Since I'm not exactly sure if these are legal I won't say that I have one, but what are your opinions of these knives, they seem to be excellent quality.
Anybody have a Microtech LCC D.A.?
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Yes, its a great knife, in fact I have it with me right this moment. That said, I don’t like it much. Let me explain that dichotomy.
The clip is terrible. I think if I made one out of a wet noodle it would hold up as well under abuse as this thing. I’ve had to take mine off and fix it no less than three times in probably 3 months worth of wearing (I rotate knives, so I couldn’t tell you for sure how long the clip last other than its far less than most other knives). The clip is too low to make drawing the knife easy. The low placement does provide good concealment, but I’ve seen better knife and clip designs that accomplish both concealment and easy drawing. The “flare†at the end of the clip is too pronounced to be comfortable when gripping the knife tightly (lefties probably wouldn’t have this problem). All around horrible engineering when it comes to the clip.
The placement of the thumb stud is not well meshed with the placement of the clip. When the knife is out a more forward grip hides this. Pull the knife out of your pocket/pants/whatever and it becomes more obvious. I have fairly large hands, but I can’t get a deep enough grip on the knife (when pulling it out of my pocket) to open the blade without readjusting my hold once the knife is in my hand. Of course if you like to flip the blade open then this wouldn’t be an issue.
The width of the closed knife is atrocious. This knife takes a reasonable blade width, and a pretty slim handle but couples them together in a manner that adds way too much width to it closed, IMHO. I carry knives in my pocket and this knife takes up a LOT of room in there. I have bigger knives that take up far less.
Now this complaint is a personal thing, and I’d bet not too many other people feel strongly about it like I do, but it is a negative in my book. This knife contains no less than 4 different screw head sizes. I got used to knives using torx-head screws a long time ago (even though I dislike the practice), but this one uses four! Obviously knives will require different size screws, however the heads can still be made “user†friendly by requiring only one or maybe two different screwdrivers, and even better by using screws that non-tool type people have in their house somewhere. My assortment of tools is fairly extensive, and can usually handle anything I need, but I still had to go buy another torx-head screwdriver. In fact, the smallest size isn’t even one you can get at any normal tool supply location. Again, a very poor design feature.
On the positive side, the knife is a beast. Very solid lockup. Very solid construction. Very solid materials. As I said, I use the knife and I’m happy with the fact that I bought the knife, but it has some serious failings. Of course, I have almost never owned or even seen the knife that has managed to get all the engineering aspects completely right.
The clip is terrible. I think if I made one out of a wet noodle it would hold up as well under abuse as this thing. I’ve had to take mine off and fix it no less than three times in probably 3 months worth of wearing (I rotate knives, so I couldn’t tell you for sure how long the clip last other than its far less than most other knives). The clip is too low to make drawing the knife easy. The low placement does provide good concealment, but I’ve seen better knife and clip designs that accomplish both concealment and easy drawing. The “flare†at the end of the clip is too pronounced to be comfortable when gripping the knife tightly (lefties probably wouldn’t have this problem). All around horrible engineering when it comes to the clip.
The placement of the thumb stud is not well meshed with the placement of the clip. When the knife is out a more forward grip hides this. Pull the knife out of your pocket/pants/whatever and it becomes more obvious. I have fairly large hands, but I can’t get a deep enough grip on the knife (when pulling it out of my pocket) to open the blade without readjusting my hold once the knife is in my hand. Of course if you like to flip the blade open then this wouldn’t be an issue.
The width of the closed knife is atrocious. This knife takes a reasonable blade width, and a pretty slim handle but couples them together in a manner that adds way too much width to it closed, IMHO. I carry knives in my pocket and this knife takes up a LOT of room in there. I have bigger knives that take up far less.
