What's with CRKT? Attractive knives, poor quality materials?

[Sunyata]

I would love to see CRKT, an "American" based company, with all their connections in the knife world, release a high end American made line in premium materials with premium finishes, much like ZT is to Kershaw...
Maybe even some "tweeners", like a Blur and Leek, releasing some US made CRKT's with better materials.

Hell I'd like the same and would support them.

But we live in a world where American companies are importhing bleh crap from mainland China and Chinese companies are exporting quality knives to America.

Not all 8Cr12345 is crap, Kershaw and Spyderco do a good job on their HT and FandF. CRKT could do the same, just opts not to.

 

[BluegrassBrian]

Second time I've heard that recently about that exact model.

Their whole Japanese styled knives look great on paper, just underwhelm in performance. Hard to open, shitty fit and finish, terrible clips, shitty steel and poor QC.

It really sucks as they look very cool

I'm not surprised.. the tip broke off not long after buying it, and I could barely coax a usable edge onto it. Even then, the edge would quickly diminish to butter knife sharpness.
I tried to reprofile it about a week ago but it was like trying to work with play▪doh. I think the heat treat was a massive failure.

 

[strategy9]

At their price range, even an S&W knife with 7Cr17 steel or a Schrade with 9Cr14MoV sells for a lower retail price than a CRKT.

Yes, they do... But, F&F on Taylor brands tends to be even more spotty, and I've conceded that oftentimes your paying a bit more for names, and designs with CRKT; Kommer, Burnley, Onion, Carson, Mah, and more... Cheap knives often based on some of their top custom designs, whereas Taylor Brands, you're paying for just that, Taylor Brands.

Yup! The Chinese made Kershaws are cheaper and come from a company with a far better reputation. QC & F/F are better as well.

Very bold statement regarding price;
For $20 and less:
CRKT - Lake 111z, Pazoda, Hammond Cruiser, Ryan Seven, Nirk Novo, P.E.C.K., K.I.S.S., Crawford Kasper liner lock, Drifter, Squid, M16, Free Range

Kershaw - Thistle, Half-Ton, Thistle, Shuffle, Kurai, Chill, Select Fire, Corral Creek, cqc 2k & 4k, injection.
(Assisted)Duck Commander, Starter, Manifold, Filter, Ember, Burst, Kuro, Drone, RJ Tactical. 3.0, Freefall, Oso Sweet, Amplitude, Swerve, RJ II, Clash, Volt II, Kuro, Cryo (1&2), Brawler, intellect, funxion

None "great" knives persay, some better then others, both using everything from 3&4cr to aus6 to nothing better then 8cr14mov. Both companies using multiple collabs off custom designs from multiple designers, but in budget packages.
Kershaw has more options, mainly due to many more assisted options, a specialty of theirs, but I'd hardly say Kershaw's China made line is "cheaper". Price by price, side by side, the two are very comparable to one another; and even more so when you see the $30-50 offerings, where they both get much better and more consistent.

Yes, Kershaw has a better overall reputation for qc, but f&f goes knife to knife and model to model within both brands, and CRKT has made marked improvement the past few years.

 

[craytab]

CRKT could do the same, just opts not to.

And this is what it comes down to. Any company can produce a good knife if they so choose. CRKT goes for price point.

 

[strategy9]

And as you may well know, I'm much more of a Kershaw fan then CRKT, but because I like one more doesn't mean I hate the other, and objectively, i can say that CRKT makes a few very decent budget models I also like.

 

[craytab]

Yes, they do... But, F&F on Taylor brands tends to be even more spotty, and I've convlceded that oftentimes your paying a bit more for names, and designs with CRKT; Kommer, Burnley, Onion, Carson, Mah, and more... Cheap knives often based on some of their top custom designs, whereas Taylor Brands, you're paying for just that, Taylor Brands.


