Quartermaster Knives

bladeco

bladeco

Joined
Oct 28, 2013
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283
Hey guys I'm new to the community and just ordered the entire run of Quartermaster Knives to give them a shot.
If anyone owns one of these I would love to hear your comments or reviews on what looks like a new company that will give ZT a run for their money! I should have the order in by the weekend and posted to my web site shortly after. Thanks for any info you have.
 
bladeco said:
a new company that will give ZT a run for their money!
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Did you seriously just write that?

If memory serves me right, Quartermaster is owned by the same guy that runs Mantis Knives. There was a whole fiasco with Mantis and falsely labeling steels. The designs still look as funky as Mantis knives. I don't know of anyone willing to shell that much money on knives that come from a guy that's not known for reputation around here.

No, I don't think Quartermaster will give ZT a run for its money. I think I speak for the majority of bladeforums when I say that.

OH, and Mantis/Quartermaster handles look like they have the ergonomics of a 2x4, which is to say not at all. Actually, a 2x4 would be more ergonomic; at least you won't get hotspots from all those angles and corners prevalent on so many of their grip designs. Their entire designs just look childish and not very well thought out. Why do you need more than one thumbstud?

QTR4.jpg
<---flipper and 3 thumbstuds?
 
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thanks for your input Harkamus, was more commenting on the heft of these knifes I don't know of the quality yet. So then you have worked with one before or have owned one?
 
harkamus said:
If memory serves me right, Quartermaster is owned by the same guy that runs Mantis Knives. There was a whole fiasco with Mantis and falsely labeling steels. The designs still look as funky as Mantis knives. I don't know of anyone willing to shell that much money on knives that come from a guy that's not known for reputation around here.
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Quartermaster isn't affiliated with Mantis. Jared West lead everyone to believe he owned Mantis when in fact it was his father's (Gary West) company and he was merely left to run it for the last several years. Apparently the father and son had a falling out, Jared left Mantis, not on good terms (believe he's being pursued legally by the father), and he's been popping up here and there designing for different companies like Combat Ready/Quartermaster/etc.

That's what I found when I looked into Quartermaster Knives, cause I thought it was a Mantis spinoff too.

I don't know who actually owns Quartermaster, but I do know Combat Ready is a 'in house' brand from SMKW, and both obviously have designs influenced by Jared.

As far as competing with ZT, I doubt it. Their designs are a little too 'out there' for most knife guys and their gimmicky type of advertising doesn't usually draw much positive attention round here (subliminal frame-lock...:confused::rolleyes:).

Plus everything they make is in limited runs thus far. No way they can make anywhere near as large a footprint in the knife industry as ZT.

-sh00ter
 
After looking at the QM website, I don't believe ZT has anything to worry about, at least from a design standpoint.
 
The only thing i like about their knives is the multi thumb lugs,pretty cool, & it gives you more to grab with your thumb...
 
Honestly, people on BF overrate ZT and put them on a pedestal. I've owned 3 ZT knives, and while nice they're not as godly as people make them out to be and all 3 are no longer with me. Simply hit and miss like every other company. My friend has a wicked ZT0600 though, which is fantastic.
 
Seilu said:
Honestly, people on BF overrate ZT and put them on a pedestal. I've owned 3 ZT knives, and while nice they're not as godly as people make them out to be and all 3 are no longer with me. Simply hit and miss like every other company. My friend has a wicked ZT0600 though, which is fantastic.
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Who said they're godly? ZT's are simply good, solid, hard working knives, with a quality build at an affordable price AND made in the USA. Their sales speak for themselves as far as popularity.

Sounds like they weren't for you, and that's fine, just like any other knife/manufacturer, it's not for everyone.

-sh00ter
 
Ok since nobody else owns a QM, I will post about mine. I traded for a Murdock a little while back and the knife was decent to start with. Total PITA to reprofile the blade back a few degrees, and everything has proven the blade to be 154CM/CPM-154 (not seen a straight answer on which). The opening wasn't super smooth, so I popped the knife open to clean it. The pivot was BONE DRY! Once I cleared the dust and drowned the bearings in oil, the knife is super smooth. Not even joking, the action rivals any other proper bearing system I have seen.

Goofy designs aside, I am not afraid to buy another QM knife, and once I can I likely will buy one of their flipper models. Once I can get a proper pocket clip for my knife (emailing QM was useless...) I will definitely stick the Murdock right into my EDC rotation.
 
http://www.quartermasterknives.com/aboutus.html


"The 6-acre complex is under 24 hour surveillance using recently de-classified thermal imaging sensors.The 8,500 square foot facility is home to multiple design studios, think-tanks & a 3,000 sq ft shop floor. However, a medical-grade clean room and a 3 story-high knife museum with a biometric-scanner that allows/disallows access are likely to be considered the highlights of our facility."


Jared is definitely involved.
 
Gimmicks or not, they make a solid knife. I do love the incredibly stout liner on the Murdock, and the tang is so wide it will practically never hit the other liner, it will just become jammed and impossible to disengage years down the road!

Side note, it also fits a ZT 560/550 Gen 2 clip pretty well.
 
I have a QTR-6, and so far it has proven to be a solid knife.

IMAG0608_zps1f084df1.jpg


IMAG0611_zps6705052e.jpg


I made a quick video preview of it also:
[video=youtube;gx1tl41Ku1g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx1tl41Ku1g[/video]
 
Okay, I have an admission to make. I recently posted in another Quartermaster thread about the horrible experience I had with the B.A. Baracus I bought last year, and saying that I was unlikely to buy anything else from them in the future. Well...a couple weeks ago I did just that. I still loved the look of the B.A., so I decided to give them one more chance before writing them off completely. I ordered another one, and it is flawless. Blade is perfectly centered, lockup is tight, early, and solid, and the F&F are miles above the first example I had. I was so impressed, in fact, that I decided to try out a Murdock, when I saw that they'd done away with the little double serrations near the ricasso on the latest version. This knife is also flawless. I said in my previous post that I thought it possible my first QM knife was a lemon, and I'm now convinced that's just what it was. I'm glad I decided to give then a second chance. :thumbup:

edit: Regarding ergos, these knives are deceptive. The Baracus is comfortable in both normal and reverse grip, and the Murdock is not bad either, except that the handle length only allows me a 3 finger grip.

The latest Murdock, sans serrations: http://www.bladehq.com/item--Quartermaster-Knives-QTRM5TR-HM--13203 They're also stone washing now, as opposed to bead blasting. Both of mine are stone washed. :thumbup:
 
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