CRKT 1101 Moxie Spring Assist Knife Review

Columbia River Knife & Tool, Inc. is an American knife company established in 1994, and currently based in Tualatin, Oregon. CRKT was founded in 1994 by Paul Gillespi and Rod Bremer. Both individuals were formerly employed with Kershaw Knives. The company did not truly take off until the 1997 Shot Show when the K.I.S.S knife was introduced. The small folder, designed by Ed Halligan was a success. Within the opening days of the show the years’ worth of the product was sold out. They sold at 4-5 times original production numbers resulting in a tripling of production efforts.

The company produces a wide range of fixed blades and folding knives, multi-tools, sharpeners, and carrying systems. CRKT has collaborated with custom knife makers such as Ken Onion, Harold “Kit” Carson, Allen Elishewitz, Pat Crawford, Liong Mah, Steven James, and the Graham Brothers.

CRKT owns fifteen patents and patents pending. These include the Outburst assist opening mechanism, Lock Back Safety mechanism, and Veff Serrated edges. The Outburst is the company’s proprietary mechanism for their assisted-opening knives. These knives are standard pivot joint liner lock or frame lock folding knife. Inside the knife there is a spring tab that catches the tang of the blade as it is manually opened. Once the blade reaches thirty degrees the spring takes over and quickly snaps the knife open.

The Lock Back Safety mechanism, also invented by Ron Lake, is similar in function to the LAWKS mechanism. It is a lock back folder with a switch that can prevent the locking bar from being depressed. Inside the handle there is a small rod with a flange near the butt of the handle. The other end is connected to a switch near the pivot end. When the switch is pulled back the lock functions as a regular lock back. When the switch is closed the flange on the rod slides under tip of the locking bar at the butt end. This prevents the depression of the bar and the blade form unlocking. Veff-Serrations were developed by Tom Veff, a sharpener and knife maker, and are exclusively licensed to CRKT for production.

Today we will be talking about the CRKT Moxie spring assist knife.

 

The Blade:

The blade on the Moxie is made out of 8Cr14MoV stainless steel. This is a budget brand of knife steel that is made in China. This steel is very similar to 8Cr13MoV steel, but it is a little bit higher quality. If you were to compare it to another type of steel (out of the steel family), it would be closest to AUS-8, which is a Japanese steel. The biggest benefit that this steel boast is how inexpensive it is. And at its low cost, it does show pretty balanced abilities. This steel is well balanced in terms of strength, cutting, and anti-corrosion properties. Plus, knives made out of this steel keep sharpening well and are easy to sharpen when needed. This steel gives you a very reliable blade at a low cost, but you do need to keep in mind that you do get what you pay for, so it won’t stand up to tasks in the same way that premium steels do.

The blade has been coated with a black oxide finish. A coating serves a variety of purposes on a knife blade and the first and most important is to prevent corrosion. A good coating can greatly reduce maintenance time on a knife, which comes in handy in many situations. Plus, a coating eliminates any shiny surfaces. While you probably won’t be using this knife on a mission, since it is an everyday knife, that characteristic is not as important as it could be, but it does still serve its purpose. The coating, especially a black coating, gives this blade a very sleek look. Unfortunately, with coated blades, the coating will sooner or later come off. And while you might think it looks cool to have a beat up blade, the coating will not provide those quality benefits that it once did. One of the disadvantages about this knife is that it is a black oxide coating which is actually the lowest quality of coatings that you can find. It will serve its purpose, but it is going to scratch off with heavy use. Maybe stick to the everyday basics with this one.

The blade has been carved into a modified spear point style. A spear point blade style is very similar to the needle point blade because they are both good for piercing. But, in terms of strength, the spear point will win out any day. And, as a bonus, you also get a small belly with the spear point blade. The spear pint style is a symmetrically pointed blade with a pint hat is in line with the center lien of the blade’s long axis. Both edges of the knife rise and fall equally to create a point that lines up exactly with the equator of the blade. In contrast to the needle-point blade which has a very sharp but weak point, a spear point knife has a strong point that is also sharp enough for piercing. Spear point blade do contain a small belly that can be used form some cutting and slicing, but the belly is pretty small when being compared to drop point or clip point blade styles. Overall, this knife will offer you a good balance between piercing and slicing ability. It combines the sharpness that you get with a dagger and the strength that you will find on a drop point blade. This hybrid blade design is going to be versatile and functional—perfect for your go to everyday knife.

 

The Handle:

The most unique characteristic of this knife is its handle. It is made out of TPE, or Thermoplastic Elastomer, which is a composite of different polymers that have both thermoplastic and elastic properties. TPE has the positive characteristics of plastic and rubber, but their deep grooves will ensure slip resistance, even when you are in wet or slippery conditions.

