'Zaan with an off-center blade

[amg137]

So yesterday I drove over to Plaza Cutlery (shout out to my favorite SoCal knife shop) and picked up a new Umnumzaan. Considering CRK's reputation for 100% perfect QC and my experience with Sebenzas, I walked out of the shop without opening the box. When I got home and opened the box I was shocked to find that the blade was off center - and by a significant margin, it had to be more than 1 mm. In addition, the pocket clip had side-to-side "play." I should have taken pictures, but I didn't think about it at the time as I was pretty outraged and ran out the door to exchange it for another one.

Fortunately, they exchanged it no questions asked and my new 'Zaan is flawless in every way, as all CRKs should be.

Moral of the story: you can't take perfect fit and finish for granted, even with CRK. Always try to make your purchases at a knife shop and handle the specific knife you purchase BEFORE you leave the store. This was no big deal for me, but if I had purchased it online I could have been forced to wait for weeks before having a perfect specimen in hand. Hopefully this story can prevent anyone else from ending up in a similar situation.

Cheers :thumbup:

 

[Scurvy092]

While I certainly think you did the right thing by exchanging it since it was from a brick and mortar you could drive to; how do we know the pivot and pocket clip didn't just need a little snugging up. My Hinderer had both those exact same problems and all it was was a loose pivot and pocket clip screw.

 

[amg137]

It's certainly possible that it could have been adjusted out, opening was already fairly stiff and had typical CRK lockup. Either way, the knife was still totally functional, it was just a cosmetic issue. However, CR has a reputation for not letting knives leave the factory less than perfect. I'm not trying to suggest that there's anything wrong with 'Zaans or CRK's QC, just that no production company has truly perfect QC. Assemblers/inspectors have off days and little things do slip through the cracks every now and then.

It's common sense, but you can never be sure the knife you're getting is perfect unless you handle it yourself before you buy it - no matter how much it costs or how good the manufacturer's reputation is.

 

[LeonJ]

Was it delivered in such a way that no third party could've gained access to it before? As in, someone at the store having a gander at it or another customer getting it and returning it after fiddling around with it?

 

[amg137]

It was not a display model - it was in storage under the counter with several other 'Zaans. However, given how easy it was to exchange knives in general at Plaza Cutlery (they didn't even look at it before agreeing to exchange it as I had just purchased it an hour ago), it's possible it had been returned before.

I don't think this was the case though, as the knife was totally free of fingerprints, and all the paperwork and packaging was pristine and perfectly packed in the box. Maybe it's just my ineptitude, but I never can seem to get everything to fit back in CRK boxes just right.