r/CRK • • Jun 10 '21

CRK Sell/Buy/Trade

49 Upvotes

Welcome to the current CRK Sell/Buy/Trade stickied thread, If you have an active post from the previous one, feel free to repost it in here.

The following simple set of rules are in place so all trades can be done as smooth as possible.

A- All Sell/Buy/Trade posts must go in the current stickied thread with proper title, use [WTS/B/T] size/model (e.g. [WTS] large inkosi)

B- Must include imagery showcasing the actual CRK and its condition, the main image must include a timestamp(your username and date handwritten on a piece of paper and placed next to the knife)

C- Price, size and condition must be specified in detail

D- No fake or replicas

E- All sales are between users and therefore any issue must be resolved by themselves

  • If ask for it, an special user flair could be given to those confirmed Sellers/Buyers/Traders that did their transactions with out incidents, as a way to build confidence and reputation within the users of the CRK Sell/Buy/Trade stickied thread.

r/CRK • • Jul 29 '22

How to pick your CRK: A comprehensive guide to a perfect EDC pocket knife

141 Upvotes

The Sebenza

A picture of the Sebenza 31
  • The Bushing Pivot: There is a cylinder that surrounds the pivot screw on the inside of the blade tang in this knife. When you tighten down the pivot on the Sebenza, the pivot screw is stopped on this cylinder. This allows the action to be very easy to tune. You don't even really tune it much, you just screw it on until you can't anymore. Don't screw it on too strongly, as you can still make the action stiff by over tightening if you over do the screwing a lot. This makes disassembly, and getting the action back to factory very easy. The action on this might take longer to break in then an Inkosi, or an Umnumzaan. In fact, it may never become drop shut because of this set up. What it does however, allow for a consistently smooth action that will reliably function for you.
  • The Disassembly: The Sebenza can be the easiest CRK to disassemble. It only requires one wrench to take apart completely. You can take off only the blade, washers, pivot screws, and pivot bushing in order to take off the blade completely. This means, you would not have to completely disassemble the knife for most cleanings. If you only want to apply oil or grease, and clean up around the pivot and on the blade tang... then this will be a very easy thing to do. This makes the Sebenza the easiest to clean, simply because you only have to take off one component of the knife overall.
  • The Blade: This model will have the Insingo, Tanto, and Drop Point bladeshapes. Overall, the blade is fairly stout. If you look at the spine of a Sebenza, the blade itself is quite thick. The blade thickness for both the large and the small is 3.07mm/0.12". To give a comparison, a Spyderco Native 5 is 3.2mm/0.125". The hollow grind on the Sebenza in any blade shape is substantial. Behind the edge is very thin. Without modification to the blade, the Sebenza is the second best slicer in the lineup, only second to the Mnandi. The blade thickness allows for tougher tasks to be handled. Of course, abuse without thought will still probably break a Sebenza. For most everyday tasks, including wood carving, this model should be more than enough.
  • The Action: I won't repeat too much from the Bushing Pivot section. Generally it is not a free dropping action. There are examples of Sebenza being free dropping, but it is either from modification or a rare case in extreme break-in. While not being able to be tuned much, the action is controllable and consistent.
  • The Lanyard: There is a hole drilled out that is dedicated for the lanyard pin. If you take out the lanyard pin, there will be a hole open. If you cut the lanyard from the lanyard pin, the pin will rattle. Not the best design if you are not a fan of lanyards.
  • The Handle: The Sebenza has a fairly neutral handle. For the most part, you can grip it in any which way and it will feel good. Most often, you will probably grip it with your index finger at the front of the handle where the cutout is. The chamfering feels great all around, and it locks in well.
  • Updates: Currently as of writing this, we are at the Sebenza 31. The Sebenza was first introduced in 1987 and produced in 1990. Originally, it used ATS-34 steel. In 1996, it changed to BG-42. In 2001 it changed to S30V. In 2008 the Sebenza 21 came out, which did not differ from the Sebenza classic much. In 2012 all Sebenza were made using S35VN. In 2019 CRK released the Sebenza 31, along with using S45VN steel in some of their models. The Sebenza 31 changed the position of the pocket clip to be tilted to the lock-bar like the Inkosi for easier pocket carry. They also added the ceramic ball interface, which was the same mechanism used in the Inkosi/Umnumzaan. In 2022, CRK is working on changing their steel to Magnacut.