The Moxie comes in a couple of different colors, but this version comes in a green and black handle. The green is the base of the handle, and there are intensely textured black inlays running throughout the handle to almost look like camo.

The portion of the handle that normally sports a finger guard actually boasts jimping, which is very unique. This jimping will give you more control over your slices, while also guaranteeing that you have a secure grip on your knife. After the jimping, there is an elongated, shallow curve that will comfortably rest the rest of your fingers. The spine of the handle is a little bit straighter, but the ergonomics aren’t going to be bad for long term use—just not great either. What this knife handle has really been designed for is not letting it slip out of your hand, no matter what the environment is.

On the corner of the butt of the handle, there has been a lanyard hole attached. This lanyard will come in handy in a couple of different scenarios. For starters, a lanyard helps you keep your knife deeper in your pocket, but still allows you to remove it quickly. Secondly, having a lanyard on your knife will allow you to keep your knife with you at all times a little more easily, without it getting in the way when you aren’t using it.

 

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip is a tip down pocket clip. This is a black clip that is kept in place by three small screws. These screws are black and match the rest of the hardware on this knife. The clip has a large belly on it. Across the middle of the clip “CRKT” has been stamped.

 

The Mechanism:

This CRKT knife is spring assisted with a thumb stud as well as the Fire Safe Safety and the Outburst Assisted Opening mechanism. The locking mechanism on this knife is a locking liner.

The thumb stud makes for an easy and quite common operation used to open up a spring assisted knife. The thumb stud sits on the side of the blade near where the blade pivots on the handle. It makes for a comfortable way to sue on hand to open the knife. One thing to consider is how close this puts your hand to the blade itself. You should keep in mind that there are many people who have actually cut themselves while opening the blade. It is not uncommon for a rookie’s thumb to slip and get sliced.

The Outburst Assisted Opening mechanism is lighting fast and ridiculously easy to use. These are just a few of the ways people have described our patented opening system. Just manually open the blade up to 30 degrees and the patented OutBurst assisted opening mechanism springs the knife fully open so that you’re good to go. The powerful spring also holds the blade securely closed when not in use. On many models, such as this one, CRKT has combined this system with the FireSafe for a new level of ease of operation, as well as security.

The Fire Safe Safety mechanism is easy to open and incredibly safe, which is how they came up with such a perfect name for this patented system that relies on a pin at the locking liner. The actuation mechanism operations through a spring-loaded thumb stud to release the locking liner and pin. This mechanism is easy to use and intuitive. You simply nudge your thumb outward and OutBurst handles it form there propelling your blade into an open and locked positon. This pressing and nudging of the blade prevents accidental opening to put you (and your blade) in complete control of the situation.

The liner lock is a locking mechanism for folding pocket knives. A liner lock is a folding knife with a side-spring lock that can be opened and closed with one hand without repositioning the knife in the hand. The lock is self-adjusting for wear. The modern liner lock traces its lineage to the late 19^th century, but in the 1980s the design was improved by American custom knife maker Michael Walker.

 

The Designer:

The man behind the knife is Matthew Lerch. What happens when you cross art and mechanics? You get something that looks like Matthew Lerch. Trained initially as a jeweler/watchmaker, he progressed into manufacturing and tool making. Now he has a few patents under his belt for innovations, like the Fire Safe, and has been honored with some prestigious awards including the Buster Warenski award. Matt views knives as functional art, as evidenced in his Moxie and Blade Show Award-winning Endorser designer.

 

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 3.29 inches long, with a handle length of 4.23 inches long. When the knife is opened, it measures in at 7.5 inches. The Moxie weighs in at 3.2 ounces.

 

Conclusion:

When CRKT talks about this knife they say, “An Honest Every Day Carry Folding Pocket Knife with Everything You Need and Nothing You Don’t. We’re excited to see just how far a little “Moxie” can go. With a name like that, you have a lot to live up to it—and Designer Matthew Lerch has made sure this one does. The steel InterFrame construction provides a solid footing for the molded handle scales, which feature a hard layer for strength and a softer layer for tactile grip. A modified spear point blade style proves effective in a wide variety of every day applications. Blade actuation is done through the patented Fire Safe release button incorporated into the thumb-stud opener. Simply, push down and out on the thumb-stud and as the blade begins to open, the Outburst opener assist kicks in and the blade opens fully. The Moxie is offered in three attractive color combinations; Black, Grey, and Green versions. All in all, the new Moxie folding pocket knife is an ideal choice for every day carry.” Pick up this great every day carry from BladeOps today.