CRKT knives

BTW, earlier in the thread there was a mention or two about where the CRKTs are made. It took me awhile to find the boxes that my 2 knives came in, but FWIW - the Ripple was made in Taiwan and the Endorser was made in China. So, there is some variation in country of origin.

I also found out that Ken Onion sold a version of the Ripple made right here in the USA. They were sold exclusively through a USA based cutlery firm and looked slightly different. Titanium handle and cpm154v stainless Steel blade. They are completely sold out, but initially sold for $350. So, if anyone is interested in a USA version of the knife, they exist - in limited numbers if you can find any for sale.

Picture here:

ripple.jpg
 
^^Interesting!!
I never knew that. They can keep it for that price though. haha. Ken Onion's logos are getting a little too goofy IMO.
 
Franciscomv said:
I've got this ridiculous bias against Taiwanese and Chinese knives, even though I've been proven wrong time and time again. I'm very slowly getting over it.
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Spend some time with the Taichung Spydercos like the Southard and the Sage series. That'll cure what ails you. :)
 
the kid said:
The knife failed the second spine whack in that video.
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Yup. (Note to self, don't smash the back of the knife spine on a hard surface during normal use.)

If you bothered to watch the rest of the video, you can see that the knife continues to lock up well enough for him to punch repeated holes in different thicknesses of metal, carve aluminum, and pry a large hole all the way through a 2X4 after the spine whack failure. Farther into the video, he thinks to tighten the pivot screw, and the knife takes about six good whacks before closing. (Note to self... maybe some spine smashing is OK after all...)

The liner lock held for the rest of his testing except where the whacked the handle in order to test the lock. The liner lock did not fail during the rest of the tests, but as I said before, the Auto Lawks did not.

Watching the entire video, you will see how pleased he is that the knife, although in rough condition after beating, whacking, prying and stabbing was easy to fix with very simple tools. He was able to repair the knife (minus the Auto Lawks) to have no blade wobble after all the beating and distortion he gave it.

In my book, pretty dang impressive for a $20+ knife.

As always, YMMV.

Robert
 
I get so tired of hearing about the spine whack "test." Completely bogus in my opinion. I generally try to use the sharp side of the blade, myself. Just sayin'.
 
They seem to be kind of an "entry level" type company. I remember when I started getting into modern folders and I purchased a few. Then, I wanted more.... Better fit n' finish, better materials, etc... If you like the look of their knives and can afford them, give em a try! I don't have anything negative to say, CRKT just didn't wow me.
 
roninelh said:
They seem to be kind of an "entry level" type company. I remember when I started getting into modern folders and I purchased a few. Then, I wanted more.... Better fit n' finish, better materials, etc... If you like the look of their knives and can afford them, give em a try! I don't have anything negative to say, CRKT just didn't wow me.
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A few years ago, there wasn't much to look at in my opinion. Another company churning out offshore made knives.

I ran into a knife vendor I knew at a gun show and he told me to take another look at CRKT, and advised me that he was selling them. I thought he was kidding. By the EYE brands, the Carl Schleiper, and the Forstner, the only Pacific Rim knives in his huge cases were CRKT. He has been selling knives for about 30 years, and he told me then that they had finally arrived.

I bought a $17 Drifter and was really impressed. The knife is a small tank.

He told me that the factory reps and the designers at CRKT (evidently not that big of a company) told him they were interested at providing high quality knives at an affordable price that folks could depend on. Nothing too fancy, and they weren't looking to be the next knife innovators. Just a quality product that had great bang for the buck.

While I agree about not being "wowed", I think they succeeded in their goals.

Robert
 
I actually own quite a bunch of CRKT knives, and for the price, I really can't find fault with any of them...Good & sturdy.
 
I have and use the Russ Kommer Brow Tine fixed blade. Looks and works like what I want in a knife.
 
if they used better steel, I would buy one. Same reason I dont buy Cold Steel. I just dont know about the "Acuto +". Edge retention is important to me, I really dont like to buy anything less than S30V. my collection consists of S30V, S35VN, M4, M390 and Elmax blades.
 
RemingtonBPD said:
Just picked up the Endorser for $33.99 shipped. Hoping it is a decent knife for the money. Anyone have it yet?
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I do. It is a nice knife and particularly good looking, IMHO. Certainly worth every bit of $34. Razor sharp right out of the box.
 
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I've got a lot of CRKT's, and price is why. If you like a newer knife every now and then and need to stick to a budget, you can get a wide variety of things to try out. Then you whittle down what shapes, grinds, and styles work for you, at which point you can get the really expensive other brand.

What happens is that you do get a lot more fit and finish, a higher grade alloy, don't sharpen it as much, and tehn, you are bored again. With less money to play around.

High dollar knives are nice, high dollar hobbies require money. Make a choice you can live with. For a lot of knive fans, CRKT is fun to use, and you don't have to constantly juggle the credit cards to hide things from your spouse. She is going to find out anyway.
 
I was at Lowe's today and I had a very hard time not buying a shenanigan for 44 bucks. Looks so sweet.
 
I love the ripple. Lost mine 2 weeks ago, but I will be getting another. Amazing knife for 30 bucks.
 
Jamboi said:
I was at Lowe's today and I had a very hard time not buying a shenanigan for 44 bucks. Looks so sweet.
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As it turns out, I placed an order for a mini-grip last night and ordered a Shenanigan with the Realtree camo handles at the same time. That wasn't really on my wish list, but it got my attention for not much money, so...
 
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