Microtech Knives: An Exercise In Futility
From the moment I first handled one, years ago, I felt a strong urge to buy a Microtech OTF (Out the Front) automatic knife. It wasn't just the "cool factor" of having the blade extend and retract with no more than thumb pressure...the knives seemed so well put together that the $400 price tag was nearly acceptable. Still, I just couldn't bring myself to buy one. As I did more research, I found that Microtech's reputation was not as stellar as I was led to believe.
Last winter, though, I saw that Microtech had apparently lowered the price of some of their knives, for what seemed like the same model I looked at in 2004 was now less than $200. It was much easier to convince myself that I could afford the knife at that price, so I ordered one - an Ultratech DE. It seemed to be everything I remembered and more. I cast aside those reports of problems, for mine certainly seemed to work...at first.
I carried the knife for a few weeks, using it almost every day, until, suddenly, I noticed that the blade wouldn't always lock in the forward position. The switch, at that point, was useless - it wouldn't fire any farther forward, and it wouldn't retract. I could pull the blade forward into the locked position with my fingers, but that defeats the purpose of an automatic knife. The failure rate was only about 20%, but even 1% would have been unacceptable.
"No problem," I thought. "I happen to know a customer service guy at MSAR who can get this taken care of for me." I'd met MSARDave in person at the 2009 NRA show in Phoenix, and had business dealings with him prior to that. I sent the knife to Microtech (in Pennsylvania) and went on a trip outside the country, figuring that it would be at the post office when I returned.
Unfortunately, it was not. Although Dave tried his best to keep me apprised as to the status of my knife, it was eventually lost by the repair folks. Dave happened to find it (in North Carolina) almost 5 months later, and immediately sent it back to me. I received the knife today and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had also been cleaned and sharpened. Whoever sharpened it really knew what they were doing - it is exceptionally sharp.
As I fired and retracted the knife, I noticed that it required more thumb pressure than before - not a problem, especially if it meant that the knife would always function. Unfortunately, after only 8 "in/out cycles", it failed to lock into the fully retracted position - about 3/8" of the blade protruded from the handle. Again, I was able to pull or flick the blade forward into the locked position, but I could also do that with an $8 knife from Walmart. This time, the failure rate is around 90% - it's rare for the knife to lock into the retracted position at all.
The bottom line is that I will never carry this knife again. I simply have no confidence in it. I don't really feel like sending it back to Microtech, given their past performance. I can't, in good conscience, sell it.
As if to add insult to injury, Doug Ritter's RSK Mk1 was briefly available in M4 high speed steel at around the same time I bought the Microtech - for $50 less. I bought two RSK Mk2s in M2 HSS - basically, Benchmade Griptilians with a really great blade steel - almost 5 years ago. I still have one, and it is superb. Had I known about the RSK, I would have ordered one in a heartbeat. Of course, it was a limited run, and they're now sold out.
I never thought that the third most expensive knife I've ever bought would end up in my "broken junk bin"...but it has.
July 27th, 2010 - 09:58
They require tight tolerances to function. Wont even lock in water. The first time might just have been lint. This time might be dried lube, it might have been sitting that 5 months.
Have you tried flushing it with break cleaner?
They’ve said most of their sales military, I’d expect better.
July 27th, 2010 - 10:38
Well, after sitting overnight, it seems to function perfectly now. I didn’t do anything to it. Doesn’t change my outlook on the knife – it’ll never be carried.
There was very wet lube on the blade when I received it, so I don’t think that was the issue.
July 27th, 2010 - 19:00
Do you have a “dollars I’ve saved Mike” calculator?
July 27th, 2010 - 23:22
I too was always intrigued by this type of knife but I wasn’t about to spend that kind of money for what I consider to be a toy. I have a nice Kershaw for everyday use. At a local gun show I saw a cheap knock off for only $10 so I figured it wouldn’t be a big loss if it didn’t last the day. I’m a fidgeter so sometimes when I’m sitting watching TV or on the computer I’ll be constantly popping the thing in and out. The clip was trash but I took it off and discarded it and I’ll occasionally give it a shot of spray grease. It has many thousands of operations on it and it’s going strong. It even took a good edge with my Spyderco sharpener. I’m sorry for your troubles but sometimes you don’t get what you pay for.
Marv
July 28th, 2010 - 08:51
So, will 15 bucks buy it?
July 28th, 2010 - 12:48
I have a drawer full of broken Benchmade Autos, maybe we can set up a California Legal* auto knife store on the Internet?
*Not sure what these knives are, but they sure as hell are not autos.
July 28th, 2010 - 12:59
Ha. Yeah, I have never been a fan of Benchmade autos – they were issued to some of the units I was attached to, and many stopped working when they got dirty.
