This review provoked me to get one; couldn't really go too far wrong at the price. I have adopted it for EDC for several weeks and I am loving this thing! I've used it for light paper and box cutting, food prep, skinning, and even a little light wood processing and it has breezed through every task like a champ. It takes an edge easily and holds it well, and judging from the stab wound I accidentally gave myself in a moment of carelessness, it would do just fine as a defensive weapon of last resort. It has taken over as my go-to EDC knife. This is a coup in my little world, because prior to this I was sold on small fixed blades for EDC (I prefer their strength, durability, and versatility) and the only folders I carried were multitools or folding box cutters. Easily one of the best blade bargains I've ever got!
I just bought one today, got it for $15. This thing is a beast. It makes my CRKT M1 look puny. Its 8CR14MOV. I put it though hell today and she kept sharp and kept on tickin. Now this thing will become one of my primaries in my EDC rotation with my Benchmades.
Hey Chris - thx for another great review. Ordered it last night off of amazon and got it today. First off, what a beast of a knife, second, cant beat the price...I've only had it for barely two hours but it's already one of my favorites...thx again for the review and recommendation - keep up the great work!
I recently had one of these in my wish list on Amazon as well, for about 5 months. I had one back in 2001 too and loved the damn thing. It was big, rowdy, and you couldn't kill it. Today I finally succumbed and bought it again. Some say it's too big for EDC and I say it is...if you wear pajama bottoms every day. I wear jeans/jean shorts or camo shorts, and to me it's not too big and/or too heavy at all. And I'm a massive 5'7" 180lbs lol. Seriously though, great knife and great review.
Great Review, I went and got one. Don't think there is a better knife for the money! As far as the steel it is 8CR14MoV. Benchmade says "8Cr14MoV: A Chinese steel with similar performance characteristics to AUS-8. An excellent value priced steel for its performance". Other owners say Its about like AUS-8, maybe a bit harder. Its easier to sharpen than VG10 or S30V and it has about 80% of the edge retention qualities. It takes a very keen edge but doesn't hold it very long. Thanks for the review
Because my personal belief is folders serve one purpose... cutting. Not batoning, not digging, and certainly not prying. How well they cut depends largely on the user. I sharpen my own fixed blades, but let Rivers Edge Cutlery sharpen my folders. I could do some light field sharpening if I had to, but I like a clean edge and not grinding the tip off. I don't buy into the whole "cab your folder pry open a tank" thing. Heavy work goes to the fixed blades.
I got the 6783 Krawford Kasper.. bought it here in Toronto for over $100 in the year 2001, I think. But the lower half of my knife is serrated and the metal has a black faint tint to it. Great knife. Still sharp after all these years.
Just got mine in today Tan with a Satan blade WoW very nice knife! Weather you have big or small hands it's still feel's really good in the hand! I am impressed thanks for the heads up and the video. I really like these good brand budget friendly knife's! AWESOME!! Thank you SO Chris! I paid for those who want to know $18.60 With Free shipping and bought it on Ebay.
This knife is great! Everyone has thier own onion as far as an EDC goes (mine a Zero Tolerance 0566) great knife as well. However this is just nice strong quality for such a low price i got this for $12 bucks on ebay. I love it! Great recommendation.......
There seem to be many different production runs on this knife, I have one and I do like it even though I paid much more here in Europe. I don't have it around at the moment, but I'm pretty sure my blade is stamped 420hc or 440c for the steel or something like that, I do have the half-serrated version though, so perhaps that makes a difference in terms of when, where and from which steel it was produced. Too bad any knife that can be opened with one hand and also locks can't be legally carried in Germany where I live.
Have never understood why CRKT never produced a more advanced version. Upgraded this knife could compete with Spyderco's PM2. Carried one of these 20plus years. Love the Veff serrations, they would also be a great addition. Currently carry Spydercos.
I had one of these as my only EDC for a couple years until I snagged the pocket clip on a door frame and ripped it completely off the knife. Not sure if they changed it or not but the clip screws didn't go into the metal liners, just the handle scales. The holes were totally stripped out after that so I couldn't put the clip back on. Other than that is was a great knife. As for the clip, tip down for me but I can't fathom why any knife these days does not have a 4-position clip.
