CRKT M16-14T (Latest Models)

Confederate · Jan 24, 2009

I've heard that the latest models have a matte finish and are no longer polished like they used to be. Is this true? I have one of these that I bought a few years ago and it's beautiful. I've also checked the CRKT website, but it shows the knife frame as polished.

Does anyone know? Also, the prices of CRKT knives seem to be dropping a bit while the prices of all others seem to be going up. What's going on?

The grips I have are a bright silver, but the new ones seem to be gray.

HolyRoller · Jan 24, 2009

I have a 13T, like the one you pictured.

Bought it about 2-3 years ago.

It's a little shiny, but I wouldn't go to far as to call it polished.

Even the slightest change in the condition during photography can make the damn things look completely different, which is why I try to buy very little without seeing it in person.

Confederate · Jan 25, 2009

You're right about the photographs. The ad mentioned that the titanium grips were "bead blasted." I have an S-2 with dull grips, but a little polish made it sparkle! It's now a beautiful silver. I even removed the thumb stud and polished the blade. Anyway, it's gorgeous.

The M16-14Ts also are very attractive knives. I found two for $65 apiece, new. I also have the M16-13T, and it could very easily be my EDC.

SIFU1A · Jan 25, 2009

dont knwo about the handles being matte now BUT i do know that the M16T CRKT's are imho the very top of the line of CRKT, and have a lot better F&F vs a std CRKT, i have had a couple of M16-13T's and was very happy with 'em,. and plan to get another when i run across one at a decent price, the 1st one i got a guy threw it in to sweeten a trade, it wasnt LNIB, and man i was impressed, like i said the best CRKT knife by far imho.

if i had to carry a CRKT it would be one of the M16T series no doubt.

the only other CRKT even close is the old carbon fibre M16's, have one of them too, the M16-13CF IIRC, they were good too but ya never see them anymore, IIRC they didnt make very many and they were more expensive than the Ti versions, my wife carried a M16-13CF for a few yrs and liked it a lot, they too exhibited a lot better F&F vs a std FRN CRKT let me tell ya lol.

Confederate · Jan 25, 2009

I have a couple of titanium versions myself and they're gorgeous. Of course I also like the black military M16-14M model. Then there's the SFA model that's black with a thumbguard, that's also very nice. The only gripe I have with any of 'em is that all the ones with serrations are single grind, with the bevel on the left side. They're very difficult for right-handers who need to cut wood.

They're advertised as "virtual fixed knives" because of the
LAWKS, but I suspect they would fail at some point.

Confederate · Feb 8, 2009

I got a couple of new CRKT M16-14Ts this week and, sure enough, they were indeed bead blasted. Overall, the new knives are not nearly as nicely finished as the older ones. The new ones are also not as smooth as the older ones. All in all, I've been disappointed with many of the CRKT products of late. The AUTOLAWKS also seem to make the knives more difficult to open quickly.

The new version (above) is dull and unpolished. It's also not as smooth
as previous versions.

rifon2 · Feb 8, 2009

Confederate said:
All in all, I've been disappointed with many of the CRKT products of late.

Are they still being manufactured in Taiwan? - or has CRKT moved the manufacturing of these knives to mainland China, as they have with several of their other models.

tirod3 · Feb 9, 2009

Confederate said:
I got a couple of new CRKT M16-14Ts this week and, sure enough, they were indeed bead blasted. Overall, the new knives are not nearly as nicely finished as the older ones. The new ones are also not as smooth as the older ones. All in all, I've been disappointed with many of the CRKT products of late. The AUTOLAWKS also seem to make the knives more difficult to open quickly.

The new version (above) is dull and unpolished. It's also not as smooth
as previous versions.

It's the pivot screw - check the pictures, one's just turned more to "bright."

vagabonding · Feb 9, 2009

I have the "big belly" M21-14 and I've been wondering since I got it what the difference is between this and the regular aluminum handled M16-14. What is the defining difference between the two series?

Confederate · Feb 9, 2009

The M21-14 has a spear point, not a tanto point. In my opinion, the M21-04 (plain edged) is one of the best knives CRKT offers. What I dislike about the others most is the horrible serration patterns CRKT uses. I particularly don't like the Veff™ serrations. Both the Veff and the regular serrations seem to be designed for cutting wood and are too much like someone one would find on a saw. I would like to try the smaller serrations found on the forward blade of their Thunderbolt tantos, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Anyone have one?

Still, the titanium series do seem to be a cut above the regular series. I can polish the frame like I did on the S-2 or, as tirod3 suggested, just turn up the brightness (even tho it eats up the batteries).

A.P.F. · Feb 9, 2009

It looks like I am going to have to re-evaluate my opinion of CRKT. Those look like nicely designed and finished knives, old or new.

Barnstormer_87 · Jul 7, 2010

I just got my first CRKT. The M16-14T. Straight out of the box it looks great! But after playing with it for a couple of days i found that the blade could wobble side to side because the main screw/bolt/hinge was not tight enough even tho it was fully tightened.

So i took it apart and ground down the threaded side just a little to allow it to tighten the extra mm or 2 need to secure the blade correctly. Perfect!

The next thing i was disappointed with was the inner lining not having the same holes drilled out in it as the titanium handle. So i marked them out and drilled the back 3 large holes. Now when the knife is open you can see straight through the handle holes. Looks much better! It dose not affect the strength of the handle at all either.

The steel on the inner lining itself is very hard and if you wish to do the same i recommend that you carefully center punch where you wish to drill and use a drill press! Also start out with a very small drill bit to make a pilot hole. Drilling this kind of steel can cause the bit to wander resulting in an off center hole which you really dont want on this knife.

Now im extremely pleased with the result and look ford to carrying it around for a long time to come!