What year did Chris Reeves leave CRK?

Easyrider

Easyrider

Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Messages
4,090
The title pretty much says it all. When did Chris Reeves leave the company bearing his name?
 
My question is why did he leave. Its obvious quality is not what it was with him there.
 
I don't know if we have the data to say quality is worse. Were the Sebenzas in 2015 worse than the ones made in 2012? They've kept the reason he left private as far as I know.
 
Chris retired in 2014.

As for your statement about quality, I have to disagree. There are people on here that simply complain to complain. It is almost like they have some kind of personal axe to grind or something. They are doing this with the release of the 31 but if you go back through these forum posts, EVEN WHEN CHRIS WAS STILL ACTIVE WITH CRK, people still had similar complaints (probably many of them that are still complaining). And throughout that whole time, CRK was winning the Quality Manufacturing Award nearly every year:

  • 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, Manufacturing Quality Award
That's right, still winning after Chris retired.

I get that Chris has a legacy and it is a GREAT one. He has earned every bit of recognition he gets. With that said, the repeated claim that CRK has fallen by the wayside since Chris left is simply unsubstantiated and becoming quite tiresome. Still winning awards and still selling more knives than ever. I think respect should be shown for the other great employees behind the CRK brand, the ones that have kept producing an awesome product after Chris's retirement and hopefully for years to come.
 
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2014 as others have stated. It’s one of those things that just isn’t brought up as for the reason. It’s their business, not ours.

As far as quality, I have bought 21’s before and after Chris retired and they are the same. For me the quality went south with the 31 when lock rock became a feature. Luckily I was around for the golden years of CRK when Chris was active. While I never met him in person ( I was planning a trip when the retirement announcement came out ), I did speak to him on the phone several times. Conversations I will never forget and will always cherish as a CRK fan.

The biggest difference during the Chris years and now is that Chris Reeve was humble, Tim Reeve is not.
 
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NCHunter78 said:
Chris retired in 2014......... CRK was winning the Quality Manufacturing Award nearly every year:
  • 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, Manufacturing Quality Award
That's right, still winning after Chris retired.
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Big thing on this that many people don't recognize is there are more and more knives being pushed out every year from CRK. Technology gets better and better every year, with the hungry guys chomping at the pack leaders feet. Competition is getting more intense which is good for the knife community as a whole. It forces companies to up their game. At the end of the day, the community speak with their bottom dollar, so if we don't like what we are getting, then we can spend our hard earned money elsewhere.

I'm not aware of what CRK QC threshold rate are, but every manf company has one. Its a numbers game. For the sake of concept, lets say the goal is 1% of knives is their QC threshold. 1 knife in 100 knives. 10 in 1,000 knives, 100 in 10,000. Whatever the numbers are, but the point is the more knives they make, the more "bad" knives will be out there. The bigger concern is if the % of bad ones starts going up is disproportionately to what's being produced then that is something to address and fix.


nyefmaker said:
2014 as others have stated. It’s one of those things that just isn’t brought up as for the reason. It’s their business, not ours.
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I have to agree with you on the above.

nyefmaker said:
The biggest difference during the Chris years and now is that Chris Reeve was humble, Tim Reeve is not.
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I have had a different experience, but everyone can and does interpret interactions differently. I use to see Chris and Tim multiple times a year during the show circuits. I've BS with them during shows, over drinks and food. IMHO Chris and Tim are humble people but they are their own unique person, just like you and I. However, everyone's mileage will vary.
 
nyefmaker said:
The biggest difference during the Chris years and now is that Chris Reeve was humble, Tim Reeve is not.
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I've known many humble people in my life. Chris Reeve is not one of them.

Chris raced motorcycles. Held a motorcycle speed record for the fastest time between two cities. Built a knife manufacturing business out of his garage using a manufacturing technique no one had ever thought of.
Immigrated from a backwater little South African city to the USA and became an official manufacturer for the US military and built a huge business to boot............Humble was not his way.

I don't know Tim very well, I have only met him a few times, but he seems to have taken to the business well and is charting his own course. Good for him. Comparing him to Chris is unfair to them both.
 
Steven65 said:
I've known many humble people in my life. Chris Reeve is not one of them.

Chris raced motorcycles. Held a motorcycle speed record for the fastest time between two cities. Built a knife manufacturing business out of his garage using a manufacturing technique no one had ever thought of.
Immigrated from a backwater little South African city to the USA and became an official manufacturer for the US military and built a huge business to boot............Humble was not his way.

I don't know Tim very well, I have only met him a few times, but he seems to have taken to the business well and is charting his own course. Good for him. Comparing him to Chris is unfair to them both.
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I have had a vastly different experience with each of them and my point is On Point.
 
Of my dozen or so CRK folders only two have off-center blades. Both those knives were produced in the Chris Reeve era. So, if you were to base your opinion on my knife collection, quality improved when he left. However, I don’t believe that either. I think it’s mostly the same. Some less-than-precise knives slip out, but not many.

My Chris Reeve era knives all have those goofy screws where the hex head is punched off center. I recently bought new screws, on the much improved website, to replace them all because this bugged me. The new screws are all perfect.

So......thank you Chris Reeve for founding the knife company I love so much, and for setting the high standards we all appreciate. Also thank you to the people at CRK who uphold this legacy.
 
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