I’ve been following the CRKT company almost since their humble beginnings. CRKT was started by two former executives from another knife company. These days one of the founders now owns CRKT. And, we’ve been friends for a lot of years, even though neither one of us will admit we are friends. That is an ongoing joke between us.
I’ve never ceased to be amazed how big CRKT has grown over the years from just a few designs to their many new designs every year. As a bit of a disclaimer, CRKT produced one of my designs some years ago, the OC3. This was a collaboration between myself and custom knife make/designer Brian Wagner – I designed the OC3 and Brian made the prototype, it was a double-edged fighting knife – sadly it only lasted on the market for a little more than two years. In ay event, I have no vested interest in CRKT, and they know that I don’t pull any punches in my testing of their products.
Before I started writing about firearms, knives, and sundry survival products, I was sure that many companies paid writers to feature their products in magazine articles. At least in my case, this has never happened. I did have one big-name firearms company threaten to sue me if my article ran in a gun magazine. But that never happened. I was more than fair in my review, and even sent the handgun back three times to see if this company could make it “right.” They never did – and I’m happy to say, my then-editor at the time ran my article as is. Of course, it was a lot of years before that gun company would send me gun samples again. Apparently, those in-charge moved on and my persona non grata status was all forgotten when new people moved into those vacant positions.
A Taiwan Invasion?
With the way the world is headed these days, we are surely headed into a world war, where nukes will be used – just my two cents worth. To be sure, many companies in the USA have been having their products made in China – mostly because of cost savings. Taiwan is another company being used to produce products, especially for many knife companies. Anyone who pays attention to the news will know that China is ready to invade Taiwan, and this is bad news for many American companies having products made there, especially knife companies. If China does indeed Invade Taiwan it will be a bloody mess in international commerce. In that event, I predict that inexpensive knives will become extinct.
CRKT sees the handwriting on the wall, and they have produced their first all American-made knife. This is one knife anyone will want for their own collection or for daily use, once they’ve seen it. This folder is called the “Definitive Crossbar Lock.” It is a real beauty — a real eye-catcher, to be sure.
The Designer and The Steel
The Definitive Crossbar Lock was designed by custom knifemaker MJ Lerch, and some of the best steel was used. The 154CM used to be a steel that many custom knifemakers selected. Over the years, I’ve owned more than a few knives with 154CM and I was quite impressed by it. This steel held an edge a good long time and wasn’t especially difficult to re-sharpen. G-10 handle scales are used as well, once again, custom knifemakers have often used this – it was and still is fairly expensive to used. The blade is about 3.50 inches long – about perfect for an everyday carry folder.
We have ambidextrous thumb studs on the blade for easy opening – left or right-handed. There is a deep-carry pocket clip so, the entire set-up rides low in the pocket. The handle design is worth mentioning as well. When you pick up the knife it feels like a natural extension of your hand – no easy task to come up with this handle design. Then the blade itself – I’m not quite sure what to call it, it is sort of a drop point. However, it ends in a very sharp point – excellent!
This is an easy-opening folder – butter-smooth might describe it best – I like it. This folder can also be closed easily as well. This brings us to the main feature – and that is the crossbar lock. You don’t need to do anything to lock the blade open other than to just open it – and the crossbar lock automatically locks the blade in the open position. You can then just as easily press on the lock to close the blade.
My Practical Tests
I don’t do destructive testing on knives (or guns) any longer, because under the right circumstances just about anything can be broken. I’ve only had one fixed-blade knife – that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t break it….best I could do was dull that blade. In the case of the knife under review today, it was just too “pretty” to try and intentionally break it. However, I did a lot of my regular testing and it came through without any problems.
The knife easily cut through blackberry vines – live and dead ones, without any problems – one good swipe and they were cut in half. I sliced paper without any problems, and it takes a very sharp blade to do this, especially on a folding knife. The Definitive was scary sharp right out of box, and when it did finally start to dull, a minute on the Crox sticks brought the blade right back to factory sharp. One of the tests I often do is cutting through polymer rope, and if a blade isn’t super sharp, it slides right off this slick stuff, A lot of knives can’t hack it with this test. The folder has a plain edge, and it really bit into this poly rope. Task accomplished. I opened a lot of mail and much of it was thick cardboard boxes – and this will dull a blade really quickly. But again, no problems
The knife was even used round the kitchen for cutting meat and veggies – while not designed for this task, it really did a job on these things. Anytime something – anything – needed cutting I’d reach for this dandy folder, and it never left me down. I carried it in my right front pocket for over a month and forgot it was there because it is so lightweight. I love it!
Now, this test wasn’t really a test, but if you’ve carried a folder with a pocket clip in your front pocket, you will understand what I’m talking about. On many occasions, over the years, the pocket clip would catch on something, and it would either bend or completely break off the folder. I did have the Definitive catch on something a few times, and the stainless steel pocket clip did not break or bend in the least. Nice job, CRKT.
As Always, Shop Around
If you’ve ever purchased a CRKT knife you know that, if you shop around on the ‘net, that many of their knives are sold for a lot less than the advertised retail price. The Definitive has a retail price of $215 and if you ask me it is well worth every penny. We are talking about a USA-made folder that has everything on it that you’d expect from a knife of this quality. I’ve paid more in the past for custom-made folders that couldn’t compare to this folder – and I talking about prices at least a third more, but I didn’t get a knife that was half as good as this folder is. So take some time to shop around and get this knife – if you can find one – for a bit less than retail.
I easily fell in love with this folder. However, I do have one variant that I’d like to see made – and not just for me. I’ve suffered from a lot of years in the martial arts, and I have almost crippling osteo-arthritis in much of my body – my major complaint is in my lower back and both hands, especially my right hand. I don’t have the use of my right hand for a lot of things and one of my complaints is with typing. I simply have a lot of problems using some tools, like small Allen wrenches. And, then we have folding knives. I find it hard to operate folders with thumb studs, my mind tells my fingers to do one thing, and my fingers simply say “NO” – loud and clear. So, I’d like to see the CRKT Definitive offered in a variant with an assisted opening to it, and I’m sure a lot of people can agree with this.
In any event, I can get folders with thumb studs opening, but it now takes me a little longer. Then again, I’ve never been in a position, that required a “fast draw” of a folder from my pocket. Even though I’m officially an Old Guy, my mind is still halfway active and I’m aware of what is going on around me, and on more than one occasion, I saw trouble coming and had a knife out of my pocket in my hand, and it averted trouble.