CRKT Knives

What CRKT makes for hunters and campers

On this site, CRKT covers five product types: folding knives, fixed-blade knives, axes, machetes and multi-tools. The folders are most of the lineup. The fixed blades are mostly small and carried in a sheath. The axes are short camp axes and tomahawks, most on hickory handles. The machetes are long carbon-steel blades for brush and camp chores, and the multi-tools are a mixed bag, from pliers-type tools to a camp utensil.

The grid above shows what's on Amazon right now, filtered by type. It changes week to week, so I'll write about the families and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed.

CRKT's own about page says the company works with outside designers, makers and inventors. That shows in the names: many CRKT knives carry a designer's name or a nickname instead of a plain model number. BLADE Magazine credits the M16 to Kit Carson and the Eat'N Tool to Liong Mah. (A shop teacher prefers part numbers. CRKT prints those too, which is how I keep them straight.)

Lineup notes: CRKT folding knives

The M16 family

The M16 is the family you'll see most in the grid. The model numbers after "M16" mark size and version, and the listings show a spread of choices inside one family:

• Blade shapes: mostly tanto (an angled, chisel-like tip), with spear point versions
• Locks: liner locks on the nylon and G10-handled models, frame locks on the steel-handled ones
• Steels: 8Cr14MoV, AUS 8, 1.4116 and 12C27 stainless, depending on the model
• Edges: plain on most, serrated or partly serrated on a few
• Blade length: from about 3 inches to just under 4 inches

CRKT's page for the M16-10KSF lists Kit Carson as designer, a frame lock, a flipper opening the maker calls the Carson Flipper, 8Cr14MoV steel, partial serrations it calls Triple Point Serrations, and 2.7 oz. The maker describes it as an everyday carry version of the M16. The flipper is a small tab on the back of the blade: you push it with a finger and the blade swings out.

Here's the thing about a family this wide: the "M16" on the box tells you less than the letters after it. Read the lock and steel on the listing of the exact knife.

Drifter and the small frame locks

The Drifter is the plain one. CRKT's own page lists a 2.88-inch blade of 8Cr14MoV, a frame lock, a stainless steel handle, a thumb stud for one-hand opening, and 3.2 oz. The listings show a version with a G10 handle and a liner lock too.

Alongside it sit other small folders with steel handles and frame locks: the Squid, the Pazoda (which opens with a thumb hole instead of a stud) and the Fossil Compact with a G10 handle and a flipper. These are the knives for a front jeans pocket. A small knife that's actually in your pocket beats a big one that's on the dresser, and that's as close to philosophy as I get before coffee.

Assisted openers: LCK+, Endorser, Foresight and others

Several CRKT folders list assisted opening: the LCK+ models, the Endorser, the Foresight, the Razel GT and the Ritual. Benchmade's mechanisms guide explains assisted opening plainly: you start the blade partway with a thumb stud or flipper, and a spring finishes the job. It isn't an automatic knife, because the spring isn't holding the blade closed waiting to fire.

Most of these list liner locks. Blade shapes run from drop point (the LCK+ 3810, Foresight, Endorser) to tanto (the LCK+ 3802K) to the unusual profiles the listings mark as "other."

The odd ones out

A few folders don't fit the families above:

• CEO: a slim clip-point flipper in AUS 8, for a dress pocket more than a deer camp
• Provoke: D2 tool steel, an unusual curved blade, aluminum handle
• Halfachance: 65Mn carbon steel with a thumb stud, the one carbon folder in the grid
• Snap Lock: 420J2 stainless with a lock the listing marks as "other"
• Dually: a very short blade, under 2 inches
• Fulcrum 2: listed with a nylon handle and a clip, few other specs

General pocket knife picks across brands are on the pocket knife page, and carry-every-day picks are on the everyday carry knife page.

CRKT fixed-blade knives

CRKT's fixed blades on this site are mostly small. The blade lengths in the listings run from about 2 inches on the Minimalist Bowie to about 5 inches on the Du Hoc. Every one lists a sheath.

• Minimalist Bowie and S.P.E.W.: tiny neck-knife size, a clip point and a wharncliffe (a straight edge with the spine curving down to the tip)
• Obake: a clip point in the 3- to 4-inch range
• Siwi: SK-5 carbon steel, drop point
• Clever Girl: SK-5 carbon steel, trailing point, about 4.6 inches
• Shrill: spear point, leather sheath per the listing
• Du Hoc: SK-5 carbon steel, the longest of the group

CRKT's page for the Clever Girl lists Austin McGlaun as designer, a 4.60-inch SK-5 blade, 6.3 oz, and a thermoplastic sheath with mounting options. It's part of what the maker calls Forged by War, a program it says began in 2016 to design knives with veterans, with a share of profits going to a veterans' charity the designer picks.

Danny asked whether a knife named Clever Girl comes with a dinosaur. It doesn't. He was disappointed for most of an evening.

Fixed blades across brands are on the fixed blade knife page, and field-dressing shapes are on the hunting knife page.

CRKT axes and tomahawks

CRKT's axe side is short-handled camp axes and tomahawks (light axes with a slim head). The listings sort them by handle and head steel:

• The Chogan family: the Woods Chogan T-Hawk and its Black Woods version are tomahawks, and the Chogan Hammer and Chogan Mattock are named for what sits on the back of the head. All list hickory handles and 1055 carbon steel heads.
• Freyr, Freya, Odr and Berserker: camp axes on hickory handles with 1055 carbon steel heads. The listings name camping, and on some, splitting.
• Jenny Wren: a compact tomahawk with a nylon/polymer handle, an SK-5 carbon steel head and a sheath.
• Skeggox: a nylon/polymer handle and an SK-5 head, with a sheath per the listing.

