XM18🇺🇸 VRS Socom🇺🇸.. who comes out on top!? ⚔️

[Music] what's going on YouTube welcome back to another episode of Alex's knife box we're gonna do something a little bit different tonight we're gonna put these two knives head-to-head in what I like to call knife battle arena we're gonna circle round and round and go through all the features of these knives put them up against each other and see who comes out ahead now this video was requested by my good buddy a humanist edge check him out on Instagram he's got a crazy collection of micro tech knives from production to vintage to full customs and give him a follow there he's a really good dude and loan me this knife a request of making this video now this XM 18 is mine I just recently purchased it this is the skinny Skinner exclusive and it's a pretty awesome knife I kind of wish I have the thicker version to put up against this one but this will have to do for tonight because this is the XM 18 i/o now before we kick this video off in all honesty I kind of think that it should have been put up against an XM 24 being that the blade sizes are fairly similar that's originally what I was gonna do I just thought they were a little bit more comparable but in this case we're not gonna put the 24 because this video was requested by one of his followers on Instagram by the name of Johan French dude so I'm gonna do this video for him to entertain him and we're gonna put these two knives together let the battle arena begin all right guys let's lay down some rules here so basically the way this works I usually do my review by talking about the blade talking about the pivot and talking about the handle and I'm gonna do this against both of these knives in a relatively as quick manner as possible so the way this works is there's 20 points max there's five points for the handle five points for the pivot five points for the blade then there's the last three quotas or categories and two of them are worth two points and one of them is worth one points so the max points that these knives can get is 20 now every time one wins over the other the point gets taken away from the other knife and that's kind of how that works so let's go ahead and get started with this knife battle right here so let's present these two champions in the ring and just go a little bit over what we're looking at in case you're not familiar with these knives which I'd be really surprised if you weren't because they're pretty common knives so on the right corner right here we have the micro tech SOCOM elite this is a production version and this particular knife is what I consider a welterweight in the weight category it is at five point three ounces the blade length here is three point nine inches which is pretty good right there and then the overall length here we are at nine inches now against it in the left corner here the contender is going to be the X M 18 three point five now as the name insinuates it's got a 3.5 inch blade overall length here we're eight point two five inches and it's kind of a light weight into some sense compared to this one it's gonna be four point eight ounces now keep in mind the four point eight ounces this is a skinny model so that's kind of where this one fell as far as the weight so let's get started all right so the blade now this one here is a tanto profile I can't remember if this is a two o4p version or m390 it falls right in around that year range so that's what we're looking at here it's got this nice black wash finish which is aftermarket it's got this really cool kind of like gray battle tank kind of finished with some customized it carbon fiber inserts so this knife does not come in this configuration this is kind of a one-off it's what we could like to call the acutest custom just a production knife that he has had pimped out now this one is the skinny Skinner the blade is actually made of 20 CV and it is crucible steel version nice and thin slicer kind of profile it's actually the skinner blade they have a blade called the slicer but I was referring to how well this thing cuts and just because the flat grind goes so high and the blade feels relatively thin all the way up so that's kind of what we're comparing here now here's how the five points are gonna work we're gonna give a point four blade steel for corrosion resistance for thickness behind the edge for blade profile versatility how well it's going to cut and then of course the method of deployment so four blade steel I gave them both a point because they tied up two o4p or m390 20 CV it's pretty much all the identical same chemical composition corrosion resistance they're both going to get a point for that too the thickness behind the edge this one actually came out on top at 18,000 the edge this one here came out at 23 thousands behind the edge so this one actually got the point for that as far as for a deployment method when you look at this SOCOM you got a very nice ramp right here and basically you got a thumb stud deployment which is really nice and snappy now the hinder you have actually two choices you do have that same thumb stud deployment but you also have a flipper so depending on what kind of person you are you get a couple choices here and you can deploy it whichever method you like so I'm gonna give it to the Hinderer as far as the deployment method just because you have a couple choices alright next category we're gonna be talking about the pivot now the pivot goes into these categories the action the detent the ease of service in other words taken it apart and cleaning it out and protection from grit and of course finally the pivot design overall so the action I actually gave to the SOCOM because the action you can see here it pretty much drops shut with gravity it's ridiculously smooth these things run on these kind of plastic washers with ball bearings inset inside these bearings are actually pretty cool because you really don't need to oil them to keep the knife going the way that it is it actually will run this smooth nice and dry this one's a little bit different story you got these bronze washers with bearings pressed inside this knife is very very smooth but it's a little bit more of the hydraulic kind of smooth so as far as the action the way the one that I prefer actually really like the way the SOCOM feels so that one's going to get the point the detent on this guy here is kind of