CRKT blades?

Meshmdz's knife is not the KISS folder, but a fixed blade. But it is still a good point. Since CRKT doesn't label their blades, you might just have to assume the worst. Also, I'm not a fan of beadblasts.

Meshmdz, choose a better knife and you'll never get hasseled by people like us:D .
 
meshmdz said:
So how much softer is the AUS 6 vs the AUS 8? Dumb question for knife know-it-alls but i am still learning.
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As you've probably surmised, the better a steel becomes price wise, the better the edge retention. But edge retention isn't always the number one consideration. I've had a number of AUS-6 knives and they're good for outdoor use, opening boxes, cutting nylon cord and taking abuse. They're also easy to sharpen.

It's not a crummy steel, but I wouldn't buy a knife with a blade made of anything less.

You can do searches on Google on "knife steels" and get a host of various opinions.
 
the package the knife came in along with the box states that the knife is AUS6m high carbon stainless steel...
 
mister_wilburn said:
Today i bought a CRKT Polkowski/Kasper fixed blade. The best part...30 bucks. It has the aus-6m steel. For my purpose, it will be a fine blade. I have plenty of workhorse blades, and this one will be for general purpose use. Opening letters, cardboard cutting, occasionally killing people in the defense of freedom. I have no doubt this knife will accomplish the task. Honestly, the steel is not something i am concerned about. The average user isn't going to have an issue with aus-6m, even though there are better quality blades out there. After all, i have some 15 year old plastic handle steak knives that outcut some 100 dollar knives i have seen.
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the CRKT polkawski FB's are fine knives imho, for the $$ they are hard to beat, ya should get a custom sheath for it to replace the crummy ones that come with it and ya are set imho for less than $50.
 
i have sold my CRKT KISS knife... since then i have gotten benchmades and spydercos...
 
kel_aa said:
Critisim of CRKT is mainly based on their year after year decissions to continuously change to... how say we say it, "tougher" and more stain resistant steels, which incidentally also happen to be steels that are less expensive, softer, and have lower edge retention.
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I understand what you mean by "lower edge retention" speaking of cutting cardboard, woods and ropes and such, however in general it is possible pm some materials in some enviroment that those steels will have higher edge retention than steels like ATS-34 due to the higher corrosion resistance, impact toughness and ductility. In general in metallury the phrase "edge retention" generally means high wear resistance / hardness, but for knives it is a more complex blend of properties as knives are more general use tools than a hacksaw for example. I realize you understand this from other posts you have made just making a note for someone being introduced to the field.

CRK&T are pretty clear that this is the reason that they use the softer and lower carbide steels (corrosion resistance / durability), though how much of this is reality and how much is just because they are actually easier to work with is debateable. But it is arguable that those steels could be more suitable for people who demand higher toughness over wear resistance. This is the same reasoning which has makers moving away from the high carbon stainless and steels like D2 and towards steels like S7 for harder use knives. It would be unreasonable to call S7 a junk steel but it compares to D2 very much like 420J2 compares to S30V.

allenC said:
I also doubt that so many great knife makers would collaborate with CRKT if those same makers felt that their name would be on a "junk" knife.
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While I don't think that label is appropiate, you can't really use that fact as an arguement. It isn't difficult to find custom makers who have long critizied a steel very harshly but then readily turned around and did a production collaboration in the same material.

BTW, Spyderco used AUS-6 in some of their knives for many, many years, but I have never heard anyone say that Spyderco makes "junk".
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There is this, the constant praise for 420HC is also is a bit of a contradiction. It is hard to argue for it being superior to AUS-6A and similar steels on the basic of composition and actual materials properties.

-Cliff
 
mister_wilburn said:
Well, today i found out why i haven't recieved my CRKT Polkowski/Kasper Companion. They dont make them anymore. OK, they do make the partially serrated ones, but thats not what i was after. I wanted the plain edge, and can't find one anywhere. Thats a shame too, i had the chance to hold one about 2 weeks ago, it was a nice knife...fate, however, doesn't want me to have a new one. Oh well.
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I was at the Gun show this weekend andsaw the Polkowski/Kasper Companion and bought it, sort of on impulse, sort of because I was looking for a good knife for a while. I know very little about knives, but this just felt good. It has the non-serrated edge and the weight feels perfectly balanced to me for all kinds of practical purposes.:)

I can't figure out how to get sheath to work in a decent carrying position, though and I would like to know where I can get a good one.:confused:
 
I have a CRKT Prowler and don't normally mention it as I know peoples opinion of them on here.However I carry this knife daily and use it far more than my "good quality" knives and it always serves me well.I will now quickly hide it in my pocket and never mention it again!!!
 
I used to be into CRKT, but have long since revised my opinion. I think I have 7 or 8 different models. They have by far the worst steel out of anything in my collection. I have the Stiff Kiss (the original subject of this post) and it does have a nice sheath system (though noisy) but the steel is unbelievably bad. I used it to cut a couple small holes in some drywall once and it basically ruined the blade. Put huge nicks in it. What a piece of junk. It was as dull as a butterknife when I was through so it went straight into a drawer.

I have been similarly disappointed everything else I've bought from them, with the single exception of a LE blue M16 tanto blade. That knife has held up reasonably well, but it's an older model (around 1998 or so) and they don't make 'em like that anymore. It's ridiculously easy to nick or chip CRKT blades. I broke the entire tip off of my CRKT Brian Tighe collab. That's never happened with any of my other knives. I think the problem is deeper than just the inferior steel, I don't think they heat treat it properly, which makes things much worse. IMO, there is nothing in the CRKT lineup that Byrd doesn't completely crush at less than half the price. Except Byrd doesn't have any fixed blades yet.
 
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