Use of thick blade knives i.e. Misssion MPK

vvk

vvk

Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
210
What do you generally use your thick (i.e. .25 inches and above) blade knives? I just both the "small" Mission MPK (5.5 inches) and for the life of me I could not think of any good use for it. The thing is not completely dull but is definitelly hard to use for food preparation or whittling. :confused: For comparison, I have Fallkniven S1 and although the blade is 5mm thick it cuts like a charm.

Could you provide any examples of the things you have done with a knife of similar blade length (5 - 6 inches) and thickness (.25 inches)? If somebody has used the MPK I would appreciate even more if he shares his experience.

BTW Cliff calls the MPK "efficient cutting tool" in his review, however it seems that during the test he had cut mainly rope and concrete:)
 
The knife was used for a number of activities, I spent a fair amount of time in the woods with the MPK-Ti. It has a very thin edge for such a large knife, about 0.03". It has a standard edge angle of abut 20 degrees per side so will cut above average for a knife of its size. Their serrations pattern is one of the best ones I have seen for a combination of fluidity and aggression. Of course if you compare that knife to a Deerhunter or similar it will be a lopsided contest.

The real and only advantage to that thickness is simply prying strength. That is why you have all the metal in the spine to give it strength. For steel knives it also gives you mass for chopping but Ti is so light that it never becomes heavy enough for that anyway.

-Cliff
 
Cliff seems to be a big fan of versatility, and so am I. It's the mark of good design, proportion, materials, and construction. These attributes combined equal value and confidence for the user.
Thicker blades are best used for "coarser" cutting where wedging, splitting, working the handle side-to-side and similar methods that require rigidity and extra strength may be beyond the versatility of the FOLDER in your pocket. It's always seemed to me that a very good reason to carry a fixed blade is for use in conjunction with a folder where one can make up for limitations of the other. A large folder carried with a similar sized fixed blade would seem to limit the possibilities of cutting efficiency for a given circumstance. Carry combinations would seem to be an excellent topic.
Regards- ss.
 
Well. My modest reflections.
- Because Titanium is more flexible than most knife steels, to retain dimensional stability, a knife made from it would have to be thicker.
- The surface characteristics of titanium are also different from most steel. I'm going to hazard the guess that there's more friction on the surface than with steel.
- Titanium is highly corrosion resistant, making it excellent for diving. It's quite inert to biochemicals, making it an easily sterizable blade for 'surgury'.
- Titanium is used primarily for EOD blades due to thier anti-magnetic properties. A titanium blade is a good compromise between knife steel and say plastic.
- I would only own one if I was dealing with EODs
 
Mission knives have been discussed in the past and all the positives and negatives have all been said on this forum in the past.

The MPK-Ti is an excellent blade, I had one of the original run MPK's and wish I still had it. Here is some info from someone who actually carried one and used it hard...me.

Pro's:
It is corrosion proof like all titaniums, until you get to high temperatures, which are beyond what you can hadle anyway.

It will bend further and return back to true more than any other metal except for nitinol.

It is very light.

It is highly impact resistant.

Cons:
It's edge holding is on par with Bucks 425 steel which is not very good, but not terrible. It has an Rc of around 46 I think but it feels like a steel at an Rc of 55.

Lightness reduces chopping ability.

The thinner parts tend to give easier and bend easier than a good thru-hardenned steel.

What has not been mentioned here, but I have mentioned in the past when others have asked and which is all too important is that this blade is not made from 6Al4V titanium like most dive and survival Ti blades are. 6Al4V Ti is a decent Ti but nothing really that special. One of the best Ti is Beta Ti and that is what mission uses. There are several versions but typical chemical comp is Ti 3Al 8V 6Cr 4Mo 4Zr. This Ti is leaps and bounds above 6al4v.

I have used it to make shelters dig holes, baton it for splitting kindling, cut tons of rope, cut metal crate ties, pry crates open and other stuff which was hard use. It never failed, just dulled quicker.

Titanium is slightly magnetic. A true non-magnetic knife would be a ceramic or polymer knife.
 