Read the sheath line before you buy. Only some listings include one, and CRKT sells leather sheaths for the Freyr and Freya on their own. Rutgers Extension says to sheath an axe whenever it isn't in use. (A bare axe in a truck bed also redesigns the truck bed.)

Every head here is carbon steel, so the machete rule below applies: dry it and oil it the same day, and store the axe somewhere dry. Tomahawks across brands are on the tomahawk axe page, short axes on the hatchet page, and camp axes on the camping axe page.

CRKT machetes

The machete side is short and carbon steel:

• Mah-Chete: a 12-inch 1075 carbon steel blade with a sheath, per the listing
• KUK: a kukri shape (the forward-curved blade that's heavier toward the tip) in 65Mn carbon steel, a little over 10 inches, with a sheath

Both are carbon steel, and carbon steel rusts if you put it away wet. Rule of thumb: a machete gets wiped and oiled the same afternoon you use it, not the next weekend. The machete page compares blade lengths and styles across brands.

CRKT multi-tools

The multi-tools are the most mixed group in the lineup:

• Viva Work Multi-Tool: stainless steel frame
• Ruger 1911 Multitool: lists pliers and a knife
• Twist & Fix: a socket-style tool, few specs listed
• Eat'N Tool: titanium per the listing, a camp utensil with tool edges rather than a pliers tool; BLADE credits the design to Liong Mah

If you want full-size pliers with a dozen tools, check the multi-tool page across brands. (I still call every multi-tool "the Swiss thing." Nobody at camp corrects me anymore.)

How to choose within the CRKT lineup

Folder or fixed blade first

A fixed blade has no pivot and no lock to clean. A folder fits a pocket. My one opinion on this page: decide the knife's main job before you look at a single model. If the main job is the deer, start with the fixed blades. If it rides in your pocket every day and opens feed bags, start with the folders.

Then the lock

CRKT's folders mostly use two locks, and they close differently. Benchmade's guide describes a liner lock as a bar cut into the liner that you push toward the handle side before folding the blade. A frame lock works the same way, but the bar is cut from the handle frame itself. Both put your thumb near the blade path while closing, so keep your fingers out of the way. Practice closing it ten times in daylight before the first trip. Slow is fine. Nobody's timing you.

Then how it opens

• Thumb stud: a small post on the blade, the plainest one-hand opening
• Flipper: a tab on the back of the blade you push with a finger
• Assisted: you start it, a spring finishes it
• Thumb hole: a hole in the blade for your thumb

Opening style is a matter of habit. Pick the one you can do with cold hands and a glove half on.

Then blade shape

The grid's shape field does a lot of the sorting. Tanto is the angled tip most of the M16s use. Drop point is the all-round hunting shape, tip in line with the spine. Clip point gives a thinner tip. Wharncliffe keeps the edge straight to the point, which suits whittling and cutting cord on a board. If the knife is for the deer, the drop points are where I'd start reading. Blade shape across brands is on the hunting knife page.

Then steel

The folders mostly list stainless steels: 8Cr14MoV, AUS 8, 1.4116, 12C27, 420J2. The fixed blades, axes and machetes mostly list carbon steels: SK-5, 1055, 1075, 65Mn. The practical split is care. Stainless resists rust with less attention. Carbon wants drying and a light coat of oil after every use.

Care that applies to the whole CRKT lineup

CRKT's warranty excludes damage from poor maintenance, so the care routine isn't optional. AKTI's maintenance guide recommends:

• A toothpick for dirt in the handle and around the pivot
• A light oil on the folding mechanism of a folder you use a lot
• A soft cotton cloth to coat the blade against water
• A cool, dry place for storage, not a damp basement or garage

AKTI also notes that water can harm even stainless steel, and salt water is especially hard on it. That counts double for the carbon-steel fixed blades, axe heads and machetes.

Cut away from your body. Keep your fingers out of a folder's closing arc: AKTI warns that once the lock is released, the spring can snap the blade shut. Don't use a knife as a pry bar.

Warranty basics

CRKT's warranty page lists a limited lifetime warranty on knives and tools, for as long as the original owner owns the product, when it was bought from CRKT or an authorized retailer. It covers defects in materials or workmanship; CRKT decides whether to repair, replace or swap for a product of equal value. Accessories such as sheaths and sharpeners get one year.

Not covered: normal wear, damage from abuse, misuse or poor maintenance, cosmetic damage, and knives that have been modified. Lost a screw or a clip? CRKT runs a separate free replacement parts program for that. A claim goes in with CRKT's form, and proof of purchase may be required.

CRKT facts

Here's what I could verify:

• Name: CRKT stands for Columbia River Knife & Tool
• Founded: 1994, per BLADE Magazine
• Location: Tualatin, Oregon, per BLADE Magazine; CRKT's warranty claims address is in Tualatin too
• People: co-founder Rod Bremer is company president, per BLADE
• Designers: CRKT says it collaborates with outside designers; BLADE credits Kit Carson (M16), Ed Halligan (K.I.S.S.) and Liong Mah (Eat'N Tool)

I couldn't verify where each CRKT knife is manufactured, so I've left that out. Read the listing or the box of the exact knife.

Pick the lock you can close in the dark, the steel you'll actually take care of, and write the model number in the logbook. CRKT prints it on the box for a reason.