MTECH USASpring Assisted Folding Knife

As others have noted, this is surprisingly heavy for a small knife; but not too heavy. I find the weight comfortable in my hand. The assisted open action is crisp. The blade was razor sharp out of the box, and I’m a fan of the harpoon tip. The liner lock is steady and secure. This knife easily competes with higher priced knives in my collection, and has become my EDC choice. I am looking to see if this design can be found in a larger size.

A little heavy (in a good way) and the clip is way too tight to slip over fabric as it came (easy to fix), but otherwise great as an every day carry in lady sized pants pockets or clutch purse. Knife opens easily and has a safety to close. The hole to slip on a key ring is nice to have, but not something I’d make use of personally. Handle feels better than some of the smaller Gerber knives and is closer to what I like about the hand hold of small Smith & Wesson knives, but at a lower price point.I wish it was a brushed rather than mirror finished handle, but no big deal. Will probably order a couple more to have one in the car and emergency kit bags.

The media could not be loaded. NOTE: I forgot to mention in my first review that I am left-handed, and knives made for right-handers like the two I bought, present some extra challenges to lefties in how they are opened and closed, how they are carried and deployed. Keep that in mind if you are also a lefty like me.I also decided to rate it four stars (up from the three I initially gave it due to its rather "robust" opening mechanism (I explain it in my review). I'm going to add a video of it being flipped open, because, in this case, a short video is worth 1,000 words).Being a lefty, what makes this knife and the other one I bought a little hard to use are the facts that they are made for right-handed users and have flat handles that makes rotating them into position somewhat tricky. It takes a little practice to do it without fumbling, but as long as you're someone who isn't "all thumbs" you'll master it in 15 minutes or less.A few days ago I decided to visit Amazon and buy a knife. I wanted to find one that was less than $25, easy to carry as an everyday knife, and one that was highly rated by users. However, I was literally blown away by the number of choices available to me.Between the knives made by Tac-Force and MTech, I spent the entire day looking through virtually their entire catalog (if they had a catalog, that is). I decided to set some filters to limit the number of choices. The first filter I set was look at knives only rated four stars above. The next filter I said was the maximum price of $25. I decided to leave the other filters alone and see what came up.There are other brands that I evaluated besides the two I mentioned. In particular, the Rat and Rat 2 were the highest-rated knives I could find on Amazon. Given their quality, the price of them was well worth it -- even though they were slightly above my maximum limit.The most expensive knife that I would consider was the Hoffman Richter HR-30 Tactical Folding Knife at $29.95. With an overall rating of 4.8 that included 81% of the ratings being marked five stars, this one seemed like a winner on all counts. The only problem is that it was more than I wanted to spend on that day. I may go back another day to get, but I was determined to stay within my budget.After searching through the plethora of choices, I wound up taking two and ordering them on the same day. They were the TAC Force TF-762DW Assisted Opening Tactical Folding Knife, and the MTech USA MT-A882BL Spring Assist Folding Knife. Although these two knives were both flippers, they couldn't be more different if you tried to pick him that way.Let me begin by giving you a review of the smaller knife, the MTech MT-888 2BL.The MTech is a perfect size for carrying a pocket or purse. When folded, it is 3 inches in length. When opened, the blade is 2.75 inches long. The blue blade is eye-catching, and the oval opening at the top is reminiscent of the SOG models and cost 2 to 3 times its price of $7.25!Given its low price, and was not expecting it to be of high quality. When the knife arrived, I was amazed at how well the knife was made. For such a small knife, it was fairly heavy but solidly made. However, here's where I must address its major caveat.The spring in and the flipper mechanism is so strong it can open up a folded Bowie knife, and if the knife blade was not securely fastened to the handle, it would send it flying 15 feet on a straight line.To say that this little knife opens with authority would be an understatement. Not only does it open quick but the sound it makes for a knife is analogous to the sound a shotgun makes when pumping it. Now, they say that the sound of a shotgun being pumped is enough to scare bad guys away. And that is a myth. However, if there was ever a sound made by a knife strong enough to scare bad guy away, this knife would be it.On the good side, the liner lock in this knife is one of the best I've ever seen. Not only is it solid and keeps the knife firmly in its open position, releasing the lock could not be more easy. With small knives, there's always a risk of having the blade overpowering the liner lock in closing on your fingers. Not so with this knife. When the blade is retracted, it stiffens up halfway back so there is no danger of accidentally closing on your fingers when you are retracting the blade back into the handleOn the downside, if the blade is not fully retracted back into its handle, there is a risk of flipping open the blade by accident -- especially when withdrawing it from a pocket. I don't know if that's something that can be corrected or will soften over time, but it's something for the prospective buyer to consider. For this reason, I am assigning three stars.If not for the overpowering spring action, I would rate it five stars.Now onto the second knife. Whereas the MTech flipped open in the blink of an eye, the Tac-Force opens up in a very leisurely fashion. In fact, you can control how quickly.you want the blade to open by modulating the amount of force you apply to the flipper. This is a feature that I happen to like a lot. If you need open quickly, you simply flick your finger more quickly. If you're using the knife for work or to open a package, you can open it as slowly as you would a folding knife.I'm not going to go into an extensive review of the knife here. Rather, I'm going to provide that under its own heading. If you want to know what I thought about the Tac-Force knife you can go there. But, suffice to say, I've rated it five stars with the only downside being the inability to relocate the clip, and the fact that as a left-hander, it's a bit tricky getting a knife positions in my hand so that I can open it without a lot of maneuvering.The clip is very tight and I struggled to slide it on the outside pocket of a pair of dress pants (see photo 11). I finally had to bend the clip back with a screwdriver to add enough space for the clip to slide in my pocket (photo12)I forget to mention that this knife is also easily opened and closed, one-handed, using the cutout at the top of the blade. Closing the knife, one-handed, takes some practice.There's a lot to like about this slick-little knife (once you take care to close the blade all the way down) and keep in mind how quickly it opens. (I'm going to add a short video to demonstrate it). Definitely, well worth the price.MTech USA MT-A882BL Spring Assist Folding Knife, Blue Blade, Black Handle, 3-Inch Closed

