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First post and a rant about CRKT

M

mastinson

Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
13
I have been into knife collecting for about 10 years now and I recently purchased a CRKT M16-13Z for EDC. How the heck do you keep these things from rusting, I carried it 2 days and the metal under the holes on the handle started rusting. What gives I have carbon steel that don't rust as easy as this crap. I used a qtip with CLP and after a weeks they started getting brown spots again. What is the deal I just wanted a nice EDC with a flipper but got a rust bucket with a flipper.

Now that thats over hello to all after months of lurking I decided to join. I have a lrge colection of blades large and small and I am mostly into liner locks and tactical knives at the moment. I am a regular of The High Road, Glock Talk, and The Firing Line, if any of you are into firearms also and don't know about these sites check them out.
 
Welcome.

I had issues with my M16-21 SF developing rust on the screws and pivot too. I just sold it.

The good news is, you will probably broaden your horizons with knives immensely posting here, and will end up owning a lot of great blades to make up for your crappy CRKT.
 
Welcome. I used to frequent TFL quite a bit. Some heady times there, pre-Y2K and again in the runup to the 2000 election.

Just be forewarned, there are some sacred cows, illogical brand loyalties, and unwinnable arguments here, same as on the gun sites (like the Glock devotees, .45 vs. 9mm vs. .40 vs. 10mm, etc.).

Th problem with the CRKT's has more to do (I think) with the finish than the steel. The bead blast finish makes all kinds of little places for moisture to gather and rust to start, more than a nice mirror polish would provide.


Enthusiasms. Enthusiasms. ...
- Al Capone
 
I don't know if this helps, but my circle of friends and I don't like CRKT at all. I recommend selling it if you can and getting a Kershaw Storm II for $30 at Walmart to replace it. It's made in the USA out of 13C26 Sandvik Stainless and designed by Ken Onion. It's design makes it a good EDC that's good for just about everything.
 
I have around 12 crkt knives and none of them are rusty but most have a black coating. By the way M16 and M21 crkts are awsome knives if you get the aus8 steel. Alot of people put them down but from my experince they have a great fit and finish and some of their knives are made in the USA.
 
if you like flippers, many Kershaw Assisted openers have a flipper, and are lots of fun to play with. If you want complete corrosion resistance get one of the Spyderco Salts (no flipper, though) Coatings will work, too.
 
I have a CRKT M16-13Z and have had it for over 3 years. Never had a problem with rust. Maybe they changed the liners? I however live in southern New Mexico... you know it's a dry heat. Sorry to hear about your problem, but welcome to Bladeforums.
 
I have the M21-04. Got it for work and EDC. Use it hard at work. Got it mostly because of the blade shape and steel, plus, I thought the fliper was cool. I have had no problem with rust, and the blade on its own has been good for me, but man does dirt like to get in there. I never did like the idea of liner locks, but let me tell you, this one sucks. It's fine if I got the hinge screw just right, but off a hair, the blade gets off center and the lock goes to hell. The dirt geting in it and making it gritty is the worst, though I do get really dirty at work. The way yours is rusting makes me wonder if something corosive got on it, or even if it is a bad run of steel. At any rate, do yourself a favor and get a good American made knife, it will be worth it. CRKT is half ass tiwan crap.
 
I wouldnt call the m-21 half ass crap. For the price their pretty hard to beat. True their made in tiwan but for $20 bucks more you can get the M-16 special force Made in the USA.
 
They can be a hit and miss thing. I have small Crawford Kasper and it is one of my favorite EDC knives in rotation with my Spyderco's and Benchmades. The AUS6 sharpens easily and I'm not afraid to get it banged up. Lock up on mine is good but then again, I never put much side to side torque on any folder.

Speaking of bead blast, I sanded it off to a satin finish.

I also regularly carry the Ryan 7. I like the deep belly blade. Some have complained about the sharp edges but I beveled every edge with a Dremel and also sanded away that silly bead blast.
 