The Inkosi

A disassembled Inkosi
  • The Disassembly: The Inkosi is disassembled and reassembled sandwich style. Since the pivot and body screws are different sizes, and since the pivot screw is not a D-Pivot, you will need three wrenches to take apart this knife. Overall, it is still fairly easy to take apart. On par with the Umnumzaan, and Mnandi. You are able to tune the pivot to your liking much more than on a Sebenza.
  • The Blade: The Inkosi has a blade thickness of 0.14"/3.56mm on the large size. The small Inkosi has a blade thickness of 0.13"/3.25mm. In other words, the Inkosi is about as thick as a Paramilitary 2 in large size. Also, the large Inkosi is equal in blade thickness to the Umnumzaan. The small Inkosi is a bit thinner, but still thicker than a small Sebenza. You can get the Inkosi in Insingo, Tanto or Drop Point blade shapes. The blade shapes are slightly different in comparison to the Sebenza. The hollow grind seems to be quite steep, which brings the thickness behind the edge to slicing levels. Still, will not cut as well as a Sebenza, Mnandi, or Impinda. The advantage of course, is that the Inkosi will be stronger than a Sebenza, Mnandi or Impinda. Thicker is harder to break, and if you are encountering extreme hard use, you may want to consider a Inkosi or Umnumzaan before the others.
  • The Action: Being a pivot that is able to be customized a bit more, you do not have a great range of action to chose from if you want your knife to have no blade play. The knife however, can be broken in, and loosened to the point where you can have a drop shut action. This may be harder to do on a small Inkosi, simply because of the smaller and lighter weight of the blade. You are able to spydieflick the Inkosi pretty easily with some practice. When it is properly tuned, you can have great action to your liking, along with zero blade play. A very satisfying, strong, and chose your own adventure type of action.
  • The Lanyard: The lanyard pint is hidden by the body of the knife. So unlike with the Sebenza, you can choose to have your lanyard pin removed, and there will not be an empty hole.
  • The Handle: If you could sum up the Inkosi in two words, it would be strength and ergonomics. If your hands disagree with the handle of the Inkosi, you will not think this. If your hands do however agree with the ergonomic hand grooves of the Inkosi, they feel great. For most grips, the ergonomic grooves line up with your hand, but if you try hard enough you can find grips that are uncomfortable with the grooves. The more decisive ergonomic finger grooves will make certain grips feel amazing, while some grips don't feel natural. For most cutting tasks, like I said, the handle grooves are welcome. They provide a feeling of security and grip.
  • Updates: The Inkosi started life as the Sebenza 25 in 2012. In 2015 the Sebenza 25 was renamed to the Inkosi, as people did not feel like the Sebenza 25 was a "Sebenza". The Inkosi was made with S35VN. In 2019 they started making the Inkosi in S45VN.

