Gerber Evo

[Blackhearted]

I have always liked the CKRT knives, but have shied away from them due to consistent reports of weak locks. Does anyone know whether this problem has been remedied by CKRT?

some of their other linerlocks have some thinner liners, but the M16/M21 line has some of the thickest liners ive ever seen. they lock up nice with no play and the liner in the proper position on the tang (about 2/5 of the way over). all of their new models have the LAWKS safety as well, which prevents the linerlock from disengaging even if you accidentally press it with your finger.

honestly, ive been using these for a long time to do things most people usually reserve for a fixed blade. i have some beater tantos, and an older spearpoint without the LAWKS that i used yesterday to stab/gouge a hole through a 2x4 as well as hack a large chunk out of it (was just messing around). unless you are deliberately trying to make it fail by subjecting it to abuse you would never subject it to normally, i dont think you can make one of these locks fail. at most, with an EXTREME impact the liner might move over to the opposite side of the knife and buckle, resulting in a 'jammed' knife but uninjured fingers.
of course all of the above only applies if you have a properly made knife. if you receive one inspect it immediately: if it doesnt have proper lockup send it back for a replacement. the likelihood of this is low though, IMO, i have many of these knives and they all lock up perfect.
check the position of the liner on the tang and give it a few spine whack tests, also check to see if the LAWKS slides right up against the tang - dont overloosen your pivot screw or it can compromise both the LAWKS and lockup. the pivot screw doesnt have to be very loose at all on these to be able to flip them with the carson flipper - especially the larger models and the spearpoint. the spearpoint, given its long thin blade, flips so fast/loud people think its a switchblade.

cheers,
-gabriel

 

[Artfully Martial]

I've done a lot of testing on the liner locks in the M16 line, and found it to be incredibly sturdy. This is my M16 review, and on wards down, you can find other M16/M21 owners that repeated my tests with similar findings.

M16 Review

Here's the actual lock testing:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353254&page=1&pp=20&highlight=linerlock

It caused quite a debate when I bought my M16. Interestingly, no one really debates against the liner lock anymore (despite huge opposition to that post).