Microtech Lightfoot LCC Manual Action Folding Knife
This is a classic. There’s no two ways about it. The Microtech Lightfoot LCC changed the way that we looked at production-custom collaborations and has set the tone and expectations of those in the knife collecting community of what we expect when we see a high-end custom collaboration knife from a high-end production knife company like Microtech. The Lightfoot LCC was the knife that everyone had to have when it came out.
The Microtech Lightfoot LCC was available in two versions, the manual and the dual action automatic. The dual action auto in particular was an awesome piece because it had a hidden bolster release leaf spring accuated automatic mechanism which allows the user to open the knife manually as well as automatically via the bolster release. The newer MTX2, another Lightfoot designed D/A Automatic from Microtech also has become quite collectible, both knives selling for much more than they did when released.
Blade
The blade has a long sweeping belly, with little-to-no flat spot on it, in a modified clippoint type of profile. The top of the blade has a long swedge ground into it, which meets with the hollow-ground primary bevel forming the tip. This is an older year 2000 production, with a black coated blade that is now somewhat worn out unfortunately. This is a user, not a collectible anymore! This piece has a 154CM stainless steel blade, and I believe later production saw the steel upgraded to CPM-S30V. Still, 154CM is a very nice steel and takes a scary sharp edge.
Handle
The LCC features Titanium Bolsters on this generation, at least, with later generations produced around 2004 having Aluminum bolsters. The liners are stainless steel, which never changed. I believe this is a Generation 1 LCC, because I think this is the only one where the notch to access the liner lock cuts into the micarta bolsters, however I could be wrong. This one has Brown Micarta handle slabs and black annodized titanium bolsters, coupled with the matching black blade.
The fully contoured handles were very impressively done, and the overall design of the knife is fantastic. Greg Lightfoot did an amazing job doing this knife with Microtech, and it continues to be a very iconic knife. I’d love to get my hands on a D/A Auto version that was mint – for the right price of course!
Fit & Finish
Superb fit and finish, comparable to most custom makers at the time. When this knife came out 13 years ago, this was your ticket to a custom-quality Greg Lightfoot knife, at half the price. It was, and still is an absolutely stunning piece. This knife was also produced in the glory days of Microtech at their Vero Beach facility. Microtech has returned to their wonderful ways in the last couple years, but the days of the Microtech Masterpieces from Vero Beach were legendary. This LCC brings back some great memories, and reminds me why I got into knives in the first place. Excellent craftsmanship that I just couldn’t get enough of.
Specs:
Blade material: 154CM
Blade size: 9.2cm (3-5/8″)
Bolsters: Anodized Titanium
Closed: 11.9cm (4 5/8″)
Handle: Micarta
Liners: Stainless Steel
Overall: 20.9cm (8 1/4″)
Video Review: