Hello folks, it's your old pal 12 Gauge Chimp here, bringing you another knife review.
Today, I'll be reviewing the Maxam/M-Tech Kukri.
Factory Specifications for : Maxam/M-Tech Kukri
Blade type: Kukri, rat tail tang, fixed blade
Blade material: 440 stainless steel
Blade length: 10"
Overall length: 14.5"
I purchased this knife at a local VFW flea market for the price of around 15 dollars US. It came with the usual nylon sheath that many low price knives have. The finish is nice being a sort of anti-rust coating. The handle is a hard rubber with a lanyard hole molded in. Overall, it's a nice looking knife.
After a little bit of research on my part, I found out the blade was made of 440 stainless steel, which in it's own way is a good type of steel. However, for a knife that will see heavy use like the kukri, 440 stainless steel is all but useless. The sheath that came with the kukri was advertised as being " Ballistic Nylon " which, in reality, it turned out to be plain nylon webbing. The exact same kind you'd get with numerous low quality knives. It holds the knife in, but that's about all it does. A snap is supposed to keep the knife secure, but I found out that even with the snap fastened, I can still draw the knife out. That's not good.
The handle was a bit loose, but after drilling a couple holes into it and filling it with an epoxy mix, that problem was solved. It still rattles a bit, but not as much as it did before.
After residing at the bottom of my knife drawer, I decided to test the kukri's cutting ability. That and I wanted to see if I could hack open a coconut with it, which it actually does a pretty decent job of by the way. I did kind of ding the blade after my first couple of attempts at hacking the coconut, but once I got into the swing of things, that coconut was split into two pieces.
Overall, I'm happy with the knife. It's not a bad knife, but it's not one of the best out there. I will continue to look for a kukri and the Maxam/M-Tech Kukri will be used only for the occasional coconut hacking.
I'm going to rate this knife a 3 out of 5. Not bad, but could be better.
As always, this is 12-Gauge Chimp signing off.
Who says that 440 is "all but useless" for heavy use blades? Cliff Stamp says it is ideal, and so does Jay Fisher who builds his $2000 big hard use knives out of it - and while a lot of people say that Fisher's work is overpriced, no one has ever said it "all but useless". It doesn't have the edge retention of, say, D2, but its toughness is excellent.
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