Info on CRKT Knives

[craytab]

I'll ask you then, what is the last CRKT you bought and when? Have you owned a Squid, Eros, Ripple, Wrinkle, No Time Off, Carajas, Hootenany, Eraser, Swindle, GSD, or Journeyer?

The only one I have owned out of those you list is the Eraser. Not a good example for you to use. Flipped better than any knife ever but.....terrible liner lock. Thin and went all the way over. No wear in ability what so ever. Mine was not the only one that did this either.

And you are completely missing the point KOD brought up. First, I happen to not like the looks of most of those knives and many are too small for me. But far more important is there are lots of options out there that offer a far better value IMO. This puts the whole fit/finish, QC, design flaw issue aside. They just don't offer high value knives IMO.

I don't mind an inexpensive knife. Carrying one today. Kershaw Tremor. Chinese 8cr. ~4" blade. Great assist that works. G10 handles. $25. Utilitac II, Taiwanese made with AUS8 $25. Kershaw Thermite ~$30. Enlan EL-01 $17. Esee Avispa and Zancudo, RATs, etc......

I also don't mind paying a bit more for quality. What I do mind is the prices CRKT asks for knives. Too much money for the same materials other companies are asking less for.

Then you throw in the bad reputation and it is a no go, for many.

 

[craytab]

I told you in no uncertain terms that their quality has improved a lot in recent years, and yet you insist on trying to tar the current company with your outdated negative impressions. Stop talking about stuff you don't know anything about.

So he knows nothing about the value he expects in the knives he buys? Seems like you should stop trying to tell people what they like about a knife. The rest of us are sharing out experiences and thoughts. You are telling us we are wrong. Good for you :thumbup:

And with that again, I am done reasoning with the unreasonable.

 

[brancron]

The only one I have owned out of those you list is the Eraser. Not a good example for you to use. Flipped better than any knife ever but.....terrible liner lock. Thin and went all the way over. No wear in ability what so ever. Mine was not the only one that did this either.

And you are completely missing the point KOD brought up. First, I happen to not like the looks of most of those knives and many are too small for me. But far more important is there are lots of options out there that offer a far better value IMO. This puts the whole fit/finish, QC, design flaw issue aside. They just don't offer high value knives IMO.

I don't mind an inexpensive knife. Carrying one today. Kershaw Tremor. Chinese 8cr. ~4" blade. Great assist that works. G10 handles. $25. Utilitac II, Taiwanese made with AUS8 $25. Kershaw Thermite ~$30. Enlan EL-01 $17. Esee Avispa and Zancudo, RATs, etc......

I also don't mind paying a bit more for quality. What I do mind is the prices CRKT asks for knives. Too much money for the same materials other companies are asking less for.

Then you throw in the bad reputation and it is a no go, for many.

Putting aside perhaps the Leek, my experience with Kershaw's sub-$60 offerings has been atrocious. Simply awful fit and finish. I would choose a CRKT over a Kershaw any day of the week. And Ontario's designs are uniformly ugly and mundane, in my opinion.

So much for the "lots of options out there that offer a far better value."

And so you've handled exactly one out of the many CRKT knives I've listed. So your experience with their recent offerings is almost nil. Great, another one. This is the problem with internet forums. Anyone, regardless of their personal experience or lack thereof, can speak their mind, and their completely uninformed comments fall right in line with everybody else's.

 

[brancron]

So he knows nothing about the value he expects in the knives he buys? Seems like you should stop trying to tell people what they like about a knife. The rest of us are sharing out experiences and thoughts. You are telling us we are wrong. Good for you :thumbup:

And with that again, I am done reasoning with the unreasonable.

He's admitted that he hasn't handled a CRKT in years, so yes, when he claims that CRKT makes poor quality knives he quite emphatically doesn't know what he's talking about. And when he says things like the following it means that he won't even bother to take a minute to glance at their current catalog: "Plus, between inconsistent QC, cold metal handles, and tip down only clips, I'm just not interested in anything they make."

Both of you have already admitted that your actual experience with CRKT's current offerings is close to none. Yet you're the ones talking the most shit about CRKT out of anyone here. Do you not see a problem with this?

 

[bflying]

Funny thing was, once the torsion bar was removed it was one of the more smooth on washer knives I ever had. Go figure.

