brj's OTFs & miscellaneous others

[brj]

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Those are scary sharp.

[brj]

First impressions after exclusively carrying & using the ZBT Ultratech for a couple of days.

Love the action, very very good, as on all MT Gen3s.

Love the new button, wider and less tall. Quite possibly the best button I have ever used on any auto, from any maker/brand.



I’m ok with the new clip and glass breaker, but I’m solidly in the group of people that consider the old ones quite useable. Same for the zero blade play feature, I for sure am glad it’s there but it detracts nothing from my enjoyment of the older models, bladeplay and all.



I dislike the slight change in the shape of the handle, there used to be a slight curvature underneath that perfectly accommodated my index and middle fingers, they’ve made it smaller now so I only have room for my middle finger. Not a big deal, just a design decision I don’t quite understand as they’ve haven’t altered this type of slight curve on anything else, Scarabs, Combat Troodosn, etc. Mind, not as annoying as the Military 2 choil , just a tiny fraction of that.

[brj]

As with the Combat Troodon, the overall length has slightly been increased while blade length stays pretty much the same.

[brj]

[brj]

Battle of the hopefuls, fighting it out for pocket time over the UT ZBT





Scout won

[RustyIron]

Battle of the hopefuls, fighting it out for pocket time over the UT ZBT

You're quickly becoming an irresistible temptation. Back in the late 80's I played with inexpensive OTF's, and I found them to be clunky and unreliable. But they were cool. It seems that much has improved in the last 30+ years, and I'm willing to give it another go. The Microtech ZBT's have my attention. I'm patiently waiting, hoping they adopt the mechanism into their other styles of knives.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Do you like Cold Steel AUS8 and AUS10 steel?

[brj]

Looks like I've just been SEFfed with the most random question ever. Let me get my most random answer then: I'm eagerly awaiting to see Manowar live in Stockholm in 3 weeks from now on.

[brj]

Battle of the hopefuls, fighting it out for pocket time over the UT ZBT

You're quickly becoming an irresistible temptation. Back in the late 80's I played with inexpensive OTF's, and I found them to be clunky and unreliable. But they were cool. It seems that much has improved in the last 30+ years, and I'm willing to give it another go. The Microtech ZBT's have my attention. I'm patiently waiting, hoping they adopt the mechanism into their other styles of knives.

Build quality of today's OTFs is tenfold improved from the Nato's of my youth (though I still keep a couple for nostalgic reasons).



I hope you'll like the new UT, mechanically it's extremely satisfying to play with, and it carries nice and slim. Cutting-wise you might find it somehow lacking, especially if you go with D/E, though the single edge looks (to my eyes) a bit thinner than it's older self.

[RustyIron]

Ha! I had one exactly like the one on the right.

[brj]

[brj]

[brj]

I've never been a fixed blade EDC kind of guy (though I do cycle through the few that I have), yet I don't seem able to put the Dacian away. Good size, fast and nimble in hand, great blade profile, absolutely awesome micarta scales, grooved out for plenty of traction in hand. The jimping is all over, but a bit less 'meh' in real life versus my initial impressions looking at pics, so all good there.

Lotsa people hating on the sheath, but I'll say I tentatively like it. Sure, it's a plasticky, cheap looking and feeling thingy, but on my example the retention is absolutely secure with no rattle, the clip is decent, it doesn't take too much pocket real estate (& works great for in-pocket carry) and, most importantly, it doesn't scratch the blade (like so many kydex sheaths out there do).

Also, before being ranchers in a Benchmade commercial, the Dacians used to be something else entirely

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I learned from both that double edge is just never going to be my thing

Back in the 80's I discovered that I could buy all the switchblades I wanted through mail order catalogs, so I bagged a few OTF's. Although they were kind of cool for the time, they were junky imports. The whole concept seemed inherently flawed, so I never considered buying an OTF from a legitimate manufacturer.

Fast forward a few decades... Microtech is dropping their newfangled Ultratech ZBT later this afternoon. I'm intrigued. But the blade is double edged and the prices will be MSRP. I'm not so intrigued that I'll pay that much for something that I'm still ambivalent about. Maybe they'll flesh out the line with a tanto, and maybe there will eventually be sales. Maybe then I'll fork over some cash.

Yeah I'm also watching those very closely. I'm not getting in on the double edged ones but when they do a single edge I'll probably bite. I really hope they give their Scarab 2 with the ZBT treatment.

David brj and others, look at the Stab Nana from Heretic Knives. Wow! Unique.
https://hereticknives.com/stabnana/

[brj]

[Evil D]

I learned from both that double edge is just never going to be my thing

Back in the 80's I discovered that I could buy all the switchblades I wanted through mail order catalogs, so I bagged a few OTF's. Although they were kind of cool for the time, they were junky imports. The whole concept seemed inherently flawed, so I never considered buying an OTF from a legitimate manufacturer.

Fast forward a few decades... Microtech is dropping their newfangled Ultratech ZBT later this afternoon. I'm intrigued. But the blade is double edged and the prices will be MSRP. I'm not so intrigued that I'll pay that much for something that I'm still ambivalent about. Maybe they'll flesh out the line with a tanto, and maybe there will eventually be sales. Maybe then I'll fork over some cash.

Yeah I'm also watching those very closely. I'm not getting in on the double edged ones but when they do a single edge I'll probably bite. I really hope they give their Scarab 2 with the ZBT treatment.

David brj and others, look at the Stab Nana from Heretic Knives. Wow! Unique.
https://hereticknives.com/stabnana/

Those are hilarious. I do enjoy blowing money on silly things now and then but I haven't gotten quite this far yet.

[brj]

Yeah... no

[brj]

[RustyIron]

Well, @brj, you and your bad example have set me back a short stack of benjamins. It's kinda cool, clearly better than any of the OTF's I've had in years past. The handle isn't giant and bulky like I expected, and the blade seems adequately usable. This might turn out to be a good EDC knife.