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

A year or so back I got a left handed mirage at a closeout price of $14(I think).
I can tell you that the AUS-6 steel is ok, not as good as the AUS-6 in my CS neck knife that lives in the kitchen.

I was at first disappointed with the thumb studs, they were hard to get to fast, you had to fumble for them as they are almost flush against the plastic scales. So, I ground down the scale with my dremal and sanded it smooth to solve the problem.

Another disappointing thing about this knife is that it had a very long 'break in' period before the linear lock would easily move from the locked position. (When I say "easily" I mean using one hand, not having to use one hand to hold the knife the other to push the lock.) I just sat down and flicked the thing open and closed a couple hundred times a night, it became a nervous habit, and the lock straightened itself out.

I do sharpen this about every 3-5 days, and the only thing I can say is that it is easy to sharpen, but it dosent hold an edge well.

I am looking for a new something, but all the capable EDCs are out of my $ range for the moment.
 
CRKT makes good knives with cool designs for a great price. AUS-6 aint the greatest steel in the world but it sharpens easily and will hold an edge well enough for the majority of users. IF you want to spend a little more money and step up to AUS 8 you can choose from Howard Viele Wasp or the Carson M18. The Crawford/Kasper KFF Pro is also in AUS8. If you want ATS-34 they make theS-2. Sounds to me like you need to do a little more checking about their products before you start a letter writing campaign.

Edit. Oh yeah. The CF M16's are in AUS 8 as well.
 
I thought the CF M16's were 118, while the Aluminum were 8, and the zytel were 6?

hmmm, let me go look...doesn't really matter what I find...I agree with ya samhell, just checkin' this fact for all our benefit.

Zytel

Aluminum

CF

So, they do delve into higher end materials than AUS6, but not at the loss of their baseline products or customers. As a matter of fact, it seems as if they made the Zytel after the Aluminum to be less expensive, and incorporated AUS6 to achieve that goal.
 
CRKT gives the buyer bang for the buck. If they change their entire line to more expensive metals then they would lose the edge to the competition because better metal means more expensive knives. CRKT came out with AUS 118 in their carbon fiber handled M16 large tanto. I doubt the AUS 118 carbon fiber handled M16 large tanto sold well because it is expensive.

I love CRKT knives but don't like the rust/stain prone bead blast finish. How can you resist CRKT. CRKT has an all star line up of knife designers and a great price!
 
Originally posted by Blackwatch
I thought the CF M16's were 118, while the Aluminum were 8, and the zytel were 6?
QUOTE]

You are correct Blackwatch. Thanks for catching that.
Click to expand...
 
What is soooo terrible about sharpening your knife?
"This steel holds an edge longer and that one is harder to sharpen..."
Its a knife.
Knives need to be sharpened if they are used.

I carried my CRKT Mirage Wharnie for a year.
I cut paper, doughnut wrappers, tape, and broke down the occasional cardboard box.
I haven't sharpened it yet. I do however, steel it on the back/spine of one of my Dozier FB's once in a while. Or strop in on the outside of a big (30x40") box. It is fine. Won't shave hair but slices slivers of newsprint & that's good enough for me.

For the price point CRKT makes a heck of a knife.
 
Info on M16 line

-The carbon fiber models are AUS 118 stainless steel blade in a non-reflective fine bead blast finish. Not all M16 are inexpensive. M16-14F in carbon fiber has MSRP price of $174.99

-6061 T6 hard anodized charcoal gray aluminum models are AUS 8.

-M16 1* SRT, MIL, & FD: The ones with the special logo of Gary Paul Johnson “one-ass-to-risk” logo are AUS 8.

-The M16-Zytel handle models are AUS 6M

Zytel improvements: M16-04Z and 14Z: larger dual grind Tanto-style blades. CRKT incorporated the patented* Lake And Walker Knife Safety (LAWKS®) into the 04Z and 14Z.
 
Firebat, of course items will be cheaper when made by slave/child/or severely underpaid workers. Seems like it might be worth it to pay a little more to support our own.
Just my opinion and not sour grapes on my part as I have a great job at the NY Daily News with union protection,seniority, and benefits. Just keep reading about alot of industry leaving and alot of folks hurting.

Dave
 
If you consider the costs of living, then many times so called "slave/child/or severely underpaid workers" are making an adequate wage. For example, in China, a bottle of water costs $0.25 as compared to $1 here in NYC, a taxi ride costs ~$3-5 total compared to ~$10-$15 for the same trip here in NYC, etc.. Therefore if you pay him half what a worker earns here, he's a rich man. That's why statistics have to be normalized or compared to controls, things are analyzed per capita, etc.. -- otherwise you lose perspective.

