Leo D.M.J. Aurini - Knife Review： M16-14ZLEK by CRKT

00:00:00.000 Hey folks, this is my review of the M16-14ZLEK folding pocket knife by the

00:00:14.240 Colombian River Knife and Tool Company, CRKT.com. So this is a blade that I've

00:00:24.480 been carrying with myself for a few months now. To go through the basics, is it

00:00:30.580 sharp? Yes, it's sharp. In fact, just earlier today, I don't know if you can see

00:00:36.620 that right there, I wasn't doing anything Podesta related. I was just cutting a

00:00:40.700 little bit of plastic and I accidentally slapped the blade into my finger and that

00:00:46.120 was enough to break the skin. So yes, it's an extremely sharp blade. It's got a

00:00:50.600 stiffer metal than something like my Hanwe Rhinelander over there, but that's

00:00:56.220 appropriate for such a short blade for a folding pocket knife. It also has the

00:01:03.700 ridging right along there, the little saw blade, which you almost never use, but

00:01:09.100 when you need it, it's extremely useful. Seatbelt cutter, window smasher, both of

00:01:16.520 these in case you're in a car accident. And a feature that I rather like is it has a

00:01:21.680 double lock mechanism. So you see that right there. To actually fold the blade

00:01:29.780 closed again, you have to pull that back, then push this across and it closes. Now

00:01:37.100 it takes a bit of getting used to, but once you're used to it, it's no problem

00:01:40.520 whatsoever. The one thing it doesn't have, which I would have liked, is a spring

00:01:46.200 assist opening. However, as you saw, getting it open

00:01:51.360 is no problem whatsoever. Now the real question with blades like

00:01:57.660 these, with the folding pocket knives, is not, is it sharp out of the store? Or what

00:02:04.380 is the blade made out of? Because generally you will have good blades. My concern when

00:02:12.540 I'm looking at a pocket knife is what is the hilt made out of? What sort of

00:02:17.040 materials? What sort of construction? And now this is, I believe it's actually

00:02:21.960 fiberglass and steel. But the material isn't the point. The point is, I've been

00:02:27.440 carrying this around for a few months, as I said. It's still sharp, even though I

00:02:32.140 haven't done anything to sharpen it. And there is no, there is no give. There is no

00:02:37.660 play whatsoever. So that's the, that's the thing with these knives. The day-to-day

00:02:42.660 grind, sitting down, standing up, getting crushed in your pocket, opening and closing,

00:02:47.020 does that weaken the screws? Does that weaken the hilt? Because if you just have

00:02:52.120 the blade and the hilt's falling apart, you don't have anything. And so I've had a

00:02:56.000 few of these types of knives. This is the best I've ever owned. I'm very, very

00:03:01.900 impressed with it. And on top of that, and this was a nice little feature they

00:03:06.260 included, the pocket bit right there. You can actually take that and move it to

00:03:14.280 either end on either side. You'll see that they have the three available screw

00:03:19.900 holes there. I just kept it where it was, but it's a very nice feature to have. So

00:03:24.840 the Columbia River Knife and Tool Company, who are they? They are a group of

00:03:31.160 amateur professionals. Now, what do I mean by that? If you look at the knife

00:03:36.860 designs, at the people who design the blades that they sell, it's just a whole

00:03:41.740 bunch of enthusiasts. Okay, people that know steel, that know knives, and they're

00:03:46.800 designing knives that would make them happy. And then the company itself is

00:03:52.620 very well organized, very professional, very nice website, good production

00:03:58.200 qualities. So it's got the excellence of the amateur and the professionalism of a

00:04:04.520 major company. And the best part, I think I picked this up for about $120.

00:04:11.840 So this is one of their older models. There's a link to it below. You might have

00:04:15.400 trouble finding this one specifically. And I'll tell you one of the things I do like

00:04:20.560 about it. It's got the flat edge right here and an interesting design choice. If you'll

00:04:25.900 notice, there's not much silver you can see there. But on this side, there's quite a

00:04:31.540 bit. Because the edge is mainly on one side. So you actually have a very, very

00:04:38.360 tight little angle there. You might not be able to find this particular model. But

00:04:46.360 the craftsmanship that went into it was just absolutely top notch. So if you're looking for

00:04:52.700 a good pocket knife, and ideally one with the saw, the seatbelt cutter, the window

00:04:58.120 smasher, because maybe you don't want to carry a knife for self-defense, maybe you want

00:05:03.680 to carry a tool. This is a great option. Full disclosure, I did contact the guys over

00:05:15.460 at Columbia River and told them I was going to be doing a review. I wanted to see if they

00:05:19.660 had an affiliate link. They said, we don't. But tell you what, here's a discount. You

00:05:25.220 can use it anytime between now and April. So they're very gentlemanly of them. I don't

00:05:29.940 know if I'm going to be using it. Most of my knife needs are satisfied at present. But

00:05:35.080 very gentlemanly of them. I do very much like the knife. I strongly recommend it. And there

00:05:40.720 there is a link down below to their website. CRKT.com. Very easy to remember. Go check them

00:05:47.720 out. Deus Volt, folks. Irini out.

Leo D.M.J. Aurini - February 21, 2018

Knife Review： M16-14ZLEK by CRKT

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