Microtech Bounty Hunter Ultratech Knife Review

Microtech Knives is a knife manufacturing company that is famous for tis automatic knives. This company was founded in Vero Beach, Florida in 1994 and operated there until relocating to Bradford, Pennsylvania in 2005 and then to Fletcher, North Carolina in 2009. IN 2007 the company began manufacturing an American-made version of the Steyr AUG under the subsidiary name of Microtech Small Arms research (MSAR).

This company has long promoted itself as stressing quality with regard to tight machining tolerances, to within one thousandth of an inch. Custom knife makers, such as Greg Lightfoot have remarked that these tolerances are what makes the factory knives so close the custom design, saying, “It has the same quality as a handmade custom.”

Microtech has designed knives for use by the US Military such as the HALO, UDT, SOCOM, and Currahee models. Although Microtech has produced many styles of blades such as kitchen knives, fishing knives, arrow heads, and balisong knives; Microtech is most famous for tis tactical automatic knives. The most popular designs among their collectors are the “Out the Front” and the “Double Action” automatics. Microtech along with Benchmade Knives were responsible for the resurgence in the popularity of tactical automatic knives in the 1990s. These knives were seen more as a precision made tool utilizing powerful springs and high grade bushings as opposed to a cheap import.
Microtech has collaborated with famous knife makers and designers such as Ernest Emerson, Bob Terzuola, Mick Strider, Walter Brend, Mike Turber, Greg Lightfoot, and Reese Weiland on exclusive designs.

While Microtech has been producing Ultratech knives since 1999, this special edition of it has been long awaited. Appearing briefly in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett, who is the son of Jango Fett, was the most feared bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe. Funnily enough, Boba Fett really only had a few liens throughout the entire series. But, he did become one of the iconic characters, because he wore a unique suit of armor that was definitely intimidating. And now Microtech has taken his iconic look and paired it with an already impressive automatic knife. This Ultratech is now the Bounty Hunter Ultratech—perfectly named and perfectly received. So whether you are a fan of Microtech and their Ultratech series, or you are a die-hard fan of Star Wars, this is the perfect companion for you to pick up. And it is now at BladeOps.

 

The Blade:

The blade on this Ultratech is M390 stainless steel. This is an ultra-premium blade steel and is considered to be a super steel. This steel is manufactured by Bohler-Udeholm and uses third generation powder metal technology. It was developed for knife blades that require excellent corrosion resistance and very high hardness for excellent wear resistance. The manufacturer has added chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten to promote the steels sharpness and help it have outstanding edge retention. In this steel most of the carbides are formed by vanadium and molybdenum, which leaves more “free chromium” to fight corrosion. M390 steel hardens to 60-62 HRC. The manufacturer actually calls this steel “Microclean” and it can be polished to achieve a true mirror. This steel does tend to be relatively difficult to sharpen, so you might have to seek out an expert sharpener to get the finest edge on this blade. But, because it has such good edge retention and such a high resistance to wear and corrosion, this blade will be the ideal blade for your EDC knife, because it is so low maintenance. But, because of how tough this blade is, it’s uses do not need to be limited to EDC.

The Bounty Hunter has been finished with an apocalyptic stonewash finish. This finish is also known as a black stonewash or an acid stonewash. This finish is created by tumbling the steel around with an abrasive material, which is usually pebbles. The stonewash finish does not create a uniform look, meaning that one manufacturers stonewash compared to another manufacturer could be very different. This is due to the many factors that go into a stonewash finish. To create different looks you can switch up the shape of the abrasive, the motion of the tumbling, and the finish the blade already had. The apocalyptic stonewash finish is a blade that has had an acid treatment that darkens the blade before it undergoes stonewashing. The acid oxidation enhances a blade’s rust resistance by placing a stable oxide barrier between the steel and the environment. A very positive benefit of stonewashed blades is that they are low maintenance and preserve their original look overtime; the stonewashed finish hides the scratches that can occur with use over time. The apocalyptic stonewash finish looks rugged, well-worn, and tough. Microtech chose the perfect finish to represent Boba Fett’s armor, because in the movies, his armor is well-worn and he is tough. The blade really does incorporate the Bounty Hunter’s look. The flats on this blade are satin finished, which provides a smoother look than the stonewashed look. The satin finish is designed to show off the fine lines of the blade and is created by sanding the blade in one direction with a very fine abrasive. The blood groove in this knife is finished black. For those of you who don’t know what a blood groove is, Merriam-Webster defines it as, “a longitudinal groove on the shaft of a blade of a knife said to have been introduced to cause increased bleeding of a wound produced and possibly actually facilitating withdrawal of the knife by preventing suction.”

