MTech USA – Fixed Blade Knife – Black Stainless Steel Blade, Textured Black Rubberized Handle, Includes Nylon Sheath, Camping, Hunting, Survival, Tactical, EDC – MT-151 14.5-Inch Overall

I ordered this knife partially because of the review of it by Cliff Stamp, but also because of other reviews I have read on line and seen on YouTube. I must say it has proven itself to be as good as the reviewers have claimed. I used it (along with a Bahco Laplander folding saw) to remove a dead tree for a neighbor yesterday and it preformed wonderfully. The tree was around five inches in diameter and the Mtech had zero problems felling it quickly. Once down I used the Laplander to section the trunk into logs then back to the Mtech to split the logs. In just over an hour I had a good sized pile of wood for the firepit. After this I have discovered a very small amount of wiggle in the crossguard.Other than that slight wiggle the only other damage I have been able to do to this blade was a tiny dent in the edge which came as the result of hacking through a semi-truck tire (the steel belts in those things are not small).All in all extremely happy with this purchase. If you're looking for a good, solid, affordable big chopper that can handle all you throw at it and not break your bank, this is a great knife to consider. I would definitely recomend this knife.UPDATE:Well, I have been using this knife for about a year now and figured I would update my review. I have done some modifications to it so it works better for me. A, I removed the top half of the cross-guard, B, I enlarged the finger choil on the blade, C, I fixed the slight wobble in the cross-guard with JB Weld (ran some around the front of the guard, then split the rubber handle along the top and ran some around the back as well as around the tang thus eliminating any looseness with the handle to boot), D, reworked the edge, adding a convex secondary bevel to the full flat grind blade, E, removed all the paint from the blade and cross-guard and polished the blade down to 500 grit sandpaper, F, sanded away any sharp edges on the cross-guard and the spine of the blade. With these mods done to this knife I will boldly claim that this cheap knife is not only as good as the current TrailMasters being put out by Cold Steel, but maybe even better.I know, I know, it's 440A steel. But clearly the heat treat on this knife (at least mine) is obviously extremely well executed. I have been more abusive to this knife than any other knife I have ever owned (partially just because it is so cheap I could do so without feeling guilty) and have quite literally not been able to do any damage to it (save one small dent in the edge hacking up an old tire). Edge retention is not exceptional, but it sure is more than adequate. Combined that with how easily it returns to shaving sharp once it hits the wet stones and I would say it perfectly hits that sweet spot of edge retention vs ease of sharpening.I would put my 151 up against it's Cold Steel equal, the KaBar BK9, the Esse Jungalas or even a Busse Battle Mistress and be surprised if any of those knives could actually out perform this knife in any real-world outdoor, hiking, camping, survival, bushcrafting tasks.I know that's a huge claim, but thus far my experiences with this knife have me confident in making it.Changing my rating from four to five stars accordingly.

I ordered this knife after doing a lot of research as I like good knives but do not like to waste even $20 on a beater knife. After watching a lot of you tube videos I took the chance. I am pleased to say that this is a quality blade. I prefer high carbon steels to stainless steels even though my Nighthawk is one of my favorites; I abuse the blades tremendously and have broken a few using them as a step to reach a higher branch, although They were not as thick as the MT151. Even though this knife has a 9 1/2" blade that is 1/4" thick it is balanced well and does not feel blade heavy. The grip is a bit smallish even for my medium sized hand, but not uncomfortably so and it gives a decent grip. The blade is straight and true with a sleek and simple designed clip point that I find pleasing and functional.I immediately took this knife outside just to test it for toughness. It can take a good pounding into a trunk and support my 175 lbs using it as a step without breaking or warping. After driving it into a tree about 3 inches with a broken branch I then stepped on the blade blade right next to trunk; I do NOT step out on the blade or on the handle, if you do you will most probably bend or warp the blade. I then used it to hack at a dying hard maple tree about four feet in radius; a dying tree (not rotting) is actually tougher than a live tree as the wood is drying and much harder than moist live wood. It bit into the dying wood about 1/2" to 3/4" which is pretty decent as I was not actually using a hard chop. I did this about 10 or 15 times and the edge held up pretty well. It definitely was not razor sharp any longer, but it still would do fine at dispatching a trapped hare or gutting a fish. The edge had no chipping as a harder stainless is prone to do but also not as much blunting as some of my high carbon blades have suffered in the same wood hacking scenario. The MT151 would still shear through small branches after the trunk hacking which showed the steel was more than adequate for a camp knife or survival tool.Like many others I have wanted a Trailmaster for years, but could never spend that much on a knife that I feel has limited real world functionality; I have an "old" Buck Nighthawk 650 with a 6.5" blade which is more versatile. It will not provide as much precision my old CRKT M16 folder, but with a modified hold it will be adequate.Overall I think this will be a fine knife, and at roughly $20 it cannot be beat for value. I am impressed with this knife enough that I just ordered a second one to keep in a quick-pack bag.

For the money, it really is a hell of a knife. A good beater and thrower and such.It is actually .25 inches compared to the actual Trail Master's .3125. The rubber handle is considerably softer than the krayton -- or SuperKrayExTron™ or whatever Cold Steel is calling it now -- is, but that is an easy remedy in any number of directions.My big complaint is the grind lines. Now, it's only fair to say that when you charge less than $50 for a knife of this size, the quality control is the first to suffer. The swedge was not ground evenly, which made for an unsharpened tip. Took about 10 minutes on the belt grinder to fix it, and now the tip is as sharp as the real thing. To be fair, I find this a lot on even the higher-end knives (I had to do a little bit of file work on my Fallkniven), and CS is the only company I have seen that keeps their grinds consistent.I REALLY wish M TECH would tell us what kind of stainless steel so we could know what we are working with. I have seen some folks say 440, which would make me guess 440A. The edge does not stand up as well as I would like, and I don't anticipate the tip will, either. But for the money, again, a hell of a knife.For $25, it is a bargain, and I am sure it will be good for yard work that is too fine for a machete. Price dropped to $18, and I ordered another.