CRKT Obake Everyday Carry Fixed Blade Knife with Sheath: Stainless Steel Plain Edge Blade, Cord-Wrapped Stainless Steel Handle, 2367

Awesome little knife with a unique carry and deployment. This review is of the Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT) Columbia River Knife and Tool's 2367 Burnley Obake Every Day Carry Knife. Obake is Japanese for shape shifter or changeling. I think that alludes to the versatility of the carry options. The full tang knife is small and light, but beefier than you would expect for a knife of this size. When I first picked it up, it was noticeably heaver than I expected. The grip wrap is such that I have no worry about slippage--even when wet. Thank the Samurai for that technology. The kydex sheath has a rip cord with a nifty metal skull bead that you feed your belt through. Then the sheath is put IWB (inside the waistband) at any position you feel comfortable. After wearing this knife for a week, I can say that it does not slip down while wearing due to the rip cord length, and can be easily moved when driving if necessary. Upon deployment, the sheath comes safely with the knife until it hits the end of the rip cord and then the knife and sheath separate. No chance of an accidental injury upon deployment nor of accident when re-sheathing the knife. The creator Mr. Lucus Burnley has a great demo at [...] There are some limited editions of this same knife for sale with colored faux stingray inserts--but not on Amazon. Academy has the same knife but for $5 more than Amazon. A friend who is a knife expert advised me that this deployment method is actually of ancient design, but the implementation here is unique. Whoever invented it, it works. I still love my Tek-Lok belt clip-outfitted knives Blade-Tech Tek-Lok with Hardware (1 - Pack), but I'm going to carry this knife with the rip cord for a month or two before deciding whether to use a Tek-Lok with it. (Note: The Obake also comes with a belt clip that you can screw onto the sheath that I have not yet tried and probably won't because Tek-Lok is so superior to any other belt clip I've ever seen or used.) You can buy a much more expensive knife, but this looks expensive with the cool blade etching, appears to be stout and tough, fits comfortably at all positions because it is so sleek even with the sheath, and is cheap enough to carry every day and not be afraid to use for self defense or opening the mail.Update: Been wearing every day since I got it. It works with a suit, jeans, short and T-Shirt, even with my gi. Plenty of knife, but easy to carry and conceal. I would buy it again (and now am thinking about getting the special edition).

Some how I thought the pattern on the blade was painted on (just light gray paint over a dark gray steel blade). Actually the blade is mirror polished then acid etched to form the dark gray areas.That’s a whole new world from some paint on a blade. it is high quality and durable. Good job CRKT !The wrapping that forms the handle could not be any nicer. It is just great !Firm and durable and lots of grippy surface without being harsh or prickly. I like it a lot.The knife has a bit of heft and weight to it due to all the steel in the handle area so it feels like a serious knife / tool rather than feeling cheep and light.The edge is sharp enough and well formed; usable out of the box. Again, way to go CRKT.As far as the sheath goes and being hard to pull the knife out of it; I am quite used to these kinds of knives and sheaths and find the best way to pull the knife is to not so much pull on the knife but to push the sheath off with our thumb. Then it is a synch and not the least bit difficult. To get the hang of it start with the knife upside down / edge up and not on your belt. There is a large area of the sheath on the edge side that it is easy to push your thumb against. Don’t worry about contacting the blade edge with your thumb there is a fair amount of handle down in the sheath that your thumb will drop onto when the sheath pops loose.Once you get the feel for this kind of knife draw then you can push your thumb against the rim of the sheath opening on the side of the knife to draw the knife with the edge down. it works quite well once you get used to the idea.My sheath is just right from the factory as far as how much retention it grips the knife with. You want to be able to run down a rocky hill and not have the knife jump out of the sheath. Or carry the knife upside down as a neck knife without there being any possibility of it falling out. In other words it should really snap in there firmly which mine does.If you think the sheath is stupid hard to draw the knife I would recommend getting another sheath made. If you are stubborn, as I am, as a last ditch effort one can heat up the sheath with a heat gun and spread the opening open with some kind of wooden wedge etc and leave it in there until the sheath is cool to the touch. This takes a surprising amount of heat so keep heating and wedging until the plastic suddenly becomes pliable. This stuff isn’t just your ordinary plastic it can resist a fair amount of heat and just sit there and take it. I know this from adjusting other brands of similar fiber reinforce plastic sheaths.Bottom line I have zero complaints about my new knife. For the price it is an astounding product. I wish the people who made it got paid enough (though I fear they didn’t) ; they did a great job.