Bought this one because of the review, got the Satin finish on Amazon. Nice! Nice Knife for the Money! Use this knife as an EDC & use your Cold Steel Espada as your hope you never have to use it knife!!
Damn dude. Thanks to you I just bought this knife and an Ontario utilitac 2. Needed another knife fix after getting an endura 4 in zome green last week and yesterday got my zt 909 in the mail. So four knives in two weeks. That oughta hold me till next month!
The big CK Folder is the best knife CRKT discontinued. The basic cheap Zytel one is a monster. An unreal camp knife you’d absolutely want with you in any serious situation. I’m pretty sure you could run one over in a truck and it would work fine still.
I ammmm, getting this knife. I'm glad you had a review on this because I was wondering what it was and if it's good.. found it in the fixed blade section on a website here in Australia lol
Hi! Congratulations about your reviews! I' ve been looking a good bf~tactical~edc~on a budget folder and finally, after quite some time, I'd like to ask for your advice: between this crkt and that ontario utilitac II by Joe Pardue that you've already reviewed, which one do you reccomend?
The steel in these originally was AUS-6, when they were made in Taiwan. Now, they are made in China and 8CR13, or 8CR13MoV a Chinese version of AUS-8, and some say-better than AUS-8, due to the chemical makeup (addition of Vanadium mainly is what would improve it. It also has Molybdenum, whether AUS-8 did, I am unsure at the moment-my steel charts are upstairs) I am not so worried about the different steels as I am wondering if the Chinese-made version would compare to the Taiwanese-made version. Taiwan usually had better quality overall, as compared to China, this I have proven to myself many times over. Hmm, a test perhaps?
Thanks for the review on this EDC semi-tactical blade. Is that a top button lower liner lock compression lock. That's freakin' cool. I like the blade design also Chris. We think alike..... (laughing) I like the ed130abc-xyz steel too...
Thanks for the review. I just bought one of these because as a collector I have a lot of more expensive knives I would rather not use for everyday cutting. I also agree about blackened or coated blades. For one thing I had a 300+ Microtech with camo coating,I made two cuts on a thick leather strap and it's scarred for life. The Kasper/Crawford I bought has the coated blade but for 20 bucks no lost sleep.Couldn't find a plain edge non coated. Thanks again,good review.
Well here is what I found on Amazon. CRKT Crawford Kasper. 5 3/8" closed linerlock. 3 7/8" partially serrated 8Cr14MoV stainless modified drop point blade. Black Zytelï¾® handles. Lanyard hole. Stainless pocket clip.
Codie Kennedy I know it is a little late for responding but DO not by Hammond Cruiser! This one (Kasper) is far, far better than the Hammonds Garbage Cruiser! I did buy my first Hammond for three years ago and I was stupid to go ahead and purchased four more! It stated it is going to be discontinued and my first impression was real good, but...., in four out of five the blade centering went way off!! Two loosened the detent! All of them just within a couple weeks of light use! It is why Hammond got discontinued and Kasper is still in production!
I had mine some time ago, proven extremely well for its price. Mine was labeled as AUS6 steel, ok stuff for outdoors, mediocore on cardboard, I think I will purchase it again sometimes. A bit too heavy for me though.
Knives and More Blade HQ and amazon agree with you stating 8CR14MoV, really is a beast of a knife i have acouple one in my truck and the other in the side pouch of my rucksack. Can not go wrong for the price.
Bigbobg yes, you are right. But in my opinion the new Chinese one is as good (if not better) as the older Taiwan made one. The new stamp on the pocket clip looks kind of cocky!
I bought one after watching this. Great knife at a great price. How can you go wrong for this money. I have the satin one but prefer the black coated one as I live in a wet horrible shit hole of a country 😂
At that price the mystery steel is kind of its own feature :-) Everything I have read says 3 3/4 in blade not 4, but I dont own one - yet. Doesnt rust in Ohio? - the summers out there are humid as hell! Thanks for the review.
