CRKT M16-01S thoughts?

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Balrog99

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Apr 13, 2013
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Well today I was at Walmart looking for car parts and bought a knife. It's a CRKT M16-01S. I've been looking for a cheap basic folder to use as a beater and I think this might be it. Thoughts on this knife or CRKT themselves? I've heard pretty good things about them
 
They used to be a halfway decent budget knife. Then they started playing games by dropping the steel quality AND jacking up the prices. Effectively, more money, less knife. I can see doing one or the other but not both. To make matters worse, they expanded the M16 series (their best seller) with a bunch of different models so you really did not know what you were getting.

I used to recommend them but not any more. They make a few nice models but I question if the are worth the money. With that being said, two of my all time favorite knives are from them. The CRKT Prowler and the M16-02.
 
i still got a few american assembled m16-14sfa's i the box i grabbed on clearance many years ago.

good solid knifes for the price point back then.

the one you got is a chinese made 8cr13mov. 3" blade length smaller one. i like the sf double flipper or hilt design myself and full size ones. like them better with a plain edge. wish in one hand though routine.

i own many crkts and some are better than others but i find they made good enough users and have some solid designs.

i think if ya didnt pay too much youll like it and it will work fine for ya. enjoy yours.
 
Balrog99 said:
Well today I was at Walmart looking for car parts and bought a knife. It's a CRKT M16-01S. I've been looking for a cheap basic folder to use as a beater and I think this might be it. Thoughts on this knife or CRKT themselves? I've heard pretty good things about them
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A couple years ago, I bought a CRKT M16-10KZ with the same rationale; buy a cheaper, smaller knife for EDC that I'm not afraid to get a little more dirt on or use a little bit harder. From what I remember about my particular example, it was a half decent knife for all intents and purposes concerning its intended role. It worked fine but I lost it after a couple months. I replaced it with a M16-13SF which had better materials as well as better f&f. However, the price was out of line with what I was paying which was $100(CDN) for 3.5" of Aus-8. Qualms about price aside though, I like my M16 fine and I think it's a plenty capable lower-end knife.

Tl;dr: CRKT's M16 series is generally half-decent to pretty good imo; the problem is they charge too much given the lower-end materials they use in their knives.
 
Where i live they sell the m16 in 8cr13 for i think 99$ and from my experience their heat treat is terrible on 2/3 i have from them
 
The m16-01s has two things going for it as far as m16's go. It has the spearpoint which is the sexiest of the blades in the m16 series. And the framelock. That said this is a budget version of the knife. There are alot of budget choice in this range but if you like the m16, You like the m16. I will say that I mentioned in the other thread about gateway knives that my m16-13sf was one of my gateway knives and I still have alot of love for this series
 
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I've got one I carry around the house mostly it was given to me by a close friend that purchased it in a px in Iraq along with a bigger Tanto bladed Crkt. They are both sand colored camo and on the blades it says Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pretty cool knives imo, and glade he made it back safely. :thumbsup:
 
The M16 in all its forms is a favorite of the military. It meets the needs of a lot of people who aren't knife nuts but need knives. I've read a lot more good reviews than bad. I've also seen some that have been beat to hell for sale, and they still worked fine. One testimony to the design is the copies by some bigger companies of the knife.

Per CRKT the company, I have two CRKT, they are great knives for the money. One is the Eros, a top of the line model, with a specialty steel and Ti handles. It's equal to knives twice the price in fit and finish and its unsurpassed in design. Flips like a dream.
 
I have an m16-03s classic I was trying to sell for a while, you're welcome to try and buy or return. I don't use it as it's not really my thing, I just wanted a flipper but really just not a flipper person, or a spear point for that matter. The action is one of the smoothest I've had of a flipper (kept trying different price points).

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Feel free to email me at if you want to give one some pocket time.
 
