I normally wouldn't give a service a bad review after one use but I feel obliged to after this charlie foxtrot.
I ordered an ESEE 3 sheath and a BK5 sheath from CRKS at the end of September. I used their online form, filled it out, added comments, paid in full, great. I didn't receive any confirmation email or anything so I gave them a ring the following work day. When I called over the course of the day I was unable to reach anyone and also unable to leave a voicemail. I figured they were out of the office, that's cool.
Later that week employee #1 called to confirm my order and ask for specifics. I was delighted with the service and very happy with the conversation. I was told it would ship by the end of the week. Great!
Late the next week employee #2 called to confirm my order and ask for specifics. I was confused and explained that I'd already given all of my specifics and information to employee #1 and that I was told it should have already shipped? Employee #2 called into another room, spoke with Employee #1, told me it was going to be pressed soon and stated it would ship at the end of that week. I inquired about my charges, which had already posted, because I was supposed to be receiving a discount. He looked into it, mentioned that I shouldn't have been charged yet and applied the discount. Hmm, warning flags going up.
The next week I called because I hadn't heard anything, received any emails or any kydex and wanted to make sure everything was still rolling...I spoke with a great employee who found after my kydex after about 10 minutes, sitting out on a table with my information on it. She assured me it would ship by the end of that week.
It shipped! I didn't receive any emails or confirmations, but the kydex showed up...and...
It appears that it was half-done or rushed. The ESEE 3 sheath was so loose that if I grabbed the knife by the handle I could whip the kydex off across the yard. The knife would also drop out if given one single shake. The blade could also rotate a good 20-30 degrees inside of the sheath. The BK5 sheath was so loose that it sounded like a snare drum on my back. The sheath mouths were also probably a good 20% of unsupported kydex so no amount of heating & pressing would have solved the "looseness" issue. The pieces simply pull apart regardless of how molded they are...
Now, to be fair, CRKS ships their kydex in a bag with a note explaining that "These are loose on purpose so that you can customize the retention, just use a hair dryer, etc..." This is first for me. I've got azwelke sheaths, Grizzly Outdoor sheaths and some custom leather from Kentucky Skins and NONE of them were "loose" on purpose. If anything they were TIGHT on purpose so that you don't CUT YOUR TOES OFF. This alone was very frustrating for me. Add the fact that this looseness took about 3 weeks makes it even worse. I don't want to spend $X on a 100% complete product to then receive a product that is 50% complete and be expected to "finish it up" to 100%. "Oh, we didn't put a heat treat on your blade so you can customize it. Enjoy!"
Then there's the grommets...I requested grommets on both for Tek-Lock mounts which there were...if they were even. These grommets were off JUST enough to not work unless I mount the screws on opposite corners. Frustrating...
Now, to be fair to them, I didn't call CRKS to complain, I haven't asked for my $ back, haven't given them a chance to fix this because I'm afraid it's going to take 4 weeks and I'll be no better off...my sheaths are now in the hands of a custom bender who actually knows what he's doing. I value my toes too much.
I ordered an ESEE 3 sheath and a BK5 sheath from CRKS at the end of September. I used their online form, filled it out, added comments, paid in full, great. I didn't receive any confirmation email or anything so I gave them a ring the following work day. When I called over the course of the day I was unable to reach anyone and also unable to leave a voicemail. I figured they were out of the office, that's cool.
Later that week employee #1 called to confirm my order and ask for specifics. I was delighted with the service and very happy with the conversation. I was told it would ship by the end of the week. Great!
Late the next week employee #2 called to confirm my order and ask for specifics. I was confused and explained that I'd already given all of my specifics and information to employee #1 and that I was told it should have already shipped? Employee #2 called into another room, spoke with Employee #1, told me it was going to be pressed soon and stated it would ship at the end of that week. I inquired about my charges, which had already posted, because I was supposed to be receiving a discount. He looked into it, mentioned that I shouldn't have been charged yet and applied the discount. Hmm, warning flags going up.
The next week I called because I hadn't heard anything, received any emails or any kydex and wanted to make sure everything was still rolling...I spoke with a great employee who found after my kydex after about 10 minutes, sitting out on a table with my information on it. She assured me it would ship by the end of that week.
It shipped! I didn't receive any emails or confirmations, but the kydex showed up...and...
It appears that it was half-done or rushed. The ESEE 3 sheath was so loose that if I grabbed the knife by the handle I could whip the kydex off across the yard. The knife would also drop out if given one single shake. The blade could also rotate a good 20-30 degrees inside of the sheath. The BK5 sheath was so loose that it sounded like a snare drum on my back. The sheath mouths were also probably a good 20% of unsupported kydex so no amount of heating & pressing would have solved the "looseness" issue. The pieces simply pull apart regardless of how molded they are...
Now, to be fair, CRKS ships their kydex in a bag with a note explaining that "These are loose on purpose so that you can customize the retention, just use a hair dryer, etc..." This is first for me. I've got azwelke sheaths, Grizzly Outdoor sheaths and some custom leather from Kentucky Skins and NONE of them were "loose" on purpose. If anything they were TIGHT on purpose so that you don't CUT YOUR TOES OFF. This alone was very frustrating for me. Add the fact that this looseness took about 3 weeks makes it even worse. I don't want to spend $X on a 100% complete product to then receive a product that is 50% complete and be expected to "finish it up" to 100%. "Oh, we didn't put a heat treat on your blade so you can customize it. Enjoy!"
Then there's the grommets...I requested grommets on both for Tek-Lock mounts which there were...if they were even. These grommets were off JUST enough to not work unless I mount the screws on opposite corners. Frustrating...
Now, to be fair to them, I didn't call CRKS to complain, I haven't asked for my $ back, haven't given them a chance to fix this because I'm afraid it's going to take 4 weeks and I'll be no better off...my sheaths are now in the hands of a custom bender who actually knows what he's doing. I value my toes too much.