Marfione Custom Knives Stormtrooper Ultratech Knife Review

Marfione Custom Knives is the company of Microtech Knives founder Anthony Marfione. These knives are created by Marfione as one of a kind custom knives and custom variations of Microtech production. Except, he uses the highest quality materials and designs for this line of knives—no worries about what the cost is. Microtech knives on their own are already top of the line, so you know that when you get your hands on a Marfione Custom Knife, you have a true piece of art in your hands. If your custom knife has been stamped with a claw logo, it is semi-custom. If the knife has been stamped with a dagger logo, it is fully custom.

Today, we will be discussing the Marfione Custom Knives Stormtrooper Ultratech knife that has a carbon fiber and alloy handles as well as a white blade. This is a double action out the front automatic knife.

Stormtroopers or Imperial Stormtroopers, are fictional soldiers in the Star Wars universe. The Stormtroopers are the main ground force of the Galactic empire, under the leadership of Emperor Palpatine and his commanders, most notably Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. These soldiers accompany the Imperial Navy and are able to be deployed swiftly and respond to states of civil unrest or insurrection, act as a planetary garrison, and police areas within the Galactic Empire. They are shown in collective groups of varying organizational sizes ranging from squads to legions and for some, their armor and training are modified for special operations and environments.

Stormtroopers were first introduced in Star Wars in 1977, these Imperial Stormtroopers serve as the army of the Galactic empire, establishing Imperial authority and putting down nay revolts. In Attack of the Clones, which is a prequel film, the firs clone troopers are cloned form bounty hunter Jango Fett, to be the Army of the Republic in the Clone wars. In Revenge of the Sith, Chancellor Palpatine orders them to slay their Jedi generals in the Great Jedi Purge. The Stormtrooper Corps swell in size after Palpatine completely replaced the clones with recruits and conscripts of the empire, though the replacement of clones with natural beings lowered the effectiveness of the Empire’s soldiers. With the Empire firmly stabilized and an Imperial Army/Imperial Navy established, the Stormtroopers are integrated into Palatine’s personal army and stationed on Imperial bases and cruises, as well as on the Death Star.
These soldiers are pretty hardcore and definitely get the job done, and the knife modeled after them is no different.

 

The Blade:

The blade is made out of the top quality M390 stainless steel. This steel was manufactured by Bohler-Uddeholm and is one of the new super steels on the block. It is a powder metallurgically produced corrosion resistant martensitic stainless steel. This steel has excellent abrasive wear resistance while almost maintaining good corrosion resistance. Bohler-Uddeholm call this steel a Microclean steel, which means that the technology that they used creates an extremely clean steel with high toughness and polish-ability. The chemistry of the steel is what makes this steel such a phenomenal option. The manufacturer has added Chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten to promote sharpness and outstanding edge retention. And unlike in ZDP-189, most carbides in this steel are formed by vanadium and molybdenum, which leaves more “free chromium” to fight corrosion. This steel can harden to a 60-62 HRC. However, this steel is moderately difficult to sharpen.

The blade has been finished with an all-white coating. This is a CeraKote finish that is one of the most popular paint-like coatings for knife blades. And yes, it is a paint, but not like the paint that you are thinking of. If the CeraKote coating is applied correctly, they won’t peel off, almost no matter what. Unfortunately, they are relatively easy to scratch. This type of coating must be applied only by a trained person. Coatings are a good finish because they easily prevent corrosion because they add a barrier between the steel and the environment. Also, they can greatly reduce maintenance on the steel, because of how well they reduce wear and corrosion. Another benefit to a coated finish is that they eliminate shiny surfaces—which is vital if you choose to use this knife for a tactical purpose. But, like I said, the CeraKote finish does easily scratch off. The blade on this knife is all white to match the classic Stormtrooper armor. This armor is a white plastoid composite that is worn over a black body glove, this armor represented some of the best in the Empire and was dreaded by rebel freedom fighters. This white armor is perfectly captioned in a sleek white blade.

This custom knife has a dagger style blade. This is also known as a needle-point blade. This blade is all about the point. This blade shape is composed of 2 symmetrical sharpened blades that taper to a very thin sharp point, which pierces easily into soft targets. This blade shape is a preferred blade shape for self-defense, especially when you are in a close combat situation. These blade shapes are very popular among military and police personnel because of their ability to be easily concealed. Unfortunately, there are some disadvantages to the dagger blade design. This blade shape does lack a belly and does contain quickly-thickening edges, which means that it is not good for slicing or slashing. And, because the tip is very sharp and thin, it is very weak and will have a tendency to break when it is used on hard targets. While this is not a very good hybrid shaped knife, it is the ultimate weapon for piercing. Just as the Stormtroopers were intimidating, this dagger style blade is used to provoke fear in the victims.

