Microtech Knives#Microtech Small Arms Research

{{Short description|American knife manufacturer}}

{{Infobox company

|name = Microtech Knives, Inc.

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|type = Privately held company

|foundation = Vero Beach, Florida ({{Start date and age|1994}})

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|location_country =

|location = Fletcher, North Carolina

|key_people = Tony and Susan Marfione

|area_served =

|industry = Manufacturing

|products = Knives

|services =

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|net_income =

|num_employees = 100+{{cite web | title = Microtech Knives, Inc. | publisher = Bradford Office of Economic and Community Development (OECD) | url = http://www.bradfordpa.org/microtech_knives.html | access-date = 2007-06-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928215651/http://www.bradfordpa.org/microtech_knives.html | archive-date = 2007-09-28 | url-status = dead }}

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|homepage = {{url|www.microtechknives.com}}

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}}

Microtech Knives, Inc. is a knife manufacturing company, famous for its automatic knives, that was founded in Vero Beach, Florida in 1994, and operated there until relocating to Bradford, Pennsylvania in 2005 and to Fletcher, North Carolina in 2009. The company expanded the location of its Corporate Headquarters in nearby Mills River, NC in 2018. Microtech now has two active manufacturing factories and one corporate headquarters location.

File:MT-Hawk-Scarab.jpg

The company has long promoted itself as stressing quality with regard to tight machining tolerances, to within one thousandth of an inch (0.001").{{cite web | title = Microtech Knives - About Microtech | url = http://www.microtechknives.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=30 | access-date = 2007-06-22

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070213122820/http://www.microtechknives.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=30 |archive-date = 2007-02-13}} Microtech has designed knives for use by the US Military such as the HALO, UDT, SOCOM and Currahee models.{{Citation | date = September 2007 | title = Microtech Knives: the Currahee | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3197/is_9_52/ai_n20512796

| journal = Shooting Industry | access-date = 2008-02-06 }} Custom knifemakers, such as Greg Lightfoot have remarked that these tolerances are what makes the factory knives so close to the custom design: "It has the same quality as a handmade custom."

Although Microtech has produced many styles of blades in the past such as kitchen knives, fishing knives, arrow heads, and butterfly knives; Microtech is most famous for its tactical automatic knives.{{Citation | last = Rhea | first = David | year = 2005 | title = Butterfly Knives: Flippin' and Flyin' | journal = Blade Magazine | volume = 32 | issue = 9 | pages = 66–71}} The most popular designs among collectors are the "Out The Front" (OTF) and the "Double Action" (D/A) automatics.{{Citation | last = Karwan | first = Chuck

| date = March 2005 | title = Microtech's X-Files: Fast & Furious | journal = Tactical Knives Magazine | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | pages = 10–14}} Microtech along with Benchmade Knives was 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 knifemakers and designers such as Ernest Emerson, Bob Terzuola, Mick Strider, Walter Brend, Mike Turber, Greg Lightfoot, Reese Weiland, Borka Blades (Sebastijan Berenji) and Bastien Coves (Bastinelli Knives) on exclusive designs.{{Citation | last = Hopkins | first = Cameron

| date = September 2000 | title = These Hot Profit-Makers Are The Knife Industry's Best Kept Secret For Gun Dealers

| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3197/is_9_45/ai_65953087 | journal = Shooting Industry | access-date = 2008-02-06}} A Microtech Knives "HALO" was featured on the television series 24.{{Citation | last1 = Cerasini | first1 = Mark | last2 = Alfonsi | first2 = Alice | year = 2003 | title = 24: The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU | pages = [https://archive.org/details/24housespecialsu00cera/page/224 224] | publisher = Harper | isbn = 978-0-06-053550-6 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/24housespecialsu00cera/page/224 }}