I have bought several of these. Love them all. But did not realize there was a difference between the handles until today. The black handles are plastic. Sturdy though. Good grip. Got this gold one in today and it is heavy! Solid little thing! I did not realize the handle would be metal too! I really like the all metal one. I will be buying more metal ones for sure.

Great knife. Small and fits in pocket.

The tip was flattened down and is not sharp. Done that way from manufacturer, you can tell by the flat spot being painted red like the rest of the blade.

Love these little knives

The media could not be loaded. Product Name or Manufacturer: MTECH USA MT-A882CHProduct Description: Spring Assisted Folding KnifeKey Features: Rapid single hand deployment; Locks securely into place; Straight edge stainless steel; Black nylon fiber handle with bottle opener and lanyard loop; Pocket/belt clip; 2.5-inch blade; Only 3-inches closed.Product as Arrived: Brand new in package.Positive Attributes: Sharp yet compact blade fits easily in pocket or on belt; Super easy to flip open on demand; Securely locks into place with a manual unlock; Rugged material with a comfortable feel.Negative Attributes: NoneOverall Impression: I have found that it’s better to have a blade and not need it, than need a blade and not have it. I wasn’t looking for anything larger than 3-inches with a similar design to my old one that fell apart. The rubber handle is easy to grip and hold. The blade came extremely sharp. The straight blade edge is very easy to sharpen. Don’t make me cut a box!* = Product does NOT function correctly! Product needs to be replaced or returned immediately! Definitely do not recommend this product!** = Product functions correctly, but lack positive attributes. Will likely be replaced, return if possible. I would not recommend it.*** = Product does what it’s supposed to, I got what I paid for, I will keep it and use occasionally.. Maybe recommend it.**** = Product does what it should, with more positive attributes. A good value! I will keep this and use it frequently and recommend it .***** = Product does what it should, and does it well! A great value! I will use this daily and promote this!