MTech USA – Fixed Blade Knife – Black Stainless Steel Blade with Black Carved G10 Handle, Full Tang, Includes 1680D Nylon Sheath - Hunting, Camping, Survival, Tactical, EDC – MT-20-39

Two or three years ago, I would have told you MTech was junk, but since I follow knife reviews on Youtube, I'm finding that they are now producing many fine knives, as well as many of the bad and laughable ones I used to base my opinion on, such as their many zombie killer and "fantasy" models.That said, anyone going on a lengthy wilderness trip would want a knife like this along. It's massive enough to chop, chip, and sliver wood. It's long enough to baton in order to split wood.Which reminds me: the specs. It's 14.25" long with 8" of that being sharpened blade. The blade is blackened with what I can only assume is black paint, not one of the more expensive coatings like Teflon or oxide.The steel is described on the blade as "440" without a suffix of a, b, or c, which probably means it's 440a. This is the least desirable of the three, which would concern me on a smaller blade less dependent on size and weight for its effect. In fact, going to 440c or even a better steel might be wasted on this knife.On another front, it's probably bigger and heavier than most soldiers would want to carry in the field, but it has obvious advantages for hand-to-hand combat. In a situation like that, the reach of an 8" blade can be a crucial advantage if the opponent has a 4"-5"-6" blade.Because it's a clip point, the tip is plenty pointy and sharp. I might not want to try to pierce a car door with it—for which a tanto point would be better—but for piercing flesh, the clip point beats the tanto. Then there's the heft. It weighs nearly a pound (.98) so a chop or swing could also do very very serious damage.Inexpensive knives are often not too sharp, but this came plenty sharp. A bit shy of Cold Steel or Kershaw sharp, perhaps, but given the heft it's plenty sharp enough. It passed the thumbnail test with flying colors.Most knife people like fixed blade knives to be "full tang," where the blade metal goes all the way back to the back end of the handle. Well, this is almost a perfect example of a full tang knife. It's the blade/handle metal and two plastic plates to create the handle grip, plus fasteners, of course.The main "con" after all the "pros" would be that the sheath is nothing to write home about. Too bad it didn't come with a Kydex or ABS plastic sheath. I'd have paid a few more bucks if it came with one. This is a Cordura sheath with a generously-sized belt loop.BTW, in the photo it might look like I didn't line up the tip of the knife with the zero point of the measuring tape. I did while looking down at the knife, but I took the photo stepping back a bit, so you're just seeing a perspective effect.It's a pretty good knife and well worth the price.

This seems to be a really good knife, and for the money it is superb. It was quite sharp out of the box, and after literally 45 seconds on my home made strop, it is hair popping sharp. The grind on the edge s even and shiny. I have bought Bowie knives for over a hundred bucks that weren't sharpened this well. As for the grip scales, the knife was probably just fine as it arrived, but I used a small diamond file to extend the bevels on the bottom edges. Now it is extremely comfortable to me. That is just a matter of taste though. This took me another two minutes. For under $14.00 shipped, I have absolutely no reservations on giving this a five star rating. As for the sheath, MTech seems to be getting better on these. This sheath seems safe and is some sort of nylon with plastic sleeve reinforcement inside. I may make a Kydex sheath for it in the future, but this isn't a pressing concern. I have bought several MTech Bowie style knives lately and haven't been disappointed in any of them. This one may be the best of the bunch. Time will tell of course....Update: If I could give this knife 6 stars now, I would.As for dimensions, a lot of makers seem to exaggerate their blade thickness. According to my digital calipers this one is 4.95 mm, which is pretty darn close to the five mm claimed here. Good for MTech. The jimping is functional without being too aggressive and uncomfortable. The choil here is generous and very comfortable when choking up. The knife seems secure in hand and I don't see any need for a separate guard as a couple of other reviews have mentioned.One thing I would suggest is for MTech to lose the slogan "Handcrafted in China" on these blades. They are factory produced in China and I probably wouldn't consider any of them to be "hand crafted" lol. At any rate, making a knife this good for such a price, I don't really begrudge them a little puffery. Buy this one, the 096, 151, and the MX8090, and you will have a pretty good arsenal of functional camp knives for very little money.Here's a little tip for customizing it. I thought the G10 grips looked pretty good, but since I always seem to want to screw with (some might say "screw up") my Bowie knives - these grips seemed a bit "unfinished'. So I put a few drops of black dye into some Boiled linseed oil and rubbed these grips with it, followed by use of a hair dryer. The grips are now sealed and are quite black. I still have good control with them, and not slippery at all. I thinks it looks a bit better and it took all of five minutes to do. The heat from the hair dryer helps the linseed oil to penetrate and it is still secure and not slippery. I didn't even have to remove the scales to do this, since linseed oil wipes right off the steel.

Finally, a great knife for the price. So tired of junk arriving. This utilitarian hunk of steel is great:1. Looks good with nice ballistic nylon sheath- not thin junk sheath.2. Good bowie design with full tang - The handle is near 1/4 inch thick steel with a good grip - even for a large hand.3. Heavy and has a good edge and a nice design.This is just the thing for an inexpensive knife that actually gets used --- for hacking branches, for digging in the ground, or as a pry bar -all the things you hesitate to use an expensive knife for.I will order another at this price. Everything done right for a utilitarian hunk of metal that actually gets used. A good deal.CON- After some time I admit I am not sure of just what metal this black steel is. Inexpensive, yes. But other knifes around$150 make me feel I could pry some metal or hack a branch after an earthquake and trust it not to shatter. I am just not sure aboutthis. Great for lighter use, but the extreme is where your life may be on the line and for that I will stick to known high quality steel.I could be wrong. But too good to be true is.......

It is very large. Sturdy, needs a better handle, but its very sharp. Took it on a hike where a fallen tree was abstracting the trail. I decided to move it out of the way. The tree was too heavy to move, so i decided to hack off some branches. The weight of the knife helped chop off branches as big as 4-5" in diameter in no time. The handle is sturdy but its very rough. I ended up using a glove because the handle was rubbing me raw.In conclusion: The knife looks badass, its sharp, sturdy, and large. Heavy, but thats a good substitute for a hatchet. The sheath is also very well made.Great deal for the $$