What's Wrong With ....

sabre cat

sabre cat

Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
6,159
All of you have made me a smarter and wiser person when it comes to knives and I am in your debt. Thank you.

My question today is much like the one I ask recently. Last time it was Gerber. This time it is Columbia River Knife and Tool. I don't find a section for them in the forum and not many people seem to like them.


What's wrong with CRKT?
 
There's nothing wrong with CRKT they still make good knives. They just don't chase the super steel crowd is all.
 
All they have to do is provide a moderator (paid company employee) and ask Spark. It's free.

There are a lot of strange designs, some do not seem very practical, other designs are friggin awesome. Coupled with primarily overseas production and less than stellar quality, folks that are really into knives might not have much use for what they have to offer. This has started to change over the last few years and Ken Onion has joined the ranks of James Williams, Jim Hammond, Brian Tighe, Pat & Wes Crawford and many others. The materials just aren't there for many, that does not mean the knives are bad or junk at all. They just might appeal more to the budget minded enthusiast or beginning enthusiast, which seems to be what their market might just be.
 
Cheap materials sums it up .I had an m16 and it was a good little knife light and good ergos but crkt chose to use the cheapest possible materials available, the liners would chip and get rusted out and the AUS4 steel was terrible in fact one of the worst I've ever used.
 
They used AUS-4 on the Bear Claw.

Awesome design, but AUS-4? Come on people, that isn't being a "steel snob" to demand better than AUS-4!!!
 
stabman said:
They used AUS-4 on the Bear Claw.

Awesome design, but AUS-4? Come on people, that isn't being a "steel snob" to demand better than AUS-4!!!
Click to expand...

Agreed. It seems like they've started moving the right direction and I hope that continues. They certainly have a talented group of designers and they seem to have the production capability to step up and compete in a higher-end bracket than what they currently offer.
 
The owner apparently has a problem with tip up clips, as well. It weird not to at least drill holes to accomodate that.
 
I think that CRKT has some of the "coolest" designs, but like previously stated many of their designs are not practical and the choice of steel can be diappointing.
IMO the blue ripple is definitely one of the best production knives ever made. I love the Hissatsu (impractical) line of knives as well!
 
They make decent budget knives, though Kershaw trumps them in fit and finish more often than not. One of my first "expensive" EDCs was an M16-14M and I loved the heck out of that knife, it still holds a special place for me.
 
The first knife I bought when I joined bladeforums was a CRKT Crawford Kasper (large). It was highly recommended back then as a good "starter blade". It was AUS-6 blade steel though, and I didn't dig the zytel scales. It didn't hold an edge (or my interest) for long....

They have had some great designs though. You just have to search through the "starter knives" to get to them. One of my favorite CRKT knives was the Apache. ATS-34 blade with aluminum handle. It was a great design, and they sold it cheap.

Here lately they have been introducing more and more good stuff so I hope the trend continues. Now that Ken Onion is working for them I expect great things.....
 
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That's one of the most succinctly gracious things I've ever seen a person say in here. They ARE a great bunch of people and the most knowledgeable people in the world on the subject. I've learned a hell of a lot here too and intend to keep learning.

I have no problem with CRKT knives and, more importantly, I don't seem to SEE a lot of problems with them in here. I think they have some good designs.

Welcome. And thanks evahbody.
 
I had an M16 that couldn't keep an edge or itself held together. I won't knock their other products, but a large number of them are Chinese designed and made knives they contracted out and put their name on. Kershaw, Spyderco, and the other big brands source production across seas, where as Boker, Gerber, and CRKT source designs as well.

Kind of hard to be stoked about a knife when you find out it's been sold in China for years at 25% of the price they charge for it.
 
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