Inkosi
- Thread starter DallasSTB
- Start date
Ok, I really want to try this without getting too long-winded which never happens. This is coming from a 21 lover and not necessarily the 25, minus the blade shape and grind. And really only after a few hours with the knife.
Right off the bat, sharpest CRK I've ever seen. They're really stepping up their game here. This edge rivals some of my edges I've put on other CRKs. Beautiful blade too, love the shape compared to a clip point 21. And the jimping which looks like the 25 is nowhere near as aggressive feeling and more like conventional 21 jimping in sharpness.
If you're used to a small 21 handle, and although the nominal difference is minor, it feels noticeably smaller in hand to me. IMO I feel if I took the clip off, I'd have a hard time hanging on to it, particularly when opening. I think the conventional grip (is that saber?) in the left hand is excellent (this is a right hand model and I'm a righty). That got me looking at the grooves more closely, noticing on the lock side of the knife, the index finger groove seems wider and more like the middle finger groove. Well that got me looking at the show side, and I think the tight radius inside the index finger groove that is more functional on the 25 is merely just used as a cutout for access to the stud on the Inkosi. If you ignore the cutout, you'll notice a wide index groove that fits that finger nicely giving a nice right handed grip with 4 fingers. This may be obvious to others, but it took me probably an hour handling the knife to really notice that detail. So maybe that was the design intention all along when we were questioning if the grooves would work. They do. Unfortunately though, the lanyard had to come off in the first few minutes because I did not like how it changed my grip and was overall uncomfortable.
The knife is crazy smooth in a way that feels a little different than a 21. The new huge washers are awesome. I think mine came a touch loose because the blade had the slightest touch of movement I could feel when checking for play. A very slight tightening of the pivot corrected this at the small expense of the original "freeness" of the action though it's not overly tight by any means now. I'll be checking to see if the pivot loosens itself any. I think the lack of a lanyard pin enables a slightly deeper carry than a small 21 also.
I've seen many ask where does this fit in to the lineup. Well, a lot of those same critics will say that the variety of the CRK lineup is lacking. IMO, this knife fits in well for just that...variety. I say that because it's NOT a Sebenza and you've already got the Mnandi near this size. This adds a stout little tank of a folder that is very different than those two. It has its own identity and just a totally different feel than a 21, from the smoothness to the sounds it makes, all in a good way. At this point, I plan to keep it although I won't make any promises just yet because I do love the 21 and am always trying to convince myself to get rid of uncarried knives or ones too similar to others I have, but it does add variety to what I have. But if you like small knives of exceptional quality, and/or you like CRK, and/or you want something that's a little unique or a little different, I recommend giving this one a shot.
Thanks for letting me ramble.
Right off the bat, sharpest CRK I've ever seen. They're really stepping up their game here. This edge rivals some of my edges I've put on other CRKs. Beautiful blade too, love the shape compared to a clip point 21. And the jimping which looks like the 25 is nowhere near as aggressive feeling and more like conventional 21 jimping in sharpness.
If you're used to a small 21 handle, and although the nominal difference is minor, it feels noticeably smaller in hand to me. IMO I feel if I took the clip off, I'd have a hard time hanging on to it, particularly when opening. I think the conventional grip (is that saber?) in the left hand is excellent (this is a right hand model and I'm a righty). That got me looking at the grooves more closely, noticing on the lock side of the knife, the index finger groove seems wider and more like the middle finger groove. Well that got me looking at the show side, and I think the tight radius inside the index finger groove that is more functional on the 25 is merely just used as a cutout for access to the stud on the Inkosi. If you ignore the cutout, you'll notice a wide index groove that fits that finger nicely giving a nice right handed grip with 4 fingers. This may be obvious to others, but it took me probably an hour handling the knife to really notice that detail. So maybe that was the design intention all along when we were questioning if the grooves would work. They do. Unfortunately though, the lanyard had to come off in the first few minutes because I did not like how it changed my grip and was overall uncomfortable.
The knife is crazy smooth in a way that feels a little different than a 21. The new huge washers are awesome. I think mine came a touch loose because the blade had the slightest touch of movement I could feel when checking for play. A very slight tightening of the pivot corrected this at the small expense of the original "freeness" of the action though it's not overly tight by any means now. I'll be checking to see if the pivot loosens itself any. I think the lack of a lanyard pin enables a slightly deeper carry than a small 21 also.
I've seen many ask where does this fit in to the lineup. Well, a lot of those same critics will say that the variety of the CRK lineup is lacking. IMO, this knife fits in well for just that...variety. I say that because it's NOT a Sebenza and you've already got the Mnandi near this size. This adds a stout little tank of a folder that is very different than those two. It has its own identity and just a totally different feel than a 21, from the smoothness to the sounds it makes, all in a good way. At this point, I plan to keep it although I won't make any promises just yet because I do love the 21 and am always trying to convince myself to get rid of uncarried knives or ones too similar to others I have, but it does add variety to what I have. But if you like small knives of exceptional quality, and/or you like CRK, and/or you want something that's a little unique or a little different, I recommend giving this one a shot.
