CRKT Minimalist Bowie Comments
I've had one of the CRKT Minimalists laying on my desk for over a week and finally got around to taking a look at it. It's not a collectible, doesn't have Genuine Stag handles or a blade made from the latest phenomenal powder steels. It's just a slick little knife that has a ton of possibilities and is incredibly affordable. This particular one has their Bowie Style blade.
When I'm camping, I want to have a bigger knife like the BRKT Northstar or a Fallkniven A1 along to do the 'heavy lifting'. But a knife like the Minimalist definitely has a place on my take along list. Not only does it fit the bill as a neat little secondary knife to take care of opening a food pouch or trimming rope, etc, this compact little package is well worth considering as an Emergency Backup Tool. Would it be the only knife I'd need or want in my kit???? HELL no. But if it's all I had, I have no doubt I could make do.
Several years ago, a friend bought an very inexpensive neck knife from me. This wasn't what I considered a normal purchase for this individual and when I asked what he wanted it for, I found the answer pretty interesting. Seemed that he'd been duck hunting and the weather turned nasty on him (he was hunting alone). The wind had picked up and started to push his decoys together. As he was hunting a shallow slough that was only a couple of feet deep he didn't have a boat so was wading in knee deep water picking up his decoys. He lost his balance when his feet got tangled in the anchor cords and ended up falling down in near freezing water. That led to something of an epiphany for him and suddenly a small, quickly accessible knife made a whole lot of sense to him.
Back in the day when I did more canoeing in remote areas, I tried to always make sure there was at least one pack with critical items attached to the canoe in the case of an unintended upset. But then there's the situation that before you get a chance to secure the canoe a strong wind sends it back into the lake with that well secured pack. Don't think it can't happen???? (you need to spend more time in the woods, there's lots of surprises for you out there) No matter how good your intentions, remember, the road to disaster is paved with good intentions. So as I've gotten older and wiser, I find redundancy and backups to the backup can set your mind at ease.
One of the really attractive things about this package are the literally unlimited possibilities for attachment or carrying. Obviously, the around the neck option is the first consideration. But without the lanyard, the knife and sheath slips into a shirt pocket, back pack, glove box, purse, you name it. The belt loop attachment brings a whole realm of possibilities in a lot of different angles. And of course, the eyelets allow for unlimited options of carry.
The knife itself is a great design for such a small knife. There are a lot of small knives out there but you run into quality issues and then they're so small and uncomfortable to use.... who wants one!! CRKT did a great job in designing this to be a quality, functional and compact tool.
The finger grooves are deep enough to give the average hand a super secure grip on the knife keeping your fingers away from the blade edge. I'm also glad to see they took the extra step of smoothing the handle edges. Nothing worse than a knife with edges on the handle that are sharper than the blade.
For a price of around $20, I'm not sure how you could improve on it. I have no doubt it'll do the job for which it was intended in fine form. All I know is that if I were in the Northwoods and my $170 Fallkniven went over the side of the canoe, I'd be really happy to have a Minimalist hanging around my neck.
When I'm camping, I want to have a bigger knife like the BRKT Northstar or a Fallkniven A1 along to do the 'heavy lifting'. But a knife like the Minimalist definitely has a place on my take along list. Not only does it fit the bill as a neat little secondary knife to take care of opening a food pouch or trimming rope, etc, this compact little package is well worth considering as an Emergency Backup Tool. Would it be the only knife I'd need or want in my kit???? HELL no. But if it's all I had, I have no doubt I could make do.
Several years ago, a friend bought an very inexpensive neck knife from me. This wasn't what I considered a normal purchase for this individual and when I asked what he wanted it for, I found the answer pretty interesting. Seemed that he'd been duck hunting and the weather turned nasty on him (he was hunting alone). The wind had picked up and started to push his decoys together. As he was hunting a shallow slough that was only a couple of feet deep he didn't have a boat so was wading in knee deep water picking up his decoys. He lost his balance when his feet got tangled in the anchor cords and ended up falling down in near freezing water. That led to something of an epiphany for him and suddenly a small, quickly accessible knife made a whole lot of sense to him.
Back in the day when I did more canoeing in remote areas, I tried to always make sure there was at least one pack with critical items attached to the canoe in the case of an unintended upset. But then there's the situation that before you get a chance to secure the canoe a strong wind sends it back into the lake with that well secured pack. Don't think it can't happen???? (you need to spend more time in the woods, there's lots of surprises for you out there) No matter how good your intentions, remember, the road to disaster is paved with good intentions. So as I've gotten older and wiser, I find redundancy and backups to the backup can set your mind at ease.
One of the really attractive things about this package are the literally unlimited possibilities for attachment or carrying. Obviously, the around the neck option is the first consideration. But without the lanyard, the knife and sheath slips into a shirt pocket, back pack, glove box, purse, you name it. The belt loop attachment brings a whole realm of possibilities in a lot of different angles. And of course, the eyelets allow for unlimited options of carry.
The knife itself is a great design for such a small knife. There are a lot of small knives out there but you run into quality issues and then they're so small and uncomfortable to use.... who wants one!! CRKT did a great job in designing this to be a quality, functional and compact tool.
The finger grooves are deep enough to give the average hand a super secure grip on the knife keeping your fingers away from the blade edge. I'm also glad to see they took the extra step of smoothing the handle edges. Nothing worse than a knife with edges on the handle that are sharper than the blade.
For a price of around $20, I'm not sure how you could improve on it. I have no doubt it'll do the job for which it was intended in fine form. All I know is that if I were in the Northwoods and my $170 Fallkniven went over the side of the canoe, I'd be really happy to have a Minimalist hanging around my neck.
Posted by Greg at 12/9/2011 12:05 PM 
Categories: New Products in the Store!, Tests and Opinions
Tags: CRKT survival review
Categories: New Products in the Store!, Tests and Opinions
Tags: CRKT survival review
That's a great post Greg, and a lot of good advice. I have the wharncliffe version of the Minimalist and it is a nice knife, especially considering the low price. A very handy and light piece.
It looks to me like the Bowie version actually has a slightly bigger handle than the wharncliffe version. Is that right?
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Thanks Nick, glad you liked it. I haven't handled a Wharncliffe yet, but I'm not sure if it's an optical allusion or if it's really shorter. I know what you're talking about and wondered the same thing. Next week I'll have some of the Wharnie's coming in and I'll check them out. Or maybe someone out there's handled both, side by side???
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Nick, you're right. The Bowie has a bit more handle to it than the Wharncliffe. Both feel really comfortable in the hand. Lots of depth in the finger grooves to keep things in place.
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Thank you for posting that picture Greg. Based on using the wharncliffe, which I like a lot, I think I might like the bowie version even better. I might pick one up next time I order a GEC from you.
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They really are a neat little knife.
I'm going to be adding more of the CRKT's to the store next year. Before I got into GEC so deep, I used to sell a lot of the CRKT's. I still do a lot of special orders for them, but really got away from stocking very many. They just make a darned good EDC knife that if you lose it, you feel like you can afford to replace it. I've got a couple of the M16's that have seen lots of hard service.
Cold Steel is another knife I like and will be adding to the inventory. I've got an older SRK with a Carbon V blade that ranks up there with the Fallkniven and Bark River's in my book. Soooo many good knives!!!!
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