Reviews and Ratings for Columbia River CRKT M16-04SS Carson Frame Lock Flipper Knife 3.89" 12C27 Bead Blast Tanto Blade, Stainless Steel Handles

(7 reviews)

4.3 out of 5 stars

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Columbia River CRKT M16-04SS Carson Frame Lock Flipper Knife 3.89 inch 12C27 Bead Blast Tanto Blade, Stainless Steel Handles

Special Price: $49.99

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Jerzeyboy
Albany, NY

Mar 05, 2022

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Pocket Clip, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: None

What Knife Do I Own The Most?

I thought it would be the Civivi Elementum, or the Kershaw Leek! NOPE!... It turns out to be the CRKT M-16! I own it in so many iterations it boggles my mind! Drop point, spear point, tanto, small, medium, large, titanium, steel, aluminum?, Auto-Lawks, frame lock, liner lock?, fixed blade, plain blade, combo blade, even a push button auto! There must be something I really like about them! There is! I like the way they feel in my hand! And the way they provide a sense of confidense and security when I carry them! They are iconic, and I will continue to buy them as long as CRKT produces viable versions (M4 blades...? Maybe not!) These stainless steel versions are welcome to the fold, and are welcome to my collection!

Mossberg79
Nacogdoches, Tx

Feb 29, 2024

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight

Cons: None

M16 Ultra

I loved the M16 when it debuted all those years ago. The knives were hailed as tactical workhorses, & everybody, their Dad, brothers, & uncles owned 'em. Time moved on, industry/design evolved, & suddenly...knife snobs declared the M16 a low end, overhyped, novice collectors' gatekeeper blade. Go figure. Truth be told, I've had a handful of M16s stolen or permanently "borrowed" on jobsites with little interest being shown in more premium knives. That's gotta mean something, especially considering the span of years across which this was the case. Anyhow, the primary complaint of the original knife had to do with a thin liner lock, which was fortified by the LAWKS system. The 04SS addresses this in a big, beefy framelock, minus the LAWKS. This version feels deceptively premium, & represents the M16's best and final form, imo. She ain't flawless, but still feels on par with more premium brands. This knife feels substantial in my xl hand. Sandvik steel's an excellent choice; easy to maintain, & razor sharp out of the box. My only issues were addressed with prior reviewers. You'll need to replace the hated Teflon washer in the pivot with a matching phosphor bronze washer if you want to maximize the action. Also, the lockside had a lot of rough tooling points and burs around the lockbar cutout. You may need to polish those surfaces, depending on your hand comfort. Do these things, & you'll have what I consider the finest take on this classic.

Big Chode Slinger
Massachusetts

Feb 02, 2022

Pros: Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: Weight, Lock Ease of Use

Solid, no nonsense knife

RIP, Kit Carson! This is a great knife. It is an affordable, strong, no nonsense knife. The flipping action is nice. It isn't as smooth as bearings, but the washers work well, and are easier to maintain. The bead-blasted stainless steel looks nice, and won't show scratches or scuffs. At 6oz, the knife is slightly on the heavish side, for some, but does not bother me. CRKT did a lot to save weight, by boring out the handle. Most of the weight comes from the thick blade, which comes down to a nice, thin edge. The hollow grind on the main bevel, and the flat grind on the tanto tip, make this thing surprisingly slicey. The Sandvik steel is a great choice, and is why I bought this version. It is perhaps my favorite budget steel. I loved it on the CRKT Ritual, and I love it on this knife. The pocket clip and frame lock are decent. My only issue with the frame lock is that it takes two hands to close. But, it feels sturdy as hell, so that's a fine trade off for me. The pocket clip is my only complaint. I actually like how the pocket clip isn't deep carry. This makes the knife easier to grab. The clip itself feels kinda cheap though. Also, the clip came in the "tip down" position as a default, which is a pet peeve of mine. Companies should know that 99% of their customers carry "tip up". I had to wrestle with one of those T6 screws to switch the position lol. Perhaps this is how the original M16 was manufactured or something, but it's annoying.

Steponbugs
NC

Feb 23, 2024

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight

Cons: Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type

Wow, that’s a lot of knife!