Now this complaint is a personal thing, and I’d bet not too many other people feel strongly about it like I do, but it is a negative in my book. This knife contains no less than 4 different screw head sizes. I got used to knives using torx-head screws a long time ago (even though I dislike the practice), but this one uses four! Obviously knives will require different size screws, however the heads can still be made “user†friendly by requiring only one or maybe two different screwdrivers, and even better by using screws that non-tool type people have in their house somewhere. My assortment of tools is fairly extensive, and can usually handle anything I need, but I still had to go buy another torx-head screwdriver. In fact, the smallest size isn’t even one you can get at any normal tool supply location. Again, a very poor design feature.
On the positive side, the knife is a beast. Very solid lockup. Very solid construction. Very solid materials. As I said, I use the knife and I’m happy with the fact that I bought the knife, but it has some serious failings. Of course, I have almost never owned or even seen the knife that has managed to get all the engineering aspects completely right.
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ahenry,
I probably haven't carried mine as much as you have, but I never had a problem with the clip. What's it been doing? Bending or what?
I probably haven't carried mine as much as you have, but I never had a problem with the clip. What's it been doing? Bending or what?
Are there any federal laws concerning auto knives? As far as I can tell North Dakota treats them like concealed weapons though some cities have passed laws against them.
Tamara,
Yeah, it bends if you breathe on it wrong. I’m going to embarrass myself here and assume that Microtech hasn’t changed it any and you have a similar clip design as mine. They might very well have corrected the strength issue by now though. Mine has a very pronounced bend up at the end of it (standard deal on all clips, this one is just a pretty major bend). The actual clip itself has elongated cutouts in the middle of it. This leaves very skinny sides that can bend really easy. Add the pronounced end and you have a terrible clip design. In fact, as far as the clip is concerned, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen in a knife.
Yeah, it bends if you breathe on it wrong. I’m going to embarrass myself here and assume that Microtech hasn’t changed it any and you have a similar clip design as mine. They might very well have corrected the strength issue by now though. Mine has a very pronounced bend up at the end of it (standard deal on all clips, this one is just a pretty major bend). The actual clip itself has elongated cutouts in the middle of it. This leaves very skinny sides that can bend really easy. Add the pronounced end and you have a terrible clip design. In fact, as far as the clip is concerned, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen in a knife.
Wait...
*toddles off to bedroom and looks at knife*
Ah.
Okay, mine has a solid clip with no cutouts. (Green linen micarta scales with black Ti-coated blade & bolsters)
What finish is yours? The only one I remember seeing offhand with the cutouts on the clip was either faux ivory or mother-of-pearl... Hm. Wonder if they did change the clips.
You're definitely right about how chunky it is in your pocket; that's one of the two big reasons that my Emerson Commander supplanted it as my right pocket EDC...
*toddles off to bedroom and looks at knife*
Ah.
Okay, mine has a solid clip with no cutouts. (Green linen micarta scales with black Ti-coated blade & bolsters)
What finish is yours? The only one I remember seeing offhand with the cutouts on the clip was either faux ivory or mother-of-pearl... Hm. Wonder if they did change the clips.
You're definitely right about how chunky it is in your pocket; that's one of the two big reasons that my Emerson Commander supplanted it as my right pocket EDC...
My knife is green carbon fiber.
Yeah a solid clip would probably do wonders for the biggest problem I have with the clip. I took the below picture off the Microtech web site, and you can see what I’m talking about though. The small edges are less than 1/16th of an inch wide.
If you put the knife in your pocket can you pull it out and open it without readjusting your grip?
Yeah a solid clip would probably do wonders for the biggest problem I have with the clip. I took the below picture off the Microtech web site, and you can see what I’m talking about though. The small edges are less than 1/16th of an inch wide.
If you put the knife in your pocket can you pull it out and open it without readjusting your grip?
Attachments
Nope, it rides a little too deep.
I usually kind of yank it into my hand via the little lanyard. Hard to describe.
I almost never open it manually, so I haven't really played with the thumbstud enough to form an opinion one way or the other.
