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- Nov 25, 1999
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<center><font size=4>CRKT - Pat Crawford's Point Guard.</font></center>
<center><small>Patr 1 of 2</small></center>
When some weeks before IWA'2000 gun show (March, Nuremberg, Germany) I have received CRKT press release, catalog and photo-CD this knife attracted my attention with clear, elegant lines and light (especially in comparison to KFF) appearance.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29666152&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29666153&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>When visiting CRKT booth at IWA I had an opportunity to handle their new knives I just have made sure my first impression. Additionally I found this elegant knife well made and comfortable to hold, so I waited impatiently when I could to play with it. About three months ago this opportunity came but different reasons caused me to wait some time with my review.
Now I can share my impressions on CRKT - Pat Crawford's Point Guard.
The blade made of AUS-6 steel is shaped like noticeably elongated drop point with very gentle drop and quite flat belly. This design provides pretty good penetration when thrusting and shows clearly this knife's intended use: this is no doubts tactical knife. The name states the same. On the other hand very high hollow grind and very narrow false edge are causing this blade's very decent performance in push cuts and when slicing. So instead of the most dedicated stabbers with thick narrow grind and pronounced false edge the Point Guard blade is much more versatile and can be used efficiently both in weapon and in utility tool role. In my opinion this is a very good combination for tactical knife. Even knives what are carried for self defense purposes are very rarely used in weapon's role, so it wouldn't be the worst idea to use the same knife as utility tool as well.
Additional advantage, this blade doesn't attract unwanted attention and doesn't cause a redundant sensation when you are drawing your knife to open the envelope or for some similar peaceful purposes. I had a lot of probabilities to become convinced about this during these three months. I'm always curious about reaction, which my knives are causing among common people. So I have observed this meticulously and assumed that the Point Guard causes near neutral reaction as to it's size.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146882&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146883&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>The blade opening device on this model is thumb disk. I'm rating it as my second favorite opening device (after round hole) due to it's ambidextrous nature and ease to engage in stress situations. It provides also quite comfortable thumb placement on the blade spine if additional leverage or better blade control is wanted.
The Point Guard's thumb disk works well for me; my only proposition would be to make it a small bit more aggressive, with coarser pattern or/and less rounded edges, especially lower edge.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146886&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146887&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>The handle fits my hand comfortably. The forefinger notch, thumb placement area and the handle's butt are checkered pretty aggressively to provide secure purchase. On the other hand this coarse pattern doesn't affect grip comfort. Whittling hard wood branch I didn't experienced any unpleasant effects caused on my palm with handle shape.
The handle's butt is ended with quite aggressive point, however I couldn't find grip position in which this could affect handling comfort. On the other hand this aggressive point can be used as non-lethal weapon to strike an opponents sensitive points to cause an overpowering effect only, without wounding him. This matches my conception of knife use in hand-to-hand combat by all means: no "half-killing", no "less-than-lethal cuts" and similar questionable stuff. If the situation doesn't justify opponents killing - do not reach your deadly weapon, in this case - the blade.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146890&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146894&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>The clip probably is not the strongest point of this knife. It is far too large for this knife dimensions and for carrying security. The only unpleasant effect I experienced on my palm whittling hard wood branch came from the clip side. In the hammer grip the lower (bent away from the handle's plane) end of the clip hits my palm directly near the rear edge, in the most loaded area. This causes quite unpleasant biting when the handle is gripped convulsively and/or during hard cutting work. At the same time the unnaturally large clip staying visible in publics causes improper appearance of the clipped knife dimensions...
My proposition would be to redesign the clip to make it at least 25-30 mm shorter. In this case the bent away end would hit palm's mid-part which is much less loaded when cutting. Nothing wrong if the clip would be about 1,5 times narrower. I think this could be done with minimal effort and cost.
<center><small>to be continued...</small></center>
[This message has been edited by Sergiusz Mitin (edited 10-10-2000).]
