Hi everyone, i would like to give you MTO folks a quick review of the Myerchin BF300P, which has been my dayily carry at work for a couple of years. Myerchin is a well known brand among professionals who work at sea or around boats. They gained respect with quality and reliability
through the years. They have been even the US Navy and USCG official supplier.
The model in the subject is a "second generation" Myerchin which basically means it is a liner-locking knife (and marlin spike), opposed to the older
ones which had a weird and quite unique sort of back lock, which unfortunately i have never had the chance to examine dismantled in detail.
The one i carried is one of the larger scale folding models (named "Captain" size as opposed to the "Crew" smaller size as listed by Myerchin itself)
with a partially serrated sheepsfoot blade and micarta handles. The blade is really massive for a folding rigging knife, it is almost 9cm long and 2,5cm wide, with
a built-in shackle-breaker slot (really wide) which doubles wonderfully as a thumbhole for one-hand opening (keeping the point towards the
ground one can almost flip it open like a tactical knife!) which is a great thing for a rigger as anyone can figure. The older models are a pain in the ass
to open and close, but i hope to discuss it in future reviews.
The first 1/3 of the edge is flat, the rest is serrations and it takes a wonderdul edge, which lasts a decent period of use and abuse.
It is has a very thick back-spine which could be literally batoned if needed, even if it is not reccomended of course. The blade lock on my sample was almost perfect,
the liner went in place with a solid and musical snap and had zero play;
as a liner-lock it could be also closed one-handed, with some practice.I cannot but say good things about the blade; it cut through everything i asked it for; it never failed, it could make a very clean and precise cut through 20mm rope with small effort, just
to say. I used it to cut through plastic, heavy rubber, rope of various diameters (i once made various clean cuts through a 30mm rope).
It would get a bit dull after repeately cutting through thick rubber, but that would be easely fixed with a couple of strokes on the Sharpmaker.
The handles had micarta scales on this variant; the handle is thick, comfortable, well designed; it always gave a sense of confidence while squeezing it
to make a heavy cut! Very ergonomic and wonderful grip, even with wet hands and handle. The knife comes with a great pocket-clip, very sturdy, tight and functional and i
always preferred it as method of carrying instead of the nylon sheath, which is anyway included and well made.
At the bottom end of the handle there was a lanyard ring, which unfortunately broke in two while working in a thight spot.
The marlin spike was great too, rock-solid liner-lock, functional shape. I used it a lot to splice or untie tight knots, but it also served very well for
light prying and torque.
In the end i say it has been a great companion and did a great service, though there is no happy-ending... One day i flick it open and CRACK!, no usual musical snap but
a weird crack. The blade liner-lock broke neat in two!
It was a great delusion and it left me quite grim for a couple of days. But hey, i have used the poor guy to cut, pry, beat, snap, open shackles... I spared it no work, so in
the end i must say it has been worth its duty.