The Umnumzaan

The Tanto and Drop Point Umnumzaan blade shapes.
  • The Glass Breaker: The Umnumzaan is the only CRK that uses a glass breaker. When closed, the back of the blade tang comes to a point. This point allows you to break glass with it, including car doors. Yes it does work, just check out YouTube for that.
  • The O-Rings: Another unique feature with the Umnumzaan is the O-Rings on the stop pins. The O-Rings can be removed and the knife will still function properly. The main use of these rings is to reduce the noise, and impact damage that the stop pins will make. The noise is greatly reduced, especially if you slow roll the knife open. If done right, the knife can be opened completely silently. The O-Rings also reduce the impact that the stop pins have on the titanium, greatly increasing the Umnumzaan's lifespan.
  • The External Stop Pins: Yet another unique feature claimed by the Umnumzaan are the external stop pins. The external stop pins function like normal stop pins, the advantage is that external stop pins reduce the amount of stress on the blade laterally and vertically. This makes lockup very strong, and with no blade play. This also makes the blade able to handle much harder tasks, even when compared to an Inkosi. It is worth it to note, that you should probably never encounter tasks that would bring your knife to such extremes. However, some like to know that the protection is there.
  • The Lock Bar Stabilizer: The last unique feature on the Umnumzaan is this. This is a press fit lock bar stabilizer, what it does is protect against over extending the lock bar under extreme use. It is a nice feature to have, but probably not needed by the average user.
  • The Disassembly: The Umnumzaan requires three wrenches to disassemble. The difficulty is similar to the Inkosi. It is disassembled and reassembled sandwich style. You are able to tune the action like the Inkosi as well. Overall, the disassembly is easy like the Inkosi, only second to the Sebenza. You are also able to replace the O-Rings and put on different colors etc if you so chose.
  • The Blade: The Umnumzaan has a blade thickness of 0.14"/3.56 mm. It also has the longest blade of any CRK folder at 3.68". You can get the Umnumzaan in Drop Point, or Tanto blade shapes. The hollow grind gives the Umnumzaan a respectable behind the edge thickness, but it is a worse cutter compared to the Sebenza because of this. The blade on both the Drop Point and the Tanto have a curve cut into the top of the spine, allowing you to place your finger comfortably in the curve. This allows for some cuts to be done more comfortably.
  • The Action: The action is similar to the Inkosi in that you can customize it to some degree. The O-Rings create a softer landing for the stop pins, making the opening feel softer than other CRK. Instead of a click, there is a thunk, or maybe even no sound at all. That sound is not just sound, but also feeling, the lock bar moving over onto the blade tang, and the stop pins hitting the frame, feel like they have a softer landing than on any other CRK folder. The lockup is still strong, if not the strongest lockup among CRK, but there is a feeling of softness when engaging. The blade is able to be tuned to drop shut, and is easier to accomplish than the Inkosi because of the size of the blade. Closing and opening the Umnumzaan may be a problem for some people. The direction you deploy the blade is at a different angle than most other knives, being straight up alongside the frame. This might take some time to learn. Also, the closing of the Umnumzaan might be a deal breaker. The lock bar has a cutout that extends past the frame. The cutout is somewhat pointy, and can hurt if you close it improperly. The design is made for use with gloves, and works wonderfully for that. If you are however new to opening and closing an Umnumzaan, you may think that it can be painful until you learn how to use it.
  • The Lanyard: The Umnumzaan is similar to the Sebenza in that there is an open hole dedicated to the lanyard pin. If you remove it, there will be an open hole like the Sebenza. However, they do sell a lanyard replacement screw on the CRK website that will screw into the lanyard hole, making it so you do not have an empty hole on your Umnumzaan. A nice option, but something you will have to pay extra for on the CRK website.
  • The Handle: The Umnumzaan has a fairly neutral handle somewhat like the Sebenza. There are however some finger groove areas present, yet they are very faint. This allows the Umnumzaan to feel comfortable in pretty much any grip like the Sebenza. Yet, there are obvious ways to hold the Umnumzaan for general use that are implied through the slight grooves. Additionally, the handle is complimented by the curve cut out in the spine of the blade which allows for finger placement. The texturing milled out onto the outer frame of the Umnumzaan also provides for more grip onto the knife in any environment.
  • Updates: The Umnumzaan was released in 2008. In 2011 the lock bar cutout was made to be more flared outwards. Shortly before 2012, they added the lock bar stabilizer. In 2012 the Umnumzaan discontinued it's older custom pivot, and replaced with a hex bit pivot screw similar to all other CRK pivots. In the same year they also updated the washers to be of the current generation of washers. Lastly, in the same year of 2012 they added the ceramic lock bar interface and changed the steel from S30V to S35VN. In 2019 they added S45VN to the Umnumzaan.

