CRKT- No Bother small fixed blade

[Gary W. Graley]

CRKT- No Bother small fixed blade arrived today, now, I'm WIDELY known to make the mistake of buying a fixed blade only to sell it right away as I can't seem to every find myself carrying one. I'm not sure how I stumbled across this model, but at first glance I was taken by it's unique look and blade shape, all suited me great. And the back story on how it was designed is also interesting and just adds to the knife's appeal.

It's fairly small as you will see from the photos, here are the spec's on the knife borrowed from CRKT's website

Dimensions
Open Overall Length 5.29 inches
Weight 2.2 ounces

Blade
Length 2.19 inches
Thickness 0.18 inches
Material 8Cr13MoV, HRC 58-60
Finish Black Oxide then Stonewash
Grind Flat
Style Reverse Tanto

Handle
Material ABS Black

Carry
Carry System Molle Compatible Sheath w/Lanyard

The No Bother™ is a small fixed blade tactical knife designed by Ryan Johnson of RMJ Tactical that is full tang and fully ready to keep you safe on the job. The blade has a non-reflective, black oxide stone wash finish and a reverse tanto tip. The knife is lightweight and minimal in hand and the non-removable black ABS handle scales offer a secure grip. There's jimping on the thumb ramp that's both aesthetic and functional. The knife includes a pressed leather lanyard for quick draw applications.

here's a short video by Ryan;
Check out how it came to be...

Here are some of my photos;

Now it arrives with this, to me, not so well done leather braided fob, a couple things wrong with this,
slits start too far from the hole
slits are too long
slits are too far apart
they could do a lot better but then it would take a little longer to braid it too, almost better to save the time and money and leave it off, IMHO

I replaced that braided leather with one of my own, added a skull on there and that allows me to hook my pinky around the skull and provides a grip to draw the knife from the sheath. I removed the stuff that was on the sheath as I don't have a pack I'll be attaching it to at any time soon. But laced some para cord around to make mock belt loops so I can thread my belt through there, works well so far. Easy to slide your finger out near that sharp tip to help guide the blade back into the sheath. You could also make it to ride horizontal, but I'm not overly confident of the retention so vertical seems safest right now.

The tip of the blade has a fairly sharp edge that will cut you if you are not careful, on as short a blade as this is, I might end up softening that edge...

The handle has some nice grip to it, slight jimping on the end, also helps indicate edge side of the knife and the jimping on the spine seems good too, fairly thick blade but the grind comes down cleanly without having an abrupt shoulder of a bevel to contend with, it push cuts down through a Q-Tip shaft easily, some knives balk at that simple task, if you go at an angle most will cut through, but perpendicular it requires good geometry in order to push cut through. The edge arrived pretty sharp already, nice surprise!

Too short a time to say how well the steel will hold up, but while it's not a super steel, it's a reasonable one and at the price of these, you couldn't expect a lot more.

Today, I give it a G2 thumbs up !
G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Also with the para cord setup you can wear it vertical OR horizontal
Just tried it works nice
G2

 

[JTC]

That's a neat little knife. Thanks for the closer look!

 

[Mistwalker]

I really meant to pick one of these up at Blade. I love the back story on it. Ryan was uploading the design into solid works from her sketch when I stopped by one day a few years back, and told me how it came to be.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Used it at work today, everyone there at first thought what an ugly duck she was, but then, they're not knife nerds like me so I take that with a grain of salt. But everyone liked the back story quite a bit

Cut the boxes open nicely too today, plus the strap on some packages as well.
G2

 

[WJC01]

Just got one last week as well. Like you I like the background story and it's a handy lil knife.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

He should do a short video introducing his daughter and the paracord setup on for a belt loop is working out great. I'd still recommend keeping it vertical, as once it breaks free from the sheath's retention there isn't anything to prevent it from falling the rest of the way out. I had another small fixed blade that I tried carrying horizontal and the handle was struck while carrying a package, unbeknownst to me, and the knife fell to the concrete floor, didn't help the point lemme tell ya but learnt a valuable lesson from that experience!
G2

 

[caine]

That looks awesome

 

[Gary W. Graley]

yep, liking this smallish blade quite a bit;

G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Looking at the paracord setup again, didn't care for the knot in the front, so I opted to try and 'glue' the ends together, so on the back side now I cut the ends so there was a little room for play, then carefully brought a bic candle lighter flame up between the two ends, once they were liquid, I quickly pushed the two ends together, keeping my skin out of the way! It would have been handier to have had another person hold the flame but it still worked. You end up with one continuous strand now, of course I'd not HANG from that bond, but for the purpose of holding this small knife on my belt, I think it will do fine

The joint

G2

 

[Angus McGunnigle]

Cool knife and thanks for the info. It almost is like a modern tactical version of the Otzi the iceman knife. 2 inch blade, 3 inch handle. Cool.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

You're welcome and thank you as I never heard of that fellow Otzi before, did some digging, pretty interesting fellow!
G2

 

[Lycosa]

Very nice, G2.
Thanks for getting me one.
Howz the foot?
yf,
rolf

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Nice

The ankle is still mending, I took a misstep the other day and pulled something in my arch but some ice and a nites sleep I was able to bear weight on it again, still with a cane
G2

 

[Lycosa]

You take care. ^
See you in Lewisburg.
And, I'd like you to check out Wilder Forge, for a nice 'lil EDC fixed blade.
rolf

 

[Angus McGunnigle]

You're welcome and thank you as I never heard of that fellow Otzi before, did some digging, pretty interesting fellow!
G2

I recently learned a bit about this Otzi fellow and am kinda fascinated that what looks like his primary knife was a very small yet effective tool. Easy to carry and have with you, stout and sharp. I really like my larger knives, but this primitive dude probably was quite skilled with this small but useful tool.

 

[G. Scott H.]

Great looking little knife. I wasn't even aware of it till now. Thank, Gary. :thumbup:

Otzi's story is indeed a fascinating one, and it shows just how spoiled we are today with our choices in cutlery. That dude had to actually use his tools to survive in a world harsher and more brutal than we can fathom, and he did so with a small flint knife and a copper axe.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I tell my family all the time, BladeForums isn't 'JUST' about knives it's an adventure in education too !

and I'm very happy to introduce this little gem to you guys/gals. The blade grind is such that it push cuts very well, and is also razor sharp, the front edge not so much but that's intended for harder work. The other day I was shipping out a knife, I carve out areas of some foam I packrat from work, makes for a nice way to ship, and as I had drawn around the knife with a pen and cut out the area, there were tale tell marks of the pen along the edges. So I took the NB and like a scalpel just gingerly sliced off the offending spots along the edge...OCD at it's finest here lol but it did so with great aplomb .

G2

 

[vic2367]

good looking little blade ,,thanks for the review

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks it's been on my belt since it arrived, use it a lot at work, not a long blade but most stuff you can make do with a small sharp blade.
G2