CRKT Swindle - The Wimp Clip

Kershaw Swindle, the more expensive version

I lost my original Swindle while fly fishing. The lesson is to ensure your pants are suitable for the Swindle's clip. Generally, when wearing my Wranglers or similar pants, the holding power of the Swindle's pocket clip is fine. However, given that it is spring loaded and does not have the power of a flexed piece of metal as is usually found on other knives, it can come loose under the right (or wrong, in this case) circumstances.

The wimp clip.
Looks good, but has to be used with the right type of pocket.

I was wearing lightweight summer pants, synthetic material, thin but tough. And slick. The pockets' top seams, where they open at the top, are also very thin in comparison to Levis or Wrangler jeans. The Swindle clip tension is not very strong and security in the pocket also greatly depends on the top seam, which is thicker yet, holding the clip in place. Somewhere on the river during the day the knife worked loose from the pocket, the clip undoubtedly sliding easily over the thin pocket seam, and fell out. Adios, Swindle.

So, really liking the knife's design and blade shape, I bought another, the upgraded version with the harder steel blade and ribbed handle. I prefer the look of the plain handle but I decided to go with the better blade steel so that it would hold a sharper edge longer.

Not a good choice. I use this knife constantly on anything that needs it. Wood. Cardboard. Plastic. Onions. Meat. Potatoes. Small branches,... you name it. I'm also sharpening it every week or two. It takes a good edge, but it wears too quickly for what it is supposed to do. I think the "lower grade" steel would work as well and have to be sharpened about as much, and costs less too.

My other complaint about this knife is with the blade attachment screw. The blade rides on ball bearings - one of the innovative and strong selling points of the Swindle - and it certainly makes opening the blade extremely easy. (You have to be careful if you close it one-handed because that blade swings easily in either direction.) But, as with sharpening, I find I have to tighten it every couple of weeks because the main screw works loose.

I put a dab of a lock-tight material on it the other day, so it may stay in place now. Or not.

Given all this, I would have been better off to have bought a straight-across replacement for the less expensive Swindle. If I lose this one, or break it, I won't be getting another of the expensive versions.

Swindle CRKT Review follow up

It's been about six hours since I posted my review of the Swindle on CRKT's website. I checked again a few minutes ago and, although there are two reviews of the more expensive ribbed handled Swindle, mine has yet to appear...

Now, I'm giving CRKT the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe it's a lengthy process to have a customer review actually appear on their website, but I don't see how that could be unless they are inspected and approved (or rejected) by CRKT before allowed to appear on their site. I certainly hope this is not the case, or if it is, that critical and constructive reviews are treated with equal measure to the ones praising the products.

If we don't learn, we don't improve.

I'll report back tomorrow on the status of this interesting episode.

The next day.
It's now been 26 hours since I posted the review on CRKT's site. It's still not there. The rating I gave, 3 starts of 5, shows, but none of my comments that illustrate that rating. I sent another message on CRKT's 'contact me' page about this.

Adios Swindle

I've had three issues with my CRKT Swindle, two minor, one major.

First, the two screws at the back of the handle were not the same length, and one protruded enough to be uncomfortable. A sharp little piece of metal standing proud of the handle. Not good. I suppose I could have removed that screw and filed it down a bit until it was flush, but I shouldn't have to do that with a knife like the Swindle.

Second, the flipper verges on being painful to operate. It is short and has a steep and steep radius where it meets the index finger when pulling it back to open the blade. I think the flipper should be a millimeter or two longer and have a more shallow corner, where the index finger meets it and applies most of the initial pressure to open the blade. I got used to this, but my finger still had a perpetual slightly tender spot from using the flipper.

The third, and major issue for me is the pocket clip. Many reviewers have waxed almost poetic about this clip. Its shape, how it blends into the swayback design, the fact that it is spring tensioned to open then grip the fabric of the pocket. It is well designed and integrated with the knife overall, and it doesn't sit on the side of the handle getting in the way of a comfortable grip, but it doesn't hold as securely as I was led to believe.