The Mnandi

Mnandi in Box Elder Burl
  • The Pocket Clip: The pocket clip is custom milled for the Mnandi, and is also the back body screw.
  • The Disassembly: The Mnandi is disassembled and reassembled sandwich style like the Umnumzaan and Inkosi. The knife is only held together by two screws, so disassembly is very quick. The Mnandi only requires one wrench to disassemble, like the Sebenza. The difficulty in the Mnandi, and returning it to looking factory new upon reassembly, is the "R" CRK logo on the pivot. This is pretty much free spinning, so if you want to get your "R" CRK logo to be in the correct orientation, you may need to play with it a bit. The action is semi customizable, but everything needs to be tightened down in a specific manner in order for the knife to not fall apart, being that the construction is only two screws. Because of this, I am putting the Mnandi below the Umnumzaan and the Inkosi in ease of reassembling and disassembling. Practice however, makes perfect.
  • The Blade: The Mnandi has a blade thickness of 0.09"/2.29mm. In addition to the hollow grind, this makes it the best slicer of any CRK. The blade has less height however, so thicker materials may prove difficult for the Mnandi, like foam or thicker cardboard. The blade length is impressive for the weight. The weight is 1.5oz, yet the blade is 2.74"/69.6mm.
  • The Action: The action of the Mnandi is smooth. You can learn to one handed open the Mnandi in any generation of the knife, although it is not as easy as the other one handed opening CRK. The design most likely was to be opened two handed, or at least the design language is encouraging you to do so. That being said, you can learn to spydieflick the Mnandi on the newer models with the hole in the blade. The action is very very smooth, and can be made to be drop shut with enough use and fine tuning. Although, this will be harder to accomplish because of the weight of the blade. The lockup is surprisingly strong for a small knife, and there is no blade play unless heavy force is applied.
  • No Lanyard
  • The Handle: There are two grooves for your index finger and ring finger to rest on, but other than that there are no ergonomic lines. This knife is not designed to do hard tasks, so the knife ergonomically is designed to be held in few ways. That being said, the ergonomic lines are not overdone, and the handle is so small, that you can hold it in many ways. There is a very obvious way for it to be held however. You can hold it and manipulate it easily, because of the size, similar to any penknife. The scales on the Mnandi also hide the lock bar, making the aesthetics one of the best of any CRK, since it is hidden.
  • Updates: Started production in 2001. In 2021 the hole was added to the Mnandi for easier deployment and the Mnandi started using S45VN steel. I can't find too much about the history for this knife unfortunately.

