CRKT knife quality on the rise?

craytab said:
That would be $89.84 and $92.10 shipped respectively. So $90 or so for a Taiwanese made AUS8 blade. Not even SOG is that audacious. But hey, if you love the design and have to have it, why not? One thing that can't really be tallied in the cost to materials ratio is the beauty in the eye of the beholder.
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Surely you are not presuming that every single knife-loving, English-reading adult perusing these forums now has not been made aware of what a free shipping threshold is? That tax & shipping are different from the price of a product?

If so, perhaps things are not what they seem and I have been looking at everything all wrong this whole time. Up is down, black is white, wrong is right... darkness has befallen the western world and regained its place and ignorance is upon us again. Behold the wrath of the unknown!

In that case:

Dear readers of the internet, you who have managed to power the mystical device upon which you are deciphering and decoding the electric glyphs before your very eyes, transforming them into substantive behaviors to be applied within the complex structure of society pulsing out there in the darkness, just beyond the entrance to your cave-dwelling:

1. Do not step in front of the speeding locomotive. If you do so, you will not be able to play World of Warcraft later on tonight.
2. Do not drink the gasoline. It may taste great but if you put too much in your sippy cup, there won't be enough left over to make your Mazda go "vroom" all the way to Denny's for a "Moon Over My Hammy".
3. Do not poop in your soup. There is already corn in there.
4. There will be tax & shipping but sometimes you can get around it.


There, basics covered.

Nah, as I stated before, my new CRKT will be $85.



(PS: Just teasing you, Craytab. I know you know we know.)
 
Seems to me CRKT is always on the edge of becoming good. Llike Cold Steel was 4-5 years ago. I think the steels hold them back the most from you snobs. :)
 
Yeah..I bought a M-16 and a M -21, I still have both knives but with so many other other options out there haven't looked at CRKT's product line up in a long time.
 
craytab said:
That would be $89.84 and $92.10 shipped respectively. So $90 or so for a Taiwanese made AUS8 blade. Not even SOG is that audacious. But hey, if you love the design and have to have it, why not? One thing that can't really be tallied in the cost to materials ratio is the beauty in the eye of the beholder.
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I think that has a lot to do with it. Personally, I think a lot of Kershaws look goofy and would never own a lot of their product line. If CRKT could bump up their steel a little I think that they could maybe have some winners in the M16-21 line. You are right, SOG is out of their minds for some of their prices. I have a mini trident that I got for 32.99 but there is no way I would pay over 45 dollars for even one of their full size folders, every single SOG I have handled came with blade play that needed to be corrected.
 
If you want to improve your company and appeal to more customers, you must first improve quality control then improve the materials. After that, then you can work on new designs.
 
jazub said:
Surely you are not presuming that every single knife-loving, English-reading adult perusing these forums now has not been made aware of what a free shipping threshold is? That tax & shipping are different from the price of a product?

If so, perhaps things are not what they seem and I have been looking at everything all wrong this whole time. Up is down, black is white, wrong is right... darkness has befallen the western world and regained its place and ignorance is upon us again. Behold the wrath of the unknown!

In that case:

Dear readers of the internet, you who have managed to power the mystical device upon which you are deciphering and decoding the electric glyphs before your very eyes, transforming them into substantive behaviors to be applied within the complex structure of society pulsing out there in the darkness, just beyond the entrance to your cave-dwelling:

1. Do not step in front of the speeding locomotive. If you do so, you will not be able to play World of Warcraft later on tonight.
2. Do not drink the gasoline. It may taste great but if you put too much in your sippy cup, there won't be enough left over to make your Mazda go "vroom" all the way to Denny's for a "Moon Over My Hammy".
3. Do not poop in your soup. There is already corn in there.
4. There will be tax & shipping but sometimes you can get around it.


There, basics covered.

Nah, as I stated before, my new CRKT will be $85.



