How good are these Taiwanese CRKT knives?

Hey Golok

If you wanna get a first-hand look at some of these CRKTs, come on over to the next local meet with Sam & Eric. I've got a Mirage, Point Guard (my fav) and Urban Shark. All very good quality with well-fitted locks, slick action and sharp right out of the box. Great buy for the price. If you are looking for bargains, check out Outdoor Edge's Magna folder which is comparable in price and quality.



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"Praise not the day until evening has come;a sword until it is tried; ice until it has been crossed; beer until it has been drunk" - Viking proverb
 
I can only speak for the Mirage & The LUS.

The Mirage I've only used off & on for light duty chores so other than my initial good impression I don't have much to offer.

The LUS, on the other hand, I have some info to share. This info comes from my wife's uncle. We gave him a LUS as a Xmas present this past Xmas. I just saw him at a party on Saturday night and he was so excited to see me so that he could give me a review on his knife. He told me that he has carried this knife everday since Xmas for both work & for dress. He is a maintenance man for a large industrial complex and he assured me that this knife is used regulary everyday. He said that if nothing else he uses it for cutting up cardboard. Now we all know how tough that is on a blade.
I examined the blade and found it to still be pretty sharp (he hasn't sharpened it yet). And there was no wiggle or play and the blade locked up solid as new.
So, as you have probably guessed by now, I like the LUS alot. Especially when you consider the price.

--The Raptor--
 
I have a Gray Ghost,Apache,Apache2,Navajo,KFF and most recently a Ryan7. All have excellent lock up. The liners on the LUS,KFF and Ryan7 are thicker than the other models and the feel of the lock up reflects this fact. They all sharpen easily with the ATS34 holding the edge best.
Made in Taiwan doesn't necessarily mean cheap. A couple of people I know might have laughed or sneared when they saw the Made in Taiwan on the blade. But I just grin back, because I use the knife/knives all the time, jokes on them. These are high quality build with med. steel to keep prices low. Great for the average guy.

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-mike
Life is too short to stay on idle, don't be afraid to use that throttle.
 
One more huzzah for CRKT!

Until I began haunting Blade Forums, I had only 3 knives other than CRKT. Two of them have been disappointments for me. The only CRKT knife I haven't been wild about is the Point Guard. Only got the small one, so expect I better get a large one since so many others speak so highly of them.

I think that if you examined say the LUS, the Tighe Tac, and the M16-04/14, without any markings on them, that you'd be amazed when you learned the price. Our own Dexter Ewing, when he reviewed the M16 for one of the mags, stated flatly that he thought it was a better knife than almost anything he'd seen in the $100 dollar range. He acknowledged an initial misgiving about the made in Taiwan, but was candid in admitting that CRKT knives had made a believer of him.

I don't use my knives much. So, don't need to sharpen them much. I like AUS6 for its stain resistance. Several of the AUS6 knives are much more polished than bead blasted. The M16 is AUS8 and bead blasted, and the only CRKT knife on which I have any stains.

Be like Mikey -- try 'em, you'll like 'em!
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Oh -- Bayou LaFourche and Skylands both have the new CRKT Polkowski/Kasper in. I ordered mine today. I think that if it isn't too heavy, that with the 2 sheaths, it is easily going to become the favorite neck knife, and fixed blade daily carry in the knife world. (Don't normally go in for prophecy or hyperbole, but this knife has me excited like no other.)
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Asi es la vida

Bugs
 
My experience with CRKT knives is only year or so shorter than CRKT company's history. My first CRKT knife was Commander Doolittle with partially serrated blade. When I showed it to anyone here, in Poland, each knife store's owner said: "Wow, Taiwan! It will not sale here". However taking the knife into their hands they had clearly visible resistance to give it me back
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I do not know why, maybe due to its execution quality?

Since that time I had experience with lot of CRKT knives and so far didn't found any quality issue. Sure, we can discuss about designs, some I like more and some - less. A lot of complaints I have heard about used materials, particularly AUS-6 steel. Naturally it is not as fashionable as ATS-34, CPM 440V or VG-10 but in my opinion it is quite enough good for real-use knife and also allows to keep knife price on real-life cost level.
Please do not forget that major amount of knife users buy their knives not to have the best possible one but to have decent working knife for acceptable price. And here CRKT comes to them with wide range of designs, excellent execution quality, affordable price and great customer service.
I'm not surprised at all that they are among winners!
 
For sure a lot of knife for the money. I like the Tighe Tac and the M-16. But like some of the other guys have said, I just can't get excited about 6A steel. I know, I know, it is a decent performer for the " average knife user," whoever that is. But it just doesn't suit me. But in the fit and finish department, CRKT does a whale of a job for the low price.
 
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