I'm astonished by how well my Montana Knife Company (MKC) blades have held up. For a long while, I'd heard how good they were, how they retained an edge, how they didn't dull, and how sharp they were straight out of the box. But that's literally what every knifemaker says about their blades, and I've found varying degrees of reality in those claims.
Then I took them into the deer woods.
I didn't write about my experience with the knife yet, as there wasn't a powersports angle to report with. I was in a walk-in-only area. But I'll say that my late-season archery mule deer buck was old. His hide was as thick, if not thicker than my bull elk's. And the MKC Blackfoot 2.0 knife I brought in made such fast work on that buck, I began cursing not having it with my bull. Even now, many months later, having not sharpened it once since, it'd still take my finger off.
But that penchant for brilliant knifemaking makes the brand's latest offering slightly confusing, as MKC just dropped two collaborations with Big Ideas Design in debuting twin backcountry multitools designed to help you get going when things go wrong. That doesn't sound all that weird until you realize neither features a knife...
MKC did, however, drop a new knife alongside them, so maybe they're going for the old "Master of one" adage.
Dubbed the Bit Bar Inline Max and Bit Bar II, the two multitools are some of the cleanest screwdriver multitool sets I've ever seen. If nothing else, MKC does design well, though the brand does everything sorta well, too.
According to the press release, the larger of the two, the Bit Bar II, "Carries like a pocket knife but works like a complete screwdriver set. Montana Knife Company brought their field experience to Big Idea Design's engineering team to create a tool that handles scope rings, bow adjustments, and daily repairs without slowing you down. Pop the push-button mechanism and you've got instant access to eight 1/4" hex bits when you need to make changes in the field."
As for the Bit Bar Inline Max, it's smaller, more discreet, and looks more like a pen, though is no less capable. "Three configurations give you the versatility to work on rifles, bows, or whatever else needs attention," states MKC and Big Idea Design, adding, "Six S2 steel double-sided bits cover Phillips, Torx, flathead, and hex sizes for complete coverage. 100% metal construction means no plastic parts to fail when you're counting on it."
And, of course, the two are made of titanium, so they're light as hell, and strong like bull. So strong, the companies say that both multitools are "built to outlast everything in your pocket." Naturally, both feature the brands' lifetime warranties.
They aren't exactly traditional Leatherman-esque multitools, though, and it seems MKC knows that, as in addition to the collaboration with Big Idea Design, MKC dropped an all-new knife, too. Called the Castle Rock, it's MKC's idea of a fixed-blade EDC that can also do double-duty in the mountains.
"At Montana Knife Company, we’ve built our reputation on knives that perform in the backcountry," says the company, "But we kept hearing the same feedback from our fans: 'I want to carry an MKC every single day, not just on hunts.' The Castle Rock is our answer." What that amounts to is a 3-inch Magnacut steel, a G-10 handle built so it doesn't give you hotspots when using, and a total length of just 6 3/8 inches. My current Benchmade PSK EDC, when closed in my pocket, is nearly 5 inches, and I don't think a little extra would make much of a difference, honestly.
But I also like a longer, chunkier knife. I know many who don't, though.
As for price, the Big Idea Design collaborations will set you back $135 for either the Bit Bar Inline Max or Bit Bar II. The Castle Rock EDC knife, however, has a price tag of $275. But that doesn't matter, as at the time of writing, it's already sold out. MKCs tend to do that, if you didn't know. It will return, however, and for those wanting a fixed-blade EDC, I'd sign up for the brand's newsletter to know when drops occur. All this knife talk, however, has me jonesing to get back into the hunting woods, though it'll be hard to top last season.