Hey PM101 how is it that you have not reviewed the classic and proven Buck 110??? So much knife nerding and no nod to the 110. All these other knives are just attempts to keep people spending money. If it ain't broke...
My dad bought me this knife roughly 20 years ago and it is still going strong! Thanks for sharing.
This review provoked me to get one; couldn't really go too far wrong at the price. I have adopted it for EDC for several weeks and I am loving this thing! I've used it for light paper and box cutting, food prep, skinning, and even a little light wood processing and it has breezed through every task like a champ. It takes an edge easily and holds it well, and judging from the stab wound I accidentally gave myself in a moment of carelessness, it would do just fine as a defensive weapon of last resort. It has taken over as my go-to EDC knife. This is a coup in my little world, because prior to this I was sold on small fixed blades for EDC (I prefer their strength, durability, and versatility) and the only folders I carried were multitools or folding box cutters. Easily one of the best blade bargains I've ever got!
I have had this knife since 2004. Carried it everyday till last September. I love it.
I just bought one today, got it for $15. This thing is a beast. It makes my CRKT M1 look puny. Its 8CR14MOV. I put it though hell today and she kept sharp and kept on tickin. Now this thing will become one of my primaries in my EDC rotation with my Benchmades.
$15? Now that's a deal! Hope you got more than one at that price!
Hey Chris - thx for another great review. Ordered it last night off of amazon and got it today. First off, what a beast of a knife, second, cant beat the price...I've only had it for barely two hours but it's already one of my favorites...thx again for the review and recommendation - keep up the great work!
I recently had one of these in my wish list on Amazon as well, for about 5 months. I had one back in 2001 too and loved the damn thing. It was big, rowdy, and you couldn't kill it. Today I finally succumbed and bought it again. Some say it's too big for EDC and I say it is...if you wear pajama bottoms every day. I wear jeans/jean shorts or camo shorts, and to me it's not too big and/or too heavy at all. And I'm a massive 5'7" 180lbs lol. Seriously though, great knife and great review.
I own 2 of them been carrying them for 2 years and they are great budget EDC knives.
I own this knife my self, it definitely is a definite beast....definitely definitely definitely.
Great Review, I went and got one. Don't think there is a better knife for the money! As far as the steel it is 8CR14MoV.
Benchmade says "8Cr14MoV: A Chinese steel with similar performance characteristics to AUS-8. An excellent value priced steel for its performance".
Other owners say Its about like AUS-8, maybe a bit harder. Its easier to sharpen than VG10 or S30V and it has about 80% of the edge retention qualities. It takes a very keen edge but doesn't hold it very long.
Thanks for the review
Because my personal belief is folders serve one purpose... cutting. Not batoning, not digging, and certainly not prying. How well they cut depends largely on the user. I sharpen my own fixed blades, but let Rivers Edge Cutlery sharpen my folders. I could do some light field sharpening if I had to, but I like a clean edge and not grinding the tip off. I don't buy into the whole "cab your folder pry open a tank" thing. Heavy work goes to the fixed blades.
I got the 6783 Krawford Kasper.. bought it here in Toronto for over $100 in the year 2001, I think. But the lower half of my knife is serrated and the metal has a black faint tint to it. Great knife. Still sharp after all these years.
Just got mine in today Tan with a Satan blade WoW very nice knife! Weather you have big or small hands it's still feel's really good in the hand! I am impressed thanks for the heads up and the video. I really like these good brand budget friendly knife's! AWESOME!! Thank you SO Chris! I paid for those who want to know $18.60 With Free shipping and bought it on Ebay.
Just got mine today. Came razor sharp. I see why you like it. Not bad at all, in fact, for the money it is Great!
This knife is great! Everyone has thier own onion as far as an EDC goes (mine a Zero Tolerance 0566) great knife as well. However this is just nice strong quality for such a low price i got this for $12 bucks on ebay. I love it! Great recommendation.......
