CRKT KISS: Is it safe??

M

MikeMargolis

Joined
Apr 14, 2002
Messages
74
I mean, it must be safe, or they wouldn't be able to sell them.

But still, even with the tight tolerance and the flat grind, I can't help but wonder....

Any owners care to share their experiences?

These can be had all over ebay and the net for under $30. Seems like a decent gift for someone you don't want to spend a fortune on.

<center><IMG SRC="http://www.crkt.com/CLASKISS.JPG"></center>
 
One BF member has had a serious failure while cutting off a nylon tie on a SuperSoaker box. You might want to search for his thread.

Obviously, users shouldn't put a v-grind on these knives :) But we should never underestimate the human capacity for stupidity...
 
I had a Kiss and have a peck on my key chain. I have had no problems what so ever. I never used them for serious cutting tasks. The peck is perfect for opening boxes at the office, cutting a piece of thread off your shirt, small string, you know, keychain knife tasks. It has never opened in my pocket. It keeps a sharp edge (especially since I don't cut tough stuff with it). A couple quick strokes on the sharpmaker (one side only) and it shaves hair.
The kiss was the the same, my dad loved it so i gave it to him, no problems with safety. peace, josh
 
The people who buy these are not the most knife savy people in the world. As a result they tend to do stupid things with them that have done with other more durable designs. How many of us have done an "Ice Pick" stab with a Buck 110?

I stepped away from my desk at work briefly when a dear lady I worked with attempted to open a soup can with an ice pick stab. She nearly amputated her fingers. Thankfully, all we found on her desk was blood. The doctor's had a good bit of work to perform but, she did have a successful outcome from a medical point of view.

What made this even worse for me, was the fact I had a can opener at work and she knew I was a knife knut with a tool (knife) that could have done the job safely.

That was a very sad day for me :(
 
the liner lock itself is part of the handle, so anytime you may perform even the slightest counter-clockwise twist with the knife, you're unlocking the liner-lock.
 
I lent a Kiss to a friend at work and he put it in his pocket and forgot about it. Later he stuck his hand in his pocket and said it felt like something was burning his finger. Well when he pulled out his hand the tip of the blade had sliced him open from his fingernai to his 2nd knuckle. 9 stitches later, he gave me back my knife and said, "...don't ever let me borrow that again."

I've carried it on and off for the last 2 years without a problem, but than I know the knife's limitations.
 
While I like the innovation the CRKT KISS offers in the money-clip/knife catagory, i'm the guy referenced in the above mentioned Supersoaker debacle.

To Clarify: I am a long tome pocket knife user. I might be considered an advanced user. The Super Soaker injury went as follows:

I had conducted a sales training meeting for one of the manufacturers that I represent earlier that Sunday morning so i was dressed in a shirt and tie. I arrived at the 6th year birthday party of my wife's best friend Sandy's son Tyler. Tyler got a large Super Soaker for his birthday and knowing that I always had a pocket knife came to me to get his Super Soaker released from it's packaging bondage. It was then that I tried to cut the aforementioned zip ties and had my KISS accidentally close on my middle finger! I might mention that at this time several parents were looking directly at my fingers/pocket knife work and saw the lock dis-engage whil cutting the SuperSoaker out of it's package (it's a damn squirtgun!). The resulting micro surgery and long recovery has kept me caused me great inconvienience. This has kept me from purchasing other CRKT knives or K.I.S.S. designed knives.

I'm a fan of frame locks (I love my Chris Reeves small Sebenza), but I'm not a fan of the unprotected frame lock that the Halligan designed K.I.S.S.represents. It seems that without knowing, an ususpecting user might exert an unknowing lateral counterclockwise pressure while pressing hard enough forward to cause the lock to dis-engage causing the blade to fold up on your hand. It happened to me and I have the surgical records to prove it.

Having had it happen to me, I can't sit silently and let others be injured in a similar fashion by this design.

I know the KISS design has won awards amd is well respected for it's innovation, but you'll not catch me carying one.

I've posted this story several times and have yet to be called on it by the manufacturers involved. It's true and I can prove it.

