United Cutlery/Lainhart Knives

[Daryl]

I picked up the two "SEAL" knives at a gunshow yesterday, The "Jungle Machete" and the shorter skeleton style knife. Any thoughts on these Knives? I like both however the sheath on the shorter knife is crap. The plastic rivits are already breaking off. The Machete (despite it's hooky name) seems well thought out, the balance and weight are wonderful. Due to the blade steel (ats-34) and the hardness (57rc) I see it as being more of a large knife than a short machete. Any reviews done on these knives?

 

[m]

I have the machete.It is a great knife.I have chopped with mine,pried with it,split wood with it,and it has held up fine.It feels good in my hands and does what I ask of it.I think it is way underated because it is a United product and because it has the SEAL label on it which turns a lot of people off to the point they aren't willing to give an excellent knife a fair shake.That and the fact a lot of manufacturers and makers have cooked ATS34 to the point of brittleness and given a very good steel a bad name.
m

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Originally I wasn't all that impressed with either knife. In particular, the skeletonized knife with no finger protection whatsoever, and thumb grooves to tempt you to put your thumb right next to the sharpened serrations, seemed positively dangerous. Depending on the role you forsee for this knife, I can bet I can find a better knife in a similar price range every time.

I was also pretty down on the machete, until someone convinced me to think about it as an inexpensive big bowie instead of a machete. Seems to make sense in that role, but I haven't gotten to play with one.

And m is right, I'm probably harder on these products than I should be because of the SEAL hype thing.

Joe