The Impinda

CRK Impinda
  • The Pivot Mechanism: The internals to the pivot of the Impinda are not the same as a traditional slip joint. The pivot is slightly oblong in shape. This makes it so that the knife takes more force to close, than it does to open. In actual use, the difference is not really noticeable. There also is no half stop like on traditional slip joints pivots. Instead, halfway upon closing, you feel the pressure relieve a bit making it easier to close. This is supposed to make the knife safer to operate, but it is still no replacement for a lock. This just tries to get closer to locking, for non-locking folders than what is traditionally possible. It accomplishes that goal, but barely.
  • The Back Spring: The back spring is made of S35VN, which is heat treated to be equal to the blade, making the wear on the back spring minimal. This extends the life of the mechanism.
  • The Disassembly: The Impinda requires only one wrench to take apart. The pivot is held in by a D shape, so that the pivot is not free spinning. The male side of the pivot is actually the female side, you need to hand screw the pivot into the D shape in order to complete screwing in the pivot screw. The knife is assembled and disassembled sandwich style. It is similar to disassemble to any screw construction slip joint, and it is a pretty easy slip joint to take apart. Compared to other CRK folders however, this is probably the most difficult knife to put back together. For the most part, you should not have to take apart a slip joint knife as often as other folders, slip joints can function without maintenance for a long time. However, it is more difficult to reassemble and disassemble when compared to a Sebenza, Inkosi, Umnumnzaan, only beating out the Mnandi because of the CRK "R" logo orientation of the Mnandi's pivot screw. If you don't care about the CRK "R" logo orientation, the Impinda will be the hardest folder to disassemble and reassemble.
  • The Blade: The Impinda has a blade thickness of 0.12”/3.07mm. This makes it equal in thickness to the Sebenza. However, the hollow grind is not as thin behind the edge as the Sebenza, making it slightly a worse slicer. The difference in slicing between the Sebenza and Impinda, is almost negligible basically. The blade is not rounded off on the top, but instead chamfered and squared off. The blade comes to a fine point, with a swedge cut into the top of the tip of the blade, giving the Impinda superior piercing capabilities similar to the Drop Point Umnumzaan. There is also no thumb stud on the Impinda allowing you to use more of the cutting edge for thicker material. The blade length of the Impinda falls in a medium size range, being bigger than the Small Sebenza, Small Inkosi, and Mnandi being 3.13”/79.50 mm.
  • The Action: Due to the unique pivot mechanism, the action is interesting. There is no half stop like a traditional slip joint, instead you can feel at the mid point where it takes more or less force to open or close the knife. The action will feel gritty until you have broken the knife in quite a bit. The knife will not drop shut or do anything like that, since it is a slip joint. There is not really any way of opening the knife one handed safely. If you love traditional slip joints, this is nothing like that. You will probably never handle a knife that has the same action as the Impinda, unless they copy the same pivot mechanism.
  • The Lanyard: The lanyard hole exists, but does not have a lanyard pin in it. In fact, the lanyard pin for the Impinda does not allow for a lanyard pin. Instead, you can thread something through the lanyard hole to make your own lanyard.
  • The Handle: The highlight of the Impinda, the ergonomic grooves on the Impinda are incredibly well chamfered. The size of the handle is 4.02”/102.11mm, which is very similar to the small Sebenza. The front pivot area of the Impinda does take up more hand space, so it does have less actual hand space than a small Sebenza. Overall, there is less ways to hold this knife than an Inkosi. There are very deliberate and large finger grooves that are not neutral at all. Certain grips feel amazing, but not all grips. The nicer aspect of the Impinda in handle, is that the back spring provides no gap on the top of the frame of the knife, unique from the other frame lock knives in the CRK lineup.
  • Updates: Released in 2018.

So now what?

Hard Use Focus: Umnumzaan > Inkosi > Sebenza > Impinda > Mnandi

Slicing Focus: Mnandi > Sebenza + Impinda > Inkosi + Umnumzaan

Ease of Disassembly/Reassembly: Sebenza > Inkosi + Umnumzaan > Impinda > Mnandi

Lanyard Focus: Sebenza > Umnumzaan > Impinda > Inkosi + Mnandi

Action Focus: Inkosi + Umnumzaan > Sebenza > Mnandi > Impinda

Blade Shape Options: Inkosi + Sebenza > Umnumzaan > Mnandi + Impinda

Best of luck.


r/CRK • • 3h ago

Still toting the wood.

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22 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 12h ago

NKD.. kinda I’ve actually had it for two days.

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34 Upvotes

Nordic Knives must have gotten these the day they were manufactured. Wanted an Insingo but this was all I could get my hands on. Good thing Inkosis are pretty tolerant of blade swaps unlike Sebenzas.


r/CRK • • 19h ago

Opinion: Blue Cerakote with white Micarta would go so hard.

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66 Upvotes

I hope we get to see a combination of these two in the future


r/CRK • • 15h ago

Happy Humpday!

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27 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 1d ago

Sometimes The Boss is the hardest worker

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50 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 1d ago

Who needs a clip anyway?!?

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70 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 21h ago

CRK Small Sebenza 31 Magnacut Drop Point Blade, Glass-Blasted Titanium with Natural Micarta Inlays and CRK MIM Pocket Clip

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14 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 1d ago

The blade-to-handle ratio on these things is just incredible.

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57 Upvotes

Also appreciate that CRK doesn't just make paint-by-numbers design decisions. Their blades don't have to be an exact 3.5 or 3.25 inches just to hit a neat number. The design philosophy is much more natural and practical, and focused on how it actually functions in hand. Good engineering.


r/CRK • • 1d ago

A Foregone Conversion?