As for CRKT, moving up one grade in blade steel to AUS8 would not be that big of an impact in their pricing. For example, Gigand did it and utilizes Taiwanese production facilities, etc..
 
Dave,
I'm no expert on Asia, but I think you're confusing Taiwan with the Peoples Republic of China.
Taiwan broke away from China when China became a communist nation.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Taiwan is a capitalistic democracy and one of "the good guys" against Red China.

I guess it just depends on your personal convictions...
I know a guy who refuses to buy Spyderco knives because they're made in Japan. It stems from the fact that his grand-father was a WWII POW and was brutally tortured by the Japanese.

Allen.
 
......If we were going to ask CRKT to make just a little change, how about drilling and tappping a few extra holes so that the clip could be moved to the "right" side?
 
I think of CRKT as a company that makes decent, entry level knives. Most average people aren't going to walk into a knife store in the mall and put out $200 (remember retail pricing) for a pocket knife. Since I think of CRKT the way I do, even if they did upgrade their materials (G-10, 154CM), I don't know if I'd be willing to pay the $150 that I expect to pay for a high end BM or Spydie. CRKT has a target market, and it's not (many of) us. They do what they do well. I don't think it would hurt to offer upgraded versions also, but I also don't know if they would sell as well as other similar knives.
 
Guys, I know Taiwan is one of the good guys.
I was just thinking about supporting our own and pride in America.
This was the wrong thread for me to make the comments and I apologize.

Back on track. CRKT does make good knives for the price.
 
Because of economic internationalization, it's hard to really say what is entirely made here in the U.S.

I have a Ford pickup that was assembled in Canada, with parts from the U.S., Germany, Japan, and China. Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Mazda, to name some, all have plants here in the U.S.

Spyderco, an American-owned firm, manufactures some of its knives in Japan, but some are made in Colorado.

If someone were to really boycott products based on country of origin, they wouldn't have much.

Oh yeah, CRKT does a fine job with knives in their pricepoint :)
 
If CRKT did a Steve Ryan collaboration with (well-treated and non-bead blasted) Aus 8, and micarta or G10 handles, i dont think i would be the only one to jump at the chance of owning one. They can manufacture Aus 8, all the have to do is improve the heat treat and leave out the bead blast or teflon coating. CRKT use G10 on some of their knives so we know they have the ability to do this on others. I dont think CRKT should change their whole line-up and i do recognise that they have made an effort to offer a few higher-end custom collaborations for us knife knuts, i just think its disappointing that they work with so many great designs and dont make the most of them, i'd love to see a higher-end version of their point guard, again maybe G10 handle and satin Aus-8 blade. I often look at CRKT because of the aforementioned great designs and also their decent execution of them, the only thing that stops me forming a large collection of them is the materials they use, mostly zytel and Aus-6m.
 
Originally posted by fmann
That's why statistics have to be normalized or compared to controls, things are analyzed per capita, etc.. -- otherwise you lose perspective.
Click to expand...

This has to be applied within our country as well. Dave and I both work Union Trades in metropolitan areas, and our incomes would make us very well off in rural areas of the country. But we can’t make a living in Montana (no Opera companies and newspaper circulation drops dramatically), and every year it gets harder to afford to live in the city you work in. How is Jersey, Dave?
 
It's mainly the "made in Taiwan" label I can't stand. Zytel and AUS6 does suck though. I just don't buy them anymore. I guess they get enough sales from dudes that don't care. Oh well.
 
I agree with you stjames -- I earn $19000/yr pretax and I live in Manhattan.

Now to add to the discussion, people who buy CRKT will probably do so regardless of the AUS6 blades or even if they had BG42 blades. The cost of upgrading their blade steels will probably not cause an appropriate increase in their sales.

Their target is make low cost, reasonable bang-for-the-buck, usable knives that you don't have to worry about because it's cheap and the quality has grown to be more consistent.
 
fmann, did you leave out a zero? $19,000 in Manhattan?

Hi James, you hit the nail right on the head. Houses that cost $80,000-90,000 in other parts of the country start at $250,000+ here in the NY/NJ area, to say nothing of the $1900 a year car insurance I pay. And we all know about the cost of medical insurance. James, if you ever get a chance to come to one of the NY Opera houses, shoot me an email and we'll hook up.

I do want to say I respect and thank CRKT for going after the customs people who confiscated their knives and persuing it in court.
 
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