A Magnificent Fighter

Matt Lamey Fighter:

I promised a full review of my custom Matt Lamey Fighter once it arrived. The knife is awesome, good enough?

Just teasing, there are a lot more great things to say about this knife. Number one is the quality of service from the maker. I don’t care how good a knife is, the deal can quickly turn sour if the maker is some arrogant jerk. When I am spending my money it isn’t to stroke some guys ego and listen to him tell me how great he is. It’s all about the knife. Matt is great to deal with and his knives speak volumes for his artistry and workmanship.
The hand-forged 1095 blade is about ten inches long and 1¾ inches wide. It has a very active hamon that wraps up around the fully sharpened clip. The handling of the knife is enhanced by the six inch long clip and forged-in distal taper. Matt enlarged the choil to suit my inclination to sometimes wrap my pointer finger around the guard. To make it more comfortable he softened the corners of the guard and choil. Unlike some custom knives this one is frightfully sharp where it is supposed to be, and pleasantly smoothened where it counts.
Matt carefully blended the flats on the blade down to the edge, acutely in the major portion of the blade, and more obtusely near the tip. This method provides added strength to the tip where the blade is traveling the fastest and the impact forces are the highest. Subtleties like this are seldom found on knives costing even hundreds of dollars more. Either some makers don’t understand these finer points, or they assume that their customers won’t know the difference. The result of Matt’s extra handiwork is an edge that is hair shaving sharp from one end to the other. By the way, I asked for a sharpened clip and that is exactly what I got. The clip on this knife is properly hardened and sharper than the primary edge on some custom knives I have bought.

The handle is of hidden or mortised tang construction. This requires a lot more work than a fully exposed tang but it makes for a beautiful knife. One single copper pin is all that interrupts the flow of highly figured walnut. The functional handle shape is typical of many of today’s competition cutting knives. It is comfortable and well sized to fit my hand. Finished off with a satin sheen, the colors in the walnut are perfectly complimented by the copper guard. Formed out of solid copper, the guard to blade fit is perfect and the sculpting is graceful, leaving only that material necessary for proper function. Rakishly angled forward, with the branches positioned to make gripping and thumb placement natural, this is a guard designed with the user in mind. Far too often "custom" knifemakers solder on a lump of metal, call it a guard, and neglect to sculpt it or blend it into the flow of the handle. The balance point of this fighter falls just ahead of the ricasso. Having the point of balance slightly weight-forward adds to the cutting power of the knife without seriously affecting its maneuverability, like when performing quick blade reversals. A fighting knife like this is ideally designed for cut and thrust techniques and it will offer up a lively offense or defense.


A custom Kenny Rowe sheath finishes out the package. While it might look mundane, I specified a plain sheath. The fit and workmanship is of the highest order. There is a belt loop on the back and a stud on the front giving me the option to slip it IWB or place it on my belt. Together, the knife and sheath are a magnificent example of the knife fighter’s stock in trade. Without a doubt Matt Lamey is a master of his trade and you would be hard put to find a finer fighting knife or a nicer guy. Thanks Matt.