The CRKT KISS money clip seems like a cool product, but you won't catch me with one.

jmx
 
The K.I.S.S. is completely unsafe for any serious use. I carried it around for a couple years, and was never injured, but only because I was always vigilant. I have never seen a knife design, including slipjoints, which is more prone to accidental closure upon you.

That said, it is a cool little knife if you remain attentive and careful, and NEVER put it to substantive use.
 
Last summer, my younger brother gave me one. We were sitting in a hotel room chatting and I was examining the knife when our older brother walked in.

"What's that?"

"It's a clever little knive that Brian just gave me. Here, take a look."

Older brother proceeded to test the sharpness by running his thumb over the blade edge.

As you might guess, much blood followed.

Remember, older brother has a Ph.D.

So, while this little "accident" (I hesitate to use the word accident when the cause is utter stupidity) had nothing to do with the lock or the lack of liners or the blade grind or anything else about the knife, it still shows that the KISS is not safe... in some people's hands.

Remember: you can choose your friends, but not your relative.
 
I believe that it will hold up well in normal day-to-day usage, but any hard use, unless closely monitored will be dangerous. It is also very lefty unfriendly, as almost any use will disengage the lock. Buyer beware!

I had and used mine for 2 years, and never had a problem and was even able to put it to use cutting hot shingles in the desert sun.

DD
 
I love mine and carried it daily for several months.

But, I did the stupid thing and loosened the blade tension (I really like loose blade action). It opened up in my pocket and I was fortunate to only receive a mild cut that was a real bleeder.

I tighted back up the pivot bolt and have had no similar problems.
 
I often carry my CRKT KISS to work (it is a "no weapons" facility staffed by poorly trained security personel who would classify a BM705 as a "weapon"). I consider my CRKT KISS safe for very light duty cutting. I would not use it for anything that would require a more advanced grip than thumb and two fingers. I carry it clipped to the front pocket of my jeans. I do NOT consider it safe to be loose in a pocket nor do I consider it safe to use as a money clip.
 
i had a kiss when they forst came to be.... It was a breezy night... much like tonight. All was well for many moons... THEN... the breeze did blow....... I was opening cement bags and [SHREIK] cut the crap outta myself. lock failYER majorus. like all said... as a toy its fun to flick, but as a knife it aint worth .....much. neat toy. itsa good letter opener.
 
It's essentially a great candidate for the POS Forum. It's okay as long as you never carry or use it.

The others above have said it all. The lock unlocks easily with counter-clockwise torque, it can open in your pocket, it offers all sorts of opportunities to slash yourself. Why would you want a knife like this when there are so many better/safer knives around? :barf:
 
Hello to all. I'm a sharp edge obsessive from my youth (BSA) till now (Surgeon) and so when my wife asked for a small knife to carry in her purse to cut thread or open boxes I got her a Peck. The design made her uncomfortable and when she found it open in her purse (without injury)she quickly abandoned it. She is much more comfortable with the small Swiss Army key chain knife.
All the best
Bill Daniel
 
I own a kiss and gave my daughter a peck. Neither knife has failed us but we do not use them for any heavy duty work. They mostly open boxes and cut string etc.
The peck is good for my daughter cause it is small and fits anywhere. With these kids today and there tight jeans and stuff and 5 in lockback wouldnt fit in her pocket.
Me I found that I didnt like the chisel grind. I open a lot of mail cut paper etc and the grind cuts at a angle. I was cutting my mail as well as the enevelopes.
Reading the stories about the knife opening in ones pocket and closing on ones hand does make me concerned. But I am trying to figure out how the knife closed on ones hand if it was being used properly. ? If used like a slipjoint then the pressure should be against the lock and not on the back of the knife.
It must of been that the knife got twisted in his hand and he was actually closing the knife on itself. Still, the idea of a lock it to keep the knife open and not let that happen.
Good luck
Jack
 
by virture of the exposed locking mechanism, it's function is inherently inadequate for most of the functions a "locking" knife may be called to use.