There seem to be many different production runs on this knife, I have one and I do like it even though I paid much more here in Europe. I don't have it around at the moment, but I'm pretty sure my blade is stamped 420hc or 440c for the steel or something like that, I do have the half-serrated version though, so perhaps that makes a difference in terms of when, where and from which steel it was produced. Too bad any knife that can be opened with one hand and also locks can't be legally carried in Germany where I live.
it grabbed my attention the first time i saw the picture. got mine brand new less than 19.00 at ebay. worth every damn dollar. good review!
Have never understood why CRKT never produced a more advanced version. Upgraded this knife could compete with Spyderco's PM2. Carried one of these 20plus years. Love the Veff serrations, they would also be a great addition. Currently carry Spydercos.
I have the tan handle with the tan blade and love it. Biggest folder I have actually.
You can also get it with a tan handle and satin finish blade. That looks like a really nice knife.
I had one of these as my only EDC for a couple years until I snagged the pocket clip on a door frame and ripped it completely off the knife. Not sure if they changed it or not but the clip screws didn't go into the metal liners, just the handle scales. The holes were totally stripped out after that so I couldn't put the clip back on. Other than that is was a great knife. As for the clip, tip down for me but I can't fathom why any knife these days does not have a 4-position clip.
I'll agree with you on that point. To make it sillier, there is a lanyard hole at the butt end, but the clip is at the top. WTF?
Kuan Lee grips are Zytel. You cannot break it. Ground drop repeatedly will not harm it other than friction marks from dropping.
Bought this one because of the review, got the Satin finish on Amazon. Nice! Nice Knife for the Money! Use this knife as an EDC & use your Cold Steel Espada as your hope you never have to use it knife!!
Sometimes, mystery steel is pretty good. Look at that Mtech Trailmaster clone. $20 and will take a ridiculous beating.
Damn dude. Thanks to you I just bought this knife and an Ontario utilitac 2. Needed another knife fix after getting an endura 4 in zome green last week and yesterday got my zt 909 in the mail. So four knives in two weeks. That oughta hold me till next month!
The big CK Folder is the best knife CRKT discontinued. The basic cheap Zytel one is a monster. An unreal camp knife you’d absolutely want with you in any serious situation. I’m pretty sure you could run one over in a truck and it would work fine still.
Good video I've had mine since 1999
I have the FDE model. Love it.
June Lewis what's the FDE model?
It look better than the RAT 1. can you do a comparison review?
Chris how come you don't demonstrate these knives line you do the axe and tomahawk vids?
I EDC a Becker BK15, fuck yeah!
For the same or lower price, I like the Hammond Cruiser and even more the Kershaw Tremor.
Thats what I figured. Thanks. I'll add that in annotation.
I ammmm, getting this knife. I'm glad you had a review on this because I was wondering what it was and if it's good.. found it in the fixed blade section on a website here in Australia lol
Cheers Chris, just bought it.
Hi! Congratulations about your reviews! I' ve been looking a good bf~tactical~edc~on a budget folder and finally, after quite some time, I'd like to ask for your advice: between this crkt and that ontario utilitac II by Joe Pardue that you've already reviewed, which one do you reccomend?
Is this spring assisted I can't carry a spring assisted in my state
The steel in these originally was AUS-6, when they were made in Taiwan. Now, they are made in China and 8CR13, or 8CR13MoV a Chinese version of AUS-8, and some say-better than AUS-8, due to the chemical makeup (addition of Vanadium mainly is what would improve it. It also has Molybdenum, whether AUS-8 did, I am unsure at the moment-my steel charts are upstairs) I am not so worried about the different steels as I am wondering if the Chinese-made version would compare to the Taiwanese-made version. Taiwan usually had better quality overall, as compared to China, this I have proven to myself many times over. Hmm, a test perhaps?
Rivers Edge, so you're from around Columbus, right on. I've been going there for years.
I picked up a crkt m-21 it is a huge knife also thats a cool blade thanks for the review
Well.. the price is right. I don't mind the black blade so much.
Thanks for the review on this EDC semi-tactical blade. Is that a top button lower liner lock compression lock. That's freakin' cool. I like the blade design also Chris. We think alike..... (laughing) I like the ed130abc-xyz steel too...
i love this knife! i got mine this week!
