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- Sep 12, 2023
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- 68
Excerpt from the full review:
The Equator is, in my opinion, a collector’s knife, a very fine example of the Kain/Kommer design, but not really an EDC. The fulcrum deployment mechanism, while definitely one-handed, is a somewhat cumbersome, 2-step process of sliding down the show side scale to open the blade halfway, then clinching the handle in your hand to close the scales back together, which enables the fulcrum action to fully open the blade. After that, it’s just a typical liner lock knife to close (although it has absolutely no drop-shut action, despite running on [one] pivot bearing).
Courtesy of CMBMadeKnives .com
It’s very cool, very interesting, but it’s quite a bit slower to deploy than a flipper tab or a thumb stud flick. And to enable the fulcrum action, there are a number of aesthetic and ergonomic compromises that were required. The absurdly long and tall pocket clip is mounted only in the tip-down position, is not reversible for tip-up (like on Spyderco knives) and is not ambidextrous for lefties. This huge clip makes the fulcrum action fairly easy to deploy (after a break-in), but it also makes the opened knife rather uncomfortable to grip tightly. The design is only offered in 1 model, 1 color (light indigo), 1 blade steel type (14C28N), 1 blade shape (drop point), 1 scale type (G10), and they all have a bright, neon orange G10 backspacer! <shudder> A representative for CMB, who may have been the owner (they did not answer that question), told me that they made so few of these first-run knives in 2020 that they only offer them for auction, one per week, on eBay.
I love having this type of unusual knife in my collection, and the CMB Equator is a well-made example of the complex mechanical design that is the fulcrum action. It’s fun to drop the knife into someone’s hand, tell them it’s a one-handed opener, and watch them struggle to figure out how to open it.
To me, CMB Made Knives will be a very interesting company to watch as they further explore their own knife design concepts, use increasingly better materials and release new models where they can demonstrate why they went into the knifemaking business as a brand rather than as an OEM. Their current offerings are interesting, indeed! I look forward to picking up another CMB knife very soon!
Verdict
The CMB Made Knives Equator CMB-01 is a very interesting knife. It’s revived a legendary knife opening mechanism, the fulcrum action, patented by Charles Kain in 2006, then sold the CRKT Knives, who in 2008, hired knife designers Russ Kommer and Tom Stokes to design commercial knife products around that mechanism. CRKT released an upgraded version of Kommer’s knife design in 2016, but that was the end of it – until now. CMB Made Knives in 2020 decided to recreate the fulcrum action knife using the Kommer design and a more premium blade steel as their very first product. However, they never released it commercially, until the early months of 2024.The Equator is, in my opinion, a collector’s knife, a very fine example of the Kain/Kommer design, but not really an EDC. The fulcrum deployment mechanism, while definitely one-handed, is a somewhat cumbersome, 2-step process of sliding down the show side scale to open the blade halfway, then clinching the handle in your hand to close the scales back together, which enables the fulcrum action to fully open the blade. After that, it’s just a typical liner lock knife to close (although it has absolutely no drop-shut action, despite running on [one] pivot bearing).
Courtesy of CMBMadeKnives .com
It’s very cool, very interesting, but it’s quite a bit slower to deploy than a flipper tab or a thumb stud flick. And to enable the fulcrum action, there are a number of aesthetic and ergonomic compromises that were required. The absurdly long and tall pocket clip is mounted only in the tip-down position, is not reversible for tip-up (like on Spyderco knives) and is not ambidextrous for lefties. This huge clip makes the fulcrum action fairly easy to deploy (after a break-in), but it also makes the opened knife rather uncomfortable to grip tightly. The design is only offered in 1 model, 1 color (light indigo), 1 blade steel type (14C28N), 1 blade shape (drop point), 1 scale type (G10), and they all have a bright, neon orange G10 backspacer! <shudder> A representative for CMB, who may have been the owner (they did not answer that question), told me that they made so few of these first-run knives in 2020 that they only offer them for auction, one per week, on eBay.
I love having this type of unusual knife in my collection, and the CMB Equator is a well-made example of the complex mechanical design that is the fulcrum action. It’s fun to drop the knife into someone’s hand, tell them it’s a one-handed opener, and watch them struggle to figure out how to open it.
To me, CMB Made Knives will be a very interesting company to watch as they further explore their own knife design concepts, use increasingly better materials and release new models where they can demonstrate why they went into the knifemaking business as a brand rather than as an OEM. Their current offerings are interesting, indeed! I look forward to picking up another CMB knife very soon!
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