Cliff Stamp said:
The real and only advantage to that thickness is simply prying strength. That is why you have all the metal in the spine to give it strength. For steel knives it also gives you mass for chopping but Ti is so light that it never becomes heavy enough for that anyway.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

Cliff,
Thanks a lot for the clarifications. I bought the MPK based on your review and although I did not expect that it is going to be such a brute I really appreciate the serrations and the lightness of the knife. I will use the MPK as a tool of a "last resort" but not as my primary blade.

Cobalt said:
I have used it to make shelters dig holes, baton it for splitting kindling, cut tons of rope, cut metal crate ties, pry crates open and other stuff which was hard use. It never failed, just dulled quicker.
Click to expand...

OK these are some excellent suggestions. I will try to implement some of them during my next trip to the wilderness, unless, the customs officials think otherwise :) BTW I bought a Boye boat, cobalt knife as a companion to my MPK.


straitshot ,
I like the idea that combination of big knife and folder is good. I carried a folder (paramilitary) and a folding saw during my last camping trip in Alaska. I was originally planning of getting my Becker with me but at the last moment I got a cold feet and left it home as I was afraid that the sheeples at the airport may think that I am a terrorist.

Moodino,

I understand that a titanium knife must be thicker in order to retain stability. There is a price for the freedom; perhaps there is a price to carry a titanium knife too:)
 
I noticed that it is edge thickness - what really important for cutting. Microtech Kurrahhe is similar big knife with vert thin edge and it cuts very well. Also it blade wide and grind is full width flat - then thickness does not matter too much.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
nozh2002 said:
I noticed that it is edge thickness - what really important for cutting. Microtech Kurrahhe is similar big knife with vert thin edge and it cuts very well. Also it blade wide and grind is full width flat - then thickness does not matter too much.

Thanks, Vassili.
Click to expand...

Spasibo Vassili. What you say just confirms how perception could vary widely. I also have the Currahee and do not consider it to be an efficient cutter. If you have the Fallkniven S1 (it has the same blade width - 5 mm) you can try cutting and apple with both knives and you will probably notice a big difference in performace.
 
vvk said:
Spasibo Vassili. What you say just confirms how perception could vary widely. I also have the Currahee and do not consider it to be an efficient cutter. If you have the Fallkniven S1 (it has the same blade width - 5 mm) you can try cutting and apple with both knives and you will probably notice a big difference in performace.
Click to expand...

OK, I just sliced aplle with Currahhe on pretty thin slices 1mm each I think - will post picture tommorow. Edge is 3/128" - wich is very good, sharpnes test also shows that it is Champion - slightly better then Military BG42. Only consern I have is Currahhe coating wich has some friction when I cut. My Currahhe is not tanto - what about yours?

Thanks, Vassili
 
nozh2002 said:
OK, I just sliced apple with Currahhe on pretty thin slices 1mm each I think - will post picture tommorow. Edge is 3/128" - wich is very good, sharpnes test also shows that it is Champion - slightly better then Military BG42. Only consern I have is Currahhe coating wich has some friction when I cut. My Currahhe is not tanto - what about yours?

Thanks, Vassili
Click to expand...

I also have the non tanto (clip recurve) model. I agree that the currahee can cut well. It is the amount of efforts you have to put in order to cut s/g where IMO the currahee loses to a knife of similar thickness but different geometry - S1.
 
Cliff Stamp said:
The thin slices remove wedging, cut the apple right in half directly.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

It is obviouce that at some polint it will not cat but rather break it apart. It is matter of geometry and mechanical properties of apple - any knife will do same with certain blade width and thickness fro apple of certain size/ beaf will be different. For this kind of cutting - thin steel wire is best, but it does not illustrate knife property IMHO.

But if we are talking about apples - I do not see really what challenge it offer but just slicing with as thin as possible slices. Defenetely edge retention will not be an issue. About effort - it was pretty easy to maintain this slices thin, I would not say that I spent some effort to achive this, really is was pretty easy.

