Introducing the MPT
The new knife is called the MPT (Multi Purpose Tactical) and incorporates several changes and improvements over the MPK while still retaining the basic construction concepts. It is more compact, thinner, and as Rick Schultz, President of Mission Knives & Tools, says, "It has a higher speed and lower drag coefficient". Rick tells me that he had user input from Spec Ops personnel and from Alon Stivi, a former Israeli Commando and practitioner of hisardut, an Israeli form of martial arts.
For this test I had two MPT's, A prototype MPT made of 154CM Stainless steel (RC-56), the second made with Mission's signature nonmagnetic beta titanium blade. Both knives are identical except for the bade materials and color. The 154CM is dark gray, the titanium blade a sand-blasted bronze. Later titanium blades will also be dark gray.

The titanium version of the MPT is identical in appearance to the steel model, but the difference quickly becomes apparent when the knives are handled

Both have "V" ground blades that are 6 inches long, 1 ½ inches wide and ¼ -inch thick. The clip point blade has 2 ¾-inch false edge which can be sharpened, a 4-inch straight cutting edge with a 2-inch serrated section close to the handle. The top of the blade has a 2-inch grooved section, and there is a 1-inch coil to allow the user to choke up for fine work.

Handle
The handle is made of Hytrel with a 20-percent Kevlar fill and is electrically insulated. The handle was designed to be comfortable in either hand regardless of what type grip is being used. It has a large thumb ramp which allows you to put extra pressure when cutting, a slight swell in the center, drops towards the butt and has a bird's head hook on the butt. There is a lanyard hole and a down sweeping hilt that prevents your hand from slipping forward on the blade.

After 45 hours in salt water, the titanium MPT had no rust while the 154CM had surprisingly little corrosion.

During the testing I found the handle very comfortable and secure to use, even when wet. I stabbed into a log butt with both the ice pick and saber grip with no problems, and found the knife to be very ergonomic to use when chopping. I ended up with no hot spots or blisters in any of the tests. My only suggestion concerns the integral guard. I would like to see it cut further forward like the guard on a Randall #1, or have the corners of the guard more rounded. Its shape did not cause me any real problems, and unless you have a large hand you probably wouldn't even notice it. I also think Mission could cut the tongue groove area on the top of the blade in half. With my large hand I could not reach the forward half of the grooves and I doubt many people could.

The Blades
Although Titanium is very tough, in the past its maximum Rockwell hardness was unacceptably low. Mission has used a special beta titanium alloy that allows them to achieve a RC of 46-47. (Rick says they are conducting tests in which they have achieved RC 52, which should be interesting in the future.) The theory is that if you do not cut anything harder than RC 46, the edge should last just fine. The titanium blade is extremely tough and weighs a lot less than steel. The titanium MPT weighed 8.6 ounces, while the 154CM MPT weighed 12.2 ounces.

Sharpness
When I received the knives, both were not as sharp as I like. I was able to get the 154 CM MPT to where it would cleanly shave the hair off my arm without much trouble. The other MPT was the first titanium blade I have worked with. I used my model M EZE LAP diamond sharpener (diamond is about all that works with on titanium), but to borrow fellow Tactical Knives Editor Ralph Mroz's term, the best I could get was "Scraping Hair Sharp". Later Rick Schultz sent me one of their Non Magnetic Diamond Sharpeners and I did a little better.

Testing
To see for myself how corrosion resistant titanium is I put both knives in a bag of salt water for 45 hours. Not surprisingly, the titanium MPT had no corrosion, while the 154CM MPT had a few rusty spots.

If you want a totally corrosion resistant, non magnetic, light but extremely tough knife, then go with the titanium MPT.

I tried chopping through half a dozen different types of copper wire, some of which I had to beat the knife through with a club. No damage to either knife. Splitting logs by beating on the knife with a club again did not damage to either knife. I tried cutting manila rope, polypropylene rope, braided nylon with the straight , unserrated section of the edge. On any rope that I could not slice, I used the club to beat the blade through. This worked fine but would not really work in a field situation. In any situation the serrations on both knives devastated all of the ropes just as they were intended to do.