This is a great Knife! Have had 5 and no issues with any of them except one that had dlc blade had a little button stick that went away after owning a few days. I love the thick blades. I’d trust this over a civivi qubit or we kitefin any day which I also have. Blades are just too thin! I wish had t8 hardware also. On two of mine I made my sharpening choil deeper with a dremel. Idk I’ve always enjoyed thicker blades. Don’t mind pushing a little when cutting through cardboard. I also lay my edges down closer to 17 degrees. I agree they should come sharper but do come sharper than brand new benchmades. I will say I just got a Machinewise Sonora and it is like the nicer slightly bigger, new refined integral sleeker version of the Malibu. Still love my Malibus too tho just wish had t8 hardware. The Sonora has t15!
Hey awesome thanks for watching 🙏 Those Sonoras look really sweet! I would love to pick one up. Did you get the MagnaCut or S35VN version (I think that's the other steel they offer)?
I have one and all the things you pointed out were all the things I didn't like about it. Now the many great parts about the knife made me want to give it a chance, so I got a hollow regrind done and cut in a much larger sharpening choil. I do have a new version of this knife and yes it's still soft steel for 20cv, so I looked up what protech says they run it at and they say 59hc. From experience the number given is usually the highest the blade would be and if I had to guess based on use mine is 57.5 to 58 and not acceptable for me and that's why a great USA made knife sits in my knife case. 20cv, m390, and 204p should be ran between 61 at the very lowest to 63 as the preferred hc. It sucks because after the regrind and choir I added the knife is really great, but putting it to a stone every time I cut up a box isn't useful to me.
I also considered a regrind, but after I realized the heat treat seemed shot I decided it wasn't worth it. I totally agree on your hardness guess and preference. 20CV is an edge retention steel, so let's maximize that aspect of it's performance! Thank you for watching 🙏
I have the milled ti version and can confirm the grip and texture is perfect. Do you think they left the blade a little thicker to keep weight and help the action? I understand yours is DLC so possibly this is out for this particular knife - but how do you feel about "thinning" pocket knives? Almost all are thicker than they should really be. I've toyed with the thought of getting equipment to do regrinds but I just don't have the space.
I guess the grind being a bit thicker could help the action, but really that has more to do with blade stock than grind thickness. I think they did it because they weren't prioritizing cutting performance 🤷♂️ I love the idea of regrinds and thinning. I'm definitely interested in getting a belt grinder to do that myself. I would totally do it on a DLC blade, you would have a cool two-tone look with it
I hope yours doesn't have lock failure at $500 lol. But I could bet it does. I own 2 which is almost what you paid for the T.I. model. Protech needs to put a warning ⚠️ sign saying extreme lock failure use with caution ⚠️ 🤮🤮 garbage 🗑 lock.
I had Protech’s other button lock flipper, the Mordax. Same thick behind the edge grind you describe, actually thicker. Makes me Leary about buying another Protech…
I pretty much agree. Great action, good looking knife, but a thick grind, the factory edge was crap, terrible sharpening choil, and it feels like a soft heat treat. I don't understand why it's so popular. The action and overall build is great, it looks good, but the blade is crap. I too had to remove a lot of steel on my first sharpening. It dulls way to fast considering the steel. I'm just not impressed. If you just fidget with your knife but seldom ever actually cut stuff, then it's a great knife. If you actually use your knives, it's a big failure.
Yeah I think I lot of the purple singing praises probably don't care too much about the actual performance. Or maybe they got a good one 🤷♂️ Thanks for watching 👍
I waited a year to finally get my hands on one and bought 2. A black and blue handle. I wish I new that the lock does not work at all. As soon as I get some money I will buy a cheap button lock knife of a different brand and see how it works. Protech just got 3 awards at blade show 2022. Nobody wants to talk about the extreme lock failure that it comes with. I know I'm not the only one wit 2 Malibu's that got lock failure.
This is a great
Knife! Have had 5 and no issues with any of them except one that had dlc blade had a little button stick that went away after owning a few days. I love the thick blades. I’d trust this over a civivi qubit or we kitefin any day which I also have. Blades are just too thin! I wish had t8 hardware also. On two of mine I made my sharpening choil deeper with a dremel. Idk I’ve always enjoyed thicker blades. Don’t mind pushing a little when cutting through cardboard. I also lay my edges down closer to 17 degrees. I agree they should come sharper but do come sharper than brand new benchmades. I will say I just got a Machinewise Sonora and it is like the nicer slightly bigger, new refined integral sleeker version of the Malibu. Still love my Malibus too tho just wish had t8 hardware. The Sonora has t15!
