An NKD post on r/knives this week showed off a Microtech Socom Delta in the Outbreak Signature Series, and the photos did what those finishes always do: pulled a wave of collector questions into the comments. The knife underneath the coating is Microtech's manual Socom Delta RAM-LOK, a tanto-edge folder that bridges the brand's 1996 Socom lineage and its newer lock work.
What the Outbreak Signature Series is
Microtech's Signature Series releases apply coordinated, distressed finishes across blade and handle so the whole knife reads as one piece. The Outbreak treatment is the apocalyptic pattern, a mottled gray-green finish that varies from unit to unit, which is precisely why NKD posts keep coming: no two examples photograph the same. The line extends across Microtech's catalog, including Ultratech ZBP Plague variants and Dirac models with the same plague-themed detailing, and higher trims carry the Marfione Select designation with serialized daggers-style clips.
The knife underneath the finish
The standard production version, model MT163RL1OBS, runs a 4-inch tanto blade in M390MK with the apocalyptic finish on both blade and 6061-T6 aluminum handle. Overall length is 9 inches and weight is 5.36 ounces, which places it in full-size tactical folder territory rather than the slimmer Socom Elite profile. The RAM-LOK is a crossbar-style lock, ambidextrous, with a glass breaker integrated into the butt end and a reversible tip-up clip. It is a manual opener, so no OTF paperwork concerns, and the lock is the same mechanism Microtech has been spreading across its 2026 lineup, including the MSI and the SOCOM RAM-LOK the company introduced at SHOT Show.
Blade: 4 inches, M390MK, tanto, apocalyptic finish
Handle: 6061-T6 aluminum, matching Outbreak finish
Lock: RAM-LOK crossbar, ambidextrous
Weight: 5.36 oz, 9 inches overall, made in USA
Price: $424 at Smoky Mountain Knife Works
Why collectors move fast on these
Pricing sits at $424 for the standard version at Smoky Mountain Knife Works, in stock at the time of writing. The Marfione Select trim, the 163RL-1OBS with a 3.8-inch blade and serialized clip, already shows sold out at NC Blade, where it listed at $423.28. That pattern repeats across the Signature Series: initial allocations sell through, secondary prices climb, and restocks arrive without warning. Microtech representative Ray Helms told Knife Center earlier this year that the RAM-LOK Socom complements rather than replaces the original SOCOM models, so the run sizes appear to stay limited by design.
The Reddit thread is the usual early signal. When a finish this variable starts generating comparison posts, resale listings tend to follow within weeks. Anyone tracking the Outbreak line should watch both SMKW restocks and the Marfione Select allocations, because the standard and Select versions have been cycling in and out of stock independently all year.