My humble opinion is that the 31 is no where close to a 21. Build quality or action. And I have a number of CRK’s.
I’ve owned 21s and 31s. The main complaint I’ve heard is the lock bar flex that some models have. Although; it has been found on practically every model with the ceramic ball interface minus the Umnumzaan.
I’ve had 31s with the lock flex, and those without. The 31s I’ve had with lock flex have been Small Sebenza 31s. I’ve also had no lock flex on my more recently made 31s (2024 and on…) but that may be due to luck.
Some will say without a doubt that all 21s are better than 31s and there are at least a few comparison videos on YouTube that you can spend a couple hours watching. In actuality, I agree along the lines of ARCHMAN on YouTube.
ARCHMAN says they do have problems, but CRK will fix them and they are not consistently seen problems. Granted, he made his video when the 31 just launched practically. Like I said, my most recent 31 Small and both my Inkosis have no lock flex at all. Like I said again, I may just be lucky. Maybe they are working out their issues so they don’t have to keep fixing knives that get sent in.
So in my opinion, I think the more recent 31s are on par with 21s. They will undoubtably have a different feel because of the ceramic ball interface being the lock up and detent. Also, with the stop pin sleeve being one piece on the 31 and not the 21, although later 21s may not have the sleeve.
Many people will say it’s sacrilege to say that the 21 can hold a candle to the 31. I’ve come to like Magnacut and believe it to be a nicer steel for edc than S35VN. S35VN can do everything, Magnacut just lasts longer and strops just as nice. I also find Magnacut to hold a better fine edge, while S35VN seems to like a coarser edge.
They both have their strengths and weaknesses, but I like the changes they make as long as they continue to hone in the design and fix any issues.
