M16-01KS Folding Knife with Frame Lock: Stainless Steel Plain Edge Blade, Stainless Steel Handle, Reversible Pocket Clip, M16-01KS

I had the original K.I.S.S knife from CRKT. I also have a small CRKT fixed blade knife. They are both great knives. Recently, I decided I'd like another CRKT folder. The M16-01S is another win for CRKT. Well made and study, yet small enough not to dominate your pocket. The minimal handle makes it light weight and discreet when it's in your pocket. It came factory sharp out of the box, which is fine. But I honed it to a finer edge. Now, it's really sharp and seems to hold the edge well. I really like the combination of compact, with a full three inch blade. The look of it is nice too. Tactical, but not "tacti-cool", you know. The only issues I have with the knife are the liner lock and the thumb stud. The knife is made so that it doesn't snag in your pocket, which is great, but that makes the thumb stud difficult to articulate. The tab on the back makes up for it, but I'm so used to opening a knife with my thumb, that it seems unnatural. The liner lock works well, but again, it tucked way in as to make it difficult to access easily. This is not to say, however, that I'm not happy with the knife. All in all it's really nice. I expect, as it wears in, it will become easier. Plus, I'll get used to opening the blade with my index, instead of my thumb over time. As with all knives, adjust the pivot screw to make blade deployment easier. Mine came pretty snug, and I had to back it off a bit to make it work smoothly.

I've been collecting pocket knives for basically my whole life and this is perfect in my opinion. Perfect size, weight and came razor sharp out of the box. Smoothe function on the locking system, high speed low drag with the ball bearing washers. For what I consider a perfect EDC blade, this is a great value.

Had a CRKT knife before but because of lack of maintainance on my end it had rusted. Got this knife and was surprised at the looks and quality which were a step up from my previous knife which was already a very nice knife.

I like the size and appearance. Well made and made to last. I had the exact knife for 6yrs and lost it. Thats Only reason i ordered the exact same one. Really great everyday knife. It holds a good sharp edge and performs with out question. Keep in mind it's not a screw driver or a prying tool. Its a knife. A Great knife. I highly recommend this knife to any who carries and uses a knife day in and day out. I Won't leave the house without out. Can't beat the price.

I love the CRKT Knives. I have had 3 now and of varying sizes. This was for every day pocket knife carry. It is of legal length for most all states and is light in weight. I have always liked the double safety feature that will not allow for accidental closure on one's hand no matter what task you are undertaking. The steel and design are good and there are many option from this brand. I removed one star because the clip for attaching the knife to clothing has 3 small screws that come loose over time and need to be tightened every so often. If you forget, you may lose one of the screws like I did but you can order new ones. I think they should come with locktite or some other feature that makes them more secure. Otherwise, I love the knife and brand.

I bought this knife to try out the brand, and was not disappointed. The lock is nice, though you have to break it in a little to make it easier to close, but I never had any problems with it not working. There was no give in this knife, no wiggle when testing it, both new and used, and no doubt that it would hold under pressure. Backpacking with this knife was great because of its lower weight, and the black blade meant no glare back in your face when in use. The clip on this knife is great, with just enough room to get your pants pocket into it, but not so much that it wiggles off easily. Size is great, not too big, definitely not too small. The edge of the blade didn't get dull quickly, and even after months of use still was sharp. I actually lost this knife recently, and am purchasing another one while I look for the old one since this is my every day knife that I carry. Best that happens, I find the old one and have two, worst that happens is I don't find the old one, and at least have one to use. I highly recommend this knife to anyone.

I've always been a fan of the CRKT, I like the style, the maneuverability of the blade, it's sleek and easy to keep clean and sharp. I've always found this knife handy in a verity of situations from wood cutting to box opening and with it's slim design I can have it on my person at all times. But recently I was in a bit of a trouble where I got assaulted and in a moment of self defence I stabbed a guy in the face. (Let me just say the guy swiped at me first with his knife and the court ruled in favor of me in self defence) The knife was quick to draw and with the near prefect sharpness as I stabbed this guy in the face and pulled out without any trouble. The after calling the cops they naturally confiscated my knife, but I was quick to order a new one that same night. CRKT was there with the quality knife I needed in a dire situation and they have earned me as a customer for life. God bless.

