I've been a long time Ken Onion fan - so I was very pleased to see at the CRKT (Columbia River Knife & Tool) stand at this year's Blade Show two new Onion designs (well OK ... 4). One was the Eros the larger version of which I have already reviewed (please see Review - CRKT Ken Onion Eros) - and I thought that was outstanding both in design and quality of materials and workmanship.
The other design(s) was the Ripple - which obviously has some strong family resemblance to the Eros - but comes in stainless steel scales and also in two sizes -
shown here in the two sizes and in the two colors available.
The larger Ripple is also available with the combo partially serrated blade, the smaller Ripple 2 is only available in plain.
The charcoal gray color is subtle and matte finish except for the raised and polished shiny ripple pattern. The blue has more of a metallic sheen and may at first sight seem a bit "flash" or even gaudy - but the color grew on me - now I think I prefer it over the gray.
Size comparison:
Closed:
I have scaled all these pictures to display life-size on my PC monitor (96dpi) (Macs display at 72dpi so these would be 133% life size) either way there is a ruler scale in inches in all the pics so one can use that to measure.....
Again these are flippers - what Ken Onion used to call "Unassisted-assists" - they open really well because of the ball-bearing race surrounding the pivot on both sides of the blade -
called IKBS -
as mentioned in the Eros review these ball-bearing are loose in their circular grooves - but I have been told they are pretty well held in place by the grease used. However I would still suggest extra care needs to be taken for any disassembly - especially any field stripping - personally I'd avoid that and wait til I get home, if at all possible.
Due to the use of the IKBS - both versions flip open very smoothly with almost no chance of not opening fully to locked positions - smooth is the operative word - although they are both quick positive - there does not seem to be any harsh snap.
On the Eros I couldn't stop opening the knife - so much so that I wore a dent in my index finger tip - with these Ripples it would have been the same - except I have learned to open these new Onion flippers by laying the index finger on the ribbing of the flipper - thus avoiding putting dent on my finger tip.
The larger Ripple obviously has a larger flipper and I found I could use it like a trigger - ie: laying my finger across the ribbed part like pulling a trigger - this worked as well - except one has to make sure the blade opening is clear and not hindered by the base of the thumb, for this slight different hold and opening.
I was really impressed with the Eros' fit and finish -
how are these Ripples?
Due to the IKBS the blades are really well centered in the scales -
The Ripples are again Frame-Locks - one of the strongest and most reliable locks - and these locks both engage well on the tangs -
Open frame design and nicely rounded edges on the spines and distal taper -
Here's another pic of the knives open - showing the clip side -
Marking on the knives:
Larger Ripple ............................................ smaller Ripple 2
The larger Ripple has a logo that looks like Ken Onion's own customs - except it does not say Hawaii -
this is a first production knife, and later full productions should look like the logo of the smaller Ripple 2.
I've reached the limit on the number of photos allowed and will continue in the next post.
--
Vincent
http://picasaweb.com/UnknownVincent?showall=true
http://UnknownVincent.Shutterfly.com
http://UnknownVT.Shutterfly.com
http://unknownvt.multiply.com/photos
The other design(s) was the Ripple - which obviously has some strong family resemblance to the Eros - but comes in stainless steel scales and also in two sizes -
shown here in the two sizes and in the two colors available.
The larger Ripple is also available with the combo partially serrated blade, the smaller Ripple 2 is only available in plain.
The charcoal gray color is subtle and matte finish except for the raised and polished shiny ripple pattern. The blue has more of a metallic sheen and may at first sight seem a bit "flash" or even gaudy - but the color grew on me - now I think I prefer it over the gray.
Size comparison:
Closed:
I have scaled all these pictures to display life-size on my PC monitor (96dpi) (Macs display at 72dpi so these would be 133% life size) either way there is a ruler scale in inches in all the pics so one can use that to measure.....
Again these are flippers - what Ken Onion used to call "Unassisted-assists" - they open really well because of the ball-bearing race surrounding the pivot on both sides of the blade -
called IKBS -
as mentioned in the Eros review these ball-bearing are loose in their circular grooves - but I have been told they are pretty well held in place by the grease used. However I would still suggest extra care needs to be taken for any disassembly - especially any field stripping - personally I'd avoid that and wait til I get home, if at all possible.
Due to the use of the IKBS - both versions flip open very smoothly with almost no chance of not opening fully to locked positions - smooth is the operative word - although they are both quick positive - there does not seem to be any harsh snap.
On the Eros I couldn't stop opening the knife - so much so that I wore a dent in my index finger tip - with these Ripples it would have been the same - except I have learned to open these new Onion flippers by laying the index finger on the ribbing of the flipper - thus avoiding putting dent on my finger tip.
The larger Ripple obviously has a larger flipper and I found I could use it like a trigger - ie: laying my finger across the ribbed part like pulling a trigger - this worked as well - except one has to make sure the blade opening is clear and not hindered by the base of the thumb, for this slight different hold and opening.
I was really impressed with the Eros' fit and finish -
how are these Ripples?
Due to the IKBS the blades are really well centered in the scales -
The Ripples are again Frame-Locks - one of the strongest and most reliable locks - and these locks both engage well on the tangs -
Open frame design and nicely rounded edges on the spines and distal taper -
Here's another pic of the knives open - showing the clip side -
Marking on the knives:
Larger Ripple ............................................ smaller Ripple 2
The larger Ripple has a logo that looks like Ken Onion's own customs - except it does not say Hawaii -
this is a first production knife, and later full productions should look like the logo of the smaller Ripple 2.
I've reached the limit on the number of photos allowed and will continue in the next post.
--
Vincent
http://picasaweb.com/UnknownVincent?showall=true
http://UnknownVincent.Shutterfly.com
http://UnknownVT.Shutterfly.com
http://unknownvt.multiply.com/photos
Last edited:
