Why no love for CRKT?

[19-3ben]

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.

Agreed. And don't forget that as part of that "Onion" series that includes the Leek, they also put out the Scallion, and Chive. They don't seem to get a lot of press anymore, but are still good knives in their own right.

 

[EclipseSilver]

Aww, man! Now you’ve dragged Kershaw into this

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 ).

Ahahaha, it's not to say I don't love Kershaw. I very much still do especially in terms of their customer service and some of their collabs with designers. Guess I've just moved past assisted knives and wanted to point out that other companies around the same price point aren't perfect either. Should use this as excuse to buy one knife from each company and compare

 

[TheEdge01]

I have very little experience with CRKT. The Shenanigan I had was ok, but I wasn't highly impressed with it either. It was a decent assisted opener, but it felt incredibly cheap in the hand, and the blade was slightly off centered. I really can't complain too much though considering it was under 40 bucks. It did have an AUS 8 steel blade though which was a nice touch.

 

[Frotier76]

I praise CRKT more on select models of the late 90's to mid 2000's...their Taiwan years.If you look at models like the Crawford Falcon or the Michael Walker BladeLock they put a darned good edge on those blades.Nothing bad to say about AUS-6 Stainless Steel-it took a good edge and held it well enough for any common knife user.

I use the expression 'select models' because certain models they did changed in blade steel.Originally they put them in AUS-6 or AUS-8 and then stepped down to 420J2.The bigger issue that creates is unless you acquired it brand new in the box or blister pack...you have no way of knowing.I got burned badly by Eprague Knives a year ago on a medium Crawford Kasper.It had the box but no documentation but it was supposedly in AUS-8 as advertised/listed...no way...it was 420J2.

 

[Etna]

Because they are costly.

In my country, folding knives from any brand (even Taylor!) are sold above MSRP. And CRKT's MSRP is already high. Example: CRKT lists the MSRP for the Moxie as $70. But in my country, a Moxie can cost almost $80.

And KnifeCenter sells it for $45.

 

[MSchott]

Sorry to bump this thread but I want to comment on my CRKT Swindle. In some ways it's my favorite EDC. It's not the highest quality under $50.00 folder I own (Kershaw Leek is better) but it's a beautifully simple design and as smooth as it gets. I worked a bit on sharpening the blade and added a drop of Loctite to the blade pivot screw to keep the tension precise and now it works great. The finish and shape of the case is sensuous as is the way the blade flips from the case.

 

[SharpieB]

I just posted in another thread about how much I love my CRKT Follow-Through Compact flipper. It is the best <$50 knive I have tried in a long time. I am shocked at how much I love the ergos, flipper action and look. A VERY well made knife IMO and well worth the $35 I paid for it. I like it a lot more than my Chinese Kershaws, Gerbers and even most of my Spyderco Byrds.

 

[Mo2]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd-_3h7nMhH/

Why do you think this guy's throwing his crkt in the lake?

 

[Leo3an]

CRKT is an American company. I like that I can send mine to them if I have problems.

I like the CRKT Crossbones for cutting bait for fishing. Its similar to a thin fillet knife thats a flipper. I didnt pay for it, so not sure of the value. Its a fun flipper.

But other CRKTs i have are... not so great.

Im considering getting Tighe Tac Two for my wife who wants a flipper and hates locks that are on edge side.. i couldnt find any other ones at her price point.

 

[buffalo01]

If I wasnt such a stubborn american, I would definitely have some of their knives. I decided to go all american with my knife collection, and especially stay away from china made knives. I really really like the fossil and think the quality is good. I was also given a CRKT outrage because it had a broken tip. I reground it and found it to be a very nice smooth knife for the price. I gave it to my brother and he still uses it and says he really likes it. I LOVE the jesper vox designs and Im tempted to break my rule to get and amicus or pilar. They really do have some amazing designs, and they will try ANYTHING once. I will give them that.

 

[Gramps]

While I often found that CRKT offered many knives with interesting designs, and that they were pretty well executed, the quality of the blade steel and it's performance was typically so baseline. My experience with them has left a bad taste. IMHO I always found that for a few dollars more I could get a Spyderco Delica or Endura that far exceeded what CRKT offered. Maybe I should give one a try again.

 

[GermanyChris]

I like my Crossbones even more now that it's broken in.

 

[Fire Beard]

I tried CRKT a few years ago. Never. Again. Bought both a Jettison and a Buku at the same time. During light-duty yard work the lock failed on the Jettison and cut my finger down to the bone. Turns out the lock slips with hardly any pressure. The Buku had lock rock bad enough to hear. And the grinds were wonky as hell; very uneven. Threw the Jettison away. The Buku is buried at the bottom of my junk drawer with other junk. CRKT=NOPE for me.

