- Joined
- Jun 4, 2008
- Messages
- 1,944
Ok, so after my last thread about different clip options for the 25, I may have a found a solution that works for me. I know it's not for everyone, but hopefully it may be of interest to some.
Now, it seems to me that the 25 is somewhat underrated. Even now, I still see a lot of guys going for the 21s, and still not as many 25s. I could be wrong, but I am just stating what I see in pics mostly from the various EDC threads that I frequent. And, because of this I am still dying to get my hands on one, as the 25 has been my first and only (so far) CRK. But, after a few days with it, I soon realized what CRK was all about. In fact, I honestly believe that if you gave this knife to someone who didn't really know all that much about knives, they would just assume it was a regular knife, and not realize just how nice it is. May sound silly, but I almost feel it takes a seasoned knife enthusiast, or even a machinist to appreciate this knife for what it is. I guess if you own CRK knives, you know what I mean.
So, back to the clip. Seems most users don't have a problem with the clip placement on the 25, but a few people agreed with me so they might be interested. Again, I have been so darn pleased with this knife for the last 2 years, and it has been on me every single day. I have been using her without the clip this whole time, with the clip insert instead. Since day 1, I wanted the clip to work for me but it never did. The finger grooves on the 25, and my fingers, unfortunately are just not a match. The tip of the clip always seems to bite into my middle finger, right against the bone and is just too uncomfortable for me.
Again, let me say that most people do not have this issue, but I wear size medium or large gloves depending on brand, and I have long skinny fingers. I think thats part of the problem is my fingers since guys with stubbier paws than me don't find it uncomfortable at all.
But, I will tell you this. Without the clip, this knife has got to be one of the most, if not THE most comfortable knife in hand for me, especially for a folder and I've owned more knives than I can even remember right now. Or maybe I regret selling some over the years and have blocked it out.
The finger grooves are great, just the clip was in the way.
The warmth of the titanium slabs in my hand on a cold day is just nice. Enough said. But, since I haven't been able to make the clip work for me, the knife has been riding in the CRK slip in my pocket, along with a smaller knife usually a little barlow or other traditional. And, when the need for the 25 to get used comes along, the process of removing the pocket slip, then the knife, then putting the slip back in the pocket, is very inconvenient for actual everyday use.
So, after posting the thread a few weeks ago about what options, I was considering a few things. Either the Hawk clip from the Ti lock, a third party deep carry clip which I didn't like, and didn't really want to bother making one since it seemed harder than it looks for this particular knife after closer inspection and thinking about it. So, I decided to order another sebenza clip to try to mod. I did love the extra bend in the sebby clip.
I have been meaning to get a sand blaster, so this gives me a reason to go ahead. I was hesitant to grind the clip without the blaster, since I didn't want a polished edge on the tip or to ruin the finish and make it look horrible. I did ask Alicia at CRK and she told me they don't want to re sand blast a modded part, which I completely understand and probably a great business decision, so I gave it a try. I was figuring on buying the pressure blaster for other uses like I said, so if I didn't snap the clip bending it or anything, I am planning on blasting it all to match again but I don't think it came out too bad for now. In a few days I'll get around to it.
While waiting for the clip in the mail I was doing a lot of figuring with the clip on the knife in hand, to see exactly what I needed to do to make it work for my fingers. I thought I was going to need to bend the clip more than I did, actually I only needed to put in in the vise and bend the tip just a hair up. This was after sanding some off the tip with my belt grinder, then finishing carefully again at the end with 220 by hand with paper on granite, just to be extra careful not to mess up. Since I think the 220 gave the better of the finishes of the edges for now, I finished with that. Obviously a higher polish would show more of a contrast with the dull grey blasted ti clip. It seems the extra long tip of the clip was what needed to be shaved down a bit.
VERDICT:
Actually, I am rather surprised. I kinda tend to screw things like this up sometimes, but this came out perfect for what I was shooting for. The tip still raises just enough to get my finger tip under if I need to help it over a thick pair of pants, but won't have to risk of getting caught on stuff like it was before. Seems to work fine going in and out of my pants, and as far as difference in hand.........Oh man. This knife went from 99% perfect to 110%
The knife just melts into my hand again now, as if there was virtually no clip on it at all. I literally can not even feel its there. Actually fills the hand a bit more now than without the clip, and it is just what I wanted. I still have the original clip just in case, but man, I think this is going to be it. I will try her out like this for a few days and let you guys know how its working in every day use, but I am so happy with it right now.
No more pocket slip, and the comfort of NO clip.....equals perfection!!! The clip seems very secure.
Now, no matter how I grasp the knife, even if I try to get the clip to press against my finger, I can't! It's really feels like its gone.
Anyway, on to the pics. Can't get my crap phone camera to focus at close shots, so sorry but these are the best I got for now. Thanks for looking.
