CRKT Ryan Plan B

[Firebat]

Hey all-

Not so much of a review or test; more like a "wow, that's pretty cool for 30 bucks" post.

Went over to visit my local brick and mortar this evening and just couldn't pass this one up, especially for the price.

The thick zytel scales give the knife a hefty hand-filling feel, but the thing is only like 6 3/4" overall, so it manages to feel fairly compact at the same time. I'm not even sure what the steel is- probably 6A I'd guess- at least it's wicked sharp out of the box. The sheath is ok, but it feels kinda flimsy and the clip doesn't have much strength to grab all that securely onto pockets or belts. But it does come with a ball chain, too. I think I'm going to play around with some kydex and see what I can come up with.

Neat design, though! For the money, I'd say CRKT has done a great job.

Here's a pic:

Firebat

 

[shootist16]

I think Columbia River has done a great job filling a certain niche. Great designs and decent knives for the money. Most of there product offer a lot of bang for the buck. That being said, I would love to see them produce some of there designs with a little higher end materials. Maybe a few limited runs for us knifeknuts . I'll probably be picking up a plan B myself.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

Nice design...too bad about the Aus6.

 

[poboy]

It would be nice to see this in better steel, but for thirty bucks I don't think I'll pass it up. I really like the design.

 

[logos]

There is always a trade off and very often as you see posted it is
usually steel selection, but thats why they can crank out such large
numbers of custom collabs and keep the price so low.But you definatly always get your the most for the money.

 

[dogboye]

That is really SWEET looking. I think I like that the best of anything I've seen come out of CRK&T yet. It even looks like the, um, zytel (?) scales have some contour to them besides just the zig-gagging ( ). Nicely done. Too bad about the steel. Although, as much as I like AUS-8, I wonder just how much worse AUS-6 is?

 

[ejt]

According to CRKT (http://www.crkt.com/ryansevn.html) they confirm AUS6M for the blade. And as for the price, it certainly helps that all their knives are made in Taiwan, according to a phone conversation with them. I'm not knocking the quality - their materials are fine, perfectly suitable for routine use, if not fancy or cutting edge (NPI - they just seem to like AUS 6M a lot), and they really do have some nice designs. In fact, they list quite a long line of collaboration projects with some custom designers. I'm just making a comment that anyone who buys one over a US-made knife is adding to the trade deficit....

 

[Firebat]

As a bit of an aside, I did start to whip up an additional sheath for this thing.

It still needs some shaping and finishing, but you get the general idea.

Firebat

 

[Atomic Zero]

I'm surprised the B&M had it! I thought it had been delayed.

It looks great and the sheath matches it very well. I actually like the "zig-gagging" scales. It takes a couple of looks to get used to, but it's a nice change of pace.

It may be just me, but every time I look at this knife I think, "God, that would be an awesome folder." I just love the blade shape and the size. Oh, a Zero can dream...

Zero

P.S. Love your avatar, Firebat. "Mmmm, yeah. That's nice. Yeah. Well sure..."

 

[dogboye]

Hey Firebat, what are you making that sheath out of?

 

[wire edge]

I like your sheath as well. It reminds me of a Rigger sheath I saw a while back that Recluse had for sale.

"And about those TPS reports, did you get the memo?" quote from Lumberg, "yeah"

 

[Firebat]

Thanks guys.

rockspyder- That's .105" concealex under .065" kydex. I went with the "holey" look as it was the easiest pattern for me to make.

Zero- No doubt. That's the first thing I thought of when I saw it- "wow, that would be so cool if it had a pivot!"

Glad to hear you guys appreciate fine cinema too!

"Uhhh hi, it's Bill again. Just wanted to let you you know we started at the regular time today, it's not a half day or anything..."

Firebat

 

[Weapon_X_711]

Wow what a cool design, I wish more knives would have a low thrusting point. It makes coming to point so much easier, and feels more fluid and natural. One of the reasons I like Spyderco's Endura and Military so much. Put a pivot on that design and it would blow Emerson's Commader right out the water, and right into Don Rearic's eye, owch, that's gotta hurt.

 

[calyth]

Originally posted by Atomic Zero
It may be just me, but every time I look at this knife I think, "God, that would be an awesome folder." I just love the blade shape and the size. Oh, a Zero can dream...

They do have a folding version of the Plan B, I think it's called Model Seven
I do like Columbia River knifes, it's great that it has really good bang for the buck. I loved each CRKT that I own.

 

[Atomic Zero]

calyth, I have the Ryan 7 and I love it. Very smooth and "flickable" with the thumbstuds removed.

I like the Plan B because it's smaller and has a great blade shape. The scales look different as well. Seeing that exact knife as a folder would be great.

Zero

 

[calyth]

Ah... now I get what you mean.
I have the Crawford/Kasper small and M16 Tanto. Gotta love both.