(PS: Just teasing you, Craytab. I know you know we know.)
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If shipping and handling were the same from all dealers you might be able to argue that knife listed price is what matters but that is not the case. One place increases your final cost by $6. It is an old game. Show a low price then tack on a bunch for S&H :thumbup:
 
Always liked CRKT - esp their one of their newest offerings, the GSD!
[video=youtube;FFgDnosD39c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFgDnosD39c[/video]

bmoore said:
So a while ago when I was a brand new 19 year old EMT in 2001 a popular knife to carry was the CRKT M16. I handled a couple and never really thought that much about them. As an EMT basic I carried a Bucklite 442 and then transitioned to Benchmade's and Spyderco's as a Firefighter/Paramedic (pay raise!!). I have gotten into folding knives in the past few years and decided that I should give CRKT a look for a beater. I started with an M21-02G and was really impressed how well it was made. I quickly picked up an M16-03z and an M16-02z. All 3 of these knives are rock solid in lock up with dead nuts blade centering. I was really shocked at how nice the knives are for the money. From what i remember the CRKT's that I held years ago were kind of rattle traps, they may have been the made in China framelock versions though. Has anyone carried CRKT's for years? Have you noticed any difference in quality? I really am impressed with these, the M16-03z is my favorite out of the bunch.
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I recently bought a No Time Off in BD-1 steel. The blade is flawless. One of the sharpest I've ever pulled from the box. Super smooth bearing action, great jimping. Blah, blah , blah. Awesome blade grind a absolute beautiful knife for the money. The Chinese made knives are still subpar compared to those made in Taiwan.
 
I own several CRKT's and I quite like them, I still carry my M1 from time to time, I carry my Foresight more than the M1 and I also own a KISS Assist. I used to have an Apache 2 that is now long gone and a Ripple that is now in the hands of a friend. IMHO the Foresight is a very impressive knife, but that Apache 2 was my hands down favorite knife I've ever owned. If I ever get the chance to I will snap up another one. Fixed blades I own a Stiff KISS, CRKT M60 OIF edition and a CRKT Dragon. CRKT has good quality for the price in my experience. My dad switches between his Ignitor, Heiho, Mini My Tighe, Foresight, Kershaw Freefall and Benchmade Griptilian. I've never seen him like a knife as much as he likes his Heiho though, and my ma carries her Foresight everywhere along with her BM AFCK. Never had any problems with CRKT in all of the knives we own between the 3 of us, I've had more problems with Buck or Benchmade than CRKT, but maybe that's just my luck.
 
Tyronethepro said:
I own several CRKT's and I quite like them, I still carry my M1 from time to time, I carry my Foresight more than the M1 and I also own a KISS Assist. I used to have an Apache 2 that is now long gone and a Ripple that is now in the hands of a friend. IMHO the Foresight is a very impressive knife, but that Apache 2 was my hands down favorite knife I've ever owned. If I ever get the chance to I will snap up another one. Fixed blades I own a Stiff KISS, CRKT M60 OIF edition and a CRKT Dragon. CRKT has good quality for the price in my experience. My dad switches between his Ignitor, Heiho, Mini My Tighe, Foresight, Kershaw Freefall and Benchmade Griptilian. I've never seen him like a knife as much as he likes his Heiho though, and my ma carries her Foresight everywhere along with her BM AFCK. Never had any problems with CRKT in all of the knives we own between the 3 of us, I've had more problems with Buck or Benchmade than CRKT, but maybe that's just my luck.
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They show up on the bay a fair bit.
 
I've been OK with fit and finish on the last three CRKT's I've bought: a Squid, a Fossil and an Eraser. In fact the Eraser is a pretty darn nice knife.

That being said, I never carry a CRKT as part of my EDC rotation. Even when well executed, there's always a "whacky" factor to CRKT knives. Whether its weight, function, goofy clip, cheap feeling materials or abundant hot spots, they never manage to make the cut.

...the GSD looks kinda interesting though...
 
bmoore said:
I would be interested to know what you would buy in the 36 dollar SHIPPED price range. I have Byrds, Ontario RAT 1, Utilitac, Buck vantages and these Aus8 CRKT's blow those away IMO. It would be hard to argue with save 20 more dollars and get a Delica or Endura but lets just go with this for now......what would be your choice in the 30-40 dollar range, shipping included. And no I am not being a smartass, I really am interested to know what you would get.
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1. Real Steel H6 Blue Sheep. You laugh but until you own one, you wont understand. Sanrenmu, Enlan, Ganzo I get why people turn up their chins. I haven't been very impressed by those designs myself (stolen ones at that), but Real Steel has their own designs and are using sandvik steel. $35 at Knife center right now, I think its a pretty damn good deal. The fit and finish is some of the best I've seen at that price point, and the action is IMO better than the rat series.

I own the M21-14G(china 8Cr13Mov) and the M16-14T(Tawain AUS8) and I must say, there's a pretty big difference in quality. The M16 is so smooth! The M21 I had to take apart, clean and polish the pivot area and the washers, put back together just to get a decent action out of it, and I'm still not happy with it. The only thing the 21 has over the 16 is the Veff serrations. I wish the 16 had em, because they are sharp as hell not to mention awesome looking.