Dave
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[URL=http://s812.photobucket.com/user/dweglarz13/media/IMG_6017_zpswnqs475v.jpg.html]
[IMG]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160119/3a873b7fce087ae77441ee6239ebfa63.jpg
Now, it seems to me that the 25 is somewhat underrated. Even now, I still see a lot of guys going for the 21s, and still not as many 25s. I could be wrong, but I am just stating what I see in pics mostly from the various EDC threads that I frequent. And, because of this I am still dying to get my hands on one, as the 25 has been my first and only (so far) CRK. But, after a few days with it, I soon realized what CRK was all about. In fact, I honestly believe that if you gave this knife to someone who didn't really know all that much about knives, they would just assume it was a regular knife, and not realize just how nice it is. May sound silly, but I almost feel it takes a seasoned knife enthusiast, or even a machinist to appreciate this knife for what it is. I guess if you own CRK knives, you know what I mean.
So, back to the clip. Seems most users don't have a problem with the clip placement on the 25, but a few people agreed with me so they might be interested. Again, I have been so darn pleased with this knife for the last 2 years, and it has been on me every single day. I have been using her without the clip this whole time, with the clip insert instead. Since day 1, I wanted the clip to work for me but it never did. The finger grooves on the 25, and my fingers, unfortunately are just not a match. The tip of the clip always seems to bite into my middle finger, right against the bone and is just too uncomfortable for me.
Again, let me say that most people do not have this issue, but I wear size medium or large gloves depending on brand, and I have long skinny fingers. I think thats part of the problem is my fingers since guys with stubbier paws than me don't find it uncomfortable at all.
But, I will tell you this. Without the clip, this knife has got to be one of the most, if not THE most comfortable knife in hand for me, especially for a folder and I've owned more knives than I can even remember right now. Or maybe I regret selling some over the years and have blocked it out.
The finger grooves are great, just the clip was in the way.The warmth of the titanium slabs in my hand on a cold day is just nice. Enough said. But, since I haven't been able to make the clip work for me, the knife has been riding in the CRK slip in my pocket, along with a smaller knife usually a little barlow or other traditional. And, when the need for the 25 to get used comes along, the process of removing the pocket slip, then the knife, then putting the slip back in the pocket, is very inconvenient for actual everyday use.
So, after posting the thread a few weeks ago about what options, I was considering a few things. Either the Hawk clip from the Ti lock, a third party deep carry clip which I didn't like, and didn't really want to bother making one since it seemed harder than it looks for this particular knife after closer inspection and thinking about it. So, I decided to order another sebenza clip to try to mod. I did love the extra bend in the sebby clip.
I have been meaning to get a sand blaster, so this gives me a reason to go ahead. I was hesitant to grind the clip without the blaster, since I didn't want a polished edge on the tip or to ruin the finish and make it look horrible. I did ask Alicia at CRK and she told me they don't want to re sand blast a modded part, which I completely understand and probably a great business decision, so I gave it a try. I was figuring on buying the pressure blaster for other uses like I said, so if I didn't snap the clip bending it or anything, I am planning on blasting it all to match again but I don't think it came out too bad for now. In a few days I'll get around to it.
While waiting for the clip in the mail I was doing a lot of figuring with the clip on the knife in hand, to see exactly what I needed to do to make it work for my fingers. I thought I was going to need to bend the clip more than I did, actually I only needed to put in in the vise and bend the tip just a hair up. This was after sanding some off the tip with my belt grinder, then finishing carefully again at the end with 220 by hand with paper on granite, just to be extra careful not to mess up. Since I think the 220 gave the better of the finishes of the edges for now, I finished with that. Obviously a higher polish would show more of a contrast with the dull grey blasted ti clip. It seems the extra long tip of the clip was what needed to be shaved down a bit.
VERDICT:
Actually, I am rather surprised. I kinda tend to screw things like this up sometimes, but this came out perfect for what I was shooting for. The tip still raises just enough to get my finger tip under if I need to help it over a thick pair of pants, but won't have to risk of getting caught on stuff like it was before. Seems to work fine going in and out of my pants, and as far as difference in hand.........Oh man. This knife went from 99% perfect to 110%
The knife just melts into my hand again now, as if there was virtually no clip on it at all. I literally can not even feel its there. Actually fills the hand a bit more now than without the clip, and it is just what I wanted. I still have the original clip just in case, but man, I think this is going to be it. I will try her out like this for a few days and let you guys know how its working in every day use, but I am so happy with it right now.
No more pocket slip, and the comfort of NO clip.....equals perfection!!! The clip seems very secure.
Now, no matter how I grasp the knife, even if I try to get the clip to press against my finger, I can't! It's really feels like its gone.
Anyway, on to the pics. Can't get my crap phone camera to focus at close shots, so sorry but these are the best I got for now. Thanks for looking.
Dave
[URL=http://s812.photobucket.com/user/dweglarz13/media/IMG_6017_zpswnqs475v.jpg.html]
[IMG]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160119/3a873b7fce087ae77441ee6239ebfa63.jpg
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