Are you sick of the fact that CRKT use's AUS6m

C

Cyblade

Joined
Aug 16, 2001
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When you mention CRKT around here most people say "Great design's, good fit and finish and excellent prices but the steel they use sucks" I was thinking that if we as a whole started sending in e-mail to CRKT asking them to change to a better steel like 440c, 440a, 420hc, that would still keep the price down and maybe some small runs in Ats-34 or thier proprietary AUS118 maybe more of us would buy them. At the very least maybe we could get them to change thier heat treat to maximize the AUS-6m, maybe get it to a slightly high rc range....... Who knows maybe theyll listen and we can start useing them more than we sharpen them. Please send an e-mail to info@crkt.com and tell them what you think............
 
Hm, but who would buy a Pat Crawford (or a Ryan Plan B or ...) custom knife if you can have one in 154cm from CRKT? Yes, some people. But it still would hurt the custom maker a lot. I assume the whole custom collaboration thing only works because CRKT stays on the "low quality" side, being no competition for the custom makers. If I were a knife maker negotiating a contract with CRKT, i'd insist on something like "CRKT will only offer this knife in AUS-6". I believe this is the case at least with some of the collaborations. CRKT knows very well they could sell an insane amount of knives (at least to knife knuts like us :) ) if they just offered them in 154cm, for a few bucks more.
 
Originally posted by Nightwind
Hm, but who would buy a Pat Crawford (or a Ryan Plan B or ...) custom knife if you can have one in 154cm from CRKT? Yes, some people. But it still would hurt the custom maker a lot. I assume the whole custom collaboration thing only works because CRKT stays on the "low quality" side, being no competition for the custom makers. If I were a knife maker negotiating a contract with CRKT, i'd insist on something like "CRKT will only offer this knife in AUS-6". I believe this is the case at least with some of the collaborations. CRKT knows very well they could sell an insane amount of knives (at least to knife knuts like us :) ) if they just offered them in 154cm, for a few bucks more.
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If that were the case, then why does Benchmade offer custom collabs with higher quality materials? Are they less concerned about taking sales away? Probably not. I doubt anyone who is really interested in a specific maker's knives will give a production model any though regardless of it's materials. CRKT uses low cost materials in order to hit a price point and market niche.

Chris
 
M:
Good point, same with spyderco. The KFF profesional is nice, but isn't going to end Crawford's career any time soon. I think if enough people buy that model, they might make some other "profesional" models.
 
A production will never replace a custom for those who know. Those who don't know, don't care. CRKT uses AUS 6 because it is readily available in TAIWAN and is easy to blank. It is fairly cheap and easy on the machines. It provides a decent amount opf performance. CRKT is a large company selling hundreds of thousands of blades. It is quite doubtful they will change because a few hundred of us want better steel. Would you? Not if you want to continue to be making $$. MOST paople who buy $30 pocket knives don't know anyway. I remember a guy telling me how good his Australian 6 (aus6) steel was. Most knife buyers are not knuts or are yet uneducated.
 
If CRKT decided to upgrade the steel used on all their knives, people would start complaining about the high prices. Could CRKT produce blades in 154CM, ATS-34, 440C? Yes, they could, but the cost of producing them would have to be passed on to the consumer. While there are those among us who would gladly pay the added cost, there are many would not be able to easily afford the price increase.

CRKT is about producing quality knives at affordable prices. That's why they have become so popular. Over and over again I see people complain about AUS-6 as cheap steel, but I find nothing wrong with AUS-6. Of course it does not have the edge holding abilities of ATS-34 or 440C, but it is certainly usable. Now if I was the type of person who only carried one knife and used it daily and didn't want to deal with sharpening it, I would probably look at a blade made of CPM 440V. However, I have no problems sharpening my knives and the fact that I alternate my carry knives, I don't have to worry about dulling their edges so quickly. When one of my knives needs a touch up, I simply sharpen it.
 
It would be nice to see an upgrade in the blade steel and handle materials on CRKT's custom collaborations.While they are good using knives for the money, the aspect of an excellent CRKT knife is easily apparent to anyone with a Spyderco Wegner or Benchmade Osborne.
I would really like to see a Ryan or Carson model with G-10 and 154CM.
 
I'm a knife-nut too and I'm always looking for something better, but I also think some folks are making a mountain out of a molehill.

I like the fact that CRKT offers high quality knives that the average blue-collar worker can afford.
Would I like better steel?
Of course, but not if it means jacking the price up to the same level as Benchmade.