I love this knife. The lock is alot better than the autolawk
Thanks for the review. I just bought one of these because as a collector I have a lot of more expensive knives I would rather not use for everyday cutting.
I also agree about blackened or coated blades. For one thing I had a 300+ Microtech with camo coating,I made two cuts on a thick leather strap and it's scarred for life.
The Kasper/Crawford I bought has the coated blade but for 20 bucks no lost sleep.Couldn't find a plain edge non coated.
Thanks again,good review.
Well here is what I found on Amazon. CRKT Crawford Kasper. 5 3/8" closed linerlock. 3 7/8" partially serrated 8Cr14MoV stainless modified drop point blade. Black Zytelï¾® handles. Lanyard hole. Stainless pocket clip.
I just ordered it on Amazon and I didn't have a choice resides the gray coating thing with a fine edge. Ha the coating that bad?!?!
have you ever had a Hammond cruiser and if so which do you prefer
Codie Kennedy I know it is a little late for responding but DO not by Hammond Cruiser! This one (Kasper) is far, far better than the Hammonds Garbage Cruiser! I did buy my first Hammond for three years ago and I was stupid to go ahead and purchased four more! It stated it is going to be discontinued and my first impression was real good, but...., in four out of five the blade centering went way off!! Two loosened the detent! All of them just within a couple weeks of light use! It is why Hammond got discontinued and Kasper is still in production!
just got mine...big knife,small price. Love it :)
Just ordered one my self!
After this review I "Definitely" bought one. :)
Thanks Chris.....
I had mine some time ago, proven extremely well for its price. Mine was labeled as AUS6 steel, ok stuff for outdoors, mediocore on cardboard, I think I will purchase it again sometimes. A bit too heavy for me though.
Thank you, I have one it was my EDC.
8Cr14MoV Stainless
AWESOME
Found this info about the steel 8Cr14MoV.
bladehq said it was aus6 steel
I just found that the other day! I have an Ontario SP50, Id like to see how they compare.
according to the amazon description it's made of AUS 6M steel… not 8CrMovqrstuvwxyz ;)
if you want tip-up carry , use a lanyard.
Literally just bough this minutes after watching this review...hope it's legit. Thanks for the review dude!
8Cr14MoV that`s the steel :)
that swedge that you think is aesthetic is functional. -for plunging the blade in with less resistance.
Nice knife. Thank you
The steel is 8cr14mov
Knives and More Blade HQ and amazon agree with you stating 8CR14MoV, really is a beast of a knife i have acouple one in my truck and the other in the side pouch of my rucksack. Can not go wrong for the price.
$18 and change on eBay from ecap USA
I paid about $40 for mine when they were made in Taiwan. Now that they are made in China they are $18-$19 on eBay.
Bigbobg yes, you are right. But in my opinion the new Chinese one is as good (if not better) as the older Taiwan made one. The new stamp on the pocket clip looks kind of cocky!
Looks god sir !
I bought one after watching this. Great knife at a great price. How can you go wrong for this money.
I have the satin one but prefer the black coated one as I live in a wet horrible shit hole of a country 😂
At that price the mystery steel is kind of its own feature :-) Everything I have read says 3 3/4 in blade not 4, but I dont own one - yet. Doesnt rust in Ohio? - the summers out there are humid as hell! Thanks for the review.
Hey PM101 how is it that you have not reviewed the classic and proven Buck 110??? So much knife nerding and no nod to the 110. All these other knives are just attempts to keep people spending money. If it ain't broke...
Adam R I wanted a 20£ knife bucks 50
Osama bin liftin 27 at Wal-Mart :) which I find odd bc the standard model goes for 40 plus on eBay
It's 8cr13mov
My credit card company thanks you
8cr14mov buddy.
mind will be here Wed.5-11-16
Yea its on amazon now, 8cr.....looks like a beast but i think ima get a emerson CQC-6K. Not too big for bitches to start running.
hi from spain i have this knife it,s very good thanks.
Carried this knife through my Iraq deployment
no thanks...I hate the clip. its on the wrong end
How does this compare to the SURVIVOR? Is it on the same page or not so much? Thx!