Columbia River CRKT 7540 Jeff Park Kalbi Flipper 3.28" Acuto 440 Satin Upswept Blade, Milled Blue Aluminum Handles
Pros: Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip
Cons: None
Great entry into CRKT
The Kalbi is my first CRKT. I bought this because I loved the design (Jeff Park), color, upswept blade, and the flipper opening. The Acuto 440 steel isn't the latest trendy powder metallurgy wonder steel, but it cuts perfectly fine and has reasonable edge retention. The lockup, action, and detent are solid on the one I received and the pocket clip is unobtrusive and doesn't tear up your pockets. The other reviewer here mentions the one minor drawback to this knife, which is how closely the edge rests toward the back of the open scales when the knife is closed. I've flipped this thing hundreds of times and I've never cut myself, even on the rare occasion my finger slips off the flipper tab. I honestly think you'd need to be trying or pressing really hard to cut yourself, so I wouldn't worry about it. The knife is extremely lightweight with its aluminum scales, smooth to deploy, and is a rather unique EDC. A great addition to any collection.
Columbia River CRKT 7540 Jeff Park Kalbi Flipper 3.28" Acuto 440 Satin Upswept Blade, Milled Blue Aluminum Handles
Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Pocket Clip, Weight
Cons: Overall Quality
Design oversight
The knife looks great and I love 440 acuto steel, but the blade comes way to close to the back of the handle. While it's closed you can very easily cut yourself running your finger along the backside of the scales, my finger slipped off the flipper tab (my fault the flipper works fine normally) and onto the blade and cut me really bad. Also wanted to mention the detent is not particularly strong so you can shake it open pretty easily which I always hate to see.
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Close-up of hand holding knife, opening or unsheathing knife, and then closing or sheathing knife.
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