Likes: Blade design and mass Good flipper action (even w/o bearings) Ergos are great Nicely designed and executed scales, very grippy Price, price, price! I feel like I did something wrong to get it this cheap! Dislikes: Gotta reverse the clip immediately Frame lock takes a little getting used to, not much there to push on Blade alignment could have been better

Hatuletoh
Lone Wolf, UT

Feb 23, 2024

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Lock Type, Overall Quality

Cons: Pocket Clip

Not perfect, but excellent for the price

First and foremost, a frame lock knife with a nearly four inch 12C27 blade for about 25 bucks is a total steal. 12C27 takes a razor-sharp edge, and although it doesn't hold it like the latest and greatest modern steels, you also won't find a knife with one of those steels for even triple the price of this one. And I'll take Sandvik 12C27 over others in the same class like AUS8 or 8Cr13MoV any time. Overall, I'm perfectly happy with my purchase. All that said, it does have one major drawback: the handle doesn't just have hot spots, it has flat out sharp edges. The circular cut-outs in the handle are split by the frame lock so that when the lock is engaged, the pointy edges of the split circles are sharp, like, sharp enough to puncture the skin if one were to squeeze hard enough, or more likely, to tear the skin if one's grip slipped a little. I suppose I could sand down those points with a dremel, but it would wreck the bead blast finish on them, and it seems like something that could be fixed in the factory in a about 10 seconds before the knife shipped to customers. Regardless of price, a knife's handle should be comfortable. Besides a pocket clip that leaves a good inch and a half sticking up out of the pocket, the sharp handle is my only real complaint with this knife, but as I said, it's a significant one. If I'd paid more for it, I would probably rate it more like three stars, but all products have to be graded on the curve of cost. And for the cost, this is a solidly four-star knife.

Rgcgfmt
Great Falls, MT

Mar 18, 2024

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip

Cons: Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type

Mixed Feelings

Bought the 04SS to supplement the M16-13Z I've been carrying for ~25 years, which has at this point seen better days. I thought maybe a little more blade would be nice, and a tanto more useful for scraping or chiseling-type tasks, so a slightly larger package was acceptable, and this model was on significant sale at the time. Why not? Well, the blade itself is significantly stout, and the whole package thin enough to be worn easily in most pockets for a guy of my size. But it is all a bit on the heavy side. My first frame lock, I found that orienting the clip for left pocket carry leaves the lock exposed for my left thumb to put pressure on it inadvertently, so I probably wouldn't recommend this model to a lefty. A liner lock model would work better if that kind of carry is in your plans. The thumb studs on this model are all but useless for much beyond striking a match on, though the flipper works as expected. The pivot on my example, unfortunately, was not assembled correctly when I received the knife, which kept the blade from opening freely with a simple flick of the flipper. Too much and uneven pressure on the blade presented too much friction. I disassembled the pivot and arranged the O-rings to correctly support the pivot, and voila! Blade perfectly aligned within the frame, flipper action maximized with a light application of simple mineral oil. Though the blade is much heavier than that on the 13Z, it opens relatively slowly even without excessive friction. It's just a good chunk of steel. And if I really had to be super-picky, the shallow grind is pretty wavy under the well-done surface finish. Edge retention, sharpening, and stainless properties appear at least as good as the AUS-8A blade of my old 13Z, and I would at this point say that in the future I would slightly prefer 12C27 to AUS-8A, though AUS-8 certainly gets the job done. So, overall, for the sale price I got this knife for, I'm not remotely upset. It's a well-built knife (though not properly assembled at the factory), acceptably made out of good materials. It's just perhaps a bit big for the EDC job. So I believe this knife will end up in the console of my truck. If I had to do this over again, I would probably go for the M16-03KS or the -03DB instead, as a more fitting replacement for my 13Z.

Peter
Gold River, Ca

Mar 08, 2024

Pros: Blade Sharpness, Handle Feel, Lock Type

Cons: Blade Material, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip

This Knife is Not Good ... Here's Why

Just bought this knife and it's not good. Right now it is on sale for $25, and I'd say it is worth about that and the retail and adjust prices are absolutely crazy for this knife. Here is why it is only worth $25: (1) The screw for tightening the pivot is a shallow flat head, it just straight up sucks, there is no traction due to it being so shallow. I cannot believe they used this pivot, they should be embarrassed (CRKT). (2) no matter how tight you get the pivot, there is still blade play. I have my pivot tight such that you can't really use the flipper to open it, and there is still some blade play. Not bad but disappointing. (3) The metal frame ... they use a very soft steel and it has a bend to it. I think this is why the pivot has play in it. when I squeeze the handle I can feel the metal bend a bit. Also the part of the frame close to the frame lock is sharp, they did not chamfer or round the edges at all. The design looks really cool but this specific version (04SS) was very poorly executed and I cannot give an opinion on the other M16 models. It is worth $25, and that's about it ...

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