is not too thick like many large knives, which I am happy for.

This is a large, heavy knife. Exactly what I was looking for. Funny though, it isn't overly sharp (but I got this second hand), it seems to be almost begging for a nice convex edge. This seems to be counter-intuitive since the primary grind is hollow. I won't have much time for a couple of weeks, but I just might put a convex edge on it instead of my standard thin v grind. The finish is rough, but very much in keeping with the scope of work for this knife. This is going to be a user, and a hard user at that. I'll post more after I've had time to do some chopping and cutting with this, but it seems like a very solid large bowie.
 
I have a few MMHW, and I've convexed every one of them. The edges are still very robust, and much better cutters now.
 
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