This is exactly what I found with my CRKT Koji Hara Ichi. With it diminutive size, and the dodgy, if not outright dangerous A/O torsion bar, I almost threw it in the trash rather than bother return it to vendor. But just for fun I decided to remove the bar. And bam, it's now a decent usable knife. It even flicks open faster than most decent A/O's. It's still a diminutive little pig sticker and somewhat dangerous if not handled correctly (as in, I wouldn't give it to my 14 y.o. to add to his 50+ knife collection). But worth keeping around.

 

[craytab]

This is exactly what I found with my CRKT Koji Hara. With it diminutive size, and the dodgy, if not outright dangerous A/O torsion bar, I almost threw it in the trash rather than bother return it to vendor. But just for fun I decided to remove the bar. And bam, it's now a decent usable knife. It even flicks open faster than most decent A/O's. It's still a diminutive little pig sticker and somewhat dangerous if not handled correctly (as in, I wouldn't give it to my 14 y.o. to add to his 50+ knife collection). But worth keeping around.

Yup. Too bad they couldn't make the thing work properly or just have it not assisted.

 

[RevDevil]

Putting aside perhaps the Leek, my experience with Kershaw's sub-$60 offerings has been atrocious. Simply awful fit and finish. I would choose a CRKT over a Kershaw any day of the week. And Ontario's designs are uniformly ugly and mundane, in my opinion.

So much for the "lots of options out there that offer a far better value."

And so you've handled exactly one out of the many CRKT knives I've listed. So your experience with their recent offerings is almost nil. Great, another one. This is the problem with internet forums. Anyone, regardless of their personal experience or lack thereof, can speak their mind, and their completely uninformed comments fall right in line with everybody else's.

The irony is thick with this post.

 

[Cosmic Superchunk]

Rev, you took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[K.O.D.]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Its true, I haven't purchased a CRKT since 2006. However, everytime I look at them at Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc,etc, there is very little to make me change my mind towards their products. I was just at Cabela's on Sunday looking at knives, not that I would buy them there, but just to fondle and molest (the knives) enough to get an impression and whether I liked anything enough to buy.

You can be a brilliant architect but if the construction company building your glorious design cuts corners and is sloppy, well your building is going to have major problems at the least, or collapse at worst.. To quote mqqn, "If you make it right, you won't have to 'make it right.'"

 

[brancron]

The irony is thick with this post.

I've had bad hands-on experiences with the quality of many of Kershaw's recent offerings, and the people I'm replying to have had no experience with any of CRKT's recent offerings, but are talking about how bad CRKT's knives are. Where exactly is the irony?

 

[brancron]

I really don't understand what a lot of you aren't getting about the proposition that if you've had almost no hands-on experience with a knife company's products within the last 5 years or so, you don't have a good basis for your strong negative opinions about their knives' overally quality and fit and finish.

Maybe I should just make "you don't know what you're talking about" part of my signature. Better than having to repeat it in various forms ad nauseam.

 

[POCEH KOCEB]

...So your experience with their recent offerings is almost nil. Great, another one. This is the problem with internet forums. Anyone, regardless of their personal experience or lack thereof, can speak their mind, and their completely uninformed comments fall right in line with everybody else's.

Well... You are writing all this in internet forum, aren't you
I purchased three or four CRKT knives in the past year, I think I have enough experience with those. In regard of the quality, I'm totally with crytab. I am lucky to have my knives working but I've seen plenty examples of crappy manufacturing.
The steel is complete turn off for me, It's not a bad steel but I'm sick of those thick Chinese steel blades.
Also I don't like that they ride the wave of what's modern right now - flippers and frame locks, metal handles and so on. Mah designs are outstanding, I wouldn't buy those simply because they are flippers. Yes, it's personal preference, I don't like flippers, framelocks, metal handles and chinese steel but I can compromise if I like the design of the knife. This is how I got the Eraser and the Deviation, also the BT-70.
They have some really nice designs bit size-wise their new designs are smaller that I would prefer, Burnley and Brian Tighe ( both very nice guys, I met them and I spoke w them) have also good designs, but again, not my cup of tea with the metal handles.
The only models that I like from their latest line are the Torrea, Outrage and Argus and all of them have features that I don't like, or they are missing something that I would like to see, so I would not buy those. They remind me some how the Chinese companies, trying to come up with their own design but they missing the 4 positions for the clip and such things, to me their models look like the designer offered something and then some clerk, controlling the manufacturing process trimmed the design to something totally different. I could be wrong of course, what I'm trying to say is that even I like some models, even I find some features in their models that can make me compromise with my preferences and buy CRKT knife, generally I'm still with crytab and KOD on this subject, I wish they come up with better steels and designs that I would like or find sensible and execute them with better materials and quality.

