A shot of the Mission MPK in A2 from the Mission Knives website :
The review consists of :
The MPK is made by stock removal out of a A2 stool steel. It has a seven inch blade, 0.23" thick, 1.7 inches wide at maximum, with a full flat grind ending in an edge 0.044" thick which is ground at 21-23 degrees per side. The MPK is neutral in balance and weighs 354 grams. The tip is fairly acute being a clip point with an unsharpened clip, the clip grinds are a little sloppy and don't meet. Aside from that detail, the fit and finish are high, all other grinds are even and there is the necessary attention to important details like the elimination of stress points by making sure the tang to blade transition is smooth. This knife belongs to Will Kwan so no really heavy work will be done with it.
Compared to the Recon Scout, the MPK has similar raw cutting ability as both have similar profiles, however the MPK has easier handling for light work as The Recon Scout is heavier and carries more weight blade forward. However the same properties also put it far behind the Recon Scout in chopping which is ahead of the MPK about two to one in terms of number of chops.
The MPK has little wood splitting ability on its own, but work fine with a baton. The MPK also cuts through lighter vegetation more efficiently than the Recon Scout here as it has a lower fatige rate. The Camp Tramp can stay with the MPK in the short term by using the index finger cutout to shift the balance to neutral, but this grip is not as ergonomic as a full grip around the handle for extended use.
On soft woods the MPK just dulled after extended chopping with no chipping or impacting. The edge retention was behind the Recon Scout mainly due to the Cold Steel blade in Carbon V simply being harder. However on on some dead and dried out wood, after doing about 1/2 hour of chopping the edge of the MPK showed dents in several places. The indentation was about 0.02" deep, not visible at arms length but would cause the blade to catch slicing newspring. The Recon Scout was used for the same work and had no edge damage and it is a more powerful chopper so was taking harder impacts.
The grip on the MPK is ergonomic and secure, with a medium-friction surface, a butt-hook and even a slight depression for the index finger. It is thus more versatile both in variety of grips and range of user functionality than a highly shaped grip such as found on the TUSK. Such deeply contoured handles can be more ergonomic when they fit the user well, but they restrict various grip positions and can be problematic when hand sizes vary considerably.
Compared to the Kraton handles on the Cold Steel line the MPK grip is a signifiant improvement. The Kraton grips can be abrasive and wear down quickly in use and become slick. The MPK grip is much more wear resistant and is completely unchanged after undergoing enough work to visibly wear down a Kraton grip. The MPK's Hytrel handle is also much tougher in regards to impacts, resisting cuts and penetration in general.
The Kydex sheath is of solid quality, better than most production Kydex though not up to the level of some custom work such as done by McClung. The MPK sheath does lack a water drain hole. However the knife fits securely in the sheath and the retention lip will keep the knife secure without needing the handle strap.
The MPK has an ergonomic, secure and versatile grip, and a blade shape which cuts well for its size. It is neutral in balance so not a powerful chopper, but designed to induce low fatigue in extended utility use. The only drawback found was the low edge retention due to damage in wood chopping. It was also compared to several blades of various types for a variety of work and in general did well :
Another MPK in A2 was also later reviewed and used more extensively.
Comments can be sent to : cliffstamp[REMOVE]@cutleryscience.com, feedback can seen in the following archived thread :
Will's comments about the condition of the MPK :
| Last updated : | Thu Jun 12 12:47:44 NDT 2003 |
| Origionally written : | Mon Jul 12 14:39:04 NDT 1999 |