A couple of days ago, the evil Mad Ogre posted about this knife and he being a bad influence, it led me to look for it online and finding it at a darn good price. I got it last night and here is my feeling about it: It is what the Kershaw Leek needed to be but is not.
The Kershaw Leek is a pretty little thing. On its own it can be the knife you take to fancy parties because it looks great and a bit threatening.
But the Leek has a defect in my opinion: The scales are too smooth and you do not feel you have a secure grip on the knife; even the opening feels awkward. It is a pity because it has the right shape for my mutant hands and I love the shape of the blade: most dumb asses will understand it means business.
The CRKT M16-01S although not as pretty, it gives you a positive grip on it and opens a mite faster than the Leek. The CRKT’s blade is 3.06″ versus the 3″ for the Leek, overall length is 7″ for the Leek and 7.13″ for the CRKT and they both measure the same thing closed. As you can see, not enough difference to care other that I would love to have the CRKT with the drop point blade of the Leek.
So far the only negative I find is that the closing should be done with two hands as I find the frame lock difficult to operate.
To summarize: The Mad Ogre is a nasty influencer. You are going to end up buying more stuff and trying to explain it to the wife.
I’ve been carrying one for 5-6 years now, well, mine is the M16-13Z, but as far as I can tell the only difference is the 13 is serrated from about the “C” in the CRKT back. Little better for cutting line. It’s actually my second one, the only draw back is I usually carry it in the small outer pocket of my Duluth cargo pants and during the summer my safety vest sometimes catches the clip when I bend down. Pretty sure that’s how I lost my first one.
Check the screws holding the clip because they have a tendency to come loose. A drop of loc-tite will probably do the trick. I stopped carrying my M16 because of this. Periodic inspection and maintenance is a must with this knife. That’s why I changed out to a Buck 110 and/or 111 with a aftermarket thumbstud for easier opening
Thanks for the tips and will do 🙂
Personally I like the Kershaw Leek as an everyday knife. Maybe it’s because I’m left handed, the opening works for me and the pocket clip acts as a grip when I’m using it.
That was my edc knife for years, until I switched to the thinner & grippier CRTK Ken Onion Ripple 3.125. A lot easier to carry, but just as quick.
And only about $36 on Amazon prime.
I used to carry the Ripple – preferred it over the M16.
The downside is that it’s a lint trap 😀
But because of the stupid german laws I carry a 3,5″ fixed blade everywhere. Because that’s legal. The folder is not.
[…] already gave my thoughts about both knives in this post. Get both. Decently priced and not bad looking at […]