I wanted a real beater knife, something I could lend out (or lose) and not worry about. My search brought me to the Columbia River Edgie, model 6442. These normally cost about $20, but mine was on close-out for $11. The Edgie is a slipjoint, and it has a "self-sharpening" feature that I'll go into later in the review. It's definitely a beater, and sadly, it reflects the average CRKT product in my experience. For those interested, here's my review...
Handle Details: The Edgie is 4-1/8" closed. It has dual stainless steel liners and a stainless backspacer to act as the slipjoint spring. The handles are black Zytel and have a pretty nice checkering, but the checkering is poor in the way that it overlaps the rest of the handle. I can see parts of the checkering flaking off, but I guess that's to be expected from a $20 knife. The knife is held together with two Torx (T-6) bits and one T-8 bit for the blade pivot pin. There's a removable stainless steel pocket clip, held in place with two T-6 bits and the other side of the blade pivot pin, this one also being a T-8 screw. The pocket clip is in the right hand tip-down position. The handle itself is actually quite comfortable once you sand all the overhanging texturing off. There are some very minute grooves in the handle scales to put your thumb on, but you'll have to choke back on the handle to use them.
Self-Sharpening The Edgie has a self-sharpening mechanism built into the handle, which is a diamond-coated 400-grit piece of metal. 400 grit is pretty coarse, and it doesn't take much to put a burr on the 420J2 blade. I say "burr" and not "edge" because that's exactly what it is. The burr produced is ample enough to cut through boxes and such, but I've found that after around three medium-sized boxes (or one refigerator box) you'll need to resharpen. Close the knife and give the blade a squeeze; the diamond will scratch the blade and re-establish the burr. The Edgie won't cut paper or anything fine, but does good on cardboard. Personally, I took apart the Edgie and removed the diamond. I always carry a ceramic with me, so resharpening is easy on the blade. And I can get it shaving sharp in no time.
Blade Detais: The Edgie has a blade 2-7/8" long and made of 420J2 at 54-56 on the Rockwell scale. Very soft. It's sharpened on one side only, and has a chisel grind (although both sides have hollow grinds, they're not functional). The left side of the blade has the CRKT logo, while the right side has "POPE-U.S. PATENT 6,643,934" above "EDGIE" above "SELF-SHARPENING" and the tang has the model number (6442). The right side - the "Edgie" side - is the sharpened side. It's this side that contacts the diamond inside and produces the burr on the other side of the blade. The blade itself is a sheepsfoot shape, and has a thumb oval. The blade is somewhat hard to open since the Edgie is a slipjoint, but it will break in (or you'll get used to using more effort) after a few hours of constant opening and closing.
Overall, the Edgie is "just okay" for the price - even at the discounted $11 price. It presents nothing new or break-through, and the one thing that is advertised highly (the self-sharpening mechanism) actually worsens the knife. If they left the diamond piece out, the Edgie would be a little bit better since it could actually cut something finer than a cardboard box. I wouldn't even recommend this knife to novices.
If you want a $10 knife, buy an Opinel; it looks better, locks, has better blade steel (carbon), and doesn't rely on a gimmick to sell. The Edgie is now my loaner, for people who ask "Do you have a knife I can use?"
I'd normally reference you to the manufacturer's website for more information, but I don't want you to buy the Edgie. Instead, take the $20 you were going to spend and buy an Opinel and a Mora at Ragweed Forge. You can also get a much-better Kabar Dozier folding hunter for $20. AUS-8 steel, reversible tip-up clip, lockback. Just a thought.
Handle Details: The Edgie is 4-1/8" closed. It has dual stainless steel liners and a stainless backspacer to act as the slipjoint spring. The handles are black Zytel and have a pretty nice checkering, but the checkering is poor in the way that it overlaps the rest of the handle. I can see parts of the checkering flaking off, but I guess that's to be expected from a $20 knife. The knife is held together with two Torx (T-6) bits and one T-8 bit for the blade pivot pin. There's a removable stainless steel pocket clip, held in place with two T-6 bits and the other side of the blade pivot pin, this one also being a T-8 screw. The pocket clip is in the right hand tip-down position. The handle itself is actually quite comfortable once you sand all the overhanging texturing off. There are some very minute grooves in the handle scales to put your thumb on, but you'll have to choke back on the handle to use them.
Self-Sharpening The Edgie has a self-sharpening mechanism built into the handle, which is a diamond-coated 400-grit piece of metal. 400 grit is pretty coarse, and it doesn't take much to put a burr on the 420J2 blade. I say "burr" and not "edge" because that's exactly what it is. The burr produced is ample enough to cut through boxes and such, but I've found that after around three medium-sized boxes (or one refigerator box) you'll need to resharpen. Close the knife and give the blade a squeeze; the diamond will scratch the blade and re-establish the burr. The Edgie won't cut paper or anything fine, but does good on cardboard. Personally, I took apart the Edgie and removed the diamond. I always carry a ceramic with me, so resharpening is easy on the blade. And I can get it shaving sharp in no time.
Blade Detais: The Edgie has a blade 2-7/8" long and made of 420J2 at 54-56 on the Rockwell scale. Very soft. It's sharpened on one side only, and has a chisel grind (although both sides have hollow grinds, they're not functional). The left side of the blade has the CRKT logo, while the right side has "POPE-U.S. PATENT 6,643,934" above "EDGIE" above "SELF-SHARPENING" and the tang has the model number (6442). The right side - the "Edgie" side - is the sharpened side. It's this side that contacts the diamond inside and produces the burr on the other side of the blade. The blade itself is a sheepsfoot shape, and has a thumb oval. The blade is somewhat hard to open since the Edgie is a slipjoint, but it will break in (or you'll get used to using more effort) after a few hours of constant opening and closing.
Overall, the Edgie is "just okay" for the price - even at the discounted $11 price. It presents nothing new or break-through, and the one thing that is advertised highly (the self-sharpening mechanism) actually worsens the knife. If they left the diamond piece out, the Edgie would be a little bit better since it could actually cut something finer than a cardboard box. I wouldn't even recommend this knife to novices.
If you want a $10 knife, buy an Opinel; it looks better, locks, has better blade steel (carbon), and doesn't rely on a gimmick to sell. The Edgie is now my loaner, for people who ask "Do you have a knife I can use?"
I'd normally reference you to the manufacturer's website for more information, but I don't want you to buy the Edgie. Instead, take the $20 you were going to spend and buy an Opinel and a Mora at Ragweed Forge. You can also get a much-better Kabar Dozier folding hunter for $20. AUS-8 steel, reversible tip-up clip, lockback. Just a thought.
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