Amtac Blades has a lot of knives in its catalog. I even own a few, but the Minuteman II has been the one most people reach for first if they’ve decided to plunge into the world of high-end EDC blades. This week, the company started shipping a new version built specifically to make the EDC experience as sleek as it can be.
The Minuteman II Slim keeps almost everything that made the original version popular. It’s still a 4-inch full flat ground blade with a 7 3/4-inch overall length, and it’s still built in CPM MagnaCut steel. What’s changed is the blade stock, down from 3/16 inch to 0.15 inch, a difference of roughly 20 percent. Blade weight drops a little too, from 4.7 ounces to 4.3 ounces, though most people will notice the reduced thickness before they notice the lighter weight.
Handle length stays the same at 3 3/4 inches. That’s a small detail with a practical payoff: the Slim fits the same low-profile belt sheaths Amtac already sells for the standard Minuteman II. If you already own one, you don’t need to buy a new sheath to run the thinner blade.
The blade geometry is unchanged as well. It still has a swedge for added strength when thrusting, and it still has that 1.3-inch section of flat, semi-sharp spine just forward of the handle, useful for striking a ferro rod or other fieldwork.
In a recent email note to past customers, Amtac Blades said:
We are excited to announce we have some of the new Minuteman II Slim ready to ship now! This every day carry blade is thinner and lighter than our previous version.
AMTAC is a great company, and the knives have a fighter’s dna. Not my particular asthetic, but well made and seem like they would be effective defensive tools.
Read the whole thing at KnifeWire.com