MKM Flame : an industrialized interpretation of the Zieba MS3

[m47mu74nt]

When I found out there will be a factory "version" of one of my favorite knife design, I knew I would get it.
So here it is : the MKM Flame deeply inspired by the Zieba MS3 I bought in 2018.
I'll try below to give an over view of the knife and the things that differs from the MS3 : it's close, but not the same, that Flame has its own style.

First things first : the box
A very clean glossy printed cardboard box, with an MKM Moral patch inside :



Contrary to the box, the pouch looks extremely cheap 
(but the knife is protected in a small plastic bag with dessiccant : no worries for rust)

[m47mu74nt]

The knife itself is a 104mm closed knife (176 opened) with a 72mm M390 blade satin finish on this version.
Weighs only 60g with it's half titanium - half marble carbon fiber scales which is 6g more that the full titanium custom MS3 (but 10g less than the full titanium Flame)

Mostly CF black & Ti grey, but with blue accents (pocket clip, and a sort of decorative washer on the pivot head), quite hard to show how beautiful the CF is : it looks like crap on most pictures 

It is on ball bearings and the blade flies open smoothly. The frame lock has a end of travel stopper to prevent over-bending

[m47mu74nt]

It has a lot in common with the Zieba MS3, but also very different, mostly for making it "industry-compliant" I suppose :

- slightly thicker blade with a different profile : less "in tension"
- no distal taper : the MKM Flame has a standard flat or high hollow grind, whereas the MS3 has a distal taper and is nearly full flat grind
- no pocketed scales : the MKM Flame has full Ti scales (on the frame lock side only for the CF and micarta version, on both on the Ti version), whereas the MS3 has deep pockets inside the TI scale to minimise the weight
- simpler and shorter pocket clip (but also much better in hand than the aggressive one that is on the MS3!)
- simple standoff at the tail instead of a backspacer
- doesn't have the little recess in the back of the blade to follow the body shape
- most angles are broken with a chamfer probably to accommodate the time spent on finish

Still, it is really well made, and has its own personality

[m47mu74nt]

Few more pics

And a nice bonus : the frame is numbered (mine is 628)

[toolguy]

That is a really slick design.

Congrats.

[SteveC]

   what is the closed length ?

[David]

Nice knife.          The basic design reminds me of a fancy Emerson A-100.

[m47mu74nt]

  what is the closed length ?

The knife itself is a 104mm closed knife (176 opened) with a 72mm M390 blade

[Alan K.]

They're both very nice.

[m47mu74nt]

They're both very nice.

I totally agree on that, here are a few more pics along with the Blue Ti flame model for eye pleasure

offtopic : I'm wondering why does the uploaded pictures are shown twice and cut on one side ?

[m47mu74nt]

Zieba MS3
MKM Flame Marble Carbon fiber
MKM Flame Blue Ti

[Alan K.]

MTO is changing the way photos are formatted on the site and this needs to be adjusted and will take some time.  The full photo is there if you click on it.

[Alan K.]

More great pictures.  I really like the contrasting pocket clips, blue on grey and grey on blue.  Did the pocket clips come that way or did you change them around yourself?

[m47mu74nt]

MTO is changing the way photos are formatted on the site and this needs to be adjusted and will take some time.  The full photo is there if you click on it.

Ok cool :-)

More great pictures.  I really like the contrasting pocket clips, blue on grey and grey on blue.  Did the pocket clips come that way or did you change them around yourself?

I didn't, those are in "stock" configuration, no modification whatsoever
Btw swapping the pocket clips would need full knife disassembly : the visible screw holds the back of the knife together... And there is a hidden one (screwed from the inside) that holds the clip on the scale