Very bold statement regarding price;
For $20 and less:
CRKT - Lake 111z, Pazoda, Hammond Cruiser, Ryan Seven, Nirk Novo, P.E.C.K., K.I.S.S., Crawford Kasper liner lock, Drifter, Squid, M16, Free Range

Kershaw - Thistle, Half-Ton, Thistle, Shuffle, Kurai, Chill, Select Fire, Corral Creek, cqc 2k & 4k, injection.
(Assisted)Duck Commander, Starter, Manifold, Filter, Ember, Burst, Kuro, Drone, RJ Tactical. 3.0, Freefall, Oso Sweet, Amplitude, Swerve, RJ II, Clash, Volt II, Kuro, Cryo (1&2), Brawler, intellect, funxion

None "great" knives persay, some better then others, both using everything from 3&4cr to aus6 to nothing better then 8cr14mov. Both companies using multiple collabs off custom designs from multiple designers, but in budget packages.
Kershaw has more options, mainly due to many more assisted options, a specialty of theirs, but I'd hardly say Kershaw's China made line is "cheaper". Price by price, side by side, the two are very comparable to one another; and even more so when you see the $30-50 offerings, where they both get much better and more consistent.

Yes, Kershaw has a better overall reputation for qc, but f&f goes knife to knife and model to model within both brands, and CRKT has made marked improvement the past few years.

Have you owned any of the knives you quote? The lake was the single worst knife I have ever bought. If you want, you can get the Kiss and drifter from China without the CRKT surcharge, I mean name on the blade. Have you owned a Kiss?

If you are fine paying $50 for Chinese produced 8cr blade, go for it bud. I'll take my $25 Tremor or my $30 thermite, or better yet a Rat 1 or the always awesome $25 Utilitac II. At least these knives are priced for what they are and have actual companies that make knives to back them up :thumbup:

 

[marcinek]

Hell I'd like the same and would support them.

But we live in a world where American companies are importhing bleh crap from mainland China and Chinese companies are exporting quality knives to America.

Not all 8Cr12345 is crap, Kershaw and Spyderco do a good job on their HT and FandF. CRKT could do the same, just opts not to.

And CRKT does this all because they make money doing it. Nothing wrong with that.

Just don't hold your breath expecting them to "fix" a business model that ain't broke.

 

[RX-79G]

CRKT always seemed like a gimicky product line of less than average materials. The AUS-6 Rollock I have was nicely made, very inexpensive and not as useful as other designs. They don't seem to have even that combination of unique and bargain priced anymore. Now the mechanisms are more sedate and the actual blade designs more improbable.

I find 90% of the current CRKTs too homely to look at.

For the slightly more upper end stuff, I think Boker Plus is doing more interesting things with design and materials for the money. And getting good reviews for their work.

 

[marcinek]

CRKT always seemed like a gimicky product line of less than average materials. The AUS-6 Rollock I have was nicely made, very inexpensive and not as useful as other designs. They don't seem to have even that combination of unique and bargain priced anymore. Now the mechanisms are more sedate and the actual blade designs more improbable.

I find 90% of the current CRKTs too homely to look at.

For the slightly more upper end stuff, I think Boker Plus is doing more interesting things with design and materials for the money. And getting good reviews for their work.

Case in point back to that CRKT Buy Tighe craytab and I discussed earlier.

Even CRKT notes they have tossed utility out the window with that for the sake of gimmicks...

"A safe queen to overthrow all others.
... Ornamental flourishes adorn the pivot screws, with other subtle and obvious details that make every hundred thousandeth of this knife a joy to study and caress.

The Buy Tighe won the award for most innovative custom knife at the Blade Show and it will certainly win the award for most time getting polished, examined and treasured."

In theory, nothing wrong with a $500 safe queen, but I would want one from a company with a bit more gravitas.

(Or, at the very least one not outsourced to an unknown Taiwanese factory.)

But again, we here really aren't their market.

 

[Sunyata]

And CRKT does this all because they make money doing it. Nothing wrong with that.

Just don't hold your breath expecting them to "fix" a business model that ain't broke.

Very true.