The Ripple gets a lot of great reviews, I haven't really heard anyone say anything bad about it. I plan on getting one sometime, I just wish they made a 3 1/2" version of it.
 
I've bought more than a few CRKT knives since 2000. I have carried and used the Ripple (both liner and frame lock), Swindle (grooved) and Eros and I have found them all to be well made and fine for everyday use. I bought a small Fossil and I don't like the ergonomics so I haven't carried it much, but it seems decently put together. So I would say that the quality is OK now. The first two CRKT knives that I bought were a large PE Wasp and an aluminum handled M16 PE Tanto which were carried a lot and I still have. They both were well constructed knives.

So, both my oldest and newest CRKT knives seem to me to be of good quality. That, said there were a few in the middle that were forgettable. I'll have to dig around my knife drawer tonight so I can list which ones they are. They were truly forgettable...
 
Ugh, that BT-70 does look appealing however it's about 2-3x what I prefer paying for a folder with AUS8 - so I doubt I'll pull the trigger...at least not near retail. [emoji6]
 
FanBoy86 said:
1. Real Steel H6 Blue Sheep. You laugh but until you own one, you wont understand. Sanrenmu, Enlan, Ganzo I get why people turn up their chins. I haven't been very impressed by those designs myself (stolen ones at that), but Real Steel has their own designs and are using sandvik steel. $35 at Knife center right now, I think its a pretty damn good deal. The fit and finish is some of the best I've seen at that price point, and the action is IMO better than the rat series.

I own the M21-14G(china 8Cr13Mov) and the M16-14T(Tawain AUS8) and I must say, there's a pretty big difference in quality. The M16 is so smooth! The M21 I had to take apart, clean and polish the pivot area and the washers, put back together just to get a decent action out of it, and I'm still not happy with it. The only thing the 21 has over the 16 is the Veff serrations. I wish the 16 had em, because they are sharp as hell not to mention awesome looking.

The Ripple gets a lot of great reviews, I haven't really heard anyone say anything bad about it. I plan on getting one sometime, I just wish they made a 3 1/2" version of it.
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And this is what I am talking about. There are other options with the same or better materials for less. Why would I take the risk?

fetzer85 said:
Ugh, that BT-70 does look appealing however it's about 2-3x what I prefer paying for a folder with AUS8 - so I doubt I'll pull the trigger...at least not near retail. [emoji6]
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Yup, close to $100 for AUS8? Not even SOG is that silly; their VG-10 arc-lock blades can be found for less.
 
I bought an M-16 about a year ago and I have absolutely no complaints with it. Not sure what they were like in years past - because this is the first CRKT knife I've ever owned - but the one I got was executed to perfection.
 
Hi all!
I bought a number of older CRKTs in years past; S-2s, Urban sharks (small and large), Apaches (2 and 3), Lightfoot M1, Navajos (small and large), Crawford Falcons, Mirage, and a few named after mountain ranges (can't recall the series). I bought each one of them to do specific tasks and thus, have had very good use out of all of them. Most were made in Taiwan, some Italy. I had no problems with fit, finish, durability and ability to be made sharp. I got away from the brand there after, as I didn't care for the direction of their designs and disliked the "made in China" label. I recently decided to go back and take another look at them and purchased a "No Time Off" (made in Taiwan per the boxing) and after carrying it and using it as a basic utility piece for the past 6 months plus, I have been very pleased and impressed with it. I can't speak for other CRKT knives, but this one has been a very good purchase for me.
 
The M16 and M21 series have served me well in the past. They were my gateway drug. :D
The most dangerous knife I ever owned was the CRKT Kiss. It stabbed my index finger once while retrieving it from my pocket. And a second time it folded on me while cutting heavy cardboard boxes (I wore nitrile coated kevlar work gloves, no injury). :eek:
Hit and miss...
 
craytab said:
I have carried CRKTs for years. Some will say their quality is improving but that has not been my experience. For most of their new stuff I will never know if the quality has improved because the are over priced compared to other offerings IMO. They also have some funky designs with ugly clips that are not repositionable or tip down.

So until CRKT gets serious about competing with other brands true knife enthusiasts respect by offering a great product at a competitive price I will continue to base my opinion of their knives on their recent history of poor quality control and poor design execution. My money is valuable to me so taking a risk on CRKT is not something I can afford anymore. I will buy some of their older stuff though, back when they had most of their knives made in Taiwan. I carried a Mirage Grey Ghost yesterday. Fantastic Knife!
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Exactly.
 
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