crkt whittler

[squazy]

Hi people
I ordered a crkt whittler a few days ago on the net and it arrived today,I suppose ill do a bit of a review,it was ordered through (non BF dealer) as there are no real knife shops in my country,it cost 30 sterling, the knife is most definitely not worth 30 sterling but that's just the way it was,

the knife is 90 mm long with three blades the main being 60 mm long,
Most of the surfaces on the knife have been ground smooth apart from the shank down by the pivot on the main blade,the blades all open and close with nice pressure comparable to a similar priced case knife,i suppose you guys call this walk and talk, well for me its a 6/10

the main blade is crooked in the closed position and has some play in the open,there are gaps on the springs and fit between the springs and main blade is very poor,the edge is muck to be honest and for me not worth sharpening as the steel is stainless and im sure the quality will be similar to the rest of the knife,as in poor for the money,

It would not have cost the earth to rectify the faults but for me the knife is of no interest, the main blade shank is too thin imo for a whittler and you can tell they cheeped out here and had to taper the thickness of the middle liner leaving the unsightly gap to avoid knife edging, all in its basically a knife that looks ok on the internet but in real life its poorly executed, I only purchased it to see the whittler design,but this type is a design I will avoid building lol as you can tell I don't do many reviews,
The best I can do is say I wouldnt recommend it and certainly not at that price, the knife is about a 15 dollar knife imo

 

[squazy]

the pictures make it look better than it is actually, from a distance it looks an ok knife

 

[screened porch]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience, but thanks for the warning.

 

[WoodenChicken]

I don't know what a sterling is, but sounds like too much. Also, with so many options available in the world of traditional knives, CRKT would not be a company I would be looking at. When I used to play in the realm of modern knives, I also felt that CRKT was on the low end of the spectrum, with mostly imported Chinese knives. But maybe some of the resident experts here can tell you more. Sorry you got a bum knife.

 

[r8shell]

I've been tempted to check out one of those CRKT classics, so thanks for the review. I guess I won't bother ordering one.
One point in defense of the knife: That tapered liner is how the whittler pattern is supposed to be made. Rather than one big backspring that is split down the middle, they taper the middle liner.

 

[littleknife]

Aside from the crooked blade and the blade play, the knife looks OK to me.
The whittler pattern is the most difficult to make properly. As r8shell mentioned it above, the tapered central spring is a necessary part of the design. If they would have left the spring to continue to "fill the gap”, the spring made of this relatively cheap stainless steel most likely would have broken after a while at its thinnest point due to the friction and the pieces would have jammed the action. In a way, the gap is also an element of the design, taking into account the mechanical properties of the (modern, meaning stainless) materials used in this knife.
Properly heat treated carbon steel springs would be most likely tougher and less likely to break even when thinner, but the average customer today is turned off by non-stainless pocketknives.

 

[squazy]

30 sterling is about 50 us dollars,anyway it just wouldn't be a great knife to purchase if you were a collector interested in fit and finish and craftsmanship,its just my opinion and I do have an engineering background,ive seen also a lot of the lower priced case knives with similar problems with regard to the portion of the bkade that contacts the springs being stamped out and not finished to a proper smooth surface to minimize wear on the springs, to be honest any knife company that does not laser or water jet its components but instead stamps them is lazy in my opinion,I just hate the distorted ripped finish created by such process.

 

[midnight flyer]

Squazy, sorry about your disappointment in the knife. No one likes that feeling of buying something and feeling like you didn't get what you paid for. There is something special about getting a new knife and if you are like me you take it a little more personally than you should when you don't get what you want.

A couple of things. As pointed out, the split spring whittler has the reputation of being one of the most difficult knife patterns to produce. I have gorgeous S&M version that was hand picked for me by a BF dealer, but it was also about $85 bucks here five years ago. No telling what that would translate to in your country now. Personally, I didn't think the back spring details were that bad, although if I had a choice of that model I don't think I would have picked that one. I would think it would work well.

I wouldn't worry about the stainless on that model. Although turn of the century carbon is favored by many here, if that knife is like the two CRKT knives I had, it will easily perform as well as any of the carbon offerings out there. Heck, you already have the knife, so sharpen it up and try it out. I was against stainless in traditionals myself because I purchased a stainless CASE back in the 70s and it still ranks as one of the worst knives I have ever owned. Pocket lint dulled that knife. I bought another in the 80s when I had been assured that CASE had "sorted it out" and improved. Same story. Awful.