Like I said earlier people like to buy cheap stuff. I used to work at a couple places that sold knives. People will buy anything sharp that looks cool. We even had people flip open the M16s make "knife fighting motions" in the air while testing them out. We also had a couple M16's fall apart as the pivot screws were so loose from the box that as people flipped them they fell out

 

[RX-79G]

Well, we are the market for $4 Ozark Trail knives, so I don't see why we wouldn't be the market for CRKT. I would consider buying another if I actually perceived something I wanted for the price.

I have gotten the impression lots of folks here have bought the Drifter model over the years.

 

[marcinek]

Well, we are the market for $4 Ozark Trail knives, so I don't see why we wouldn't be the market for CRKT.

We, the knife geeks here? I doubt it.

 

[RX-79G]

We, the knife geeks here? I doubt it.

500 posts about Ozark Trail knives has to be about something.


I do find it a little weird how this is the general section in the the world's largest knife forum, yet plenty of brands get only the most cursory discussion. The sheer volume of membership vs. a specialty forum should make for more diversity than this.

Hey, anyone want to talk about ZT knives?

 

[craytab]

People look at car accidents too, want to have one?

This forum is doing fine at self selecting what to talk about.

I love my ZT knives.

 

[DShiflet]

CRKT occasionally puts out something I like, occasionally, they even use decent materials. Their 2 Woods hawks are really, really nice, 1055 steel, quite a bit nicer than the Cold Steel hawks with the same materials. But for the most part, CRKT either overcharges for underwhelming materials, or puts out reasonable stuff that's priced decent but looks hideous. There are a few winners out there though, like the Ripples...

 

[gazz98]

I have owned a few and currently own 2. A Komodo Gold in tanto blade that is 17 years old or so and a M21-04. The Aus8 on the M21 is just ok but the liner is thin. I love the design on the M21 (and Carson M16 line as well) and I wish they made versions with better steel. For the money, I think you can do better then CRKT. YMMV

 

[Knave]

I've only bought one CRKT, a Kasper, and it was for a friend. The fit and finish were decent and it seemed like a solid knife for the price. I dearly wish they would emulate KAI and ZT and re-release that knife with quality materials and make it in America or Japan.

 

[marcinek]

500 posts about Ozark Trail knives has to be about something.


I do find it a little weird how this is the general section in the the world's largest knife forum, yet plenty of brands get only the most cursory discussion. The sheer volume of membership vs. a specialty forum should make for more diversity than this.

Hey, anyone want to talk about ZT knives?

Most of those were about Walmart and international economics. Though there were some about how those Ozark trail outperformed a 4 dollar knife. Equal to a 5 or 6 dollar knife!

Now if we are not talking about what you, in general, wish we would talk about, nobody is stopping you from starting a thread about whatever you and your enlightened, diverse thinking finds interesting. :thumbup:

 

[RX-79G]

Most of those were about Walmart and international economics. Though there were some about how those Ozark trail outperformed a 4 dollar knife. Equal to a 5 or 6 dollar knife!

Now if we are not talking about what you, in general, wish we would talk about, nobody is stopping you from starting a thread about whatever you and your enlightened, diverse thinking finds interesting. :thumbup:

It wasn't a complaint. It was genuine wonder at the things folks here find interesting, and all the things they do not.

I've certainly started plenty of threads on things I find interesting.


Speaking of which, the ridiculously overpriced Ruger line of CRKT knives are kinda nice looking:

 

[The Burgh]

Thought I might bring the conversation back to personal experiences with CRKT. NOTE: I am a knife agnostic, not a fanboy of any brands.

Mine are pocket-carry, non-tactical, gentlemens' knives: Endorser (8Cr14MoV), Eros - Titanium [Acuto + (HRC 59-60)], Ripple 2 [Acuto 440 (HRC 57-58)], Enticer [German 1.4116 (HRC 56-58)], Moxie (8Cr14MoV) and Swindle - Ribbed Version [12C27 Sandvik (HRC 59-61)].

All beautiful (to my tastes) looking, all have terrific F&F, all function to expectations and all accomplish the purposes for which I bought them.

Thanks for reading!