CRKT Knives
Over Three Decades Doing What They Do Best
Bamboozled
Columbia River Knife & Tool, or “CRKT” as they’re commonly known, has been in business for over 30 years, and it’s hard to believe the knife company is that old. The reason is they’ve managed to keep things fresh all these years, and there’s a good reason for that: CRKT has collaborated with top custom knifemakers from their very start. Big names like Kit Carson, Ken Onion and Michael Walker were all early big-name design collaborators for the CRKT, and all are currently in the company’s catalog. Many newer, younger custom knifemakers have joined the company with collaborations since. For CRKT, the world keeps going round and round, just as it started.
Kommer’s Cutters
Russ Kommer is a hunting guide and outdoorsman from Fargo, ND, who has been contributing to the CRKT line since the late 1970s. CRKT chose Russ’ Soldotna fixed-blade, named for a town on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, to celebrate their 30th anniversary. The Soldotna is a Drop Point Skinner 7.63″ in overall length with a 3.48″ 1095 Carbon Steel full tang blade sporting a Gray Cerakote finish. The Soldotna’s 4.15″ handle has Brown Micarta scales with a tube brass-lined lanyard hole. The company also offers a limited edition run of 400 with a Damascus blade and Walnut scales. For more on this classy knife, we featured the Soldotna in the January issue of my Knives column in FMG’s GUNS Magazine.
The Kommer Kalisof was designed as a companion to the Soldotna. This slim 8.63″ fixed-blade is designed for skinning small game and detail work where a thinner blade is required. The Kalisof’s 3.87″ blade has a Gray Cerakote finish, and the trim cutter has Brown Micarta scales like its Soldotna brother. The Kalisof stands ready for bird and trout duty or as a detailing companion for your larger skinner.
Squid
A Feast of Folders
With model names like Squid and Tuna, custom knifemaker Lucas Burnley of Bend, Ore., definitely has a sense of humor, but when it comes to sales, his knives are seriously hot. Burnley’s collaborations are already in several iterations for CRKT, a sure sign of the popularity of designs. His Tuna Compact Frame Lock is a small pocketable EDC, what the maker calls “post tactical,” with flair aplenty and features out the wazoo. An anodized Titanium handle, upscale S35VN stainless steel blade, and Reeve Integral Lock frame are features of which customs are made, and the Tuna Compact can be had much more affordably. The folder’s blade dimensions are 6.53″ fully extended, 3.80″ closed, and the deep-ground Drop Point blade is 2.76″. There’s a pocket clip out back, and at 2.70 oz., the Tuna Compact is a very friendly tote.
The Squid is a small but stout bit of business that’s been upgraded to a push-button lock model. This type of blade lock has been gaining in popularity on production folders over the past year, and it makes for a cleaner, less cluttered design. A small “gents” size folder like the Tuna Compact, the Squid Button Lock, is sized at 5.70″ overall and 3.47″ folded. The Squid’s 2.27″ Spear Point blade is made of workman-like D2 Steel and is accessed via healthy ambidextrous thumb studs. Total weight is 2.60 oz.
The Bamboozled is a folder designed by the son of highly lauded knifemaker and longtime CRKT collaborator Ken Onion, who gave us the assisted opener mechanism. Ken Onion Jr. is carrying on his father’s tradition with the Bamboozled folder, his first collaboration with CRKT. This cleanly designed folder, 7.75″ fully opened, features a slick assisted opening mechanism that rolls out smooth and fast on a speedy IKBS ball-bearing pivot system. The D2 Steel blade is 3.31″ of fully ground Drop Point heaven and is deployed by a cutout, understated rectangular flipper. A liner-lock mechanism keeps the blade rigidly affixed when fully deployed. The 4.45″ handle has a Barlow-strength bolster with black G10 composite scales. Tan G10/Black steel plus All-Black versions are also available. Out back is a pocket clip for carry, and total weight for the Bamboozled is an easy EDC of 4.0 oz.
Twist Tighe (Opposite side)
Tour de Force!
We’ve saved the firepower for last. Knifemaker Brian Tighe is a seasoned Canadian custom knifemaker well known in the U.S. for his edgy design prowess of all types of knives from fixed-blades to folders and, in this case, automatics. Brian has been in the CKRT stable of collaborators for many years, and his new Tighe Twist Compact Auto, an OTF (out-the-front) automatic, is his latest design for CRKT.
The first thing that grabs you with the Tighe Twist is not that it’s an auto, but its wild exploding paint scheme on the back side of the handle. Available in Green, Red and Black flavors, the splashy design literally jumps off the handle. The “twist” is that the front side frame is a solid sinister black. Once your eyes adjust, the fact that it’s an exquisite automatic emerges. The Tighe Twist’s closed length is 4.01″, and once the blade is activated, the total length extends to 6.78″. The blade is delivered in the blink of an eye by thumbing forward a slide release located on the upper rear side of the handle. To re-seat the blade inside the handle, simply slide the thumb release downward. The Twist has a Dagger blade style 2.69″ long, made of upscale MagnaCut stainless steel — literally the hottest steel on today’s market for both the fixed-blade and folding type.
Before buying a CRKT knife, I recommend visiting the company’s website listed below. You can search by your favorite knifemakers or brands, and often you will find variants in models, size, color variations, and blade styles you may like even more … but be prepared to sit a spell. It’s a feast for the eyes!
For more info: CRKT.com
