CRKs & Customs: Where Do They Each Fit in For You ?

Pointshoot777

Pointshoot777

Joined
Feb 16, 2001
Messages
748
Hi guys - - - I recently purchased a CRK one piece fixed blade & and large Sebenza. I wanted tools that were tough and well made for hard use outdoors while hiking, camping, fishing, & hunting. And, I wanted to upgrade in ruggedness & quality from the common production knives that I had used in the past. - - What I'm curious about is the guys who are into custom knives and also own & continue to buy CRKs. Where do each of them fit in for you personally ? Thanks in advance for your input. Best regards, - - -
 
From the custom folders I have handled, and it is only a couple, there is not a night and day difference between customs and CRKs. You will have some here and there to be expected, but not a couple hundred dollars worth. I have bought some real nice custom fixed blade knives from $160 to $400. I think it depends on the maker.

I have a $160 hunter that I like much better than the $210 hunter I have. The CRK fixed I am getting is a Shadow. I know I will like this knife because it is well made and is different than any other fixed blade knife I have. I will continue buying CRKs even though I am buying customs for a few real good reasons. First, they are made to tight tolerances, have some of THEE BEST customer service bar none! I believe you would have to drop $100+ more money to get a noticeable difference with the Sebenza.

I could also see in the DVD that, although CRK has grown into a mid size company and manufactures a HIGH END production folder, Chris really cares about what he does, who he is and others around him. Something really off the hook will have to come out in the same price range to stand at the level of the Sebenza.

MPE
 
Unlike some small shop knives, there are a lot of CRK knives out the in secondary market that makes them available at fairly attractive prices. They are of of exemplary quality, which isn't that easy to find. Their customer service is prompt and reliable. While some custom makers can make that claim, others can't.

The Mnandi has the singular best clip design ever, IMO. A couple of custom makers have gone to do their own "pen clip" design, but none as perfectly done or as elegant on the one on the Mnandi.

Since they have only one kind of locking system, I still will always seek out knives by makers with innovative locks and locks that appear to me to be functionally superior to the frame lock. I focus primarily on Sawby's self locks, the Hawk locks (various) and William Henry buttonlock.
 
I've stopped buying customs and just stick to CRK. I know there are very good custom makers that will build you a very nice folder and less than the cost of a large Seb. But the large Seb does what I need so why risk getting something that may not be totally what you thought it would be.:cool:
 
Thanks guys for your comments, (and to anyone else who adds anything later.) - - I don't have any customs yet. Coming to these forums has fired up a new interest in knives beyond just using them as I had done in the past. I'm looking into a custom fixed blade now - - mainly just to see what a nicely hand made knife is like - & because learning about them is fun! I can't imagine that it will be any tougher built than my recently purchased CRK one piece. (Though this custom fixed will have a shorter blade of a drop point design and is different than my Mountaineer II.) I'm more of a 'user' than a 'collector'. But I do use different knives for different purposes and like to upgrade the performance of something I own already. You can build a small 'collection' of a sort doing that, I guess. It was a mental shift for me to spend this kinda money on knives over more ordinary production models. The custom folders I've seen so far (that could be readily purchased in a shorter term time frame) were at least $200-300 more than a Sebbie. $750 is more money than I care to have tied up in a knife that I'm gonna use hard outdoors. - - I can put that money into the other kinds of gear I enjoy - - tents, improved sleeping bags, bow hunting gear, fly fishing gear, rifles, shotguns, etc. - - I did some searches and even on the custom forum, most guys said they thought the CRK knives were solid choices - - especially in a knife you expect to use. Who knows what the 'collection' will be a year from now, but I'm sure CRKs will play a major role -in those knives that I gotta depend on. Regards, - -
 
PS777 – You ask a really good question. My collection has evolved into 3 focused vectors (there were initially many more vectors, but I couldn’t afford to keep all of them up and still have depth). There vectors are as follows:

Interesting/rare/nostalgic factory knives: You’re not asking about these.

High end production knives: These are knives that are highly competent users, no matter how great they look. They are engineering marvels, from both a design and a manufacturing standpoint – from architecture to detail, everything is optimized towards the end goal. These knives are manufactured with tolerances that equal or exceed those of custom knives. CRK dominates this category, with a few WH's as well.

Custom folders: Purposefully have not gone for fixed blades in the custom arena, just to provide focus. These knives have incredible fit/finish that I’d screw up if I used them, so I don’t to preserve that artistry. An example would be inlay joints of which I can not detect the transition from one material to another with my eyes closed. Many of these folders have locking mechanisms that are clever and non-obvious. Guys that do this sort of work are Scott Sawby and Warren Osborne -- amazing hand-crafted mechanisms.

Because folks like TKC and StJames have egged me on regarding custom knives that fit my high end production criteria, I’ll probably branch into those some day. It’s all a matter of time . . . and $$$.

All the best in your acquisitions!
 
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