Thoughts on the CRKT Clever Girl? [Limited edition with Veff serrations]

vnvman said:
I do not hunt, but I know they make decent animal processing/impromptu boning knives. I'd assume the tip wouldn't be bad for fish either.
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Looks kinda thick behind the edge, from the pic. Not a knife I'd want to do those things with, especially at that hardness.
 
vnvman said:
well that doesn't bother me excessively, I just don't wanna risk snapping the tip off or mangling the serrations with just some small and light batoning. Since SK5 is pretty tough, I'd imagine it's even tougher at low HRC
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With the thickness behind the edge, you'll probably neither bend nor break any of the blade geometry. But you also won't do a lot of quality cutting with it.
 
Twindog said:
Toughness means it is unlikely to break or chip. But at 54 Rc, it won't have much strength. It will be prone to bending and rolling. I wouldn't baton with it. You'd have to beat on that thin point, and the Veff serrations will take a beating. Wood is complicated. It's my only heating source, so I cut and split a lot of it. If you hit a hidden knot or embedded stick or grain swirl, that knife will not be happy.

It's a nice looking knife. Design always talks to me.
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Possbily. I don't know off hand how thick it is, but it looks rather robust. Too much for a knife of its design, in my opinion. Should have been run between maybe 60 and 62 and ground thinner.
 
sgt1372 said:
if you like it, just buy it & don't listen to what anyone else says!!!
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Agreed!

vnvman said:
Frankly I've never owned any CRKT apart from a Minimalist. The steel was soft but the design was kinda practical for a blade that small.
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I had a minimalist, it was one of the first knives that got me into the hobby. I don't have it any more. CRKT is not something I plan to ever own again.
 
From what I've heard such low HRC isn't typical with CRKT on their SK5 models. It seems like this was a specific request from the designer himself, in order to improve the ability to sharpen it in the field. Not the biggest fan of that "philosophy" in the slightest but I can understand.

A friend of mine has the HZ06 which has a similar shaped tip and managed to mangle it while target practicing on a wood pole. Not very awesome, but maybe the lower HRC will help with that...

Oh well, I decided to risk it and pull the trigger in the end. It should be here by Friday. If it doesn't convince me I can still send it back since the website I got it from has very lenient return policy. I'll be definitely coming back here with my first impressions about it
 
vnvman said:
target practicing
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What does this mean? As a throwing knife? Throwing knives and knives for cutting are completely different things and are supposed to be heat treated to reflect their roles. And throwing knives are not expected to stay in good shape forever.
 
David Mary said:
What does this mean? As a throwing knife? Throwing knives and knives for cutting are completely different things and are supposed to be heat treated to reflect their roles. And throwing knives are not expected to stay in good shape forever.
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Sorry I guess I picked the wrong wording. What I mean is that he was practicing martial drills, like doing various stabbing/slashing moves and "grazing" the pole by doing so. I do understand that knives that are tactical oriented aren't supposed to be abused in wood, but I guess they shouldn't lose the tip too easily either. After all if the maker designs them for military use, one would think that he would keep in mind that they are not gonna be used against naked briskets most times, but against people wearing vests, gear and such...
 
Seems like you are drawn to the knife so go for it. :)

I personally would like to have more of a hand filling handle and would not pick trailing point knife (?) like that for general woods carry but that's just me. Personally I see the knife more as a rib tickler.
 
vnvman said:
A friend of mine has the HZ06 which has a similar shaped tip and managed to mangle it while target practicing on a wood pole. Not very awesome, but maybe the lower HRC will help with that...
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I looked up the knife. The CRKT HZ6 has 3.1 mm stock thickness and an extremely fine point. It is clearly meant for fast and effective stabbing of soft tissue. When you say he mangled the tip, what did he do and what was the damage it caused? I get he was practicing on a pole, but was it a slash and he hit a screw and the tip broke, or he stabbed it deep in the wood and pulled it away again too aggressively and not straight back along the path of entry but with a bend or twist? There is a lot of room for interpretation in what you said. He could be training with a trainer instead of a live blade, too.

vnvman said:
After all if the maker designs them for military use, one would think that he would keep in mind that they are not gonna be used against naked briskets most times, but against people wearing vests, gear and such...
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Knives are a balance of compromises. Sure a maker can design an overbuilt knife, but then it won't be as fast in the hand, or as effective at cutting. Or he or she can design a light and fast knife that will excel at those things (and thus in my opinion increase the wielder's chances in a fight), but it will be more susceptible to taking damage if it hits the side of the HUMV or they are rolling around on the rocky ground. But a light and fast knife, if it saves your life once has more than done its job, and a little repair work after the fact is a small fee to pay for it.

A.L. said:
I personally would like to have more of a hand filling handle and would not pick trailing point knife (?) like that for general woods carry but that's just me.
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This, 100%. That knife looks like a needless pain in the neck for woods use.
 
I think the Veff serrations make the most sense in knife made for rescue purposes. I have a Bear Claw that I keep for when I'm around water. Rounded tip and non-pointy teeth on the serrations. Not really sure what they bring to the table with this design.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I think the Veff serrations make the most sense in knife made for rescue purposes. I have a Bear Claw that I keep for when I'm around water. Rounded tip and non-pointy teeth on the serrations. Not really sure what they bring to the table with this design.
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I guess it would help with cutting stuff that tends to slide away from you while you get at it, like ropes and such, and of course for tactical purposes...
 
The veff design while not pointy and grabby like typical serrations, still add effective blade length in the same space as a straight edge would, and also present the cutting edge to materials at different angles.
When sharp, I’m sure they are effective, but I haven’t personally tried them as I loathe serrations.
 
David Mary said:
I looked up the knife. The CRKT HZ6 has 3.1 mm stock thickness and an extremely fine point. It is clearly meant for fast and effective stabbing of soft tissue. When you say he mangled the tip, what did he do and what was the damage it caused? I get he was practicing on a pole, but was it a slash and he hit a screw and the tip broke, or he stabbed it deep in the wood and pulled it away again too aggressively and not straight back along the path of entry but with a bend or twist? There is a lot of room for interpretation in what you said. He could be training with a trainer instead of a live blade, too.
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I think it's quite a bit thicker, it just tapers to a very fine tip I guess. From what I've seen the clever girl has thinner stock, but the tip is slightly thicker... Hopefully.

So here's the thing, basically my friend had a small bit of the edge at the tip chipping off. He wasn't going hard, just going through the moves. It went for a few slices across the target and it happened just like that. Idk maybe it was just a freak accident...
 
vnvman said:
Well I guess I would never do that to any knife, not even to my T1 Tracker. I mean what's the point: will you ever have to process a dead, rock hard stump for firewood by slowly nibbling at it with the tip of your knife? Lol.
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Also I think that knife would be your better option if you are committed to a style.
 
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