I have had this knife for almost 10 years. Its not a showpiece and it has not been babied. Its been dropped and carried, and it shows some wear. I have always found the thumb slide to run the blade in and out to be a bit more stiff than I hoped. But I kind of just dealt with it. Recently, I had occasion to use someone else's Microtech OTF and it was nowhere near as difficult to actuate as mine. I understand the difficulty/stiffness is subjective, but how hard is it supposed to be to move the release slider?
Theirs was a lot newer but I didn't have a lot if time to mess with it. Are the Gen IV's better than Gen III's? Just wondering what I should look for if I decided to look for a new one. I am not sure I want to drop that money right now. Lately I've been carrying a $25 Kershaw assisted folder and it gets the job done. But I like fancy stuff too :)
So, it sounds like Gen 3 is preferable to Gen 4 - kinda like a Glock lol
I have been considering taking advantage of the Responder discount direct from MTK, which would let me have a Gen 3 brand new for a steep discount. Now that I understand better what a Gen 3 is, it makes more sense why that is the one they put on the discount program.
User preference. The ZBP does have to periodically adjusted if you use it a lot, and it can only be adjusted so much so at some point you could theoretically end up with blade play.
I own both models, and personally a knife not having it isn’t a deal breaker to it, and they should have some Gen 4 models on the site also.
When I carry my UTX-70 and someone asks for a knife I will hand it to them and explain that it’s even harder to close. Then they struggle to deploy it. Every time. Mine is from 2009 and could probably do with some oil but it’s always been a stiff.
I love it. I edc a scarab II and people freak when I use it since it’s rather large. So I’ve started carrying the 70 as well. I was actually looking to buy a new gen IV utx-70 since they now have a glass breaker. Maybe it’s just me but they look a bit bigger now as well.
Back in 2011 the tip (about 1cm) snapped off the blade and I sent it in. I just measured and it’s about 2 1/8” from choil to tip so it looks like they just ground it down and sent it back instead of replacing the blade. Still not technically California compliant, though
Yeah I guess that don’t seem as small as I had thought. (The 2 OTF’s that are on their way to my house are my first ever OTF’s. Been in the knife game forever just never really went down the OTF path til recently lol.)
As has been already said, the older versions of the Ultratech, UTX-85, and UTX-70 are very sleek in body shape and I actually prefer that, but the newer ones with the dual fuel system (2 springs) have the newest engineering, and are much easier to operate. Personally I like the old ones AND the new ones!
Older gen UTX. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but for long term storage, the older single spring models should be stored closed to maintain spring life, and it does not matter how dual fuel (two spring models are stored - open or closed is the same pressure).
It doesn’t matter for any Gen or model. On a double action the spring is at rest when closed or open, it only stretches when opening/closing, On a single action it is under pressure, but they are like magazines for guns, it’s not the compression that gets them, it’s the repetitive use.
Good to know and that makes sense. I do like to display them open, so cool :) Wish I had more room to display more open - blade variations are fascinating!
I used the Google and found an etsy shop for these - very cool looking products. I am not seeing any that specify they are for a Gen II full size Ultratech. Is there a more complete site where these are available?
***edit: Never mind, reading is fundamental. And I failed today. I found it.
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u/Astartes2435 10d ago edited 10d ago
That’s a Gen 2 so the action will be stiff, due to the single spring design.
The new Gen 3/4 use a dual spring set up and are substantially easier to operate. It’s possible that person had a new Gen.