Observations, The 25 Proto and the 25 Plain Jane

HughesTMH

HughesTMH

Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
172
First I want to thank BBQBoy, for starting this insanity for me by his posting of pics from Blade. After finding out about the 25 Proto, it instantly became CRK Crack for me. I was looking at it constantly and had to have it. The rest is history.

The 25 Proto differs from the 25 Plain Jane in several ways. First the blade, it has two differences that I have noticed. First the flat spot right below the jimping (See BBQBoy's review for the reasoning for this), second the jimping. The Jimping is almost identical but it seems that they took a file to the top of the jimping on the Plain Jane. The Proto's comes to pointy little tops that are very aggressive and if you drag your hand the wrong way across will cut you. The Plain Jane is well nice, but I much prefer the Proto. Another minor difference is the Proto has a deeper grind in the Idaho Made, the Plain Jane's is much lighter. So light I dare say if you have access to a machine shop and know what your doing you could grind the titanium scale down without taking too much off of the knife, not that I would try to do it personally.

The Blade seems identical otherwise and the handle seems identical as well.

Any way you cut it, if you are fortunate to own one of these knives your lucky.

So enjoy the pics, but I did a catch and release on my 25 Plain Jane, so others will have to provide more pics. If your wondering I caught and released to hopefully wait for a serrated blade, my preferred blade.2012-12-05_21-18-03_797.jpg2012-12-05_21-18-35_979.jpg2012-12-05_21-19-43_547.jpg2012-12-05_21-21-32_990.jpg

Thanks go to all the people @ CRK for giving us another great knife to drool over and dream about until say the Sebenza 30 comes out! Note to self start saving for 30 Proto now :D

Sorry cell phone pics best I can do!
 
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I was hoping someone did proto-plain pics!

Looks almost identical....save for that notch....

Im curious as to what will be the first improvements made on the next installment of the 25.
 
Are you EDC'ing that 25 Proto?... Looks like is has seen it's share of use.... If so how does it compare to the 21 for EDC'ing? You would have more experience with it then any of the new 25 owners in that regard?
 
Thanks for posting the review, I was wondering how the proto and production differ.
 
I can't believe you didn't keep the plain and have the proto refurbished.
 
Thanks for the pics I was wondering what the differences were in the proto and production 25, thanks for clearing that up. I still wonder if I would have the balls to edc that proto so :thumbup: to you
 
Jfoster99 said:
Are you EDC'ing that 25 Proto?... Looks like is has seen it's share of use.... If so how does it compare to the 21 for EDC'ing? You would have more experience with it then any of the new 25 owners in that regard?
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Yes, Despite many thinking I am nuts I do EDC the Proto. Most of the marks can be taken out by retumbling the lock bar side and polishing the top. In comparison to the 21 for EDC'ing the 25 is my favorite and has relegated my 21's to secondary status. The extra finger choil and jimping make it rock steady in the hand. Unfortunately the jimping on the Plain Jane has changed slightly. Not to my liking btw. The 21's are great knives but the 25 is a little thicker for heavy duty use. It has been great for everyday tasks cutting everything I can think of.

Time in my hand makes me no better a judge of this knife than the others on this forum. BBQBoy has done an excellent job describing this knife. It is a great knife and if you can get a proto or Plain Jane you will love it. Sturdy and built for use. Built as the name states for work. I would put the 25 up to any strider for hard use, not stupid use.
 
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Jfoster99 said:
Are you EDC'ing that 25 Proto?... Looks like is has seen it's share of use.... If so how does it compare to the 21 for EDC'ing? You would have more experience with it then any of the new 25 owners in that regard?
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My 25 seems to be breaking in a little slower than my 21 did. I loved how fast and smooth my 21 became so quickly. I wonder if it's a difference in design or individual knife. Anyone have any "25 fluff and buff" secrets yet?
 
Coalman said:
My 25 seems to be breaking in a little slower than my 21 did. I loved how fast and smooth my 21 became so quickly. I wonder if it's a difference in design or individual knife. Anyone have any "25 fluff and buff" secrets yet?
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Thats one of the beauties of the new 25 design. if you prefer a looser feel you can adjust the pivot looser.
 
When I was at the Blade Show Atlanta this past June, I had a hard time not purchasing the proto's as they had my birthday scribbed on the blade. Just a bit steep in price at the time. Loving my plain 25 tho.
Thanks for the comparison shots! Nice!
 
Steel_Addiction said:
Thats one of the beauties of the new 25 design. if you prefer a looser feel you can adjust the pivot looser.
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I'm not finding that with mine. I hate to say it, but I'm having a hard time finding a sweet spot with mine. I like the knife, but I need more time with it to know how to adjust it.
 
^^ Are you experiencing side to side play; or are you just having trouble finding the perfect amount of resistance in the movement?
 
I'm getting side to side play(not much, but noticeable)I have to crank it down a tad to get none, but then the resistance is a lot stiffer than I like.

It's the usual complaint that you've heard from anyone trying to get that perfect balance.

I'm trying to open and close the knife as much as I can to work it in, getting it broken in, and I'll go from there. I'm also using the hell out of it too
 
I see, thanks for the response. I have a small 21 that is perfect; so I was just curious about how the new 25 would be given the fact that I would have to dial it in myself each time I disassemble the knife.
 
I don't have any problems with my umnums that have the same design, so well see.
 
Lemmuhj,

What I have done when taking mine apart is push the pivot back and forth so it is not flush, then tighten down so there just is no play. Try opening it, before loctite drys and see where I am. If you go 1/4 turn too much then it locks downs. Less is better with this knife. BBQBoy suggested using some nano oil, I use some mobil 1 xhp whick is great and doesn't break down too easily. I also notice with this knife I don't open it the same as a 21, not quite an Umnumzaan either. I often find myself pinching both thumbstuds and use my forfinger and thumb at the same time, this helps overcome the ceramic detent ball a little easier.
 
lemmuhj said:
I don't have any problems with my umnums that have the same design, so well see.
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Mine was a little tight when I got it, but after I took it down it was slathered with flourinated grease which I think made it a little tight.

So I cleaned it all up with isopropyl and tried 5w nano oil, the action was kinda jittery with the nano.

So I cleaned it up again and just appiled a very thin layer of crk grease to the ceramic ball and filled the holes in the washers up, also put a layer around the inside of the blade.

I don't even have to use loctite to keep it together, but I also don't have it cranked down hard.

Super smooth, easily thumb flickable yet rock solid, no play in any direction and the strong detent makes for a really smooth action.

If you are having a hard time getting it smooth, I would try tearing it down and cleaning it all up good with iso, and just apply a very small amount of grease, the less the better.
Also, don't forget to put a little grease on the ball, really helps.
 
Too much grease makes the action really tight. I agree with Steel_Addiction's suggestion about using just a very thin layer of grease on the washers. I think its always better to err on the side of a bit too little grease than a bit too much. Makes a huge difference and you may be able to tighten the pivot down further without making the action too stiff and eliminate all traces of blade play.
 
I'm going to follow all these suggestions guys, thanks. Will update whenever I get a chance to break it down again.
 
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