CRKT makes a lot of good looking blades… and they are popular with a lot of my friends and other Gun Owners who are into knives. However there is something about CRKT that is a bit off.
For one thing, it’s their locks… or LAWKS as they say. Gimmicky locking mechanisms don’t make a for a good blade. A good blade is all about the blade. And CRKT has some great looking ones, but the company takes shortcuts. Steel quality, heat treatments… I don’t know what it is with these guys but every blade I’ve had from CRKT has gone dull faster than knife made from silly putty. You take any CRKT knife and it can be made twice as good if they had got rid of the silly gimmicks and concentrated on making really good blades. Like Buck. It used to be that I’d not own a Buck. Now I’ve purchased a couple and they are great knives. Why? They have great blades. A knife is a sharp edge of metal… the cutting edge is the most important. Everything else is just to make that edge usable. Now I know others will say that they had great luck with their CRKT knives. And that’s fine. But I use my knives hard. I’m not saying you don’t, just that my other knives hold their edges a lot better.
They make them overseas with cheaper labor. That’s the only reason I don’t own one. I’m alright with some things being made that way and but if I’m going to carry something around with me everyday I’d like it to either be made here in the U.S.A or be of the highest quality made somewhere else. Not made in ***** or somewhere else to cut costs.
A few years ago, I was collecting knives. I still own them, just haven’t been buying them up like I was back then. I have maybe a dozen CRKT knives. My EDC knife is one, the “1*” M16-13LE.
It DOES go dull fairly quickly, but it sharpens very quickly, too.
CRKT just gives you some damned good bang for the buck. No, it’s not Benchmade or Cold Steel. I know that. So does my checkbook, because I have some of theirs, too.
I’ve had good luck with my Gerbers, checked out some benchmades today and was impressed, I’m with George on the CRKT’s they just dont do anything for me.
I quit carrying crkt because they would fall apart on me. The last one is owned didn’t keep its clip on a month. When the started out they actually had a decent product. Now, junk in my opinion.
Now I currently use benchmade. Excellent products. Razor sharp out of the box. Hold an edge for a long time. My only complaint is that they are a little difficult to sharpen and require having the edge tuned up professionally once in a while.
The other complaint is that the ones I have bought seem to have a nasty habit of trying to sprout legs and walk away on me. 😉
Sergeant Mac: If you are willing to spend time sharpening, gt a carbon steel Kershaw.
Cheaper than CRKT, and better made.
I do like my Kershaws. Skyline and Scallion. Great little inexpensive knives. I like the aluminum body of the Scallion. That way you don’t rip up your pants each time you use the clip.
I liked CRKTs and Gerbers both for work knives, but for EDC I’ll probably never carry anything but a Kershaw Leek ever again.
But only CRKT made (past tense) the Kasper/Polkowski Companion. 🙁
The shop that I used to work at is still a HUGE CRKT dealer and even me not being a big knife guy I was never impressed with them. The blades were pretty cheap and I didn’t care how they felt in my hand. I’ve always loved my Gerbers and Cold Steel Spike knives. And George, I still use the crap out of the AK-47 you gave me. I love the look of a well used, well loved knife and she already has some good stories under her belt clip.
Ogre for the win, with another gear review post I can wholeheartedly agree with, saving me again the trouble of starting my own blog.
Another knife that’s easy to sharpen, yet more durable lock and doesn’t dull so easily as the AUS-8 CRKT’s: Spyderco with VG-10 steel. For tougher sharpening, but even harder to dull in the first place, watch Sierra Trading Post for deals on the ones in ZDP-189.
I’ve been EDCing a Delica or Endura since I dumped CRKT, and never looked back. Benchmade & Kershaw, like others have said, are all good choices too.
Many years ago there was Kershaw Knives, and it was sort of a joke about how tacky their blades and stuff were. Along came Ken Onion and now they are considered in the top 3.
Ken has severed his relationship with Kershaw and is now designing for …..CRKT. I believe he will do the same for them. He already has some incredible ideas and is always concerned with quality and reputation. And if possible, he’ll have it made in America. Time will tell.
Dittos on the Benchmade plug. I have two Mel Pardue’s and one is on me at all times. I had an Arkansas buddy of mine sharpen one of them and he showed me how he could filet a piece of paper with it. Cut a layer off a piece of copy paper. I quit using it for BS stuff and keep it for when something very sharp is needed.