<center><small>Patr 1 of 2</small></center>
When some weeks before IWA'2000 gun show (March, Nuremberg, Germany) I have received CRKT press release, catalog and photo-CD this knife attracted my attention with clear, elegant lines and light (especially in comparison to KFF) appearance.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29666152&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29666153&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>When visiting CRKT booth at IWA I had an opportunity to handle their new knives I just have made sure my first impression. Additionally I found this elegant knife well made and comfortable to hold, so I waited impatiently when I could to play with it. About three months ago this opportunity came but different reasons caused me to wait some time with my review.
Now I can share my impressions on CRKT - Pat Crawford's Point Guard.
The blade made of AUS-6 steel is shaped like noticeably elongated drop point with very gentle drop and quite flat belly. This design provides pretty good penetration when thrusting and shows clearly this knife's intended use: this is no doubts tactical knife. The name states the same. On the other hand very high hollow grind and very narrow false edge are causing this blade's very decent performance in push cuts and when slicing. So instead of the most dedicated stabbers with thick narrow grind and pronounced false edge the Point Guard blade is much more versatile and can be used efficiently both in weapon and in utility tool role. In my opinion this is a very good combination for tactical knife. Even knives what are carried for self defense purposes are very rarely used in weapon's role, so it wouldn't be the worst idea to use the same knife as utility tool as well.
Additional advantage, this blade doesn't attract unwanted attention and doesn't cause a redundant sensation when you are drawing your knife to open the envelope or for some similar peaceful purposes. I had a lot of probabilities to become convinced about this during these three months. I'm always curious about reaction, which my knives are causing among common people. So I have observed this meticulously and assumed that the Point Guard causes near neutral reaction as to it's size.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146882&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146883&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>The blade opening device on this model is thumb disk. I'm rating it as my second favorite opening device (after round hole) due to it's ambidextrous nature and ease to engage in stress situations. It provides also quite comfortable thumb placement on the blade spine if additional leverage or better blade control is wanted.
The Point Guard's thumb disk works well for me; my only proposition would be to make it a small bit more aggressive, with coarser pattern or/and less rounded edges, especially lower edge.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146886&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146887&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>The handle fits my hand comfortably. The forefinger notch, thumb placement area and the handle's butt are checkered pretty aggressively to provide secure purchase. On the other hand this coarse pattern doesn't affect grip comfort. Whittling hard wood branch I didn't experienced any unpleasant effects caused on my palm with handle shape.
The handle's butt is ended with quite aggressive point, however I couldn't find grip position in which this could affect handling comfort. On the other hand this aggressive point can be used as non-lethal weapon to strike an opponents sensitive points to cause an overpowering effect only, without wounding him. This matches my conception of knife use in hand-to-hand combat by all means: no "half-killing", no "less-than-lethal cuts" and similar questionable stuff. If the situation doesn't justify opponents killing - do not reach your deadly weapon, in this case - the blade.
<a href="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146890&Sequence=0&res=high" target="_blank"><IMG align=right SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=222944&a=2181632&p=29146894&Sequence=0&res=high" border="2"></a>The clip probably is not the strongest point of this knife. It is far too large for this knife dimensions and for carrying security. The only unpleasant effect I experienced on my palm whittling hard wood branch came from the clip side. In the hammer grip the lower (bent away from the handle's plane) end of the clip hits my palm directly near the rear edge, in the most loaded area. This causes quite unpleasant biting when the handle is gripped convulsively and/or during hard cutting work. At the same time the unnaturally large clip staying visible in publics causes improper appearance of the clipped knife dimensions...
My proposition would be to redesign the clip to make it at least 25-30 mm shorter. In this case the bent away end would hit palm's mid-part which is much less loaded when cutting. Nothing wrong if the clip would be about 1,5 times narrower. I think this could be done with minimal effort and cost.
<center><small>to be continued...</small></center>
[This message has been edited by Sergiusz Mitin (edited 10-10-2000).]