I was gifted an offshore made knife (same country originating the CRKT) by my young niece and carried it to make her happy. Boy was I surprised. It was a Remington medium stockman with stainless blades and all stainless components. I think these are made in the same factory as the CRKTs, but don't know for sure. This knife has turned out to be a favorite of mine as it holds an edge as well as any traditional pattern I have ever owned. It is really sturdy and has held up well in rotation for years now.

One last thought. On this forum, there were a couple of folks that needed CRKT to correct something for them. I don't remember the problem, but I do remember the response. They said that the CRKT folks were helpful, courteous, and responsive. Although they may feel your knife falls within acceptable parameters of construction, it might not hurt to contact them and show them some good pictures detailing your concerns.

Good luck! Nice review, by the way.

Robert

 

[Will Power]

squazy, thanks for your review, I was thinking about trying one of these myself.

For 30 Quid, (36 Euro, 48.50 USD) it doesn't sound like a very low price bargain at all, its price is nearing CASE territory for instance. Its Chinese stablemate the RR would be a lot cheaper and I suspect better than this- at least this has been my experience of their Whittler pattern, amongst others. I take issue with you about the stainless though, how do you know it isn't worth sharpening? Most contemporary stainless is far from muck, RR's is decent keen and stays that way. I'm a bit mystified by the reference to crooked main blade when shut? Surely this is due to crinking needed to keep blades free from each other?

However, I can understand you being disappointed, a knife that falls short will never be liked. A bit like my Wright Lambfoot, about 40 Quid, the worst gaps I've seen on any knife, raised spring on open, stiff uneven pull, handles peeling from liners, proud pins, and a very bent blade touching the liner. This a single blade knife too, at least it was in dear old carbon Oh, and this was the one I got back as a replacement, it was even worse than the first one.

 

[squazy]

being a whittler the main blade should be straight but this one is bent and im thinking it was from the stamping process or possibly heat treat,perhaps it would take and hold an edge,as I said its immaterial to me as ive no love for it, ill probably just give it to my old man who looses a knife a week lol the knife is blunt from the factory,victorinox can build a knife with near perfect fit and finish(granted no soul)for half the price,ill put it this way about 15 years ago I bought a cheap knife in a local shop, a 3.5'' trapper made in japan with what they called vanadium stainless steel blades,cost me about 10 quid at the time and had very good fit and finish compared to this and holds a descent edge to this day anyway my next knife is going to be a case trapper,im getting together the tools and steel needed for my own lockback whittler attempt!

 

[midnight flyer]

For 30 Quid, (36 Euro, 48.50 USD) it doesn't sound like a very low price bargain at all, its price is nearing CASE territory for instance.

Didn't think about the conversion rate. Not a bargain at all at that price. I was thinking about what they sell for here in the USA, about $19. I wouldn't be happy with that one.

However, I can understand you being disappointed, a knife that falls short will never be liked.

Amen, brother. I have some like-new knives in the drawer that I tried to like, but just can't. I have some that have been in that drawer for 20 years or more...

I don't come back to them or rediscover them like I do the old favorites I have had for decades. I simply shove them aside and ignore them.

Robert

 

[Jack Black]

I've also looked at one or two of the CRKT traditionals. Two things have put me off getting one; they're considerably more expensive than the other Far East-made traditionals such as Rough Rider, Marbles, Colt, etc, but also because the only CRKT knife I've ever had was a considerable disappointment, also overpriced for what it was, and I was even less impressed with CRKT's customer service than I was with the knife.

Thanks for the review poster :thumbup:

 

[squazy]

well the company have agreed to exchange the knife for another knife i wanted anyway so ill send them back the knife and the extra money for the other knife, which is a case trapper

 

[zippofan]

I quite like my CRKT stockman, which IIRC was about $20 shipped:

I bought it because I wanted to give CRKT a try, I have a couple of their smaller one handers that were a good price for beaters and I wouldn't worry about losing them or loaning one to a Scout when on a camping trip, heaven knows what a teenaged boy can do to a knife

Anyway, it came sharp out of the box, fit and finish are OK, comparable to one of my Utica's that was about the same price, but I'd say that Rough Rider are a better value for the money. The steel is 7Cr17MoV according to their website, I believe is equivalent to 440A. I won't go out of my way to get another, but I'm not unhappy with the stockman.