I EDC an M16-14Z (440 A) at work and use it hard. I removed the scales and put a light coating of silicone gel on the liners and reassembled. I work around induction heaters and it gets hot enough that sweat beads up on the knife. I have never had rust problems. It is an older knife, picked it up when they first came out. I also take good care of it in regards to cleaning and oiling as just about anything will rust or corrode here in Florida close to the gulf.
 
I use and abuse my M16 (AUS8/Aluminum handles) for a year now with no problems at all. Sometimes a company has a slip up...I've had two such slip ups from Spyderco (and none on my three CRKTs), but that certainly doesn't lead me to believe that Spyderco is a bad company.

My AUS6 Urban Shark is the CRKT I've had the longest, for about three years now, and is abused probably more than any of my other knives. Works fantastically.
 
I have a bunch of CRKT's and not had any rust problems, but then I live in a fairly dry climate. My Mirage, M16-03K, Falcons, and M1 have probably been used the most in pretty well most conditions including working in the yard and in the rain with no ill effects.

- gord
 
Welcome to BF!! I personally will NOT buy anything from CRK&T, because of poor quality steel etc.
 
true most of their cheaper modles have crappy steel but most modles over $40 have either aus8,154cm,or aus118.
 
I own about a half dozen different CRKT knives (5 folding and one fixed blade), and have used two of them for day to day work knives. One is a M-16 14T which I bought as a $ 35.00 used knife and pretty much used and abused it. After a year of using it to slice, cut, pry and scrap, it finally developed a forwards-backwards wobble, although it still locked-up. Since the knife was a work knife, I can't really recall if there was any rusting since I pretty much trashed it. The other knife was a CRKT Point Guard. There wasn't really much wrong with it except that I'd taken off the pocket clip and lost it somewhere. It'd been sharpened many times and I'm not really an expert knife sharpener so my grind lines weren't the most uniform. I don't remember rusting being a problem with it.

I e-mailed CRKT about fixing the M-16 14T and buying a replacement pocket clip for the Point Guard. Since the M-16 was bought used, I was willing to pay for the parts and repairs. CRKT e-mailed me to send them the knives. Two weeks later I received a brand new M-16 14T and my Point Guard had been factory refurbished, it'd been cleaned up, the blade resharpened and the grind lines were evened up and a new pocket clip put on. All this was done for no charge to me other than the original postage to send it to them. So all I can say is CRKT has been good to me and with the way I use and abuse my knives, I'm pretty happy with their products. The only problem is the M-16 is now brand new and unused, do I want to use and abuse it ?
 
CRKT knives have been great knives for me, I use my M16 almost daily and have had no problems.

I have a fairly wide variety of knives; folders, fixed blades and traditional pocket knives, so I'm not a CRKT fanatic- I've just been happy with their product to date.
 
I have an M18-02 folder I bought for EDC. It was one of my first folders from a well-known manufactuer aside from SAK's. I can't really find anything I dislike about it honestly. Blade play is non-existent in any direction or while twisting it, while open or while opening it. It's a liner lock but has that snap when you close it like a lockback does, so it doesn't open in my pocket. The whole thing has a real solid feel, great fit and finish. Everything is aligned perfectly and I've failed to find any defects in the finished product. Flipper works great and is a nice feature. The ergonomics surprised me at how well they fit my hand. I've tested the lock in various ways and it's held up great, LAWKS helps prevent failure as well. Came shaving sharp and has remained so since I bought it. The only thing I could possibly say I dislike about the knife is the thumbstud, I'm just used to spyderco holes now. It's still a good stud though, and I use the flipper to open it anyways.
 
I was comparing my CRKT Crawford Kasper folder to an Emerson Commander and as far as fit and finish was concerned I thought the CRKT was a better knife. I love it. Thing is, the Commander feels like an extension of my arm. The balance and quickness of the Emerson is incredible. If there was no such thing as Emerson knives I'd carry the big Crawford Kasper.
 
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