microtech knives

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 2005.1 In 2007 the company began manufacturing an American made version of the Steyr AUG under the subsidiary name of Microtech Small Arms Research (MSAR).2 The company has long promoted itself as stressing quality with regard to tight machining tolerances, to within one thousandth of an inch (0.001").14 Microtech has also designed knives for use by the US Military such as the HALO, UDT and Curahee models.15 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."6 Although Microtech has produced many styles of blades such as kitchen knives, fishing knives, arrow heads, and balisong knives; Microtech is most famous for its tactical automatic knives, also known as switchblades.7 The most popular designs among collectors are the "Out The Front" (OTF) and the "Double Action" (D/A) automatics.8 Microtech along with Benchmade Knives was responsible for the resurgence in the popularity of tactical automatic knives in the 1990s.8 These knives were seen more as a precision made tool utilizing powerful springs and high grade bushings as opposed to a cheap import.8 Microtech has collaborated with famous knifemakers such as Ernest Emerson, Bob Terzuola, Walter Brend, Greg Lightfoot, and Reese Weiland on exclusive designs.6 Microtech Knives have also been featured on the television series 24.9 Microtech Small Arms Research is a subsidiary of Microtech Knives which manufactures an American-made version of the Steyr AUG known as the MSAR STG-556.2 Introduced at the 2007 SHOT Show, the MSAR STG-556 is an AUG A1 clone available in either civilian, semi-automatic only and military/LE, select-fire variants. 10