I really like the looks of the Pilar, but the thought of using another of their knives makes my index finger shudder. I’m a big fan of Jesper Voxnaes designs, so I bought a Viper Odino. Much, much better.

 

[eugenechia1989]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd-_3h7nMhH/

Why do you think this guy's throwing his crkt in the lake?

I'm appalled that someone would do that. Whether the knife deserves it or not, that's littering. I have been to known to destroy things that annoy me enough - the last victim was a Pilot pen (I have the worst luck with Pilots - they all either leak or stop working completely) and I took the bolt-cutters from my van and basically destroyed it. Then I swept up the remains and dumped 'em in the bin. But I will never throw non-organic stuff into a natural environment, especially one where the stuff can't be retrieved. I'm sure some people are gonna hate me or call me a crazy tree-hugger - so be it, I don't care what people think about me, but I care too much for the environment to not get upset by it.

 

[bikerector]

I'm appalled that someone would do that. Whether the knife deserves it or not, that's littering. I have been to known to destroy things that annoy me enough - the last victim was a Pilot pen (I have the worst luck with Pilots - they all either leak or stop working completely) and I took the bolt-cutters from my van and basically destroyed it. Then I swept up the remains and dumped 'em in the bin. But I will never throw non-organic stuff into a natural environment, especially one where the stuff can't be retrieved. I'm sure some people are gonna hate me or call me a crazy tree-hugger - so be it, I don't care what people think about me, but I care too much for the environment to not get upset by it.

Not to side step too much but I have also had horrible luck with pilot pens. I bought a whole bunch of them from costco and every one either leaked or left clear streaks instead of writing properly. I use pentel instead.

I had similar thoughts about throwing the knife in the water. If the beach is frequented at all, even worse as it opens the potential for harming someone who steps on it. This is about as stupid as trying to make a statement by putting tide in your mouth.

 

[GermanyChris]

Not to side step too much but I have also had horrible luck with pilot pens. I bought a whole bunch of them from costco and every one either leaked or left clear streaks instead of writing properly. I use pentel instead.

I had similar thoughts about throwing the knife in the water. If the beach is frequented at all, even worse as it opens the potential for harming someone who steps on it. This is about as stupid as trying to make a statement by putting tide in your mouth.

To be fair it was Instagram and part of a podcast neither are well known for honesty or integrity.

 

[Mr.SATism]

I’ve owned two crkt’s: the drifter and the shinnanegan z. Both are still amazing knives to me, even though the drifter bit me (does it count when I consciously did something stupid?) and the drifter dulled after a couple of Amazon and pizza boxes (I was not in a good place at that time, but that’s for another place). If I actually used them for harder EDC, they would fall behind compared to my micro, mini, and regular recon 1’s, but they did teach me a lot of things: how a small/big knife should feel both in the hand and in the pocket, these are not toys, and that you really look at what makes a knife up in order to see the value. I will probably pick up the drifter for nostalgia, but if I’m being honest, CRKT doesn’t excite me, but it will do it’s job (light-medium EDC for all of the folding knives).
(I might not have the drifter, but I still have the bite)
Kinda new here, so I’ll try to make it my profile pic and upload here later haha

 

[Lapedog]

I had the skeletonized Eros and it was an awesome little knife. I miss it greatly, probably the highest end knife CRKT ever put out. The only other CRKT i owned was the M21 which was actually a good solid knife. I quite liked it, but ended up giving it to my friend.

I would like to try their swindle and if it had better materials I probably would have by now.

I also was tempted by the CRKT Obake and Achi. However both come with fibreglass reinforced nylon sheaths which I already know from my Spydie street beat dulls the knives so badly that you have about 3 sheath/unsheaths before the blade stops cutting paper cleanly... so what’s the point of carrying a knife? Once again had they not cheapes out and used real kydex or equivilent I would have both those little edc fixed blades.

They are known for having good designs excecuted very poorly. I also get the impression that like SoG most their customers are people new to the knife world who don’t realize they are getting a turd. Seems almkst predatory to me and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[brownshoe]

The Eros is great and it's their high end. I love mine, equal in quality to Sebenza in many areas. They've had a few premium knives, one a special Onion and I believe one by Klotzi. The Klotzi was great, but too pricey.

 

[rje58]

I had a Swindle Groove, it seemed like a pretty decent knife, but I sold it, still NIB. I'm curious as to whether you use the pocket clip?

Sorry to bump this thread but I want to comment on my CRKT Swindle. In some ways it's my favorite EDC. It's not the highest quality under $50.00 folder I own (Kershaw Leek is better) but it's a beautifully simple design and as smooth as it gets. I worked a bit on sharpening the blade and added a drop of Loctite to the blade pivot screw to keep the tension precise and now it works great. The finish and shape of the case is sensuous as is the way the blade flips from the case.