The World of Midtechs

2 of my favorites are the 3 Rivers/RJ Martin Machine and Tashi Bharucha Rowdy HiTech (built by McGinnis). Zieba does good work, the Spartan Harsey Folder is worth checking out, and the recent M. Striders are top notch.
 
I thought Strider thankfully went out of business? Never got the appeal of his knives anyway, shady character, associations (OSOE, hilarious because of how similar both behaved), and business practices aside.

I caught myself looking at the ADV Recon 1 Integrals before coming across that GBU thread. One thing that was weird though was I saw conflicting reports of who was making his knives---BladeHQ says Kizer, a site I saw based overseas said Reate. I was ready to pull the trigger when I saw Reate (Reate and WE are the only Chinese makers I trust currently) but then saw BladeHQ's description and held off until I saw the GBU thread.

I thought "midtech" meant knives made by a custom maker with parts sourced elsewhere? I'm seeing a lot of low-volume production makers listed here.
 
I thought Strider thankfully went out of business? Never got the appeal of his knives anyway, shady character, associations (OSOE, hilarious because of how similar both behaved), and business practices aside.

I caught myself looking at the ADV Recon 1 Integrals before coming across that GBU thread. One thing that was weird though was I saw conflicting reports of who was making his knives---BladeHQ says Kizer, a site I saw based overseas said Reate. I was ready to pull the trigger when I saw Reate (Reate and WE are the only Chinese makers I trust currently) but then saw BladeHQ's description and held off until I saw the GBU thread.

I thought "midtech" meant knives made by a custom maker with parts sourced elsewhere? I'm seeing a lot of low-volume production makers listed here.

I don't get the appeal of Strider knives either, not my thing at all. Yep, after seeing that post of ADV, I can't say I really want to deal with him.

I'm honestly not sure because Midtechs are a confusing world to me, hence why I am here to ask you all.
 
I thought a midtech was like Liong mah, pena, Chavez or Lambert partering with Reate to make a production version of a custom....that's pretty much all I've been buying anyways thinking that was a midtech Haha.
 
Hello all,

I am trying to educate myself on everything that is out there. I've got a decent collection going, but I haven't quite really broken into the world of Midtechs. I know that Midtechs are somewhat hard to define and whatnot, but I'd love to be turned onto some brands and makers of them that I'm not familiar with.

I picked up a customized Olamic Wayfarer 247 from another member here recently as my first midtech style knife, and while I do like it, I'd also like to see what else is out there. That being said, midtechs and/or high end production knives have kinda been on my radar lately. I'm familiar with John Graham Knives, Millit Knives, Grimsmo Knives, CRK, ADV, and a couple more makers. What else is there out there that I might be missing out on? Thanks!

I'm still a fan of the original "midtech", the Les George VECP:

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If you search bladeforums for midtech there have been many many many threads about what a midtech is. No one has a legit answer that everyone can agree appon.

The original from Ken onion was a manufacturered knife that involved work by the original designer, ie blade finishing, anno, sharpening, etc.

Here's Lucas Burnley weigh in on the topic.
https://knifenews.com/lucas-burnley-weighs-in-on-the-mid-tech-question/


In any case a designer that has a low production run from a manufacturer... It's not a midtech at all. That's just some poor fool (the customer making that up, or the maker making it up) trying to charge more for his knives when he goes to sell them lol. So the knives from we, reate, etc are not midtechs. They are just small production runs from a designer made by a high end manufacturing facility ... That's it. The maker or designer was not involved in the production of that at all other than sending a napkin with a knife drawing on it to the MFG.
 
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Not sure if mentioned but Brown Knives (he is doing the exponent series at the moment and they look interesting) and I would also point out that Cheburkov make some nice knives that are similar to Shirogorov in many ways but different enough at the same time, and less money.
 
Thanks to a few others introducing me to Brown Knives, I am now adding a Servo to the list...
 
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Thanks to a few others introducing me to Brown Knives, I am now adding a Servo to the list...

Awesome! I have not handled one but they are well reviewed. Currently he is making the exponent model, Servos do pop up for sale every now and then second hand!
 
Awesome! I have not handled one but they are well reviewed. Currently he is making the exponent model, Servos do pop up for sale every now and then second hand!

The exponent just doesn’t do it for me at all. I wish I had (as well as with some other knives!) caught on to it a little sooner. I’ll just find one secondhand when I have the money. I’ve seen some pop up on reddit as well.
 
The exponent just doesn’t do it for me at all. I wish I had (as well as with some other knives!) caught on to it a little sooner. I’ll just find one secondhand when I have the money. I’ve seen some pop up on reddit as well.

Great call!
 
If you search bladeforums for midtech there have been many many many threads about what a midtech is. No one has a legit answer that everyone can agree appon.

The original from Ken onion was a manufacturered knife that involved work by the original designer, ie blade finishing, anno, sharpening, etc.

Here's Lucas Burnley weigh in on the topic.
https://knifenews.com/lucas-burnley-weighs-in-on-the-mid-tech-question/


In any case a designer that has a low production run from a manufacturer... It's not a midtech at all. That's just some poor fool (the customer making that up, or the maker making it up) trying to charge more for his knives when he goes to sell them lol. So the knives from we, reate, etc are not midtechs. They are just small production runs from a designer made by a high end manufacturing facility ... That's it. The maker or designer was not involved in the production of that at all other than sending a napkin with a knife drawing on it to the MFG.

In some cases, there is a substantially larger amount of involvement. Liong Mah sources materials for his models built by Reate, among other things. While most of these collaborations are exactly as you say, and they should be assumed so until we learn otherwise, some vary.
 
Shirogorov, Koenig, Brian Nadeau, Spartan, Thornburn, CKF to name a few
Agreed. Brian Nadeau's outsourced knives are great (Reate made). I wouldn't really call Brian's solo work a midtech though. Same with Mr Thorburn - he's definitely a handmade custom maker.
 
Not sure if mentioned but Brown Knives (he is doing the exponent series at the moment and they look interesting) and I would also point out that Cheburkov make some nice knives that are similar to Shirogorov in many ways but different enough at the same time, and less money.
Brown's knives are great by most accounts, but they aren't midtechs. It's all made in house by one guy.
 
If you search bladeforums for midtech there have been many many many threads about what a midtech is. No one has a legit answer that everyone can agree appon.

The original from Ken onion was a manufacturered knife that involved work by the original designer, ie blade finishing, anno, sharpening, etc.

Here's Lucas Burnley weigh in on the topic.
https://knifenews.com/lucas-burnley-weighs-in-on-the-mid-tech-question/


In any case a designer that has a low production run from a manufacturer... It's not a midtech at all. That's just some poor fool (the customer making that up, or the maker making it up) trying to charge more for his knives when he goes to sell them lol. So the knives from we, reate, etc are not midtechs. They are just small production runs from a designer made by a high end manufacturing facility ... That's it. The maker or designer was not involved in the production of that at all other than sending a napkin with a knife drawing on it to the MFG.

So it sounds like I'm correct in the designation as a "midtech" of the small run I'm making. In doing 20 knives, 14 will be midtechs and 6 will be more "custom" (mainly dressed up more with bolsters and more complicated grinds, and the buyer will have some input in this probably). I'm outsourcing the machining and waterjet, ht, etc but I'm going to handle the blade shape and grind work, reaming the pivot and doing the lockup and detent (all of the important things) along with the final fit and finish. That would be considered a midtech correct?
 
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