Hey awesome thanks for watching 🙏
Those Sonoras look really sweet! I would love to pick one up. Did you get the MagnaCut or S35VN version (I think that's the other steel they offer)?
I have one and all the things you pointed out were all the things I didn't like about it. Now the many great parts about the knife made me want to give it a chance, so I got a hollow regrind done and cut in a much larger sharpening choil. I do have a new version of this knife and yes it's still soft steel for 20cv, so I looked up what protech says they run it at and they say 59hc. From experience the number given is usually the highest the blade would be and if I had to guess based on use mine is 57.5 to 58 and not acceptable for me and that's why a great USA made knife sits in my knife case. 20cv, m390, and 204p should be ran between 61 at the very lowest to 63 as the preferred hc. It sucks because after the regrind and choir I added the knife is really great, but putting it to a stone every time I cut up a box isn't useful to me.
I also considered a regrind, but after I realized the heat treat seemed shot I decided it wasn't worth it. I totally agree on your hardness guess and preference. 20CV is an edge retention steel, so let's maximize that aspect of it's performance!
Thank you for watching 🙏
Lock 🔐 failure is horrible 😢 . I got 2 of them I wish I new that before I bought them lol.
I have the milled ti version and can confirm the grip and texture is perfect. Do you think they left the blade a little thicker to keep weight and help the action? I understand yours is DLC so possibly this is out for this particular knife - but how do you feel about "thinning" pocket knives? Almost all are thicker than they should really be. I've toyed with the thought of getting equipment to do regrinds but I just don't have the space.
I guess the grind being a bit thicker could help the action, but really that has more to do with blade stock than grind thickness. I think they did it because they weren't prioritizing cutting performance 🤷♂️
I love the idea of regrinds and thinning. I'm definitely interested in getting a belt grinder to do that myself. I would totally do it on a DLC blade, you would have a cool two-tone look with it
I hope yours doesn't have lock failure at $500 lol. But I could bet it does. I own 2 which is almost what you paid for the T.I. model. Protech needs to put a warning ⚠️ sign saying extreme lock failure use with caution ⚠️ 🤮🤮 garbage 🗑 lock.
@@My_Bow_L.Y.F no lock failure here.
That's good to hear!
My Sonora is 20cv
Oh yeah that's the other steel option. Sweet!
I had Protech’s other button lock flipper, the Mordax. Same thick behind the edge grind you describe, actually thicker. Makes me Leary about buying another Protech…
Yep I have the same apprehension
Thanks for watching 👍
It also has really bad 👎 😕 lock 🔐 failure. I own 2 of them.
Dang that sucks!
I pretty much agree. Great action, good looking knife, but a thick grind, the factory edge was crap, terrible sharpening choil, and it feels like a soft heat treat. I don't understand why it's so popular. The action and overall build is great, it looks good, but the blade is crap. I too had to remove a lot of steel on my first sharpening. It dulls way to fast considering the steel. I'm just not impressed. If you just fidget with your knife but seldom ever actually cut stuff, then it's a great knife. If you actually use your knives, it's a big failure.
Yeah I think I lot of the purple singing praises probably don't care too much about the actual performance. Or maybe they got a good one 🤷♂️
Thanks for watching 👍
Terrible lock 🔐 failure. I got 2 of them still lol. Garbage 🗑
I waited a year to finally get my hands on one and bought 2. A black and blue handle. I wish I new that the lock does not work at all. As soon as I get some money I will buy a cheap button lock knife of a different brand and see how it works. Protech just got 3 awards at blade show 2022. Nobody wants to talk about the extreme lock failure that it comes with. I know I'm not the only one wit 2 Malibu's that got lock failure.
Damn that sucks to hear! You should contact and have them refund or replace
@@NocturneKnives I tried having it fixed with them twice.
Dang...
damn i have two as well, how does it fail?
It’s the horrible billboarding on the scale for me
Interesting! I never minded that too much for whatever reason