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They have a carbon fiber version.
http://www.bladehq.com/item--CRKT-Carson-M16-01F-Spear-Point--69070

i would have got it but then i looked at the steel type and its 8Cr15MoV so a strong pass. why take such a good thing and ruin it? too expensive for the price since its budget grade steel. to be fare, this is a very old version that they found excess inventory of. collectors should love those.

the standard versions a better priced for what you actually get... but im not looking for something thats got basic budget steel.

CRKT is known for making cheap knives with low quality and budget materials made in China. they currently markup the knives probably twice the amount of what they are actually worth tho. i mean most companies are doing this now adays too. some models are not that bad but because of the budget steel i wont buy them. and even then they still have some kind of really bad CON's to them. basically they sell them because of the way they look or a gimmick or a makers name behind it. i congratulate them for not selling clones but the factories they have making them make clones, which tbo most of the Chinese factories even the good ones do also, no real escape from that.

if they would just upgrade there budget steel to something slightly better, that could be a start. not everyone cares as much as real knife users tho.

id stick with the Ontario Rat in D2 steel.
 
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I have several CRKT knives and like them all, esp the M4 in wood. Great knife. I think CRKT gets a bad rap; IMHO they make good knives. Can't speak to the M16, I don't like holes in my knives.

Rich
 
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CRKT are against my religion.

Serious, for the money, you can get far better knives, such as an Ontario Rat 1 or Utilitac II. I had a M16-12Z, and the edge was destroyed after six months of light use. Never again. I've had too much bad luck with CRKT. Way back when, they were a much better company.
 
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K.O.D. said:
CRKT are against my religion.

Serious, for the money, you can get far better knives, such as an Ontario Rat 1 or Utilitac II. I had a M16-12Z, and the edge was destroyed after six months of light use. Never again. I've had too much bad luck with CRKT. Way back when, they were a much better company.
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Agreed. You can do better for the money spent. Kershaw, OKC, both come to mind.
 
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brownshoe said:
The M16 in all its forms is a favorite of the military. It meets the needs of a lot of people who aren't knife nuts but need knives. I've read a lot more good reviews than bad. I've also seen some that have been beat to hell for sale, and they still worked fine. One testimony to the design is the copies by some bigger companies of the knife.

Per CRKT the company, I have two CRKT, they are great knives for the money. One is the Eros, a top of the line model, with a specialty steel and Ti handles. It's equal to knives twice the price in fit and finish and its unsurpassed in design. Flips like a dream.
Click to expand...

It is overpriced for something that uses 8Cr15MoV steel though.

Don't get me wrong; i have nothing against Chinese steel and Chinese-made knives (heck, almost all my knives are made in China, most of them are from Chinese brands like SanRenMu, and all use 8Cr13MoV or 7cr17 steel), but for that price CRKT is charging i'd expect at least 440C.

Just like how I don't buy most Kershaws; you got to give me a damn good reason to buy a folder with 420HC steel at US$60 when a Schrade with 8cr13mov steel costs US$20 and is marginally better than the 420HC at holding an edge.
 
For that price, you've got LOTS of better options with same steel, better action and famous for being excellent "beater" for the money:

Kershaws - Cryo, Chill, OSO Sweet, Link, Knockout, Camber, Skyline...
Ontario - RAT I, RAT II, Utilitac II
ESEE - Avispa, Zancudo
Spyderco - Byrd Cara Cara 2, Byrd Robin, Byrd Tern, Byrd Meadowlark....
Cold Steel - Pro-Lite, Voyager in AUS8, Recon in AUS8...
KaBar - Dozier, Mini Dozier

and even from CRKT - Fossil, Swindle, Padoza, Crawford Kasper...

Unless you LOVE that shape and features, any of the above is better value!
 
They are cool looking knives, but there is something about them that screams don't buy me when I hold one.
 
I have a couple kershaws and like them a lot, but I wanted to try CRKT out since I've seen a lot of their stuff. Seems like a fairly decent knife, about what I'd expect for 20$ of a brand name.
 
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