CRKT Hissatsu a/o folder.

vehmgericht223 · Aug 27, 2008

I know the arguments against anything Columbia River; Chinese made, AUS8, essentially crap, etc.. and for the most part I am intotal agreeance. However I was reading about this one in Tactical Knives magazine and it seems like too cool a concept/design to dismiss out of hand. A/O's are the closest thing to autos Canadian civilians like myself really have access to, and who knows how long that will remain true before the province intervenes. Has anyone handled one of these and if so what are your thoughts. Are they as fun as they look or does the implicit cheapness of fit and finish detract from the coolness factor like it does so many other crkt's.
Feedback is especially appreciated. Cheers.

Lycosa · Aug 27, 2008

I believe they are very good knives! Try to handle some.

Phil Elmore · Aug 27, 2008

AUS8 is a perfectly functional steel, particularly within the limits of most users' daily requirements. The quality of the Chinese-made CRKTs is reasonably level with their previous Taiwanese-made folders; quality control in China (at least under the supervision of foreign manufacturing interests) has greatly increased.

Reeek · Aug 27, 2008

Sharp Phil said:
AUS8 is a perfectly functional steel, particularly within the limits of most users' daily requirements. The quality of the Chinese-made CRKTs is reasonably level with their previous Taiwanese-made folders; quality control in China (at least under the supervision of foreign manufacturing interests) has greatly increased.

I own one and it's by far my favorite CRKT out of three. I also have a Triumph Folder and a Tiny Tighe.

What I like most about it is the super smooth and comfortable carry when it's in your pocket. It just disappears considering how long the blade and knife is. It deploys way fast. Some people complain about the difficulty getting the Outburst to deploy but that's not a complaint I have. My BM Nitrous Stryker is harder IMHO. It's a fun knife and if all you do is use it for standard light duty EDC it works just fine considering it was designed for self defense in sensitive areas. The blade is clearly a piercing and slashing design. Mine gets very sharp. The blade deployment uses a disk rather than stud which I find to work very well. It's a fine knife if you can get around the CRKT stigma.

p_mcmanis · Aug 27, 2008

If I were you I would avoid assisted opening unless you have a flipper. I had a benchmade one (ie one of the better production brands) and even though I would trust my life on that knife (913 nitrous) the one thing I didnt like is the lack of control you have during opening. Now with an automatic, your hand isnt anywhere near the blade as its coming out, but with an assisted opening your hand is right there as the spring takes over the opening of the blade which causes it to pull it out of your hand. I dont like it, especially when there are a LOT of knives from a LOT of companies who make 100% manuals that open almost as fast. In fact, my bradley and new emerson open faster than my 913 did if you use any wrist.

If I were to buy another a/o knife, it would be like a sog twitch II or something similar with a flipper.

just my 2c though.

also, I personally think autos are overrated for general use. my cousin is a state trooper and she owns a few and my general impression is that barring loss of my right hand or its utility, Im not interested. It adds a lot of parts and weight. I would buy one for my mother who has severe tendonitis if they were legal though, but since they arent I just got her a little fixed blade knife (she cant use scissors).

vehmgericht223 · Sep 23, 2008

I just bought it approximately a week ago and am very impressed. After opening the knife a few times upon purchase, the washers that support the blade which are plastic by the way, began to sheer on one side. I was sheering off splinters every time I opened it, but after tightening the action slightly I have not had an issue with this and the knife opens smoothly and locks up solidly every time. Of all the CRKT knives I have owned and returned or given away in the past this is the first one I will definitely keep and possibly buy copies of. I would put my trust in this knife as I might any one of my other defensive folders. I stand corrected as far as my earlier judgements go concerning quality and reliability of Columbia River's newer production goods. They have turned a new leaf.. Thanks for your input guys.

flashlife · Sep 23, 2008

vehmgericht223 said:
I just bought it approximately a week ago and am very impressed. After opening the knife a few times upon purchase, the washers that support the blade which are plastic by the way, began to sheer on one side. I was sheering off splinters every time I opened it, but after tightening the action slightly I have not had an issue with this and the knife opens smoothly and locks up solidly every time.

You might try some silicone spray lube on those washers. Silicone are good on plastics, more so that on metal-to-metal surfaces.

AMRaider · Sep 23, 2008

I owned one of the non-assisted versions. The quality was alright for a production knife (fit and finish were good) but the knife was a bit large and heavy for EDC. I ended up getting rid of it eventually.

When it comes to assisted openers, I prefer flippers as they seem a bit safer for the thumb. I have sliced my thumb when using the thumb stud to open an assisted knife. Lack of practice I suppose.. Just my two cents.

Dekz · Sep 23, 2008

p_mcmanis said:
If I were you I would avoid assisted opening unless you have a flipper. I had a benchmade one (ie one of the better production brands) and even though I would trust my life on that knife (913 nitrous) the one thing I didnt like is the lack of control you have during opening. Now with an automatic, your hand isnt anywhere near the blade as its coming out, but with an assisted opening your hand is right there as the spring takes over the opening of the blade which causes it to pull it out of your hand.

I couldn't agree more. I am not interested in any AO knife unless it has a flipper. Using an AO thumbstud either nearly cuts my thumb, or I nearly drop the knife.

Please keep in mind I have nothing against thumbstuds, I like them just fine on manual knives.