Thanks for letting me ramble.
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I have loved my Inkosi. After taking it apart and putting it back together I fell even more in love with it. The thought behind this knife and the way it is built are just incredible to me!
https://flic.kr/p/DkQoCd https://www.flickr.com/photos/57703464@N02/
Looks great with the glock!
At first I considered removing the lanyard because it seemed a little awkwardly placed and stiff. Now that it has softened and broken in, I find it conforms and acts like an extension of the grip into my palm. If anyone is on the fence about removing it, you might want to give it a chance. Very comfortable Knife that seems bigger than it is in my opinion.
Just something I threw together in MS Paint, but I'd assume something could be done to curve it around the clip tip and run parallel to the clip whereas they normally run parallel to the lockbar. Oh yeah, and there's that slight little curve of the bevel along the spine of the handle on the lock side, another awesome touch I didn't notice till I started drawing this.
After Day 1 of carry, all I can say is don't make me choose between the Inkosi and my small plain jane 21 clip point because this knife has a more than great chance of winning out. Ask me again in 2 months, but this is a brute of a little knife, and the more I hold it, the more I love it. The small 21 is a very capable knife, but there's something about the Inkosi that makes it feel even more so. Maybe less elegance and more ass or something like that.
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Glock Guy
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2012
- Messages
- 1,573
I started down the CRK path backwards. My 1st was an Inkosi. I now have a Mnandi and a Small Sebenza 21.
I wanted a SMALL knife. Something that wouldn't scare people at work. Now that I have all 3 compared to the Inkosi they feel fragile. The Seb feels larger than I'd want to carry everyday.
One gripe I have is that the Inkosi seems a bit stubby to be a good fruit slicer.
Also, the Inkosi wasnt perfect from the 1st day I owned it. It didnt open the way I thought it should. I disassembled it a couple times, lubed it, but it ended up breaking in I guess because now its perfect.
The Mnandi and Seb were perfect out of the box.
I wanted a SMALL knife. Something that wouldn't scare people at work. Now that I have all 3 compared to the Inkosi they feel fragile. The Seb feels larger than I'd want to carry everyday.
One gripe I have is that the Inkosi seems a bit stubby to be a good fruit slicer.
Also, the Inkosi wasnt perfect from the 1st day I owned it. It didnt open the way I thought it should. I disassembled it a couple times, lubed it, but it ended up breaking in I guess because now its perfect.
The Mnandi and Seb were perfect out of the box.
Glock Guy
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2012
- Messages
- 1,573
I love my Inkosi, but have been kicking around the idea of picking up a Mnandi.
May I ask how the overall smoothness of the Mnandi compares to the Inkosi? I know the Inkosi feels smoother than the Small Seb I had a while back, and I'm assuming it's the detent ball setup like the Zaan. I don't have any experience with the Mnandi though.
I'm not a knife expert or anything. I just fell in love with these 3 and had to own them. In my opinion the Seb and Mnandi felt perfect and very smooth out of the box and the Inkosi did not. Now I don't prefer any over the other in terms of the, "smoothness"
The only thing I would say about the Mnandi is that it feels very very light. Much less intrusive than either the Inkosi or small Seb.
Functionally speaking I think the Mnandi is a better slicer as its just a much thinner blade and is slightly longer.
I wonder if the better smoothness out of box with the Seb and Mnandi is because they both have pivot bushings while the Inkosi doesn't and could've been tightened too much from factory. My Inkosi was very smooth out of box, but it wasn't tightened enough and I could feel a slight hint of play. I took it apart last night and cleaned and relubed but didn't apply loctite. There's still a tight window between having that ideal smoothness, or freeness really, and there being no play, which can change with the slightest turn of the wrench. I'm hoping everything will continue to break in and that "window" will open up a bit more.
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I know this may sound retarded but mine became perfect after I washed it in the sink with water. I wonder if maybe too much lube was causing my problem.
Disassembled and washed or just putting the knife under the faucet?
LOL, seriously I don't know if its terrible or not to get it wet in its pivot, but I disassembled it and re-lubed twice. It got a bit better. It then got better over time a bit.
But I randomly noticed it was perfect after I put it under a faucet because it got dirty. It may be totally unrelated and random. But I think thats what did it.
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2006
- Messages
- 896
I have had mine about two weeks and found that it took a little to break in. I cleaned and lightly lubed it when I got it (it was just dripping with grease). I opened and closed it constantly for a few days and it got smooth, but developed blade play as it broke in. I took it apart, cleaned and lightly lubed it again. It's working great and very smooth now. FYI: I cleaned all of the lube from the ball and detent, so the blade would get a polished track I think this adds to the smoothness.