Crkt Muk

eyeeatingfish

eyeeatingfish

Joined
Dec 9, 2003
Messages
4,807
I was looking at newgraham.com for some sharpeners and I came across the CRKT MUK
http://www.newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=45456

Its designed as a simple utility marine knife. It was only 8.99 so i figured what the heck, it has an interesting shape.

First things first, it came nice and sharp. There is no sheath but a plastic knife guard that stays on well. The knife is relatively thin, thiner than a lot of kitchen knives. Basically it looks kind of cheap, but this isnt that bad. This was meant to be a no frills knife you can use on a boat and that you really wouldnt care if it rusted or fell overboard.
The grinds are a little thin. Probably stamped out of a big sheet. They are thinner than my shun kitchen knives, maybe about the thickness of a SAK blade. I was surprised that it was ground on both sides. One thing i dont like about CRKT is that a lot of their knives have chisel grinds. This can often be a way of saving money by reducing labor. I like the serrations, nice and big, no small teeth to get caught on strands of tough rope etc.
The handle is jsut fine. Not amazing but provides enough grip when compared to the skinny blade. There is ridges on the back of the knife for added grip in different holding positions, however the thin blade can make it bite into your hand a little more than is comfortable.
The angle is interesting, you could still bang your knuckles but im not to worried. Its got a good working size to it.

I havent really used it yet so I dont know how the steel will perform. Im not expecting anything super as the steel isnt even named. Im curious about rust resistance.

I wouldnt expect anything super from this knife but its not meant to be a super knife. I think that youre getting a good amount of knife for the money.

Ill have to report back when I actually get some use out of this knife.
 
Ok, just cut about 8-10 feet of cardboard. The knife started with a decent shaving edge. It cut paper beautifully. After about 8-10 feet of cardboard it lost its shaving edge but could still cut a sheet of hanging paper decently. It cut cardboard real well and the serrations are interesting and cut well too.
About 5 -6 strops on my sharpmaker and it was back to shaving sharp. The factory grind is 15 degrees on each side with no micro bevel. The serrations are even more narrow, maybe 12 degrees? after hitting it on the 30 degree angle on the sharpmaker i put a small microbevel with the 40 degree side because i figure with a cheaper steel a slightly more robust edge should last just a tad longer.

Im sure if you went through a hundred feet a day this wouldnt be the best knife but seems to hold an edge decently. It sharpens easily, and cuts well. I think its a good value for a knife and is worth more than you actually pay for it. I think that if you kept it on a boat or something you would want to make sure you had a sharpening stone though.
 
Thanks for the review:thumbup:

I own a few CRKT knives and like you said you get what you pay for...No complaints:cool:

-Steven
 
so since paper and cardboard dull blade edges, is that how people judge the quality? just wondering?

Seems like testing glass by throwing rocks at it in comparison. but i dont know anything.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

Cutting cardboard is a good way to test the knife's ability to cut cardboard. If you have a different everyday task for it, try it on that, like cleaning small fish, for example.

It is a bargain basement knife with design elements to make it perform more easily and comfortably than some cheap fantasy knife. An upgrade to the steel might make a real winner of it, but CRKT doesn't sell exclusively to the elite. :)
 
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