A locking knife is called upon to be able to perform cutting tasks that one would not expect a slipjoint to perform. Furthermore, most lockback mechanisms, once disengaged, no longer has any substantial force keeping the blade open. A slipjoint will still have some sort of spring and friction force keeping the blade open.

Is twisting the knife during use wrong?
No; especially for a locking knife.

Is the KISS a good knife?
Yes, it cuts

Is the KISS a good locking knife?
No, the lock functions well if the knife is used one way, but fails if used another.

Is the KISS a good knife to use in the real world?
No, in real world use, it seems to fail miserably.

I certainly hope that people who continue to use the KISS never have an accident with it, but I would also urge that they not wait for one to happen before switching to a better knife.
 
I was opening a Supersoaker (giant squirtgun) package at a six year old's birthday party (no beer involved). I was trying to cut a zip tie to release the toy from it's packaging. The reason I was the one doing this is because all my friends know that I always have a knife handy, (except days like tomorrow when I'll be in airports all day) so the kid and his mom brought the Supersoaker to me to be liberated.

As to your concerns about the knife closing if used properly, try this. Hold any old folding knife in your right hand. Now position your index finger along the spine of the blade, so as to have better control while working with the tip. On most blades this is a perfectly safe hold, I've used it for many years when I want a little better tip control for fine work. Now try this with a KISS. You'll find that your right thumb rests right on the lock bar. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until I squeezed the knife for a sure grip and atttempted to use the front portion of my KISS Tanto blade to push cut the zip tie and free the imprisoned Supersoaker. To my surprise (as well as my wife's surprise and the other couple who were staring at my hands while I opened the package) the lock released and the knife folded right up on my exposed middle finger. I was totally shocked as I'd used this same cut many times with my tanto bladed small CS Voyager. The simple act of trying to hold the knife securely exerted enough lateral pressure on the lock to disengage it. I always keep all my knives shaving sharp and so when it cut me, I looked at the finger and knew immediately that it was off to the ER.

To my surprise, the Dr. told me that a couple stiches would not fix my injury as I'd severed 60% of the extensor tendon that runs down the back of my middle finger. After a little micro surgery (two hours) I was treated to six weeks with my dominant hand in a cast to immobilize my finger while the tendon healed. The only positive thing to come out of this is that I now know that I can write almost legibly with my left hand if I have to.

Could I have sued, possibly, but I'm not the litigeous type. But I am a long time knife user and would put myself in the advanced user catagory and I hadn't caught this design "flaw" until it bit me. I wonder how many others out there have been bitten by the KISS?

As an interesting aside, I had originally seen the KISS with one of my customers. I thought it a cool money clip so I bought one a few days later. My incident happened within a couple weeks of purchase, and the first time I'd tried to use it for more than opening mail. A few days after the incident, I was on the phone with that same customer and said," hey, remember that KISS knife you showed me?" and before I could tell him my saga, he said," oh, yeah. I stopped carrying that thing because it closed on me a couple times, luckily I didn't get cut bad".

Try that hold with yours and do a forward push cut and see what happens.

jmx
 
JMX
I am going to go home tonight and play around with it and give it a good once over. I might have to buy a new knife for my daughter ( she actually gets a new knife every christmas ). She has a pretty good collection going.
Anyway, I am not trying to stick up for the Kiss knife, I just haven't had any problems with itand I thought it was a pretty cool design. Truefully,I dont use it much now cause I didnt like the the grind and the way it cuts things. I usually carry either a crkt mirage (warncliff blade ) that I really like or a 3 blade trapper by schrade ( it doesnt offend my customers when I pull it out to open a envelope or take out a staple) .
If I had to tell a story about knifes opening in a pocket it would be a orion chive. It opened 3 times on me I sent it back to the factory 2 times and it still isnt right. The safety on is is cut just a hair short and the blade slips by it. Kershaw blew me off so it sits in my drawer now.
anyway I'll catch ya on the next discussion.
Jack
 
I didn't mean to come off like I was offended. Whenecver I see a post about the KISS, I chime in with the hopes of saving someone else a painful lesson.

I'm curious as to what you find when you try the index on top hold.

jmx
 
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