I recently picked up my first otf knife. A microtech ultra tech.  It's nice and so far works great but seams a little fragile?  I'm thinking it's more of a novelty than an edc knife.  I can't imagine it would hold up to being an edc the same as a good folder would hold up.
What do you guys think?  Sorry no pics of it yet.

I have a Taiwan lightening , It is only used for light stuff.
I agree, OTF's are inherently fragile.

I carry a Microtech Scarab pretty regularly.

I carry my ultratechs pretty regularly. Held up just fine

I EDC'd a lightening for a while.  It's not a hard use knife, but it does a decent job for basic EDC tasks.

The Ultratech's are nice blades.  I know its not a hard use knife, but I did see a video where they baton with it and it still held up very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfcLX_eImE4

I EDC a lightening as well.  Love that knife.  I own a few of them, so I'm not too worried if one buggers up.

- AG

I have carried Microtech OTF's for years.  Great knives.  They will hold up to way more than what many people think.

Have a few Ultratechs I carry pretty frequently. Got a UTX 85 that has all but replaced them though

Most EDC knives aren't hard use end of the world knives anyway. You get a good fixed blade for that.

I carried a Lightning for two months, the knife was fine as a cutter and can handle the double corrugated cardboard that anti freeze comes in. It will hold an edge ok. It handled fine, and the push button on the side with full grip makes it hard to drop after it's out of the pocket and you need the blade. If it needs to be put up, it's gone, one handed, and you pocket it again. No compromised grips where you can't lock your fingers around the handle like side folder knives force you to use.

But, they are as loud as an old General Store screen door banging shut to get the blade in or out. BAM SPROING! every time. This doesn't work for me on the job working retail - and may not for you. Office environments may have their specific PC hazards too. Around the house it was handy, worked fine cutting rubber hose off cars and such.

Why did I stop carrying it? Well, a Microtech has some nice embellishment - they look a lot nicer than an aluminum cast box shaped handle with one coat of paint or whatever, no grip inserts, etc. I moved to a Ganzo 7212 which doesn't startle people and has a classic modern look to its own.

OTF's fragile? Depends, I've seen all kinds of knives break, mostly from abuse they were never intended to put up with. A knife is meant to slice and cut, but some think they are sharpened prybars meant to split rock, open drums, or for entry team work tearing down a hardened doorway. The funny part is that the pro's use some kind of fire ax, tomahawk, or crowbar for that. Not a pocket knife. And certainly not a Swiss Army knife, which isn't the hardest use knife out there, either. But a great cutter, if that is what you use a knife for.

You want to baton firewood with one, you are on your own. They have a place but those who call out they aren't able to take a beating are expressing the obvious. They aren't intended to.

Carried my benchmade infidel for a month that turd has been on the shelf ever since back to my ZT0360

I've carried my Ultratech, Scarab, and HALO at various times. No real issues with any of them although the HALO's lack of a pocket clip is annoying.



I haven't carried an OTF in a while but I'm sure I will again in the future at some point.

Carried an ultratech everyday for 5 years
It just stopped working about a month ago
It looks beat to hell

I've EDC'ed my Infidel for about 5.5 years now. No problems whatsoever, even with sporadic cleaning and maintenance.

I carry an Infidel regularly.

They are stronger than they appear at first glance.

 

But, it's not what you should be taking for SHTF or camping.  My Lightning OTF knives are EDC for box, bottle, and whatever duty.

Have a Benchmade Infidel. I carried it until a penny got stuck in the opening...

I love the slim profile of my utx-85 for edc. I can still stuff my hand in my pocket to get other items even with that and a Key-Bar clipped to the same pocket.