The truth of the matter is that AUS-6 is'nt a bad steel at all and it does hold an edge for a reasonable amount of usage, and it's easy to re-sharpen.

According to CRKT, their AUS-6 is 55-57 HRC.
According to Spyderco's website, the Chinook, the FRN Native, and the Gunting (all use CPM(T)440V) are 56-57 HRC.
Yet, I have never heard anyone say that their Chinook, Native, or Gunting is too soft.

If you want to start a campaign to get CRKT to change, then demand that they use more lock-back designs (I just don't like liner-locks vey much, although the LAWKS system does make them nearly fail-proof).

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Allen brought up a good point. I too like to see something better or new and improved, but if I want a Benchmade or Microtech quality knife with the Benchmade or Microtech price tag, then I would buy a Benchmade or a Microtech. Companies like CRKT, Outdoor Edge, Timberline offer bang for the buck knives that don't have the fit and finish of a Microtech or a William Henry knife, but are good quality working knives at affordable prices. If I like a particular knife design, I'll buy it no matter if the steel is 440A, 425 Modified, 420HC, AUS-6, AUS-8. If it's sharp, holds a decent edge and won't fail on me, I have no problems with it. The fact that it's made in Taiwan does not bother me either as long as the knife comes from a reputable production company that stands behind it's products.
 
This'll catch flack here but rather than better blade steel, I'd rather they were made in America by American labor.
 
This doesn't address the steel issue, but its pure fantasy to think it will effect the custom makers sales. Anybody that buys customs could care less what type of steel the factory clone uses. Its still a factory clone. Its just not the same and never will be. A fake rolex that keeps perfect time is still a fake. On another note, its also dangerous to assume that just because knife knuts around here are willing to pay for a bit better steel, that the general public will do the same. We are not typical. Price determines the sale in far too many cases for factory makers to ignore costs.
 
Lifter4Him, how about made in Canada by Canadian labour. :D

The truth is we'd all like to see home made products at affordable prices, but even then you may have to contract out for parts made elsewhere unless you happen to fabricate washers and screws yourself or have a source for them in your own country.
 
Mike990, I agree with you that production knife sales are not going to effect custom knife makers.
But the Rolex analogy does'nt apply here. A fake Rolex is claiming to be something that it is'nt.
CRKT knives make no false claims and they're not clones of custom knives either.
They're just what they say they are: production knives designed by custom knife makers.
I think this deal helps the custom-maker too, because he can expose more folks to his designs and get his name out there among the general population. If a person buys a CRKT Viele knife and they like it, they'll probably seek more info about other Viele knives.

Cheers,
Allen.
 
I would venture to say that the lion's share of CRKT's market is made up of knife users, not knife nuts. People who don't really know AUS6 from ATS-34.

The neat thing about CRKT is that they may inyroduce some of these people to the fact that there are custom makers with superior designs, and they may in the long run become knife afficionados by their association with custom designs produced by Columbia River.

But all that having been said, I also wish they would upgrade thei steel selection, at least in small runs.
 
I have had, and do have CRKT knives. I agree that AUS6 isn't junk. However, sometimes, in the back of my mind, I wish that they would step up from 6 to 8. Just that little bit of change would make me feel a lot more secure in carrying one of their knives.

I am carrying a Point Guard right now, whose tip is dull from some lighter usage. This would be all right if I were carrying a little sharpener of some sort (been meaning to get one) but I'm not.
My fault for being too lazy to buy a 5 dollar item. :D

All that said, CRKT makes good quality, low-cost-to-the-user knives that indeed do sell to a large market. Quality designs and low price. This means they cannot upgrade too much, without loosing there market, as prior post pointed out.

So, given that, they most likely will not change their base products or materials. They probably will, as with the M16, come out with a baseline product, and then slightly upgraded versions for the discerning (picky) purchasers.
 
I am a knife nut, and thus understand, and can appreciate the better steel. Personally I would like to see CRKT make their knives with better steel and thicker liner locks. I also know that if they did this they would have to raise prices, which would remove them from their market niche.

CRKT has found a great market niche, and as I see it must be making a pretty penny from it. They are able to sell knives at a low cost to the average guy that doen't know anything about knives, and also to us knife nuts because of the great designs by custom makers.

Erik
 
Originally posted by lifter4Him
This'll catch flack here but rather than better blade steel, I'd rather they were made in America by American labor.
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Yeah, then they'd still use AUS6 but cost five times as much.
 
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