This has got to be the most unique knife in my collection. Usually, if I were to imagine the specs of a 3" blade with steel frame lock, I'd imagine at least 4oz, probably veering on 5oz. I think I've read that this thing weighs in at 2.56, and I believe that to be very accurate. This doesn't feel flimsy like larger blades with nylon bodies because the weight is distributed over a small body. CRKT managed to fit a 3" blade into a gentleman carry style thin body. It is slim because of the frame lock instead of a liner. I was hesitant on the "tactical" look M-16 body on an EDC/gentleman style blade, but in general, I feel it is not overdone enough to matter. The blade came dead center with a bronze washer and nylon spacer. There is zero play in the blade when open. The blade itself is very nicely made and came extremely sharp. The fit and finish of the body and blade are excellent for this price range. There are a couple minor QC issues, but honestly, the fit and finish are on par with blades I have in the $30-70 range. The blade has both a Kershaw style finger pull as well as thumb studs. Both have excellent texture, but I feel like the thumb studs are more for aesthetics and/or blade stoppers than true release mechanisms because they are nearly flush with the body when closed. The blade has good release. It isn't spring assisted like a Kershaw, but it nearly fully deploys with a pull on the tab, and with a very minor flick of the wrist, it is a very quick release blade. The jimping (spelling?) on the back of the blade is very nice with clean cuts, but again, probably more for aesthetics as it is too flush when open to provide much grip. The blade is a tiny bit on the thin side (height wise), but not terrible, similar to the front half on a Kershaw Leek. The body, which is where they saved a lot of weight and put this into a gentleman knife category, at least in size and weight, is decent length, but very thin in height. This means that it doesn't give a lot of surface area to grip when open. However, the decent heft of the steel body helps and in general, it feels well balanced and despite being small, feels substantial. My only con is really like others have said. The release mechanism on the frame lock is too flush with the opposite side and mine came too aggressive/stiff. It has about a 90% catch when open. I've never seen one that goes over that much, I usually am happy with 50-60%. With a steel frame lock this size without much purchase for my thumb and grabbing that much onto the blade, it is difficult to release the blade. Even once I have the blade "unlocked", it still pushes against the blade through half the motion due to being so far over. I find that i have to keep pressure on it for a little bit of the motion if I want one handed close. This can be dangerous since it puts your thumb in the path of the blade if you aren't careful. In general, I would not suggest one handed closure unless your copy has a slightly looser frame lock or this opens up some with use. I would have preferred a Kershaw style speedsafe lock, but even on their gentleman knives, they do not put this on. I'm guessing it adds weight and/or size, and I also would imagine it might be patented. I also would have preferred a deep carry clip. All that said, what really knocks this blade out of the park is the value for price along with the ingenious design. You get a solid 3" blade in a tiny discreet body that is well made for sub $20! For whatever reason, this blade is priced at $19.84 for the silver blade on black stainless handle. That is a steal for this quality. If you are in the market for a smaller EDC that still manages to give you a 3" blade, grab this before they realize that the price might be a glitch (their other models in the same M-16 1s range are around $25-35). Edit: 5/21/20 I like this knife, but one huge flaw is making me drop this knife down to 3 stars. Like some others have mentioned, the lock bar is WAY too tight and engages at around 95% on mine. Because of this, when trying to close one handed (something I have no problem with any of my other knives), you have to put a ton of pressure on the release bar with your thumb AND push the blade forward with your index to prevent it from just relocking. This has chipped my thumbnail several times because of the amount of pressure required. Also, this can cause the blade to come flying into the closed position and has sliced my thumb a few times as your thumb is naturally in the way on a thumb lock. For a knife this size, one handed open and close is an expectation, but I just can't safely do it with this one. The frame lock is just too tight and the metal too thick for this sized blade.