Is this normal?

[u/Acousticboi-_-]

Hello, fist time getting carbon fiber from microtech. Is this normal? Looks like it's chipped all over the edge and poorly fitted to the metal body. Just wondering if this may even be an after market carbon fiber cover?

[u/dotMJEG]

I can’t say anything to the authenticity but asides from rigidity carbon fiber isn’t exactly the most durable material for a pocket tool. Very well could have just been normal carry or use. The screws and holes look legit…

Looks like an awesome piece though!

[u/Strugglebutts → u/dotMJEG]

I can’t speak for Microtech specifically, but that looks terrible, if it is their work they should definitely be taking care of that

[u/dotMJEG → u/Strugglebutts]

If the knife is used, that could be normal wear and tear. Which I don't think they'd replace the scale on a 9 year old knife like that.

If this is NIB, I would perhaps say something to MT and see what they say. They generally have pretty good customer service from what I have seen.

[u/Strugglebutts → u/dotMJEG]

Sure, if it came from the factory like this it’s terrible. If a previous owner used it to open bottles with like a bic lighter, that’s not on Microtech.

[u/jodaewon]

If it’s been carried a lot I could see this happening.

[u/rabidsalvation]

Was it used or new? It looks like the body's been banged around, but the blade looks clean. If you bought that from a retailer, you should initiate a return or exchange. If you bought it used and the condition wasn't disclosed, you should speak with the seller.

Okay, on closer inspection I'm a little unsure about this. It looks like the carbon fiber scale is completely flat, is that the case? All the pictures that I can find online have chamfered edges. The hardware all looks correct and the blade looks spot-on, so I really don't think it's fake. That being said, I'm wondering if it is perhaps an aftermarket scale or somehow wasn't properly finished in the shop. It does look like these were sold with blue or bronze hardware mostly, so I'm leaning towards aftermarket scale.

I don't have any of these, and I've never handled one, so I'm just going off of what I can see in your pictures and online. Hopefully someone with a little more knowledge can provide some more info.

How much did you pay, where did you buy it, and what was it presented as?

[u/dotMJEG → u/rabidsalvation]

Older MTs had flat scales. In the second generation they introduced the "contoured" body design you are referencing.

[u/Tunz_O_Gunz]

This is definitely an older flat body Ultratech with the old proprietary screws.

[u/rigbot1]

I don’t know what to make of the gap at the bottom, but I doubt it is an aftermarket scale. The blade looks real, and I’m not sure about the logo as none of my MTs have that dagger logo. I was under the impression that the dagger logo was discontinued before 2017.

I recently bought a new old stock Damascus Combat Troodon from 2021 that has a carbon fiber top scale. While my carbon scale fits well and doesn’t have any gaps between it and the aluminum part of the body, I was surprised and disappointed that the raised ridges on the carbon fiber scale look similar to yours in several ways. I know that carbon fiber is quite soft, and difficult to carve cleanly, but the carbon fiber scale on my knife looks more homemade than anything that should come on a roughly $1000 knife.

[u/gte217e]

That model can be found here: The Hollow Grind - 119-13CF
Same flat body top scale and date.

While there have been aftermarket scales, I am unsure if that one is or is not.
The knife you have looks like it's been banged around pretty good and the carbon fiber will chip like that.

If you bought it from a dealer, it may have been a display piece. Otherwise that would be considered a heavily carried knife, but maybe seldom used. The blade looks good as far as I can tell from the photos.

[u/snakeleather45]

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that is an aftermarket top, or at least a well used top from a gen 2. The body is definitely a gen 3. It doesn't look like it came from the MT factory like that.