I have found through my long career as a knife nut that there are many "perfect" knives. There are even several "perfect" knives for each category. It has taken me years to realize that every time I get excited about the "perfect knife!", that I will soon find another "perfect knife!!". In the end, I realize that there are many perfect knives, because even categories of knives have subcategorizes, and no knife is "perfect" all the time.

Like the perfect folder for instance: There are a few that I consider "perfect". One is the Butterfly knife, or Balisong, like the old Benchmade 45. These are a form of perfection. But, they are not legal in many areas due to silly laws based on old movies. Another perfect folder is the Benchmade Axis. At least, this one is close to perfect. I am not %100 thrilled with the handle, but I love the lock and the blade design. The lock makes any flaws in the handle easily overlooked, because it is one of the few locks I will trust my fingers to. I was carrying the Axis for almost a year and never thought twice about buying another knife because the Axis was as close to perfection as I needed. The lock is bomb proof, smooth and dependable. I trust it, and it is handy to boot.

The first thing I look for in a knife is a good handle. Everything I can work with, but a good handle is imperative, because hanging onto a knife in the midst of a fray is not as easy as many think. But, on a folder, the first priority is the lock. The lock has to be good. That is the weakness of a folder. This limits me to very few folders that I will carry. (I wish I could carry a fixed blade, but getting kicked out of school is not worth the risk. When I can, I always carry a fixed blade.) Anyway, back to the perfect folder...I was really satisfied with the Axis for a very long time and wished for no other knife. It was amazing: after years of buying every new folder that came along, it all came to a screeching halt when I got the Axis. I never bought another folding knife after I got the Axis! (although I did wish for an Emerson Commander or a Kasper Fighting Folder with an Axis lock). The Benchmade Axis did everything I was looking for, the lock was the only one on the market I really trusted but was still smooth and handy, and the knife was very close to perfection in a production folder. The problem was, I realized I was having to sharpen the darn thing every week. Not because I was using it a lot, but simply because the edge was rusting off! I rarely used the knife, not enough to dull a "super steel" like ATS-34 *chuckle*(sarcasm), but the edge would rust off anyway.

So, along came Christmas and my wife told me she would get me something for a few hundred bucks. I decided that I needed something that did not rust. I had always eyeballed the Mission Knives folder, but never saw a need for it. Now, it became the perfect solution to my problem. The Mission filled my current parameters for a good folder (the top two never change): #1 A rock solid lock, #2 A good handle, #3 Rust proof, So, I ordered a Mission MPF. As I remembered, it is a wonderful knife. The lock is integral like the Sebenza, and my grip holds the thick lock closed. I do not see the lock being able to open up under any reasonable circumstances. The tighter I grip the handle, the tighter the thick lock stays closed. The handle is great. Awesome guard, and perfect contours to fit my hand. It is amazing how they can make "flat" metal fit the hand so well. Too bad Chris Reeve can't make the Sebenza fit so well in the hand. I can even hold the Mission MPF comfortably in my hand when it is closed and punch with it. No lumps etc to bruise my hand. The lockup is rock solid. No blade pay at all. The knife is smooth like a custom.

The Mission MPF is extremely lightweight for the size. It is the largest, and yet the lightest knife I have ever carried short of a Zytel Spyderco. I love the blade shape on this folder too. Flat grind is the way to go for me, and this knife has a full flat grind. This balde shape allows it to glide through cutting media, and yet retain the most strength. Typically, this (flat) blade grind is the most expensive to grind out, so companies avoid it and prefer the cheaper method of hollow grinding their blades. Mission Knives does not skimp on the grind, but in their dedication to making the best product on the market, they put the time and money into giving it a full flat grind. (Lest you think at this point that I am pandering to Mission Knives, I have never met, nor talked, nor communicated in any way with anyone at Mission. I don't know them, I don't endorse them in any professional way, I just think they put out a top notch product and I can see in their knives that they are dedicated to "doing it right" without regard to cost cutting measures and marketing ploys).

Also, I notice that Mission is headstrong in putting the serrations on the proper side of the knife for a right handed user! I am so sick of companies catering to the photgraphs and purposely putting the serrations on the wrong side of the blade just so that they look good in magazines. I don't know if many people here realize, but the serrations for a right handed user are supposed to be on the right hand side of the blade. The only reason that most companies put the serrations on the left hand side of the blade, when it comes down to it, is because it looks better in pictures. They put the logo and the cute serrations on the left side of the knife, because they don't want to photgraph the right side of the knife where the ugly clip is. You will notice that most all pictures of "tactical folders" in magazines and ads are of the left hand side of the knife, where the best aesthetics are with the logo on the blade and no ugly clip showing.

Overall, where the serrations go does not make a huge difference (until you try to use those serrations for anything other than cutting rope), and companies have made excuses for why they put the serrations on the wrong side of the knife, but in the end they admit that it comes down to being able to make pretty pictures in magazines to sell their knives. In my book, this is called "putting fashion before function", and is of the most vile form of heresy. Every time I see the blade shape of the Mission MPF, the full flat grind, and the serrations, I am reminded of Mission Knives' dedication to producing a real working tool, not just a cute looking toy. I appreciate having a hardcore well-made tool of simple but effective design, with no extra fat added on. The Mission MPF is just a lean, mean tool, and nothing else.

This knife is made for the serious user, with "function" coming far ahead of "fashion". The thing that surprised me the most was how sharp this thing can get! I thought it was going to be perpetually dull since it is titanium. I did not know titanium could even take a decent edge. Nope, I was wrong: with very little effort I can get this knife "hair popping" sharp, literally. Does it hold an edge well? Well...there has to be a downfall to using titanium, and the "downfall" is that it is softer than steel. Since I don't use the knife a ton, but carry it a lot, I wanted a knife that would not rust and would not dull in my pocket from humidity.

The MPF does this perfectly. It does dull rather quickly compared to a steel knife when I use it for cutting though. I can notice it losing it's razor sharpness after just cutting up a few boxes (it is still very sharp, just not "hair popping" sharp at that point). But, here is the kicker (as my friend would say): The quicker a knife dulls, the quicker it sharpens! I have never had a knife that sharpens so easily and quickly as this knife. Yes, the metal is relatively soft, and very very tough due to that softness and the fact it is titanium. The softness means I can sharpen it in seconds flat. I have found that a steel rod works best for regular upkeep. It takes two strokes on each side and it is hair popping sharp again, no exaggeration. It probably takes me 10 seconds from start to finish to get this knife back to razor sharpness after a day's work. I have always appreciated knife blades that sharpened up quick. I would rather have a knife that I can sharpen easily and is a bit softer for toughness, than a brittle, hard knife edge that takes forever to sharpen.

So, in the end, it is about the same either way to me. Yes, the titanium dulls quicker than ATS-34, but it sharpens up in seconds, so either way has it's advantage. I really appreciate the functional simplicity and strength of the Mission MPF. It is like the Sebenza in essence, but geared more toward military use and abusive environments. I like this knife a lot. With it's light weight, I keep it clipped to my sweat shorts or whatever I am working out in. I work out and sweat a lot, so that would explain my need for a rust proof knife (as well as living on the beach). This was not meant to be a knife review, but just a praise of how cool this knife is. for the role, this is definitely the perfect folder. It is now on a very short list of folders I would consider "perfect".