Clip the Swindle to the pocket in a pair of jeans with a nice seam sewn into the top edge of the pocket and it holds pretty well. But, clip it into the pocket of a pair of pants that has a thinner fabric, especially one with no large seam sewn into the lip of the pocket, and watch out. It may, or may not stay put. I know this because my Swindle is now gone.

As long as I was wearing my usual pair of Wranglers jeans, the knife clip showed a pretty tenacious hold as long as it was turned so that the knife was in line with the pocket. But, if the knife turns 90 degrees to the outside fabric of the pocket, the clip loses some grip. If you carry the Swindle in pants pockets that are not made of thick fabric, pants that are made for hot weather wear, especially of synthetic or a blended material, watch out. The clip does not hold as securely as it should. That is how I lost mine.

Wearing a pair of synthetic blend hiking pants for fly fishing, using hip boots that did not come up to the knife or pockets (so there was no interference), I started out the day with the Swindle, and ended with it missing from my pocket. Having not used it during the day, I can only assume the clip was not strong enough to hold it securely and it loosened and eventually fell out. I can only hope that someone appreciative of knives found it.

So, Swindles are lovely and extremely useful as EDC light-duty knives, but watch that clip.

PS: A brief post script since I posted the entry above. Wanting to get this feedback to Ken Onion and CRKT, I logged into the CRKT website and posted a review outlining the observations above. (Their site shows the Swindle as "coming soon." Funny, I got mine a few weeks back. I've been back a few times to see if it appears on their site. So far, nothing.

Then I went looking for contact info on Ken Onion's sites so I could send him a brief email and point him to this entry. No way to actually contact Ken that I can find. I registered for his forums so I could try there but don't have access yet. Something tells me this is too hard. A customer should be able to quickly contact the maker, and in this case the designer, of a purchased product with feedback.

Perhaps this will eventually work out. Either way, I'll report back here later.

The Swindle

I want to say a bit more about the Onion designed CRKT (Colombia River Knife and Tool) Swindle. I've been using it for about everything from kitchen cutting and slicing chores, opening boxes, cutting plants, etc. for a few days. Today I noticed that the blade has an interesting and useful characteristic that one normally associates with assisted-opening knives. Closed, the blade does not move inside the bolsters. Putting a small amount of pressure on the flipper is necessary to get it moving, then it springs open like an assisted opening knife. Then, when one closes the knife, it swings closed smoothly on its ball bearing pivot until it is almost completely enclosed within the bolsters at which point it springs tightly close over the last eighth of an inch of blade travel.

How is this done without springs or torsion bars?

A close look reveals that the liner lock piece of the bolster has on the end of it's inner edge a small protrusion. When the blade is fully closed, this protrusion fits neatly into a mating indent in the rear side of the blade, locking the blade into place. The indent and protrusion are small enough, and the liner lock flexible enough so that when a small but meaningful force is applied to the flipper, the protrusion is forced out of the indent by blade movement. Once clear, the finger force applied to the flipper is enough to carry the blade swiftly out on its ball bearing races to lock solidly open by the liner lock.

The reverse happens when the blade is closed. The liner lock is pushed outward, moving the blade along the liner lock protrusion, which keeps the liner lock away, until at the very end of travel the liner lock is released to press inward, putting the protrusion back in the indent, holding the closed blade in place.

Neat. Simple with no extra moving parts.

Difficult to get photos of, but if you get to see a Swindle, take a close look and you'll see easily how it works.

Onions

Well, Ken Onion knife designs to be specific.

There are times when it may come down to a knife that stands between you and a serious threat. Few of us are knife fighters but having a good knife is much better than having nothing. Not to mention that the knife is our most ancient and useful tool. Yeah, a stick or a rock can be a tool, but you don't have to set out to purposefully make a stick. The so-called aeschulian hand axe, the earliest tool associated with hominids was primarily a cutting tool chipped from stone.
There are literally thousands of knives to choose from these days. I like the ones that are made for a purpose, that work like they should, stay sharp, fit my hand and the tasks they are made for and made to last.

If this seems like a commercial for Ken Onion designs and the Zero Tolerance line of knives, well, I suppose it is.

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