To enhance the dagger blade shape, this blade features a straight edge. The straight edge is equipped to take on a wider variety of tasks, and is easier to stab with than a serrated edge, because the serrations cause drag.

 

The Handle:

Like I earlier mentioned, the armor that Stormtroopers wear is white with a black body glove underneath. Marfione captured this well in the handle, just like in the blade. One of the chassis is a black carbon fiber and the other side is a white anodized alloy.

Carbon fiber is a pretty generic term that refers to the carbon fiber reinforced polymer. The thin strands of carbon are tightly woven and then set in resin. This material is crazy strong, yet still very lightweight. Unfortunately, it is also pretty expensive. Even though it is very strong, it is far from indestructible and does suffer from being brittle. This is because all of the strands are woven together in a single direction, so when the handle is stressed in that direction, it is crazy strong. But, when the handle is stressed in other directions, the handle starts to break apart. Because this material is brittle, this side of the handle can crack if it is subjected to sharp impacts. One of the other benefits of a carbon fiber knife handle is that the carbon is woven in a diagonal direction, so the light reflects off of it in a unique way. Another one of the cons to this material is that the production of carbon fiber handles is a labor intensive process, so it is usually only found on high end knives. This is the perfect option for the Stormtrooper Ultratech knife, because no expenses are spared and you get a high quality handle.

The opposite side of the handle is made out of an aluminum alloy. This is a low density metal that is able to give you a nice, hefty feel to the knife without actually weighing the knife down. This metal has extreme tensile strength. Unfortunately, aluminum is susceptible to scratches—less so when it has been anodized, but still prone. And, this material is a great conductor, which means that during the colder months, this knife will also feel very cold. This is a very durable material for knife handles, especially when it is anodized for color, hardness, and protection. Anodizing is an electrochemical process that converts the metal surface into a decorative, durable, corrosion-resistant anodic oxide finish. The anodic oxide structure originates form the aluminum substrate and is composed entirely of aluminum oxide. This aluminum oxide is not applied to the surface like paint or plating, but is fully integrated with the underlying aluminum substrate, so it cannot chip or peel. Anodized finishes have made aluminum one of the most respected and widely used materials today. Not only does this anodization process makes the aluminum handles stronger, it has given it a sleek, white color.

To help with grip on this rectangular knife handle, there are splotches of jimping across the two sides of the handle. The top of the handle is slightly flared.

 

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip features a “Stormtrooper” on it and also comes with an attached black and white lanyard attached to a .925 silver Hiraeth Custom Stormtrooper helmet. The hardware on the knife is black. The lanyard attached is a mixture of black and white roped together.

 

The Mechanism:

This knife is an automatic out-the-front, or OTF, knife. These knives are also known as telescoping knives. Basically, the knife is stored in the handle, but instead of coming out of the side of the handle when it is deployed, the blade pops out of a hole at the top of the handle when it is deployed. Instead of a button deployment, there is a lever on the side of the handle. OTF only refers to the basic portion of the knife’s mechanical operation where the blade slides parallel with the handle to deploy. Not only is this an OTF knife, this is an automatic OTF knife. This means that the blade travels within an internal track or channel in the same manner as a manual slider, but the automatic main spring drive and button mechanism enclosed within requires a switchblade handle to be thicker and longer than a similar size gravity or sliding knife. This is also a double action OTF knife, which means that the blade is deployed and retracted with a multifunction button and spring design. In contrast, single action OTF knives deploy automatically, but must be manually cocked or retracted to close.

 

The Specs:

The blade on this custom Star Wars knife is 3.375 inches long, with a handle that measures in at 5 inches long. The overall length of this knife, when the blade is deployed, is 8.375 inches long. This knife weighs in at 3.2 ounces. This knife was made in the United States of America.

 

Conclusion:

Marfione Custom Knives (MCK) are well known for their high-end custom knives and products that feature exotic materials that turn mere tools into works of art. The Ultratech without question has been Microtech’s flagship out the front auto knife since its induction in 1999 and is regarded as the “crème de la crème” in the double- action out the front arena. Each Microtech OTF knife has extremely sophisticated internal mechanisms which improve the overall operational functionality and reliability. Recently released, this model features a carbon fiber front chassis coupled with a white anodized alloy rear chassis, special ringed hardware and a dagger style blade in a white finish complete with black anodized blood grooves. This limited model also sports “Storm Trooper” on the pocket clip and comes with an attached black and white lanyard attached to a .925 silver Hiraeth Custom Storm Trooper helmet. Package comes complete with a presentation box, zipper pouch as well as a certificate of authenticity. And although this knife is designed to be solely a custom knife, the materials that are used are high quality, tough materials that will be able to take on challenges if you need it to. So whether you are a knife collector, a fan of Star Wars, or just looking for a phenomenal knife, this Marfione Custom Knives Stormtrooper Ultratech knife is the one for you.