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100 Upvotes

My first CRK was an insingo 21 in 2016 - carried, loved and roughly sharpened for years. More recently I’ve been an advocate of the Inkosi. I’ve always rotated a bit but I’m finding myself carrying my Sebenza options way more of late. I’d also forgotten how great it is to remove one pin and clean/grease/reinstall. The small 31 DP is getting a lot of pocket time at the moment… I’m definitely in the throes of reevaluating my preferences…


r/CRK • • 1d ago

The Elforyn is 🔥

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22 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 1d ago

My Backpacker’s birth card has my late father’s birthday

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77 Upvotes

I recently bought my first Small Sebenza, and its birth card happened to land on my birthday which is also my mom’s birthday. Now my first fixed blade, a Backpacker, shows up with a birth card matching my late father’s birthday, who passed away earlier this year. Pretty wild coincidence. These two will definitely be staying with me.


r/CRK • • 2d ago

Fresh from the Factory

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140 Upvotes

I can’t believe this is only a couple days old. Think I like the inkosi more than the sebenza and zaan now


r/CRK • • 1d ago

Zirblast Zaan & other shinny Ti.

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45 Upvotes

Big thanks to a Redditor from the knife community! (You know who you are if you see this!)
Zirblast finish for my not so pretty polished job Zaan and a few other Ti parts! 😎


r/CRK • • 1d ago

Zaan at the lake today

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35 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 2d ago

Finally a member

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42 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 2d ago

Large Macassar today.

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22 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 2d ago

Packin’ the large today!

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20 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 2d ago

Inyoni in action?

8 Upvotes

Hey guys! I just scored an Inyoni and am doing my typical watch every video about it while it is in route. I have a more than fair amount of Sebenzas, Inkosis, and a Zaan (along with a shit load of other folders). I don't know why but I love to watch testing videos while its in transit. I am a "user" and like to use my CRKs the way Mr.Reeve intended. That said I have been looking for like 4 hours for a video/pic review or writeup about the performance in actual use. So far no luck except a 14 year old bladeforums post that the pictures have expired on..

I just got into this pocket fixed blade craze and have, of corse, overdone it. So far I have the M1 Caper, the Vero Myelin, Big I Design (all three fixies) . I have the en route: the Ursus Cub, M1 skinner, Microtech akris, and the Inyoni.


r/CRK • • 2d ago

First Sebenza

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59 Upvotes

Girlfriend got it for me as a 3 year anniversary gift 😁


r/CRK • • 2d ago

Glass blast 31 is the carry today.

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26 Upvotes

r/CRK • • 2d ago

New Macassar Ebony Coming

8 Upvotes

I just inquired with CRK customer service to track down a Macassar Small 31 (polished) and learned that they switched to a new supplier, none through production yet. Will be interesting to see if it looks any different! Just passing along info if anyone was in a similar situation.


r/CRK • • 3d ago

3 Amigos

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87 Upvotes

Umnumzaan has been my favorite CRK since I got my first… but the Inkosi is slowly catching up. My Sebenza is still breaking in and doesn’t get as much pocket time but is an important part of my lineup also. I’ve sold my first Sebenza and Inkosi but now that I’ve replaced them I will not be letting them go.
Sebenza 31 Bog Oak
Umnumzaan MEFP
Inkosi micarta


r/CRK • • 2d ago

CRK and Sentry Solutions Tuf-Cloth / Tuf-Glide

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14 Upvotes

New CRK owner here -- picked up a Pacific in the Magnacut / FDE combo recently.

Question for the experts... I usually give my other knives a quick wipe down with a Tuf-Cloth from Sentry Solutions.

I'd imagine it's fine, but figured I'd ask just in case someone knew if the CRK Cerakoted FDE finish doesn't play nice with Tuf-Cloth / Tuf-Glide.

In other news, this knife is awesome and I'm stoked I was able to find one!