Generally speaking, where does CRKT fit on the list of top knife manufacturers?

knarfeng said:
I don't mind 8Cr13MoV if properly heat treated. (Truthfully, I'm not sure how CRK&T stacks up on that one.) But the poor fit and finish of their knives leads me to question the mechanical integrity and durability of their knives.
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I won't go any lower than 9Cr. Every 8Cr knife I've ever had lost its edge with one or two cuts. I agree with you on the poor F&F, especially on their M16 knives. It's a shame. It's like they're doing their designers an injustice.
 
I agree with most of the opinions on CRKT. Given the ones I’ve seen, I avoid them.

Gerber seems to be getting a lot of hate in this thread. A lot of it I think as well deserved, but in the last few years, I feel like they’ve been stepping up their game, and bringing more production back to the USA. The past few months, I’ve been wondering whether it’s time to reevaluate the general opinion of them.
 
19-3ben said:
Gerber seems to be getting a lot of hate in this thread.
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19-3ben said:
The past few months, I’ve been wondering whether it’s time to reevaluate the general opinion of them.
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Still with the greazy soft 420HC in most of their line? Yup. No thank you. If they could up it to at least close to Buck level then maybe. Definitely maybe.

Quiet said:
I mean...if you have to have a secondary lock system for your liner lock system....
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Lock-locks are the devil.
 
Quiet said:
I mean...if you have to have a secondary lock system for your liner lock system....
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Or even worse.. a secondary lock on your back lock system:

QjmZRKU.jpeg


I3qUCGf.jpeg
 
sgt1372 said:
For me, the ranking of CRKT depends on whether we're talking about prior or current production. I still own a few older CRKTs when they were higher up on the list IMO but they aren't anywhere near the top of my list of "top knife manufacturers" any longer. 🤷‍♂️

As far as current production is concerned, my list of "top manufacturers" is based on 3 tiers;

Tier 1: Semi Custom - High End

Olamic
Shiro
Strider
Hinderer
CPK
Bernard
Randall
CRK*
Oz*
Koenig*

Tier 2: Mass Market - Mid Market

Spyderco
Microtech
Benchmade
Protech
Medford
Reate/Chaves
Buck
Emerson
Helle
Hogue
LionSteel
RealSteel
ZT

Tier 3: Mass Market - Low End

Kershaw
CRKT
Gerber
SAK
Artisan Cutlery
Cold Steel
Fox
KaBar
SOG
Ontario

This list is NOT all inclusive; is NOT in any order of priority; and only includes knives that I own or know something about.

I own a lot of knives but an * by the maker's name indicates that I do not own any knife made by that company. I also own but have excluded the names of companies that only make balis (or are too small or too niche) from these lists, as being too esoteric for comparison with the others.

Some companies also make knives that could be rated higher and/or lower. My rating is based on what I perceive is the type of knives that they make for their primary market.

Opinions will differ. This is just mine. 🤷‍♂️
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No Les George at the top of that list? I’m crushed! I hope you’re next purchase is an LG so we can get this list updated.
 
sgt1372 said:
For me, the ranking of CRKT depends on whether we're talking about prior or current production. I still own a few older CRKTs when they were higher up on the list IMO but they aren't anywhere near the top of my list of "top knife manufacturers" any longer. 🤷‍♂️

As far as current production is concerned, my list of "top manufacturers" is based on 3 tiers;

Tier 1: Semi Custom - High End

Olamic
Shiro
Strider
Hinderer
CPK
Bernard
Randall
CRK*
Oz*
Koenig*

Tier 2: Mass Market - Mid Market

Spyderco
Microtech
Benchmade
Protech
Medford
Reate/Chaves
Buck
Emerson
Helle
Hogue
LionSteel
RealSteel
ZT

Tier 3: Mass Market - Low End

Kershaw
CRKT
Gerber
SAK
Artisan Cutlery
Cold Steel
Fox
KaBar
SOG
Ontario

This list is NOT all inclusive; is NOT in any order of priority; and only includes knives that I own or know something about.

I own a lot of knives but an * by the maker's name indicates that I do not own any knife made by that company. I also own but have excluded the names of companies that only make balis (or are too small or too niche) from these lists, as being too esoteric for comparison with the others.

Some companies also make knives that could be rated higher and/or lower. My rating is based on what I perceive is the type of knives that they make for their primary market.

Opinions will differ. This is just mine. 🤷‍♂️
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I would add William Henry to the top tier, otherwise, I would not change a thing.
 
sgt1372 said:
For me, the ranking of CRKT depends on whether we're talking about prior or current production. I still own a few older CRKTs when they were higher up on the list IMO but they aren't anywhere near the top of my list of "top knife manufacturers" any longer. 🤷‍♂️

As far as current production is concerned, my list of "top manufacturers" is based on 3 tiers;

Tier 1: Semi Custom - High End

Olamic
Shiro
Strider
Hinderer
CPK
Bernard
Randall
CRK*
Oz*
Koenig*

Tier 2: Mass Market - Mid Market

Spyderco
Microtech
Benchmade
Protech
Medford
Reate/Chaves
Buck
Emerson
Helle
Hogue
LionSteel
RealSteel
ZT

Tier 3: Mass Market - Low End

Kershaw
CRKT
Gerber
SAK
Artisan Cutlery
Cold Steel
Fox
KaBar
SOG
Ontario

This list is NOT all inclusive; is NOT in any order of priority; and only includes knives that I own or know something about.

I own a lot of knives but an * by the maker's name indicates that I do not own any knife made by that company. I also own but have excluded the names of companies that only make balis (or are too small or too niche) from these lists, as being too esoteric for comparison with the others.

Some companies also make knives that could be rated higher and/or lower. My rating is based on what I perceive is the type of knives that they make for their primary market.

Opinions will differ. This is just mine. 🤷‍♂️
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Thats a good list
 
CRKT is where interesting , innovative designs go to die from terrible cheap, crappy production values . 😞

I would never count on them for a functional "hard use " product .

They have never failed to disappoint me , in the actual product made , from even the most promising concepts .
 
JTR357 said:
Medfords are just sharpened bricks. I really wanted to like them, but nah.
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Yeah alot of them are. But they are still , by op definition, definitely more semi custom in their production like hinderer. They are by no means a large production knife you can go buy at bass pro
 
i haven’t gotten anything from them recently but i do have a couple different versions of the of the m-16 that i bought about 10 years ago, along with a fossil that my boys gave me for my birthday around the same time. they don’t seem terrible for the price they were back then and i really do like the designs of all three. while i don’t carry them much anymore they do get some use around the house, especially the fossil, which lives on my bedside table
 
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