Why no love for CRKT?

I'm another who goes to CRKT strictly for their oddball stuff. They've always been good about putting out weird designs, and I appreciate that. :thumbsup:
 
Only brand I've ever used where the edge just actually rolled, from use on green wood. That was years ago, but I never looked at buying another since.
 
just got these from crkt.... fit and finish are flawless.. I love crkt!...
IMG_20170904_111155199_01.jpg

IMG_20170904_111012625_01.jpg
 
When I started collecting I set my budget @ $50.00 or below new or used. Of The American companies, I chose Kershaw, CRKT, Spyderco & OKC Rat models. Of the foreign companies I chose Boker Plus, Kizer vanguard.
These are the companies that I remember. Each one was picked for a reason such as the Kershaw was picked for it's brawniness and variety, CRKT for design, Kizer for value & Boker for designs that are out there such as the Roach. I built a collection of about 100 knives. Someone then gave me a Spyderco Tenacious and it was love at first flick. My first over $100 knife was the PM2 and it was off to the races. I finally understood the difference between good quality vs great quality.

I started the sell off so that I could buy better knives and then it was better knives with better steel. I am still in the $100 - 300 range for a while. So after this long winded story I will explain my liking of CRKT. They have a great design department and when you receive the knives they are as sharp as a straight edge. For the money they were the coolest of my collection. I kept one for posterity the Endeavor, and I also kept one Kershaw
the Leek. Very cool knives for the money.

I know this forum is not happy with members that buy Chinese knives but the best knives for the money are the Chinese knives. When you start collecting and use YouTube as an informational guide a lot of the knives that get reviewed on the lower end are Chinese whether they are from American companies or not. As time elapses you move toward better knives there is a much bigger assortment of great American knives. Unfortunately the American companies are finding it necessary to either manufacture over there or order parts from there such as blades. I still try to buy American even from the companies that manufacture there. I figure that at least the profits are going to American companies.
 
I have a buck Vantage which is my daily arm. I would love to buy more American made knifes but under $100 they are skim pickings.
 
Last edited:
I've seriously considered a hootenany more then once.

It is reminiscent of the Kershaw scrambler I've grown to love, but instead of an RJ Martin design, the blur is still a favorite in hand design by Ken Onion, so I see the hoot as almozt an Onion version of a scrambler?
 
I have started liking more of what CRKT has been bringing to the table as of late, mostly fixed blades, but there are simply better options for almost every purpose and at a better price point. The mossback (hunter and B&T), hunt n' fisch (b/c of the stock sheath), and saker knives are 3 examples that I think are okay. I bought the mossback B&T and it's actually a pretty nice knife but with a not so good sheath. Easy fix with a CK clip sheath.

I'm not as much of a stickler on country of origin but I want a nice product and I will often pay the USA made premium if I can afford. More so lately, that has been getting stuff from custom makers on the forums when it comes to fixed blades.
 
CRKT has a lot of different knives, a full spectrum. The higher the price the better the knife. My $125 Eros is virtually flawless and has performed great. My $35 Pesh Kebaz folder could of had a better grind and softer edges...but it's Neeley's only folder :)

Per durability, there's a number of Army guys who luv and beat on the Carson M16. CRKT has a lot of flavors and not everyone likes spumoni and some snobs won't eat anything but Ben & Jerry's...
 
I think that’s totally a personal preference thing. Yes, I prefer tip-up but I have knives that are only one or only the other and I go between them with ease. As soon as my hand touches the handle my brain knows what to do next.
 
CRKT has produced such a wide array of goods, the law of average will shine on them occasionally! The Ken Onion titanium Eros, and The titanium M-16's designed by Kit Carson are great examples of design ingenuity, and quality parts. The Ken onion Swindle (mentioned in this post previously), Is an awesome piece to hold and deploy, the wave model carries a higher quality steel, 12C27 with a 59-61 HRC.
 
strategy9 said:
I've seriously considered a hootenany more then once.

It is reminiscent of the Kershaw scrambler I've grown to love, but instead of an RJ Martin design, the blur is still a favorite in hand design by Ken Onion, so I see the hoot as almozt an Onion version of a scrambler?
Click to expand...

The Hootenanny is a nice little knife. I'd prefer G10 over FRN for the scales, but otherwise it's great.
 
scubisino said:
What is the problem?...
Click to expand...

Based on my first experience with a flipper, I think it's because the "best" orientation is tip up so you can do a smooth draw and open, at least with a pinch grip. All of my other knives are auto or thumb stud and those I will only use tip down for the same reason. I am not concerned about a knife opening in my pocket so that does not come in to my preference like for some(ie, Nick S who insists tip down knives are left hand carry).
 
My opinion lands with the majority of opinions in this thread, with a twist. First my personal story. My first "real" knife after my Boy Scout slip joint was a CRKT KISS. I lost it hiking in the Rockies as a Life Scout, and proceeded to not give a single F about knives until a decade later.

CRKT product cycle goes like this:
Fun/upcoming Designer-> Interesting knife produced, met with tepid interest=> Cancelled
Or:
Fun/Upcoming designer-> Interesting knife produced, met with excitement => "limited run, no future improvements".

Any knife enthusiast on this site, if pressed, could spit out 3-4 cool/groundbreaking/WTF knives CRKT has brought to market the market the past year that if the company actually focused on improvement would become EDC standards like the PM2 (or whatever.

CRKT throws every design at the wall and hopes something sticks. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be able to discern between what slips right off the wall and those that hang around for a bit or capture the imagination of niche collectors.

If they can't identify and capitalize on their successes (upgrading those that stand out and sell well), you will never establish a brand identity beyond "the company that tries every whack-a-doo knife design but can't recognize when they've hit a gold mine.
 
The Hootenany is still one of my favorite knives, beats out my expensive knives sometimes to be in my EDC rotation. While fit and finish isn't perfect it's not bad, and definitely has one of the best ergo's I've handles. Maybe I've haven't played with enough CRKT's but I don't feel like they deserve the flak they do. I find Kershaw often isn't much better, and I'll take IKBS bearings over speedsafe any day of the week. I owned a Cryo II as a first real pocket knife and after the hootenanny I just couldn't go back, never realised how bad the blade play and centering was in comparison.
 
Aww, man! Now you’ve dragged Kershaw into this:p;):D

Seriously though, since I tend to be a “country of origin” stickler, Kershaw makes many fantastic knives here in the US of A that are in the same price ranges as CRKT. The leek, the blur, the link: all great blades for a very competitive price. I’ve not ever seen any major fit/finish issues from Kershaw and their customer service is excellent. Not even in the same league if you ask me (which I’m aware that no one did actually ask me, just my ¢.02 :)).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top