Ok, Give Me The Lowdown, CRK&T, Junk?

For some reason CRKT has never earned my trut. I really like the looks of their M-21, but I handled one at a store and wasn't impressed. The crappy blade steel doesn't help either.

For around $40, I'd go with Spyderco in a heartbeat. I don't think that CRKT can offer something for $45 that can outperform an Endura 4.
 
They are decent but if you are looking for more bang for the buck I think the Spydercos and Benchmades and others have a better product for the same price. They have great designs it is just that their materials could be upgraded a little, IMHO.
 
I'll weigh in here, although I seem to recall replying to this sort of thread a few times already in the past.

In my opinion (and experience), CRKT makes a variety of decent knives, and a few questionable ones. I am not a fan of the AUS-4 shift, and I think the company would really do itself a favour if it kept some 'classic' designs and upgraded the materials.

I have EDC'd an M16-13Z for several years now, and I am generally very happy with it. I have never hesitated to use it for fear of causing damage, and it has put up with a lot. The edge retention is what I expected from AUS-6, but a few passes on a ceramic stone after a day of work return it to shaving sharp. The design is terrific, and very functional; it is lightweight, easy to disassemble and clean (a real strong point from my perspective), and the flipper is an awesome feature. Fit and finish could be better, but I feel that I got what I paid for.

I have a number of other CRKT knives, and I have had varying experiences with them.

The F4 neck knife, for example, seems to be a waste of steel. It could have been nice, but CRKT sacrificed functionality and quality for the sake of versatility and cheapness. My mistake for purchasing it in the first place, though.

The Hammond ABC is a fantastic dive knife or general purpose utility blade. The blade is a bit thick, but it holds a decent edge, is made from a good steel, and has a comfortable grip. The sheath is another exercise in versatility that falls short of its mark - most of the attachment variations are good, but the belt clip is too thin; the first time I had to remove it from the sheath after some use, the act of pulling was enough to bend the clip out of shape.

The M60 is an interesting mix. I've posted a lengthier review in the past, so I'll be brief. It's a good design, and it has a great sheath (although I would prefer a larger side pouch with a non-velcro retention!). It has thumb serrations that can be painful with even moderate use, although you can fix this with a Dremel. I've had one of these for a few years, and I took it out for an outing recently. I used it for camp chores, some fish prep, and general cutting. When I returned home, I was surprised to see that it had accumulated no less than three sizeable chips on its edge (!). I'm willing to entertain the possiblity that I might have misused it (not sure how - I cut wood and fish with it), but I don't think this is the case. I have decided to keep the sheath system and use it for a kit knife I'm working on, and retire the blade.

Overall, my experience with CRKT has led me to believe that the company offers a wide variety of hits and misses, often in the same knife. More extensive testing and better materials could probably mitigate this, but I don't see that as the trajectory that CRKT is moving in right now. The company offers some interesting designs, and I have had some good experiences with them, but I would definitely recommend doing some serious research on any blade before purchasing to determine the extent to which the 'interesting' knives are also functional.

All the best,

- Mike
 
Agreed - you do have to do a bit of research first. I think more important, you have to touch, feel and fondle first if you can. I have a fair number of CRKT's in my collection, and don't really have any gripes. My Falcons, M1 and M16-03K have probably been my most used and they've held up fine. Falcons are AUS6, M1 and M16 are AUS8. They still see pocket time every once in a while:)

- gord
 
There's nothing wrong with CRKT knives.
Before you judge them, ask yourself this:

Would these guys be willing to put their names on "junk"?

Michael Walker
Pat Crawford
Wes Crawford
Bob Kasper
Al Polkowski
Ed Halligan
Kit Carson
Steve Ryan
Brian Tighe
Howard Viele
Peter Marzitelli
Jim Hammond
Allen Elishewitz
Ron Lake
Ed Van Hoy
Grant Hawk
Bud Nealy
Russ Kommer
James Williams
Steve Corkum
Greg Lightfoot
 
The only knife lock that has utterly failed on me was a CRKT M16, cut me pretty good (it was plenty sharp). I haven't been able to trust the non lawk ones since. I do like the CRKT crawford/kasper pro, though.
cheers,
--Dave
 
As many have said CRKT has a WIDE varity of knives. Some are very good knives some average a few maybe below average. But any of them are far better than what Joe Sixpack buys.

I like my M16 FD very much,aus 8 is all right by me plus g-10 and the lawks lock.This knife makes it into a small number of carry knives for me.

The others are my Manix, E4, Strider AR and sometimes a Microtech LCC.
 
The M-16 line is pretty good but some of the others were poor. I had a Pointman Minor that actually fell apart in my pocket. It was only a few weeks old and I didn't even get to use it much. The screws keep comming loose and I forgot to tighten them and one day, I reached into my pocket to pull out my knife and I pulled out a scale and some screws. I was pissed because I lost some of the screws and I couldn't get it back together. I sent it back to CRKT and they sent me a new one. I went and traded the new one in on a BM 885SBT and I never looked back.

The BM was my first high quality knife which led me to buy more and more Spydercos and BMs.
 
I just bought 4 more m18's for $12.85 (http://www.dallastacticalsupplies.com/itemdetails.asp?itemid=CRKM18-14KE). I first bought one last year when Dallas Tactical Supplies had them for $28.05, which I thought was a screaming bargain. For perspective, it has a retail price of $109.99, which is way more than the average streetprice, but $12.85 is rediculously cheap for a blade of this quality. It has an AUS 8 blade that was sharper than my Endura or Native out of the box (though the spydies hold their edge better), and I have used it for everything from cutting cardboard and other EDC chores to cutting the top off of my Christmas tree for the star. It has been an EDC for around a year, and it holds an edge well, the handles are solid aluminum with G-10 inserts, and it has the LAWK system so you don't have to worry about getting cut due to lock failure. It is a little heavy, but for the price it's at now you can't lose by giving it a shot.
 
I only own one CRKT knife and that it the combo edge Carson neck knife. The steel is decent but the edge probably lasted me about half the time of carbon steel in an industrial environment. I really did not like the original edge on this knife, but have lowered the high shoulder on the edge down by probably 80%. It cuts very well now and will generally eat through materials if the edge is not sharp enough to really cut it cleanly, rather than binding like many knives with better edges but a seemingly finer grain steel. It seems to excel in cutting small hard objects like pills and at ripping through cardboard, tape, and plastic. It also does not appear to rust at all, even in fairly humid work environments. Thus, it seems like it has a niche between crappy and fairly good knives like BM and Spyderco produce.

The handle is very small for my tastes and I would not trust it for really heavy work but the blade is too small for that anyway. The balance of the knife is impressive at the price level. I think if I ever have or adopt kids this might be a good knife for them to start on because the small handle would fit them where it does not really fit an adult.

I hate to see CRKT going the way of really junky, zany designs and cheap steel in many of their products, but if enough people complain they will probably come around to making some higher-end designs. The "classics" line is a good idea, also
 
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