The blade on this knife is a tanto style blade. This blade shape has been designed to pierce through tough materials, and pierce through them well. This blade shape is not supposed to be an all-purpose blade; it is just supposed to be able to do one task really well. Some people love this aspect of the tanto blade shape, some people hate it. The tanto blade shape was originally designed for armor piercing and was popularized by Cold Steel. This blade shape is similar in style to the Japanese long and short swords. The tanto knife has a highpoint with a flat grind, leading to an extremely strong point that is perfect for stabbing into hard materials. The thick point of the tanto blade contains a lot of metal near the tip, so it is able to absorb the impact form repeated piercing that would cause most other knives to break. The front edge of the tanto k knife meets the back edge at an angle, rather than a curve. As a result, the tanto blade does not have a belly, which is sacrificed in exchange for a stronger tip. Because it lacks a belly for slicing, this shape is not as generally regarded as an all-purpose/general utility blade, but it can definitely still be used for your EDC needs.

The Microtech Bounty Hunter has a combo edge, which means that the upper two-thirds of the blade is a plain edge, perfect for slicing or tip work, while the lower one-third is thickly serrated, perfect for sawing through the thicker materials.

 

The Handle:

The handle on the Bounty Hunter has been made out of anodized 6061-T6 aluminum. Aluminum is a very durable material, especially when used in knife handles. This is a low density metal that gives you the hefty feel that you crave without giving you the weight that weighs you down. The 6061-T6 aluminum alloy is the most common type of aluminum used in knife handles and it has extreme tensile strength. This alloy was developed in 1935. When an aluminum handle is correctly texturized, it can give you a pretty solid grip, but if it is not properly texturized, this handle is going to be extremely slippery. To combat the slickness of aluminum, Microtech has added plenty of grooves to the palm of the knife, while aloes adding jimping on the edges of this handle. This will be a comfortable knife to hold and you will have a secure grip on it when you are using it in the more stable environments.

Unfortunately, aluminum does have high conductive properties, so if you are using this knife in colder areas, it will feel be uncomfortably cold. This material will be prone to scratches and dings. But, because this knife has been anodized, it won’t be as susceptible to those scratches as it would have originally been. Anodizing is an electrochemical process that converts the metal surface into a decorative, durable, corrosion resistant, anodic oxide finish. This aluminum oxide is not applied to the surface like paint or plating, but is actually fully integrated with the underlying aluminum, so it cannot chip or peel off. This knife has been anodized an army green, and it looks as if the handle has been scratched up. This is because in the Star Wars’ movies, Boba Fett’s armor has taken a beating.

 

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip has also been apocalyptic stonewashed. This is a wider clip with a yellow Mandalorian skull graphic stamped onto the upper portion of the pocket clip. Attached at the end of clip, stretching off the handle is an integrated glass breaker. The rest of the hardware on this version of the Ultratech is distressed red.

 

The Mechanism:

This is an automatic out the front, or OTF, knife. This is a style of knife with a blade that opens and closes through a hole in one end of the handle. This is different than the majority of other pocket knives, which have the standard folding blade. This is an automatic OTF knife, which means the blade travels within an internal track or channel in the same manner as a manual slider or gravity knife. But, the automatic main spring drive and button mechanism enclosed within requires a switchblade handle to be thicker or longer. This is also a double action OTF knife, which means that the blade is deployed and retracted with a multifunction button and spring design. Single action OTF knives are only deployed with the button and then manually retracted. Double action sliding automatic knives are usually spring-powered 10 to 12 millimeters and then afterwards, kinetic impetus slides the blade to full open. This means that you probably won’t be able to push this blade against someone and then deploy the blade, stabbing them.

You do need to keep in mind that because this is an automatic blade, there are going to be strict laws and regulations surrounding it in most states, cities, and areas. Automatic knives are not legal in all areas of the United States, and you are the one responsible for researching your local laws before purchasing and carrying this knife with you.

 

The Specs:

The blade on this knife is 3.375 inches long, with a handle length of 5 inches long. The overall length of the Bounty Hunter measures in at 8.375 inches long. This knife weighs 3.2 ounces and was made in the United States of America.

 

The Conclusion:

The Ultratech without question has been Microtech’s flagship out the front auto knife since its induction in 1999. Each Microtech OTF knife has extremely sophisticated internal mechanisms which improve the overall operational functionality and reliability. This special limited model, the 123-11BH, features a green distressed handle complete with unique red distressed hardware, a pocket clip with a yellow Mandalorian skull graphic and an integrated glass breaker function along with a tanto style blade, that is partly serrated, in an apocalyptic stonewash finish. Furthermore, the blade also includes satin flats and a black finished blood groove. This knife is far from being just a novelty knife; it is durable, tough, strong, and ready to assist you in any of your daily challenges. Heck, this knife might be the coolest knife around, even if you aren’t a Star Wars fan—if you are a Star Wars fan, it for sure is the coolest knife around. Come pick up your limited edition Bounty Hunter Ultratech knife today from BladeOps.