Maxam Knives – Good or Bad?

Maxam Knives – Good or Bad?

I was recently walking to my local gym and low and behold I ended up finding this little gem on the ground.

front of maxam knife

At first, I thought it was a Spyderco. I was STOKED! Unfortunately, I picked up a ‘Maxam’ branded knife. So, what do I think of it? Meh… It doesn’t impress me.

Overall, the knife screams cheaply made Chinese mass-produced crap. Nothing against Chinese knives. As of the time that I am writing this article (Year 2020) the Chinese are making some quality blades. This Maxam knife, however, is not one of those high-quality pieces.

The black handle is made from cheap plastic, not the Zytel or G10 quality plastic that many knife-collectors are used to. The pocket clip… I actually like. Sure, it isn’t deep carry, but the “springiness” of the pocket clip is perfect. The knife-hole opener is more of a Byrd knife shape rather than your typical Spyderco circle.

maxam knife in both good and bad conditions

Since I picked it up from off the ground, I wanted to test the sharpness of the blade. This bad boy has gone through quite some use. The smooth edge was so dull that it could barely cut paper even when I laid it flat-down on my table. The serrated edge is still in pretty decent condition.

The blade steel is trash. Very soft steel. It took me a few passes on my sharpening system to get this blade razor sharp, aaaannnndddd… it was dull again after cutting rope for less than 10 minutes.

serrated edge of maxam blade steel

In summary, if you see a Maxam knife at your local sporting goods store and it is over five bucks… save your money. This knife may be okay to shove into your fishing tackle box or in the glove compartment of your vehicle. But, as a knife snob, I would recommend you skip out on these Maxam knives. The quality is seriously lacking.

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