 

[K.O.D.]

Regardless of hands-on experience or not, I think their lack of popularity with knife enthusiasts speaks for itself. As I stated, I have handled some, just this past weekend. If the quality has improved since I've owned one, it is not to a degree in which it would change my mind towards owning one.

I've owned a lot of knives from a lot of brands, everything from SAK's to full customs. I know quality craftsmanship and well thought out design when I see and feel it.

 

[brancron]

Regardless of hands-on experience or not, I think their lack of popularity with knife enthusiasts speaks for itself. As I stated, I have handled some, just this past weekend. If the quality has improved since I've owned one, it is not to a degree in which it would change my mind towards owning one.

I've owned a lot of knives from a lot of brands, everything from SAK's to full customs. I know quality craftsmanship and well thought out design when I see and feel it.

Just to give an idea of where I'm coming from in terms of my tastes and what I've owned, here are some of my knives: https://instagram.com/brancron/

CRKT isn't the best in the world, I've just been trying to say from post #1 that they've improved a lot in recent years, despite the well-earned reputation for low quality that still obviously haunts them. Hopefully the quality of their knives will continue to increase, and their reputation will come back as a result. That would mean more good knives, which any knife enthusiast would probably agree is a good thing!

 

[Quiet]

Yeah Brancron sorry bruh, but I held pretty much the entire current lineup at Blade this year. A table full of poorly made knives is what it was. CRKT deserves all the derision they get. Please don't mistake your standards for those of others. Just because you find mediocre knives to be acceptable, doesn't mean others do (or have to).

So, you can bag the whole "OMG well have you touched any recent knives?"

Yes. I have, thanks. And my opinion's the same. Good day, sir. I SAID, GOOD DAY.

 

[K.O.D.]

Just to give an idea of where I'm coming from in terms of my tastes and what I've owned, here are some of my knives: https://instagram.com/brancron/

CRKT isn't the best in the world, I've just been trying to say from post #1 that they've improved a lot in recent years, despite the well-earned reputation for low quality that still obviously haunts them. Hopefully the quality of their knives will continue to increase, and their reputation will come back as a result. That would mean more good knives, which any knife enthusiast would probably agree is a good thing!

I agree with you in hoping their knives will improve. It always makes me sad when previously well respected companies hit the fan. It often has a lot to do with moving production overseas. However, that is no excuse, when you see the likes of Kizer and Reate making phenomenal knives that easily compete with what is made over here.

I think the greatest example of their QC issues was when they designed a limited edition knife to fit the fancy of those looking for what is modern and popular now, yet couldn't build it themselves, and had to turn to LionSteel for the manufacturing. This is a large part of why it didn't do to well sales wise.

 

[brancron]

Yeah Brancron sorry bruh, but I held pretty much the entire current lineup at Blade this year. A table full of poorly made knives is what it was. CRKT deserves all the derision they get. Please don't mistake your standards for those of others. Just because you find mediocre knives to be acceptable, doesn't mean others do (or have to).

So, you can bag the whole "OMG well have you touched any recent knives?"

Yes. I have, thanks. And my opinion's the same. Good day, sir. I SAID, GOOD DAY.

Yeah, I have extremely low standards, as is made obvious by my collection: https://instagram.com/brancron/

 

[Quiet]

Yeah, I have extremely low standards, as is made obvious by my collection: https://instagram.com/brancron/

You must, in order to be carrying the water for CRKT like you are. I do enjoy how you're making fun of Ontarios, and yet there's one right there in your collection. LOL I certainly wouldn't ever spend money on a knife I found "uniformly ugly and mundane", yet...you have. Odd, that.

You were saying?

 

[brancron]

You must, in order to be carrying the water for CRKT like you are. I do enjoy how you're making fun of Ontarios, and yet there's one right there in your collection. LOL I certainly wouldn't ever spend money on a knife I found "uniformly ugly and mundane", yet...you have. Odd, that.

You were saying?

The RAT 1 was a re-ground cerakoted knife from Razor Edge's passaround, not my knife. Are you going to continue to try to provoke me or do you want to instead talk about the thread topic?

 

[craytab]

Please don't mistake your standards for those of others.

Right. The first rule of me liking an inexpensive knife is that it has to be inexpensive. CRKT offers the same materials but lower standards at a higher cost than their competitors, IMO of course.