CRKT Lake 111 Zytel
I made a post a few days ago asking what to look for in a knife, and other things. I had ordered a CRKT Lake 111 Zytel knife for $24.95 shipped via Ebay and after some waiting it arrived today. Overall I try to be thorough and that can lead to lengthy paragraphs. So if you want to fast forward, no hard feelings.
Packaging
Packaging was very plain, low density carboard box With just CRKT written on it. I am sure some of you have seen it.
Extras
It came with a Denim sheathe, or more like a belt sheathe. It is actually not that bad, perhaps could have used better stitching but hey what I paid for was the knife not the sheathe, and it's an extra I will happily take.
Fit and Finish
Now the knife's fit and finish is pretty decent, a few minor issues in terms of "flush-ness" but they are so minor it's to be expected on most knives whether $25 or more expensive knives (from what I have seen on videos/etc).
Action operation
The action to open the blade is not so smooth, in fact it's a bit stiff for my tastes, however I will get used to it. Trying to loosen the action has proved futile, while I can get it to open smoothly, and not have play when open it has plenty of play when closed.
Sharpness
The edge angle (sharpness) is very good. It is very sharp out of the box. I probably could touch it up for a couple minutes and get an even sharper blade but I am not so sure how much sharper it can get. At this point it's enough to shave hairs off, and enough to where even a small slide of my finger will produce a cut.
Blade Shape/grind/etc
One of the bad things is the grind appears to be more of a hollow grind then a flat grind but appears to be a mixture of both. It isn't like some hollow grind knives I have for cooking, however it isn't a flat grind like my J.A Henckels kitchen knife. Kind of an in between~
The blade it self has a decent polish, however it appears to have some very light rusting on one side towards the edge (I could probably get rid of it with a bit of oil and one or two rubs...
I will just rub some mother's glow later on to give it a better mirror polish and of course to get rid of that light rust.
The blade shape is is good for general use, like opening packages, cutting and shimming very soft wood (saya's), technology related areas like cutting wires, etc. Although I would recommend carrying a multi-tool anyways.
Fittings
Fittings are very comfortable, it uses Zytel scales in which Zytel is less rough then G10 or Micarta (albeit Texture will contribute to how rough it is).
The scales on the Lake 11 are very nice to the hand, they are not rough and they are smooth but not smooth enough to ever slide from your hand (although perhaps some water may cause a slip? that's to be seen).
It has stainless steel liners which is fine, I would have preferred brass but then again stainless steel does provide better durability. The liners are not skeletonized, so it is not as light weight as it could be.
The blade is a Lock back design.
The LBS lock on lock (that's basically what it is) works very well. When locked it will not open (if locked while closed) and it will not close (if locked while open). However I am not too sure if it's really needed at all...
The thumb studs are too small for my hand, and are not comfortable at all. In fact after multiple openings it feels almost like when I strum my guitar strings with my bare fingers. Not good at all but I think some sand paper or perhaps a fine nail file may be able to get that smoothened out.
Anyways here's the bad summed up into points:
1. The Action to open the knife is too tight, what ends up happening is the stainless steel liners scratch the blade's spine. This can cause issues with light to mild rusting since the surface is not flat and in mirror polish it's scratched and has little openings it is easier for moisture to accumulate. It isn't a major issue however.
2. The action to open the knife is far too stiff, and is not smooth. Totally not cool IMO, however ymmv.
3. No tool included to tighten or loosen the pivot point like they include with the Lake 111 Aluminum version. Kinda silly of them to include a Denim sheathe instead of a tool to adjust the pivot point, which to me the pivot point tool would prove far more invaluable.
4. Came brand new and has rust on the edge. Not too sure what to say, part of me says it's a no-no but the other part of me says it's $25 bucks shipped...
Personal grips:
1. Pivot point is too tight.
2. These thumb studs are just not for me.
I made a post a few days ago asking what to look for in a knife, and other things. I had ordered a CRKT Lake 111 Zytel knife for $24.95 shipped via Ebay and after some waiting it arrived today. Overall I try to be thorough and that can lead to lengthy paragraphs. So if you want to fast forward, no hard feelings.
Packaging
Packaging was very plain, low density carboard box With just CRKT written on it. I am sure some of you have seen it.
Extras
It came with a Denim sheathe, or more like a belt sheathe. It is actually not that bad, perhaps could have used better stitching but hey what I paid for was the knife not the sheathe, and it's an extra I will happily take.
Fit and Finish
Now the knife's fit and finish is pretty decent, a few minor issues in terms of "flush-ness" but they are so minor it's to be expected on most knives whether $25 or more expensive knives (from what I have seen on videos/etc).
Action operation
The action to open the blade is not so smooth, in fact it's a bit stiff for my tastes, however I will get used to it. Trying to loosen the action has proved futile, while I can get it to open smoothly, and not have play when open it has plenty of play when closed.
Sharpness
The edge angle (sharpness) is very good. It is very sharp out of the box. I probably could touch it up for a couple minutes and get an even sharper blade but I am not so sure how much sharper it can get. At this point it's enough to shave hairs off, and enough to where even a small slide of my finger will produce a cut.
Blade Shape/grind/etc
One of the bad things is the grind appears to be more of a hollow grind then a flat grind but appears to be a mixture of both. It isn't like some hollow grind knives I have for cooking, however it isn't a flat grind like my J.A Henckels kitchen knife. Kind of an in between~
The blade it self has a decent polish, however it appears to have some very light rusting on one side towards the edge (I could probably get rid of it with a bit of oil and one or two rubs...
I will just rub some mother's glow later on to give it a better mirror polish and of course to get rid of that light rust.
The blade shape is is good for general use, like opening packages, cutting and shimming very soft wood (saya's), technology related areas like cutting wires, etc. Although I would recommend carrying a multi-tool anyways.
Fittings
Fittings are very comfortable, it uses Zytel scales in which Zytel is less rough then G10 or Micarta (albeit Texture will contribute to how rough it is).
The scales on the Lake 11 are very nice to the hand, they are not rough and they are smooth but not smooth enough to ever slide from your hand (although perhaps some water may cause a slip? that's to be seen).
It has stainless steel liners which is fine, I would have preferred brass but then again stainless steel does provide better durability. The liners are not skeletonized, so it is not as light weight as it could be.
The blade is a Lock back design.
The LBS lock on lock (that's basically what it is) works very well. When locked it will not open (if locked while closed) and it will not close (if locked while open). However I am not too sure if it's really needed at all...
The thumb studs are too small for my hand, and are not comfortable at all. In fact after multiple openings it feels almost like when I strum my guitar strings with my bare fingers. Not good at all but I think some sand paper or perhaps a fine nail file may be able to get that smoothened out.
Anyways here's the bad summed up into points:
1. The Action to open the knife is too tight, what ends up happening is the stainless steel liners scratch the blade's spine. This can cause issues with light to mild rusting since the surface is not flat and in mirror polish it's scratched and has little openings it is easier for moisture to accumulate. It isn't a major issue however.
2. The action to open the knife is far too stiff, and is not smooth. Totally not cool IMO, however ymmv.
3. No tool included to tighten or loosen the pivot point like they include with the Lake 111 Aluminum version. Kinda silly of them to include a Denim sheathe instead of a tool to adjust the pivot point, which to me the pivot point tool would prove far more invaluable.
4. Came brand new and has rust on the edge. Not too sure what to say, part of me says it's a no-no but the other part of me says it's $25 bucks shipped...
Personal grips:
1. Pivot point is too tight.
2. These thumb studs are just not for me.
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