The CRKT Minimalist line of knives, designed by Alan Folts, are fixed blade EDC knife royalty. These knives feature a distinctive handle that counterintuitively fits every hand shape and size while remaining extremely compact. The new Spear Point blade is one of the most practical blade shapes to grace this lineup of knives.
This Minimalist variation is also unique in that it features blade stock that is about twice as thick as previous versions. The .15″ thick 8Cr13MoV should lend itself well to hard use.
Welcome to Bargain or Just Cheap? This series will review budget friendly knives for a variety of uses in a short format. All of the knives will cost less than $50 (in most cases, much less) and will be purchased out of my own pocket. I’ll buy them, carry them, and use them in an attempt to determine if the knife is a bargain or just cheap.
I carry a fixed blade knife every day and there are times when unsheathing it just to trim a loose string or cut open a box feels more than a little conspicuous. So, I typically also carry some kind of small folding knife as a companian. The Jesper Voxnaes designed CRKT Pilar is excellent in this role.
CRKT Pilar is shown with an aftermarket micarta scale
Jesper Voxnaes has a real knack for designing small knives that still manage to fill the hand – “little big knives”, so to speak. The Pilar is both large enough to get a four-fingered grip and small enough to fit easily in the coin pocket of your jeans. This is thanks to a generous finger choil that helps complete the grip when the knife is opened.
The 2.4″ blade lends itself perfectly to utility cuts and offers excellent control of the surprisingly useable tip. The tall flat grind leaves plenty of meat behind the edge while still offering reasonable slicing performance. The 8Cr13MoV steel on my example sharpens easily but can’t compete with some of the more premium steels offered on some models but I like it for how inexpensive it is.
The Pilar offers right-side tip-up or tip-down clip positions. The clip is relatively low profile. It also doesn’t get in the way much when the knife is being used.
If the Pilar has a glaring flaw, it’s weight. The regular, plain-jane Pilar comes with stainless steel scales on both the show and the frame-lock side of the knife. This compact, svelte, sleek little knife is surprisingly a bit of a porker at 4.2 ounces! That said, I like the knife so much I invested in a micarta scale for mine which greatly reduced the weight.
That micarta scale brings up another great thing about the Pilar. It is so darn popular that it is available in several special versions with different materials and there is a ton of aftermarket support. The basic Pilar can be a cheap canvas that you can customize to your heart’s content.
Finally, I want to mention that I think this makes a good first folding knife. In fact, that is exactly what I bought for my oldest daughter. The frame lock is secure and easy to operate. It is compact enough for kid pockets. The choil offers a safe, tactile, and secure grip. It also doesn’t break the bank so you don’t sweat it when your kid leaves it in the woods, never to be seen again.
Bargain or Just Cheap?
This one is definitely a bargain. It is an ergonomic wonder, a design that oozes style, and a functional EDC knife. It is small enough to be inconspicuous and large enough to do real work. At less than $40 shipped, it’s a bargain all day long.
I am using Amazon as the price baseline for this series. All knives were purchased by me from Amazon: CRKT Pilar
For those who want a slightly larger option, I also own and like the Pilar II though not quite as much as the original.
Our goal is to represent knives for a variety of uses from EDC, to outdoor, to tactical knives. Do you have a favorite affordable knife? Let us know about it in the comments!
Welcome to Bargain or Just Cheap? This series will review budget friendly knives for a variety of uses in a short format. All of the knives will cost less than $50 (in most cases, much less) and will be purchased out of my own pocket. I’ll buy them, carry them, and use them in an attempt to determine if the knife is a bargain or just cheap.
The CRKT Minimalist is based on the original, custom Alan Folts designed Minimalist. This popular compact fixed blade can be found for less than $30 and it is extremely easy to carry… but is it a Bargain or Just Cheap?
Specs:
Handle: Micarta slabs
Steel: 5Cr15MoV
Blade Length: 2″
Overall Length: 4.875″
Weight: 1.2 ounces
Sheath: Injection Molded Plastic
Observations from Use
I’ll spill the beans right up front. The Minimalist is a Bargain, not just cheap. It doesn’t have the latest super steel. It doesn’t have the cache of a custom knife. But still, it’s a great knife in part because its small and well designed.
The Minimalist is small – truly small – which makes it very easy to carry. Whether you carry it on your belt, as a neck knife, or in your pocket, the Minimalist is small enough to forget it’s there. It can be carried on your belt as a compact self-defense knife or even attached to something like a Raven Concealment Pocket Shield.
Everybody hates knife handles with finger grooves… until they try a CRKT Minimalist. In most cases, finger grooves are an annoyance but in the case of the Minimalist, they are the key to how a knife with such a small handle manages to lock into the user’s hand. That is really the genius of this Alan Folts design.
The Minimalist is ground from .10″ thick steel stock and has a relatively high hollow grind, especially on the wharncliffe style blade that I prefer. It is an extremely aggressive cutter thanks to this thin stock and good geometry.
The sheath is injection molded but it would pass for real heat molded kydex at a glance. It is actually a decent sheath that retains the knife well and allows a full grip on the knife handle.
Bargain or Just Cheap?
Like I said, it’s a bargain. The Minimalist is a great little knife if you want a small utility blade to EDC. It’s an affordable, compact defensive fixed blade. It’s just a great knife all around.
I am using Amazon as the price base line for this series. All knives were purchased by me from Amazon: CRKT Minimalist
Our goal is to represent knives for a variety of uses from EDC, to outdoor, to tactical knives. Do you have a favorite affordable knife? Let us know about it in the comments!
I cringe whenever I see someone using a folding knife to process a game animal. I know it can be done and I’ve done it myself but all I can think about is what a pain it is going to be to clean the blood, fat, and hair out of the knife. Apparently, CRKT feels the same way because they created their new Field Strip Technology – a construction method that allows the knife user to easily open and clean a folding knife.
The Field Strip Technology is available first on a Ken Onion collaboration folder called the Homefront. By simply closing the knife, throwing a recessed, and loosening a thumb wheel, the Homefront can be seperated into component parts (see it in action below). Thankfully, it is designed so that small parts like washers, pivots, and the like are captive so that when you take the knife apart, you only have 3 parts.
You can learn more about Field Strip Technology in the video below or by visiting CRKT.
CRKT has started the Forged By War series of knives based on the work of Ryan Johnson, founder of RMJ Tactical. The series will consist of knives and tools designed by veterans and 10% of all sales of these knives will be donated to the veteran charity that the designer chooses.
The first three tools in this series were introduced at the 2016 SHOT Show and CRKT just released a series of videos that document the knives, the men behind them, and share more about the Forged By War program.