in-between because it sits at a flipper deployment where you want the stronger detent and then it's got to be a slightly softened up so you can easily do the thumbs the detent is nice on this one but I like the way the SOCOM felt just a little bit better you can really kind of load up on that thumb stud and it just really snaps out almost like a switchblade so the detent I gave to the SOCOM ease of service the SOCOM took this one this one is not relatively that hard to take apart you got these basically four screws right here but the part that's kind of a pain is that you need this little tool right here from Hinderer or some sort of spanner tool to lock this side in because it's a free-spinning pivot and then you can take your knife apart and clean it out now the SOCOM is done a little bit better the way this one's done is this is a permanently fixed D shaped kind of screw and then on this side right here you take this one out and then take these little screws out and the whole knife comes apart there's no specialty tool required it's just standard T size hardware so it's actually a lot easier because of the fact that no specialty tools and it's not free spinning protection from grit the SOCOM took this one too because when I closed this knife basically I can see light all the way through to the back side of the knife so if you're gonna use this in the mud or take it outdoors or do that sort of thing it's probably going to perform just fine but at the same time if it gets gunked-up you're definitely gonna have to go in there and get that out it's offers just a little bit less a little window of protection on the SOCOM you can see right here there's no light through because of the sandwich construction of these two aluminum aluminum scales it kind of acts kind of like a shield all over it now you do have kind of this opening space right here and you can get some stuff from the bottom but for all it's just much more well protected so these SOCOM takes the point for that one and then the last one is the pivot design now I really like the bearings on this one I like the way this knife feels a lot but this one here you can see that little marking on the flipper tab this is a tri way pivot system so in other words if I'm not happy with the bearings I can take this thing apart I can run it on teflon washers or I can run it on bronze washers as well so you have choices with this one it's a pretty cool innovation with hinder knives that he's been doing for these last couple of years and I really really liked it so I gave the point to the Hinderer for that portion of the pivot let's move on to the handle all right the handle is going to be comfort and grip the pocket clip the lock the overall handle construction and what materials these handles are made out of so as far as the comfort and grip I gave it to the Hinderer this knife is very comfortable I like the ramp and the way that the index little ramp right here fits the knife is locked in very nicely and the fact that there's no finger grooves allows you to kind of slide your hand around depending on what size hand you have I also like the jimping on top of the blade to kind of get up and on top you get a really good positive grip by pinching these two fingers together you really get a little bit further on top of the blade now the reason why I gave it to the Hinderer is because the hinder does have those finger grooves but the handle is actually really comfortable and there's a nice large swell in the back which I really like where this one's lacking a little bit and you also have the ford finger choil which really allows me to get all the way up on top of that blade a lot more than the SOCOM did so as far as that portion the Hinderer gets that point the pocket clips so the pocket clips is something that a lot of people complain about on the SOCOM because it is a tip down carry configuration you do have the liner lock bolted down to this portion right here is to put a pocket clip here would be kind of weird I would think but I have no problems carrying this knife with this tip down configuration at all it's really not any harder to move my hand around and deploy the knife like a lot of people say the reason why the Hinderer did get the point on this one is because you do have a choice of flipping tip up or tip down and that's something that a lot of people might prefer so it kind of fits people better to get that choice to do that so that's why the Hinderer gets the point now as far as the lock is concerned this is a liner lock it is very solid it's got this piece right here the liner is bolted in right over here and it is robust it's got great lockup but there's nothing wrong with it whatsoever I got pretty decent access to the lock here since it is a little bit of a nice wide space with a little bit of traction here I can disengage the knife very easily so it's pretty nice to open and close but the Hinderer got it because truthfully I'm just more of a frame lock guy I like this one piece of titanium construction with the lock caught cut out it just feels so robust and it's a little bit more of a springing kind of lock so I really like frame locks over liner locks that's just my personal preference so I gave the point to the Hinderer now blade Kannur the handle construction overall I think the Hinderer takes it just because if you could look at the way all these screws are they're so beefy and they're so solid it's just really nicely put together another really nice thing is although he uses g10 on the scale it's technically aligned with a piece of titanium here which I really really like so you don't get any kind of flex it's a no rigidity or I'm sorry lots of rigidity when you hang on and grip to this knife so I think there was a little bit more effort and care put into the handle of this one so I picked the Hinderer although this is still a very cool design it's basically no back spacers or anything like that it's just two pieces of aluminum that are sandwiched together and they're bolted in only on one side so it's kind of a nice design too I just preferred the Hinderer just a little bit and the last one in this one in the handle is the materials so obviously I'm gonna give it to the Hinderer just because of the fact that aluminum is nice because it's lightweight I just like the ruggedness and the the toughness of titanium and I like the texture and the feel of titanium