crkt m16

They are a mixed bag, some are good and some are not so good. If yours has an AUS steel, you probably have a Taiwanese made one. From what I have heard, those are some of the better models. I have the zytel, 8cr14mov model. Even though the blade centering is crap, I still like it. It is an awesome little EDC knife, real lightweight too.
 
I'm not sure if they use the same steel, but I have an M21 that I like. I don't carry it because of size, but I've had it quite a while an have no complaints. It's a solid knife.
 
I like mine, too. Great size for EDC and the ergos are good. AUS 4 is mediocre at best. It takes a nice edge, but is too soft to hold it for long. OK for light EDC use, but not much more
 
AUS-4 is OKAY not very good in my opinion. It is too soft and won't hold its edge for very long.

Regardless the knife itself is great! I have always been a fan of the M-16 series of knives. Especially the older Taiwanese made ones like yours. The new ones are made in China and use cheap Chinese garbage steels.

If you can ever find one of the other M16's using AUS-8 steel on the secondary market I would suggest jumping on it. They are getting harder to find each year, but man they are amazing little knives in fit and finish. More so than my Emersons.
 
I have one of the M16-13T, titanium scale, AUS8 blade steel, spear point 3.0" blade. Outstanding carry and cutter.

CRKTM16TIMG_0516.jpg
 
I carried one and it served me well before I "knew" more from coming to this place and otherwise expanding my interest in the hobby. I am of the opinion that it is absolutely fine. You will get good use out of it. As you come to have more experience and more collection, you may find things you like more.
 
I have had the AUS 4 with zytel and the AUS 8 with titanium handles, I liked them a lot. they currently reside in the pockets of some of my cousins because Igot better knives. I carried one for a good long time, they are solid knives from everything that I have seen. they were solid all the time, I had toruble with the pocket clip screw coming un done, but most all of my knives do that, easily fixed with loctite. I found them easy to sharpen, and found that they held the edge well for me.
 
That titanium m16 is badass... I wanted the aus 8 but at GM only came in serr edge and I wanted the plain edge unfortunately came in aus 4
 
Other than the fact that you will need to sharpen it a bit more often than a higher end steel, the knife will serve you well. The problem with knife collectors, myself included, is that we all become steel snobs to some extent eventually. Sure there are many higher end steels out there, but AUS4 will work fine. The up side is that while you will need to sharpen more often, it's an easier steel to sharpen.

MY main issue with the CRKT M16 series is the Autolawks system. It simply drives me crazy. I don't think that any folder with a decent primary locking system needs a secondary lock. If you need something that rigid, get a fixed blade.
 
KrisOK said:
MY main issue with the CRKT M16 series is the Autolawks system. It simply drives me crazy. I don't think that any folder with a decent primary locking system needs a secondary lock. If you need something that rigid, get a fixed blade.
Click to expand...

The AutoLAWKs isn't that bad.
 
If you are using a CRKT M16 in a situation when you should be using a fixed blade, you are nothing short of an optimist.
 
I had a spear point with aus 4 or 8 i'm not sure. It probably was 4 because I remember it being really cheap. It's been a while since I gifted it away. I took it to a rough stone and made the hollow grind a flat-zero grind and it was my "box cutter" for a long while. It held its edge very well, partly due to an ok steel and partly because I had the edge super super thin so it would cut even after it was dull. I'd cut out sheets of cardboard to lay on the steel tables and to put ground turbine or valve like parts I machined on as to not mar the smooth finish and I also had signed for and opened a good bit of boxes for the shop and broke those down into flat sheets or small pieces for the trash.

I now have a tanto SE with 8CR14? It takes a pretty keen edge and holds it about as well as AUS 8 in my usings. I imagine AUS 4 to be slightly less but still not a bad steel. My old one had no play, this new tanto one though I have some decent wear on the black finish, the serrations are almost ground out (I don't care for them so when I sharpen I just sharpen over them) and it's got side to side (all in two weeks :foot:) play when centered and when you take the play out it doesn't open easily and is off center but not so much that it rubs. I've been prying and using it as a screw driver and just about everything you should NOT use a folder for. That is why I bought it. It goes in my back pocket and if I don't have a proper tool available I whip it out for a quick solution. It was a gasket scraper, hose cutter, box cutter and a screwdriver just yesterday.
 
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