Columbia River Knife and Tool is a very popular knife company. They make an astounding number of different blades in all shapes and sizes. They make almost all of their blades overseas in China or Taiwan. However, I have yet to come across a CRKT knife that is poor quality regardless of its country of origin. Many of their blade styles are different and some are a little outrageous, but CRKT is a good knife company. I wouldn’t put them into a group with Benchmade or Spyderco. I would compare their knife materials and craftsmanship to Kershaw or Gerber. The Crawford Kasper is one of their lower end folders that can be had for cheap.
USE: The Crawford Kasper can be used a large EDC knife or a tactical folding knife. With a blade length of 3.75 inches it falls into a length that is suitable for tactical use, but not adept at fine tasks.
DURABILITY AND STEEL: This knife is .14 inches thick. This is an above average thickness for a folder. The clip point is a fairly robust design and does terminate in a semi-fine point. The blade is definitely thick enough for hard work.
The Steel is 8Cr14MoV. This is a common Chinese stainless steel that has OK edge retention, good rust resistance and decent toughness. CRKT makes the bulk of their knives with this steel to cut costs.
3.5/5
ERGONOMICS AND TEXTURING: The ergonomics on the Crawford Kasper are good if you have large hands, smaller hands may find the large grip a bit oversized. It has a deep finger choil in the grip that suggests it is a tactical folder. The handles are made of some type of smooth plastic. There is a good amount of gimping on the top of the blade and on the liner lock where your finger will sit. Overall, I would say it has decent ergos and a decent traction plan.
3.5/5
ACTION AND LOCKUP: The action on this knife is smooth and the lockup is tight. Mine has no vertical play and had a small amount of horizontal play before I tightened the pivot. The blade centering when folded is perfect. The blade is heavy so it does take a bit of effort to deploy it, but that is true in any thick folder.
4/5
COST: The Crawford Kasper can be yours for around 18-20 dollars. Considering it is an effective and well built large folding knife, I would say this is an awesome deal. Other options at the price point would be the Cold Steel Medium Voyager, The Ontario RAT 1 or 2, and the KABAR Baconmaker Folder.
5/5
FINAL THOUGHTS: If there is one thing that irks me about CRKT, it is their stupid safety that sits just below the spine of the blade. It is made to activate when you put your thumb on the gimping of the handle. I hate knife safeties, and this one will activate any time you use this knife.
OVERALL RATING: 4/5 Good to Go
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