as well so the Hinderer gets that point all right so where are we at so far so on the pivot the Hinderer was two points and the SOCOM was at three points the blade the Hinderer got four points and the SOCOM got three points and in the handle Department the Hinderer actually got all five points and the SOCOM lost on that one there is another bonus round and this goes into three different categories price value variety of choices in that model and weight in the pocket so the first two pointer is going to be the price value or in other words of value bang for the buck now when you put these two knives together this one's 425 bucks starting and goes up from there so it's gonna be kind of it is a very nice knife and it does use a little bit more expensive materials and screws than the SOCOM does but its 425 bucks now this knife is probably gonna compete really well overall although I do think this is gonna be a little bit of a better cutter in my opinion this one will do EDC tasks no problem it's gonna be a fantastic cutter so for this one to be 294 dollars which is more than 100 bucks cheaper I think you're getting a better deal with the SOCOM overall so this 2 pointer goes to the SOCOM now a variety of choices in other words how many different choices can I get in this model well being that this one comes in three or four different completely different blade shapes and different colors and finishes and so on and so forth I gave this point to the Hinderer and now the SOCOM you can get it in a drop-point design or a tanto and you can get different colors for the handle but usually the inserts are the same it's always gonna be an aluminum frame it was just two blade shapes so this one takes the two pointer the final point is weight in the pocket now although this knife is definitely lighter than this one the overall size to weight ratio to me I gave that point to the SOCOM I think for just such a large beefy knife the weight is actually pretty damn good I mean it's a 9 inch overall knife that's a big knife so it's almost a whole inch bigger than this one so for half an ounce I think this is a better deal here as far as the weight in the pocket Department for the size knife you get so that about does it guys as far as our knife battle [Music] alright guys so who won well final score is the Hinderer got 13 out of 20 points and the SOCOM got 11 out of 20 points that's pretty damn close these are both excellent knives so let's conclude this thing so the SOCOM let's finish off with the SOCOM honestly out of the two I think it's the best value I know I mentioned that I like titanium but honestly guys aluminum handles are very very strong and durable as well and they're a little bit lighter as far as pound per pound the two-piece frame construction without any standoffs or back spacers is kind of cool and you get this glass breaker at the tip which is a nice little additional touch the SOCOM to me is kind of more of a self-defense knife that can also be used practically as an EDC the tip down carry thing I'm sorry the yeah the tip down carry thing might be something for you guys to consider if that's something that bugs you but in all honesty it doesn't bother me one bit overall that knife is fantastic now the hinder the hinder is kind of a semi compact overbuilt knife that looks and feels that way too it feels like a tank when you hold on to a hinder it just looks like it's a tool that's ready to be used at any time so I really like the feel of this this knife it feels very sturdy there is no compromising designer materials you can choose all the different kind of blade styles from Warren cliffs to their slicer to their spawn tow to this even skinner profile to best suit your needs you can customize them by getting different screws of pivots and so on and so forth different frame colors different clips you name it you can do it the tri way pivot is a really nice innovation it's just a bummer that you have to pay so much for every little screw and every little accessory I mean this tool alone was about like 75 or 85 dollars which is quite a bit of money after you've already spent so much on the knife but overall I think it's a tool that's meant to last a lifetime and bolts and knives are excellent now as far as the customization I don't want to take it away from the micro tech folks because micro tech neither offer different customizations I'll show you an example right here actually this is my SOCOM it's a marvel and custom the obviously this is definitely in a league of its own and this knife right here I also by the way purchase from acumen assege so you can get kind of an idea of what you might see on his Instagram now this has got mokume inserts you know again it's an aluminum frame but it's kind of full compound mirror polished blade which is really freaking awesome - my finger prints so you can get some really crazy wild custom stuff from micro tech I just want to make sure that that was clear I was not gonna say that you're just gonna get a boring knife but this is like a $1,500 so comp so keep that in mind guys if you wanna really get something sweet from these guys you're definitely gonna have to pay to play so that's my knife battle and overall I hope you guys enjoyed this video let me know down below in the comments what you guys think you don't have to agree with me this is again just a video that I was asked to do and I had a lot of fun doing it so if you guys have any suggestions for the next knife battle as far as which two knives you want to see against each other or maybe what categories you want me to change please leave let me know down below go ahead and subscribe to the channel let's hit a thousand folks I'm not there yet but we'll want to get there and then also hit that Bell notification so you know when the next knife battle arena happens and I hope you guys enjoyed this video we'll see you all on the next one [Music]

Channel: undefined

Views: 722

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: microtech, microtech socom elite, hinderer, hinderer xm18, socom xm18, m390 20cv, framelock liner lock, knife vrs knife, hinderer vrs microtech, knife compare, knife comparison, knife review, thumbstud, flipper, flipper knife, thumb stud deployment, hinderer xm18 skinner, hinderer xm18 skinny

Id: _wQkt_9-Qw0

Length: 24min 12sec (1452 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 12 2020