All About Pocket Knives

Not many reviews comes from the normal knife guy. So I thought I would try my hand at it. Background I worked at a Toyota Engine and Transmission plant and retired in 2019 at the age of 55 that was the earliest the company would allow it. I worked for 5 years in the gear department of this plant that had at the time 4 heat treat ovens, so I could write a book on working steel before heat treat and after heat treat, and the constant of measuring Rockwell hardness. When making gears (ring gear and pinion gears) most of the work on those come after heat treat, but on internal transmission shafts (UD shaft) most of the work is pre heat treat. Any boring (drilling of oil cavities or any hole) is done prior to heat treatment. But all grinding and smoothing is done after heat treatment. Not all, but general rule of thumb. Except for threads, that happens after heat treat with a induced hardener machine that reheats and threads to allow one piece of steel to have more than one Rockwell hardness in different areas.

Also the rest of my time there until I retired was spent driving forklift, much easier job and perfect for me for last 15 years leading up to retirement. After I retired from Toyota I in last 3 years have partnered up in a gun shop, tactical shop. That I do sell knives from, but the shop is very limited in space, and it’s tough for me to give knife customers the attention while there because firearms are what most people are there for. But more a space problem than anything else.

But more than that I’m just a guy that loves guns and knives and use them as most everyone on this forum.

One of my customers asked me to give review on a knife he had questions about, so I said ok here it is.


CRKT Tuna funny he wanted me to review a knife in a version I can’t get, it’s a BLADEHQ exclusive but I’m fine with it. The version of this knife that my distributor offers I’ll mention at the end but different blade steel, and handle color….


CRKT Tuna comes with a D2 blade and stonewashed finished spear point plain edge. Duel thumb stud, point up carry. This knife is designed by Lucas Burnley, it is clean lines and no corners to it most all rounded seems one arch angle when opened from tip to heel. Lanyard slot, and a rock solid lock that’s machined in the stainless frame of the knife. Very good feeling pocket clip, with only one position and that is tip up. It’s a knife that has two different sides, the G10 scales and the stainless back frame makes one side grippy and other side slick.

Sharpness from box will cut phone book paper, but I strop it and it’s very sharp now. D2 should hold edge well. Dimensions 7.625” overall open, 3.25” blade length and the width 1.25” and .15” thickness handle width .430 and it weighs 3.8 oz.

This knife in the version that I can get would be $50 so that gives a idea of cost.
Fit and finish are very good, as China has made major strides in quality. I’m giving this knife a 8/10 score, I’ll update it in a few weeks.
Sorry about the long wind of this review.
Jamie

Jamie, I found it very interesting to hear about your career, and thank you for sharing! I wish that I knew more about tempering steel, as you obviously do. I've started doing a little bit of welding with a wire (flux core) welder to fill in the depressions worn in springs and replacing lost metal on blade tangs. The next step for me will be to learn how to retemper the blades and springs before I reassemble the knives. Hopefully, I can find a simple, easy way to do this. And, I have to say, you did a great review of that knife!

I too dabbled with stuff I wish I knew more about…. I do mig I have miller 211, I do tig just got it, am trying to master and my favorite toy I mean tool is my hypertherm 45 plasma cutter….just learning on it also….I can cut stuff I never knew was possible…my next toy is going to be a plasma table to use the plasma cutter with a laptop to make more stuff I don’t need. But heat treating is a tough home hobby setup, so many variables….like air temp, humidity, and just silly luck….I’ve had on more than one occasion got rakes stuck in the ovens… 12 hours oven to cool down and then half a day cleaning melted gears from the oven and then 8 more hours getting it back up to operating temperatures.

The simple man in his garage has hard time keeping temps consistent to allow good results, heck some manufacturer facilities can’t get it right.

About the review of the Tuna, the second I hit submit something was digging in my head…..and it hit me, almost to the millimeter it’s a copy of the Kershaw 1776 Link…..the Kershaw being USA made, but the CRKT has a much better steel over the 420HC Kershaw….

Cool review and background, Jamie. That CRKT reminds me of the Zero Tolerance 0566 Hinderer that I have and customized, but probably at a fraction of the cost.

Well no shock on the look alike…Zero Tolerance owns Kershaw and the Kershaw link is so closely to the Tuna it’s looks to me copyright infringement…. The Kershaw is spring assist CRKT is not but the Tuna has better blade material….I would sell the standard Tuna around $50 I have a new Kershaw Link in stock, and it too is around $50 with its standard blade material. I carry the Link for a couple years I like it, it’s somewhat heavy but it flips very easy and never have I had it not lock. It’s low end blade metal I think it’s 420HC but man can you sharpen it to a mirror edge. I’m trying to narrow what brands of knives I carry, with my distributor carrying over 620 brands, you can’t keep up on them. I am looking to have 6-8 Asian brands of folders and fixed I want 6-8 USA manufacturer brands. Some companies cover all like Spyderco they have China Japan and USA and maybe Taiwan also. But I have to get what knives I’m going to continue to stock in the gun shop and online sales down to a point to where you know all the specs.

That’s a reason I’m having other people review knives that I feel are value, me including want the most high tech knife and blade material on the market, but it’s still a knife, a tool. I think my grandpa got more out of a old case trapper with CV blades than I can get from modern knives, he would keep it sharp by just by wet stone a couple times a week. But he used it for everything.

Jamie

Nice!

John

That's one of the good things, about being owned by the same company. You share your book of designs/technology across the board, and don't have to worry about copyright infringement.
Case 'n point:
Kershaw Natrix
ZT 0777