MTECH USA XTREMEFixed Blade Knife – Brushed Finish Stainless Steel Blade with Black Micarta Handle and Kydex Sheath, Full Tang Construction, EDC, Tactical – MX-8035, 7-Inch Overall

EDGE GETS ***EXTREMELY*** SHARP USING A LOW-ANGLE GRIND. BLADE WORKS AS A SHORT PRY BAR SO LONG AS YOU DON'T STRESS THE TIP OR EDGE WHERE IT TAPERS. SHEATH CLIP HOOKS ONTO BELT OR MOLLE (YES MOLLE) TO KEEP IT IN PLACE WHEN WITHDRAWING KNIFE. FOR ME THE SIZE IS PERFECT TO HOLD TIGHTLY IN A HAMMER GRIP WITH ONLY THE BLADE AND BUTT OF THE TANG EXPOSED, GOOD FOR THRUSTING AND SMASHING, OR WITH MY THUMB ON THE SPINE AT THE JIMPING FOR CONTROL. THE SMALLER SIZE ELIMINATES WORRY THAT IT COULD BREAK FROM THE RELATIVE BRITTLENESS OF STAINLESS STEEL COMPARED TO CARBON STEEL. THE 440C STEEL IS BETTER THAN AUS-8. JUST A GREAT LITTLE CURVED WEDGE OF A KNIFE FOR CHEAP.HOW TO PURCHASE AN MTECH:(1) MAKE SURE TO GET THE RIGHT QUALITY MTECH FOR YOUR NEEDS. THERE IS "MTECH USA" AND "MTECH USA XTREME." MTECH USA USUALLY IS MADE FROM 440 STEEL (PROBABLY 440A) WITH A THINNER BLADE, LOWER WEIGHT, AND COSTS LESS. MTECH USA XTREME LIKE THIS MODEL IS USUALLY MADE FROM 440C STEEL WITH A THICKER BLADE AND COSTS MORE (STILL INEXPENSIVE THOUGH). THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO USUALLY COMES DOWN TO 440 VS. 440C STEEL, STEEL THICKNESS AND WEIGHT.(2) MAKE SURE YOU GET A NEW MTECH. YOU CAN TELL BECAUSE MTECH ALWAYS TAPES ITS BOXES CLOSED AND WRAPS THE BOX CONTENTS IN PLASTIC. SO CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU GET A NEW, UNOPENED BOX WITH THE CONTENTS PROPERLY WRAPPED -- OTHERWISE IT HAS BEEN OPENED AND IS NOT NEW.(3) INSPECT EVERYTHING CAREFULLY. IN THE PAST SOME MODELS (THE MT-151) HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH BENT BLADES. NOT SURE WHY. ANYWAY, INSPECT IT TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS STRAIGHT.(4) SECURE ANY SCALE SCREWS WITH LOCTITE RED. THIS MODEL MAY REQUIRE SOME READJUSTMENT OF THE SCALE POSITIONING SO THAT THEY ARE FLUSH AGAINST THE EDGE OF THE TANG.(5) LIGHTLY SHARPEN AS NEEDED. MTECHS DO NOT SEEM TO REQUIRE ANY LENGTHY SHARPENING TO GET AN EXTREMELY SHARP EDGE. THIS WAS EXTREMELY SHARP OUT OF THE BOX.(6) CONSIDER WHETHER YOU NEED A BETTER SHEATH. MTECH SHEATHS ARE BASIC AND FUNCTIONAL, USUALLY NYLON REINFORCED WITH PLASTIC AND A LOOP FASTENED BY SNAP OR VELCRO TO KEEP THE KNIFE FROM FALLING OUT. BUT FOR SOME PURPOSES YOU WILL WANT A MORE ADVANCED SHEATH GIVING YOU BETTER OPTIONS. THIS SHEATH IS PLASTIC WITH A GOOD BELT CLIP WHICH STAYS ON EVEN WHEN PULLING HARD ON THE KNIFE TO GET IT OUT. FOR ME I NEED NO REPLACEMENT BECAUSE THE STOCK SHEATH WORKS GREAT. YOU CAN HEAT IT UP AND POSITION THE KNIFE TO GET A SMOOTHER ACTION WITH THE PLASTIC SHEATH.(7) ENJOY! YOU WILL PROBABLY FIND THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT KNIFE AT A LOW PRICE.

I got this with the intention of it being a sturdy neck knife. I was a bit dubious when I got it due to it's weight, but I very quickly got used to the weight, now I don't even notice it.The heft feels good in my hand, and I feel like I could survive many situations with this blade. Full, thick tang and very sturdy. I also like the lanyard hole at the base of the handle. The sheath is well made and holds the blade well, no rattle at all even after a long period of use.If you don't like neck knives it also has a clip on the back of the sheath for clipping to your belt or boot. That though is why I had to take off a star, you can't remove it. If you use this as a neck knife the clip isn't needed, I would have liked to have been able to easily remove it.I will say I'm a big guy, 6'2, so on me it doesn't feel too big as a neck knife, your mileage may very. Only downside is when my wife hugs me I have to remember to slide it aside so her face doesn't rest on it, it's not the most comfortable thing during a hug for either of us.I saw a few older comments about blade discoloration upon arrival, but mine was perfect out of the box so I'm guessing they fixed any issues in that area. It was also nice and sharp, and holds its edge well.

I am impressed as heck with this knife. I took it on a 3 day motorcycle camping trip last week & used it for many tasks & it stayed sharp & worked great for all of them. I cut some small limbs off a tree for my hammock lines, Batoned some small limbs for kindling, used the pommel to pound in my tent spikes, used it to cut my steak for dinner one night, made some feather sticks for the fire & used it with my ferro rod to throw sparks to start the fire every night. I didn't even use my favorite large knife that I usually use for these tasks while camping. The sheath is great, I rotated the belt clip to wear horizontally as that is more comfortable on my motorcycle & then put it around my neck in the evenings at camp. This has been in heavy rotation in my EDC items. The 2 things that surprised me the most about this knife is how versatile it is with the blade shape & length & how comfortable the handle is. I always thought you needed at least a 5" blade for a good camp/utility knife, but this knife has proved me wrong. So far I have only needed to run it on my strop a few times to keep a super sharp edge on it. Both my riding buddies ordered one of these after seeing it in action. This is my third MTech product & I am really impressed by the bang for buck factor on all 3 of them. Micarta & G10 are my favorite handle materials & this one has really nice micarta handle scales that look good as well as feel good in the hand.