Thanks, Vassili
 
nozh2002 said:
For this kind of cutting - thin steel wire is best, but it does not illustrate knife property IMHO.
Click to expand...

Lots of vegetable/fruit cutting isn't simply making thin slices, for lots of cooking you need a greater thickness, plus wedges, etc. . If a wire is the best apple cutter you have seen then you really need a decent knife so optomized. Of course if you eliminate wedging then the cross section of the blade doesn't matter, but that is one of the primary constraints on knives in general as many media are so binding.

-Cliff
 
This is the picture of thin slices made by Currahhe:

Microtech_Currahi-18.jpg


I consider this as a good result for this kind of knife.

Thanks, Vassili.

Cliff Stamp said:
Lots of vegetable/fruit cutting isn't simply making thin slices, for lots of cooking you need a greater thickness, plus wedges, etc. . If a wire is the best apple cutter you have seen then you really need a decent knife so optomized. Of course if you eliminate wedging then the cross section of the blade doesn't matter, but that is one of the primary constraints on knives in general as many media are so binding.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

P.S. I am not real true scientist so I am not able and like to have discussion in this tone. Sorry.
 
The Currahee is one short and massive knife but next to the Mission it looks like a normal person sitting next to a sumo wrestler :)
mission_4.jpg


Mission MPK
mission_1.jpg


Putting an edge on the MPK, mission impossible?
I tried for hours to put s/g resembling an edge on the non serrated part of the blade. Alas my efforts were in vain.
I used Boker sharpener and Spyderco stones, but at the end the edge feels like plastic and cuts like plastic :grumpy: Any ideas how to sharpen the thing are more than welcome.

Boker submariner is also made of titanium, but I managed to sharpen it quite nicely
boker_submariner.jpg
 
I doubt that MPK-Ti can compete with Currahee: beta-Ti 45HRC vs D2 59-60HRC? I just got MPK-S with A2

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462229

but it has really thick edge and not very well sharpened on the factory (130 on my sharpness test). While Currahee has 60 close to 50 - I think even MPK-S will not really compete Currahee, as well as many other knives in this class, probably most of the knives. I will try to do same apple slicing test today.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
nozh2002 said:
I doubt that MPK-Ti can compete with Currahee: beta-Ti 45HRC vs D2 59-60HRC? I just got MPK-S with A2

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462229

but it has really thick edge and not very well sharpened on the factory (130 on my sharpness test). While Currahee has 60 close to 50 - I think even MPK-S will not really compete Currahee, as well as many other knives in this class, probably most of the knives. I will try to do same apple slicing test today.

Any ideas how to sharpen the none-serrated part of the Mission MPK TI?

Any ideas how to sharpen the none-serrated part of the Mission MPK TI?


Thanks, Vassili.
Click to expand...

Vassili,
Could you cut/split the apple in two? The thicker spine will probably affect the splitting the most, thus is a relevant test.
 
Any ideas how to sharpen the none-serrated part of the Mission MPK TI?
 
vvk said:
Vassili,
Could you cut/split the apple in two? The thicker spine will probably affect the splitting the most, thus is a relevant test.
Click to expand...

I did it right away last time.

Apple just rip apart at some point because it is relatively hard target, not too strong and not too big - small apple will do this with thiner blades, big apple with thick. Watermelon is also this kind of target, but again this is because on apple mechanical property and does not speek too much about knife abilities - this will happen with flat or hollow or convex grin - no difference. Imagine 3 feet big apple - will thick knife rip it apart - not until it is 3" thick in the spine. This is not a test - you may just check thickness with ruler. And steel wire will outperform any knife cutting apples this way. But slicing is better shows sharpness and how convinient blade is.

Ater all if you cut orange or tomato or even potato in half it will be much different experience. As well as beef etc... Thicker blade give more power for chopping, just because it is heavier and full width flat grind gives excellent cutting performance - this is why I like really wide fill width flat gring blades.

Thanks, Vassili.

P.S. I think you put to much pressure while sharpening - just a guess.

P.P.S. I am resharpening my MPK-S - manufacturer edge just owful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top