April 4th, 2011 - 08:58
When it comes to automatic knives its clear that their functionality is questionable. Personally I feel that an assist to open pocket knife is more reliable since there are no moving parts to break. Springs break, mechanisms fail, not to mention the blades dull quickly. My advice is to always shop around for a good folding blade whether its manual or automatic.
July 17th, 2011 - 17:08
You’ll see die hard MT supporters claiming that MT is the only way to go for OTF autos. Anything else, they’ll write off as a knock-off or underperformer
That being said though, MT’s customer service has been worse. On bladeforums, there are quite a few threads expressing disapproval with lack of communication over long periods of time, and in one infamous case, the CMTX5 D/A side openers, MT refused to honor their warranty (they said they would only convert the knives to M/A, but they would not replace the defective sears that wore out early.) As for QC, there were also knives that were supposedly assembled from junk/leftover parts, such as the 2010 Blade Show UTX85′s, which some were reported to encounter failures.
I own a Makora II, DLC/plan edged. Requires quite a bit of force to fire, but it’s probably the first and last MT I’ll ever buy. For the money, there are better knives, and a few other manufacturers are entering the OTF market.
December 7th, 2011 - 09:50
I bought my MT OTF Scrab $439.00 on 11-21-11, 0n 11-30-11 I noticed that when I retracted the blade on my Scrab, the lever had some resistance. As you start to pull the lever to retract the blade about 1/16 of an inch into the pull I hit what felt like a burr or slight biding in the sliding of the lever, after you got past that little bump it felt normal and everything worked fine. Also when I pulled the lever and it hit that little burr/bump you could hear a little noise that sounds like a click of something metallic bumping a spring and a slight sound like a spring is being hit with a “ting” sound. That only happened closing the blade and it was quiet and smooth, it still was when you open the blade.
I tried putting a drop of oil under lever and a drop or two at the opening and base of the blade and it didn’t really help.
A day later when I tried to clean and re-oil the knife as suggested by the vender, it stopped working altogether and the firing button had no resistance at all. I called Horizon Bladeworks where I bought the knife, they were very nice, but no real help and stopped answering my emails. I just sent it back to MT after getting a RA # and we will see if it is fixed for good when it comes back. I have to say I am disappointed and hope this was a fluke! Bad a** knife if it works like it should….. Follow-up to come after I get it back and test it for a while!
December 21st, 2011 - 13:27
Follow-up: MT was very accommodating! I emailed them and got a RA # within 4 hours of the email. I paid the shipping and insurance, then sent it back. Cheryl Plaza of MT returned my email ASAP and said she would rush my repair and not charge me the return shipping as stated they would charge me on their website. She emailed me about a week later and told me the knife was repaired and being shipped back to me. She wished me a Merry Christmas and I had my knife back in 2 or 3 days. It works like new with a fresh sharpening! I have been firing it and it works perfect, just like when I got it! Total time, about a week and a half! Also, I have the blacked out version (107-2T) and was concerned that the black screws would have some of the black coating chipped off due to the disassemble, not so, it is pristine.
December 22nd, 2011 - 06:41
I would like to add to this comment for anyone considering an OTF MT knife. Go to a dealer and look a few and fire them. The reason the spring is always in a resting position (Most of them that I know of) is this: The mechanism that fires and retracts them is built into the firing button. It is a mechanical advantage system that basically cocks a spring when you slide the button. The disadvantage to this system is that it takes a bit of force with your thumb to fire and retract the blade and more stuff to break. The energy created to fire the blade by cocking the spring is created with the push/pull of the button. I have had a few men that really struggle with activating the button, some couldn’t do it. I haven’t had a woman that could do it yet without having to use two thumbs to activate it, or not even then. About 90% of the guys that tried it had no problem. Go figure, I guess the rest need to do a thumb work-out..
Anyway, I hope this helps someone with their decision whether or not to spend that much money on an OTF MT or similar knife.
December 31st, 2011 - 08:32
I bought both an Ultratech, and UTX-70 when they were “on-sale” 2-years ago. The Ultratech was $185.00 and the UTX-70 was $155.00. Both are complete junk. The UTX locked open, wand won’t close. I have taken it apart, and put it back more than a few times. It runs for about 2 to 5 deployments, and then locks again. The Ultratech just bounces when retracted. They are both over-priced gimicks, and complete junk. Microtech won’t return my calls or emails. The shop where I bought the knives “Not Your Moma’s Knives” is no help. In fact, they posture like they did me a big favor by selling me this trash at a discount. These problems occurred immediately after I bought the knives. I will never shop with them again, and as far as Microtech….I wish bad things upon them. Nuff said.