Knife Review： M16-14ZLEK by CRKT
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Summary
My review of the Columbia River Knife & Tool Company's M16-14ZLEK folding pocket knife. This is a knife I've been carrying with me for a few months now, and I think it's one of the best pocket knives I've ever owned.
Transcript
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Hey folks, this is my review of the M16-14ZLEK folding pocket knife by the
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Colombian River Knife and Tool Company, CRKT.com. So this is a blade that I've
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been carrying with myself for a few months now. To go through the basics, is it
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sharp? Yes, it's sharp. In fact, just earlier today, I don't know if you can see
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that right there, I wasn't doing anything Podesta related. I was just cutting a
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little bit of plastic and I accidentally slapped the blade into my finger and that
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was enough to break the skin. So yes, it's an extremely sharp blade. It's got a
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stiffer metal than something like my Hanwe Rhinelander over there, but that's
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appropriate for such a short blade for a folding pocket knife. It also has the
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ridging right along there, the little saw blade, which you almost never use, but
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when you need it, it's extremely useful. Seatbelt cutter, window smasher, both of
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these in case you're in a car accident. And a feature that I rather like is it has a
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double lock mechanism. So you see that right there. To actually fold the blade
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closed again, you have to pull that back, then push this across and it closes. Now
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it takes a bit of getting used to, but once you're used to it, it's no problem
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whatsoever. The one thing it doesn't have, which I would have liked, is a spring
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assist opening. However, as you saw, getting it open
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is no problem whatsoever. Now the real question with blades like
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these, with the folding pocket knives, is not, is it sharp out of the store? Or what
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is the blade made out of? Because generally you will have good blades. My concern when
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I'm looking at a pocket knife is what is the hilt made out of? What sort of
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materials? What sort of construction? And now this is, I believe it's actually
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fiberglass and steel. But the material isn't the point. The point is, I've been
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carrying this around for a few months, as I said. It's still sharp, even though I
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haven't done anything to sharpen it. And there is no, there is no give. There is no
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play whatsoever. So that's the, that's the thing with these knives. The day-to-day
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grind, sitting down, standing up, getting crushed in your pocket, opening and closing,
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does that weaken the screws? Does that weaken the hilt? Because if you just have
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the blade and the hilt's falling apart, you don't have anything. And so I've had a
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few of these types of knives. This is the best I've ever owned. I'm very, very
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impressed with it. And on top of that, and this was a nice little feature they
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included, the pocket bit right there. You can actually take that and move it to
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either end on either side. You'll see that they have the three available screw
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holes there. I just kept it where it was, but it's a very nice feature to have. So
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the Columbia River Knife and Tool Company, who are they? They are a group of
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amateur professionals. Now, what do I mean by that? If you look at the knife
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designs, at the people who design the blades that they sell, it's just a whole
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bunch of enthusiasts. Okay, people that know steel, that know knives, and they're
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designing knives that would make them happy. And then the company itself is
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very well organized, very professional, very nice website, good production
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qualities. So it's got the excellence of the amateur and the professionalism of a
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major company. And the best part, I think I picked this up for about $120.
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So this is one of their older models. There's a link to it below. You might have
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trouble finding this one specifically. And I'll tell you one of the things I do like
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about it. It's got the flat edge right here and an interesting design choice. If you'll
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notice, there's not much silver you can see there. But on this side, there's quite a
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bit. Because the edge is mainly on one side. So you actually have a very, very
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tight little angle there. You might not be able to find this particular model. But
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the craftsmanship that went into it was just absolutely top notch. So if you're looking for
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a good pocket knife, and ideally one with the saw, the seatbelt cutter, the window
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smasher, because maybe you don't want to carry a knife for self-defense, maybe you want
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to carry a tool. This is a great option. Full disclosure, I did contact the guys over
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at Columbia River and told them I was going to be doing a review. I wanted to see if they
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had an affiliate link. They said, we don't. But tell you what, here's a discount. You
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can use it anytime between now and April. So they're very gentlemanly of them. I don't
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know if I'm going to be using it. Most of my knife needs are satisfied at present. But
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very gentlemanly of them. I do very much like the knife. I strongly recommend it. And there
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there is a link down below to their website. CRKT.com. Very easy to remember. Go check them