I usually kind of yank it into my hand via the little lanyard. Hard to describe.
I almost never open it manually, so I haven't really played with the thumbstud enough to form an opinion one way or the other.
That clip looks really flimsy; why would they put a cutout like that in it? (It's cut out, right? I can't see it well...).
Tamara: I have the Emerson Commander too. Best knife I've ever had
edit: How much does the Microtech cost?
Tamara: I have the Emerson Commander too. Best knife I've ever had
edit: How much does the Microtech cost?
Wow, that's a lot. I really didn't think that knife would be more than $125, $150 max. It's nice though.
I feel kind of cheap saying that, seeing as I didn't blink at the $175 that I paid for my Emerson...
I feel kind of cheap saying that, seeing as I didn't blink at the $175 that I paid for my Emerson...
Madmardig0n,
Well, for one thing, the LCC DA is an auto...
Expensive? That's relative. I think that it's a good mid-price knife, like a Sebenza.
Well, for one thing, the LCC DA is an auto...
Expensive? That's relative. I think that it's a good mid-price knife, like a Sebenza.
Now that everybody else is coming out, I paid $200 on the dot for mine, it does have a solid clip on it though and doesn't appear to be a problem. It also doesn't seem to be uncomfortable carried in my front pocket. The only complaint I've had so far is that the blade will sometimes work out of the handle (doesn't release) and I cut myself on it when I reached into my pocket once. Since that time I've started carrying it in my right pocket at the back so that the blade is up against the back edge of the pocket, no problems since I started doing that. I suppose the other option would be to carry it in the belt sheath, but who wants to do that?
I have the first generation. The one with the "weird" screw layout.The clip has two cutouts and the clip itself is extremely tight, i.e. almost hard to spread apart. I agree with you ahenry about the knife looking wide, but it's not objectionable to me. Mine was born 12/2000 and hasn't seen a bit of use. Want to keep it NIB for when I try to sell it. Not a bad knife, but the novelty of autos has worn off. BTW, anyone who is going to buy one of these, it takes some practice to operate the release consistently. Or was it just me.
The clip has two cutouts and the clip itself is extremely tight, i.e. almost hard to spread apart. I agree with you ahenry about the knife looking wide, but it's not objectionable to me. Mine was born 12/2000 and hasn't seen a bit of use. Want to keep it NIB for when I try to sell it. Not a bad knife, but the novelty of autos has worn off. BTW, anyone who is going to buy one of these, it takes some practice to operate the release consistently. Or was it just me. Well, for one thing, the LCC DA is an auto...
Expensive? That's relative. I think that it's a good mid-price knife, like a Sebenza. ...end quote
Ok, I didn't realize it was an auto.
What's a Sebenza?(sorry, I've never been into blades before now )
Expensive? That's relative. I think that it's a good mid-price knife, like a Sebenza. ...end quote
Ok, I didn't realize it was an auto.
What's a Sebenza?(sorry, I've never been into blades before now
)
http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/nd.txt
A search of the internet knife law sites indicates that switchblades are not legal to carry in North Dakota. Please note the distinction between carry and posession. There were no laws found related to posession of switchblades in ND.
Our state is considered a collector state. That means that if you're nice and don't tote it around on you and only take it from one place to another to show it off to fellow knife enthusiasts then you might not have a legal problem.
For the Sebenza question see - www.chrisreeve.com and http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=703 The Sebenza is possibly the best folding knife made.
A search of the internet knife law sites indicates that switchblades are not legal to carry in North Dakota. Please note the distinction between carry and posession. There were no laws found related to posession of switchblades in ND.
Our state is considered a collector state. That means that if you're nice and don't tote it around on you and only take it from one place to another to show it off to fellow knife enthusiasts then you might not have a legal problem.
For the Sebenza question see - www.chrisreeve.com and http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=703 The Sebenza is possibly the best folding knife made.
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