MKC Looks To Build The Ultimate EDC Knife With The Montana, Their Fist Ever Folder

Josh Smith earned his Master Smith stamp from the American Bladesmith Society at just 19 years old, making him the youngest person ever to do it. He then spent three decades forging custom liner locks coveted enough to command serious collector money. When he launched Montana Knife Company in 2020, he did it on the back of fixed blades, building one of the country’s most recognizable knife brands without ever shipping a folder.

And that all changes today. The Montana is MKC’s first production folder, built to take everything Smith learned making one-off liner locks by hand and reproduce it at scale, with a team of engineers and machinists matching what he once did alone at the bench. For a brand that became a juggernaut on hunting knives, a folding EDC knife is both a homecoming and a gamble.

We were fortunate enough to get hands-on with the The Montana over the past week ahead of tonight’s drop, and so far, it feels every bit as deliberate as that backstory promises.

At A Glance

A Liner Lock Built to Get Stronger Under Load

At its core, the Montana is an inset liner lock, and Smith treated it as the single most important component on the knife. The liners run two to four points harder than the category standard, extend the full length of the handle, and feed blade load into compression rather than bending. The idea here being the lock will get stronger under pressure instead of flexing.

The action rides on custom bronze-cage bearings running oversized silicon nitride balls, paired with a hardened stainless pivot. Even the thumb stud is machined into the blade after heat treatment, one of the trickiest operations on the whole knife and one of the last MKC performs before shipping the blade.

This is the level of obsession we’re looking for (and expect) at this price point.

Razor-Thin MagnaCut With Custom Roots

The blade is CPM MagnaCut (no surprised here considering its surge in popularity). For the uninitiated, this powdered stainless was developed by metallurgist Larrin Thomas, and more or less solved the old trade-off between edge retention, toughness, and corrosion resistance. It is the steel everyone wants right now, and for good reason.

MKC took it to a full flat grind with the thinnest edge the company says it has ever produced, finished in a working stonewash. The trailing point profile, carrying the same upswept tip that made the brand’s Speedgoat a fan favorite, gives the Montana a silhouette that reads unmistakably MKC – even in folder form.

Thin, Light, and Built to Disappear

Here is where the engineering pays off in the pocket. At 2.84 ounces with a handle just 0.45 inches thick, the Montana all but vanishes once it is clipped into your pocket, which is not something we can say about most EDC folders carrying this much steel and titanium hardware.

In hand, the knife feels really solid – yet lightweight at the same time. There is a real heft to it that reads more like quality build rather than bulky blade, and across a week of carry we found it genuinely comfortable to hold. The 3D-milled G10 scales are a big part of that: MKC contoured them in both directions, then milled a fine micro-texture back in, so there is grip without the cheese-grater feel that snags pocket linings. The fold-over deep-carry clip is well designed, with flat-head screws set flush so nothing bunches the fabric underneath.

The blade arrived plenty sharp straight out of the box, ready to work without a trip to the stone. The odd part is how familiar it felt: this is a brand-new format for MKC, yet the Montana sat in the hand like a knife the company has been making for years.

So, What’s the Verdict?

Overall, we’re really digging the knife thus far – especially for everyday carry. Although it is worth noting we’ve only been carrying it for a few days.

The Montana is definitely not trying to reinvent the folder with an exotic new lock. It’s just a clean, obsessively built liner lock that happens to carry 30 years of custom heritage in its DNA, and that focus is the point here. Factor in MKC’s Generations program, which covers free sharpening, cleaning, and repairs for the life of the knife, and the case for the $390 sticker gets just a bit easier to swallow.

Is it the folder for everyone? Absolutely not. Admittedly, it’s on the premium end for most people creeping up near that $400 price point. But for MKC loyalists, and for anyone who wants their first serious EDC blade to be one they can actually hand down, it feels like it’s leaning yes (time will tell). The laser-engraved “R&D1” on this first batch also sweetens it for collectors (ourselves included). And, of course, every one is made right in the USA.

The Montana drops tonight, June 4, at 7 p.m. MDT (9 p.m. EDT) exclusively on Montana Knife Company’s website for $390. Quantities are limited and MKC drops have a habit of vanishing fast, so we’d suggest you set a reminder if you want one.

Recap

Montana Knife Company The Montana

MKC’s first folder takes three decades of custom liner-lock obsession and builds it at production scale. It is pricey, it is deliberate, and for the right buyer it is already a grail.

Learn More: Montana Knife Company