Mt. Flushmore

Over on the Benchmade sub there is a tradition of posting the 4 knives that would be on your knife Mt. Rushmore. Somebody joked about a Mt. Flushmore, so presenting mine:

Starting with the Opinel No. 8, which I know is going to be controversial. Look, this thing was great in 1890–it’s pretty simple, cheap and locks. But today? No clip at all, two handed operation (or very awkward one-handed if you knock it hard enough), remarkably uncomfortable in my hands–there is nothing to recommend it except that it’s cheap and sharp, both of which also describe a box cutter.

Next is a Winchester serrated liner lock in “surgical” steel. Was given this knife in this condition, and there is nothing to recommend it. Tip down carry, rough action, cheap linerlock, questionable steel–even the serrations are terrible. A great example of a bad, cheap branded knife.

The CRKT Inara looks fine on paper: 8cr14mov (Chinese AUS-8), tip up carry, framelock with steel and g10 scales. But this has the second-worst opening action of any modern folder I have ever handled. I have no idea how CRKT managed to make this so hard to open using the thumbstud–I actually had two different examples and both shared the atrocious action. Something about the geometry of the pivot, combined with the ridiculous detent, makes this knife borderline unusable one-handed.

And not to pick on CRKT, but the K.I.S.S. Assist Tanto gets the award for the worst opening action I’ve ever handled on a knife. The exposed blade, questionable thumbstud lock, and spring action combine for a knife that feels like it’s going to cut the hand that opens it. I have never felt comfortable opening this knife. Other than that, tip down carry isn’t doing it any favors, nor does the exposed blade, common to all K.I.S.S. knives–I have nicked myself on the manual version while it was in my pocket. 3cr13mov (Chinese AUS-4) steel is mediocre, but the “carbon fiber” sticker is truly bad.

by PandaPunch42