Some words from Chris......

In recent months, there have been so many threads and individual posts that, either by allusion or directly, question our knives, our integrity, our choice of materials, our workmanship, our designs – well, almost everything that is Chris Reeve Knives. I thought I would make one statement that outlines some of my philosophy, reviews some facts and responds to issues rather than to try to post individual answers.



I am not super-human; I make mistakes, mis-quotes and mis-judgments right along with the next person. I am passionate about my knives and my company. I have been involved in manufacturing for 38 years. I apprenticed as a Tool and Die maker and worked in that trade for 13 years before becoming a full time knife maker. I made my first knife in 1975. I tell you all of this to endorse the fact that the majority of my life has been spent in studying and working with steels, knives and cutting edges. That I have the ability to design knives is a bonus, and is an area at which I have worked hard. I believe in simple mechanisms designed to function optimally, with the closest attention to engineering detail and with the best available materials. In the 26 years of Chris Reeve Knives, these characteristics have been the foundation of this small company that we humbly recognize as a leader in the knife industry. I adamantly support manufacturing in the United States and, unless absolutely unavoidable, will use only US made products. 



Whenever I design a knife, and particularly a folding knife, I spend hours and hours working through every conceivable variable the knife might present, and I spend hours with our machinists who contribute ideas and criticisms. So, when we introduce a knife to the market, there has been extensive research into materials, blade hardness, geometry of blade and cutting edge, ergonomics of the handle, relationship between thumb lug and pivot, lock mechanism, style of the thumb lug, size of the pivot bearing etc. etc. etc. Because of this, we have no qualms about offering an exceptional warranty on our knives and we support our products with the kind of customer service I, personally, like to receive.



I well understand that the forums are an arena for discussion and I fully understand freedom of speech. I am always willing to hear discussion about customer’s experiences with our knives, their likes and dislikes, their compliments and criticisms. I also fully understand what our knives will withstand and what causes them to perform at levels lower than expected. I have no desire to call out by name those people who modify a knife and then decry it’s performance; I have no wish to cast aspersions as to any one person’s obsessive behavior that keeps them opening and closing a knife compulsively to the detriment of the knife; I have no wish to comment when a particular poster is reporting absolute conjecture, or nonsense, or extrapolated speculation. I do ask that if anyone has a problem with our products, they contact us before exploding a thread on the forum. In all honesty, monitoring and replying to every thread is far more time consuming than we are able to support.



On the strength of the above, here are some facts, opinions, clarifications and specs:



· Any of our folding knives, assembled correctly, will open and close smoothly. Remember that they are intended as robust, working knives and they will not feel the same as many other folding knives. When opening a Sebenza or Mnandi, use a sideways, sweeping motion with the side of your thumb against the lug. The Umnumzaan opens by pushing the lug forward, parallel with the handle, with the top of your thumb.



· The lock should engage at between 50% and 75% of travel. With the Umnumzaan, because the interface between the blade and the lock bar is a ceramic ball, it is the ball that must be at 50 – 75%. This will give the visual that the lock bar is further over than with a Sebenza.



· The tension on the lock bar of every knife is set at our workshop. There should be no need to reset that tension. 



· All screws should be snugly tightened down onto the pins – there is no need for Loctite, nor is it necessary to super-torque the screws down. (Exception - see comments on Umnumzaan pivot.)



· With the Umnumzaan, Loctite is necessary in the pivot assembly. The threads in this assembly are machined to very close tolerance; the drop of Loctite gives additional rigidity. It also prevents the pivot from backing off. Loctite is an accepted engineering screw retention substance used in a wide variety of industrial applications including medical, electronics, automotive and aerospace. We do not “glue” our knives together. Extensive thought went into all aspects of this pivot assembly – it did not happen by accident.



· My choice to change our folding knife blade steel to S30V was thoroughly thought through, as was the selection of RC hardness 58-59. I was privileged to be involved in the development of S30V with the metallurgists at Crucible Steel – they asked what attributes I wanted in a steel and they delivered. At RC 58-59, the blade will hold a good edge and will be easy enough to sharpen. One of our tests resulted in S30V cutting 14,000 linear inches of e-flute cardboard before notable edge wear against 12,000 for BG42. I have been completely satisfied with the performance of S30V.



· There should be no blade play; there should be no lock movement. If there is, something is out of spec and the knife should be returned to us for inspection. The causes are probably a result of incorrect assembly or modification of the lock. There is the possibility that left our shop that way – we are not infallible – but we know these instances are few and far between and we will take care of the situation.



· What is the purpose of a spine whack test? Folding knives are designed to cut when the blade is open. They are designed to be stored when the blade is closed. They are not designed to be hit on the back of the blade, or to be used as hammers. I assume there is some theory that this will test the strength of a lock but it is a test with no valid function.



· Our knives are not designed as rapid deploy weapons or as worry beads but as cutting instruments. 



· Our knives are precision instruments. Treat them as such. In other words, perform maintenance and cleaning periodically and they will operate safely and efficiently for a life time.



· Any manufactured item can be destroyed. “Testing” products in outrageous and unrealistic circumstances provides no useful result. The knee-jerk reaction from many viewers is usually inflammatory and results in unrealistic negative assumption of the abilities of the product. Before accepting such testing as gospel, please think about it.



· If you have a problem with our product, whether perceived or real, please contact us first. We always respond as soon as we can to email and telephone calls. The progression of a post on a perceived problem usually sets in motion all kinds of extrapolation, criticism and negative comment that benefits no one, least of all us. This is a public forum – what is posted here can be read by absolutely anyone, so think about what you say. 



Response to a specific thread: “CRK Heat Treat” thread with a quote from an article posted on our website. The article’s author misquotes me when he cites 61-62 RC. We treated BG42 to 60-61RC. I appreciate knowing about this misquote – it has been a long time since that article was published! The article will be withdrawn from our site.



And in conclusion, I give my sincere thanks to the many dedicated and passionate, interested and not-so-interested readers of our forum. By and large, it is a lively place with good discussion and ideas! To those who own our knives, thank you for your loyalty and your trust in Chris Reeve Knives. Without you, we would not be here!



Chris