It certainly went into hyperdrive! They are very expensive now. Even list price is nuts.
iMamba vs CRK in 2024
- Thread starter CHuynh22
- Start date
Jacques Mi
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2021
- Messages
- 727
Both of these runs on bronze washers and both have that great, smooth action. Both have a solid lockup with zero play or "rock". Both fits very well in the hand and both knives cuts so darn good with their hollow grind(s). Both also sit well and disappear in the pocket.
Both are GREAT knives yet they feel completely different.
Both are GREAT knives yet they feel completely different.
Tsujigiri
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2009
- Messages
- 2,865
Finally picked up one of these and I can see why people put them up with CRK. My CRK's are older, so I don't know if anything's changed. But the imamba feels as tight (actually was so tight that it was pretty tricky to get apart), and has a similar hydraulic action even though it's on bearings. The bearings are multi row, bronze, and recessed into the blade and handle so you can't see the balls from the side. They should be less susceptible to being gunked up and stronger due to the additional contact points, taking some of the best features of both washers and bearings? You can fail the flipper if you try to, but it's also easy to reliably get open. Definitely not a drop shut guillotine, it just works. It really does seem like a flipper with the CRK design ethos.
One thing I like about CRK is that you can't see any machining marks. I can see a few on the imamba, but it has more to do with the design than the fit and finish. CRK uses more corners and angles that hide marks, whereas I can see where the tool paused around the curves on the imamba. Also the blade shows some lines on the tang, but that's because the AB polish is much more polished than the CRK one. The sandblast is also a little finer on the imamba.
Also really like the oversized custom pivot, machined clip, flared spacer, and floating stop pin. The design is really sleek and graceful and it fits comfortably in the hand. It is between the large and small sebenza but feels more like the large. I'd say these are way underrated right now.
One thing I like about CRK is that you can't see any machining marks. I can see a few on the imamba, but it has more to do with the design than the fit and finish. CRK uses more corners and angles that hide marks, whereas I can see where the tool paused around the curves on the imamba. Also the blade shows some lines on the tang, but that's because the AB polish is much more polished than the CRK one. The sandblast is also a little finer on the imamba.
Also really like the oversized custom pivot, machined clip, flared spacer, and floating stop pin. The design is really sleek and graceful and it fits comfortably in the hand. It is between the large and small sebenza but feels more like the large. I'd say these are way underrated right now.
