Sometimes you run into something you just have to have. Sometimes it makes sense, other times it doesn’t and sometimes you find out just how great that thing you didn’t think you needed could be. I feel that way about my CRKT Razel folding knife designed by Jon Graham.
At first the knife itself feels a little heavy in the hand. The micarta scaled handle seems a little chubby. As you flick open the blade with your thumb you see an interesting blade design. A chisel tip of all things. What a strange little knife. If you opt for the veff serrations you see four odd shaped serrations on the blade that strangely seem to remind you of the creature from the black lagoon. It’s top and bottom pocket clips leave one a little confused as well and LAWKS safety system seems odd at first but oddly comforting as you play with the switch.
It is an odd little thing but a beautiful little thing. I would go as far to say that I love it. It is one of my favorite pocket knives of all time. Easily filling the gap in my hand and leaving me with a comforted feeling as I flip it open and engage the LAWKS safety lever. The blade opens packages well and the veff serrations make cutting fibrous material easy as sending a hot knife through butter. I enjoyed cutting down some corn stalks with it to make fall decorations with. The veff serrations made it quick and easy. Plus I used it to cut ears of corn off the plants. The knife made harvesting sweet corn easier than twisting the ears off by hand.
The combination Liner-Lock locking mechanism and LAWKS safety system is for lack of a better phrase, pretty sweet. While I feel secure with just the Liner-Lock in place engaging the Lawks switch makes me feel that much better.
It feels slightly heavy in the pocket but the pocket clips make it feel secure and easy to take out and deploy. It also features a thumb stud that makes opening it one handed very easy. The thumb thud is also designed for ambidextrous use so lefties can open it just as easy or if your like me you tend to use both hands anyway. I imagine the chisel tip would make scraping tape off a window fairly easily but I haven’t tried it yet. It’s stainless steel blade makes it resistant to rust too.
As an overall score I have to give it 5 out of 5 stars as it is really a special little knife. I feel that it is slightly bulky but It’s pros far outweigh its cons. I fear the day I need to sharpen the veff serrations. but I know I can get a rod to do it, and right now they cut like no other.
