CRKT M21-04G Folding Knife with Liner Lock: 1.4116 Plain Edge Blade, G10 Handle w/Liner Lock, Reversible Pocket Clip, M21-04G

My comparison for this knife is against a CRKT Crawford Kasper that I carried for years and was my shaving sharp daily tool. This knife was purchased as a replacement (stolen) for that so my comparisons will be between the two. The secondary locking mechanism is very similar but in the Kasper it is manually deployed and in the M21-04G it is deployed automatically when the knife opens. This is a major improvement over the design and is a key feature that I like about it. It does take a few practice tries to be able to close it one handed but it is very doable and becomes second nature within a few days. I would much prefer that it lock open as it does if I ever had to use it defensively so I would still put this to the "good" column. The blades are both made of the same steel so I expect the same reliable sharpness from it and wearability which for my use was about 3 months between sharpenings and daily use at work while maintaining a shaving sharp edge the entire time. Both knives are large enough to fill a large hand and be comfortable which is hard for me to find. My hands are 8" from fingertip to wrist and 4 1/4" across the palm for comparison. Most pocket knife handles are so small that it feels like I can only hold them with two fingers and a thumb and that doesnt feel like a lot of control to me. I did have to do some hunting both on Amazon and CRKT's website because I wanted a knife with a smooth edge and no serrations and I could not find it in a full size. It kept linking me back to the M16-01KZ, which I am sure is a fine blade, but is too small for what I wanted. All other search results showed tanto and serrated blades. Only after a specific part number search did I find this one, the M21-04G. I would have preferred one without the black finish on the blade and just steel but that is personal preference and in no way do I regret my purchase. Pick one up, you won't believe how comfortable it is to work with.

Yeah, I know you think I'm crazy for calling it a EDC Knife if you've ever actually seen it, but I ordered it knowing it would be big with the intention to use it as EDC anyways. I am a somewhat big person at 6', but its due mostly to my hands. They're huge in comparison to most at a size 10 pinky ring and 16 for middle and ring fingers. As you can see, a large knife is for me! =] Well, I ordered this knife and it got to my doorstep in two days here in the Greater L.A. area and boy was I surprised. This truly is a big mans knife. Most would use it for a pack knife while camping, but not me. I've had this knife for almost a whole year now and it is a super knife. Out of the box, I WAS able to shave my arm hairs with it, but that didn't last long! I used it the next day in my stage production class and found myself cutting rope, carving luan plywood, and even digging with this beast. At $36 bucks, I wasn't afraid to kill this knife within a week, given, it did the job, but alas, it is still kicking a whole 10 months of that hell later! A little sharpening here and there and it will never disappoint. The blade is a mid-high carbon content stainless steal, so if (or in my case, when) the initial coating of protective stuff goes, it will get a little discolored in high humidity and even rust under prolonged exposure. (nothing a rice stone cannot handle.) I am only writing this now because every time I check the price it has been well over the $[..]I paid for it, and now its not! I need to get a spare because all my work mates want to steal it!. It is quite the conversation piece as it lacks the subtlety of a cheap 3'' knife while packing a lot more class. Anyone who has had any authority over me has challenged its street legality, but here's a lil proquo. In CA, there is NO length limit as long as it is not a gravity, switchblade or balisong knife. LA city has a loosely enforced length limit of 3'', but anyone with a reason to carry it need not worry. its basically a anti-hoodlum knife law. workers and professionals heed none of that flac. what the highest rated comment said about this knife needing some modding may be true for most, and, although i loooooove the auto-lawks, WILL need a little sanding on the release liner. The serrations on the liner didn't make me bleed, but through constant use for the first week, I did get a light callous on my right thumb. The whole knife is still as solid and almost as stiff as the day I bought it too. No wobbles at all. I abuse the living hell out of this knife, battoning wood included, and I've never had to tighten a single screw except the clip screws every once in a while. This knife is as good as any fixed blade I've used, including ka-bar bk series knives! I keep this within reach at all times from protection to safety to whittling and then some. In my eyes, a knife of this caliber is a tool and, although it would make a terrifying weapon, should be considered nothing more than a tool in responsible hands. I carried this knife for the last 5 months of my high school career before I graduated without any heat. This very knife may very well have saved my life too. One night on the freeway, I was in a 60-0mph rear-ender style crash and I was able to leave the car after the seat belt broke and locked up to tight for the release to work beause this knife was in my pocket when I needed it. I just ran the blade under the belt and poped it off. My car was rear ended not moments later just as I exited the car. Did I mention I love this knife?!? Thank you CRKT! P.S. for the holidays: Any blue collar worker would use this knife like a wonder omni-tool in a heart beat, so if you know anyone that you love and cherish, give the gift that keeps on cutting and prying and slashing and chopping. They will never stop thanking you. Though I might suggest the smaller 3'' version to those with smaller hands. Best of luck to all and happy holidays! edit as of Friday August 19th 2011: I am back again to buy yet another one of these knives, as i finally lost the last one i had. (i actually cried, as it was the one that very nearly saved my life and had become part of me.) times are hard right now as i am between jobs, but this knife is so affordable, that i bought me a new one anyways. thank you again CRKT for having such great service and products. Update 5-18-2016: So I am ordering this knife again, but luckily, it's because I am gifting it. My brother had purchased the M21-14G and though almost identical, he found that those veff serrations weren't to his liking. So now, I'm going to buy him one of these for his upcoming birthday. SHHHH DONT TELL HIM! In other news, my knife is still doing great. It looks like garbage because it has been an EDC knife for five years, and you cannot even read the model or maker info on the side of the blade due to wear, but it still has a good temper and I can still home it to a fine edge. I'd say the ~$36 I paid years ago has more than been made up for. I love this knife, and even after I retire it, I'll keep it sharp and well oiled for old times sake. And when I do retire it, I'll just be getting another one of these.

And I bought this now three or four different times. It's either because somebody has used it or borrowed it and not giving it back or I've lost it. I love this knife! Its well made. For the price its a good quality knife and very dependable. I didn't think I would like to double Locking System but you get used to it and it'll save you from cutting yourself. I keep all my knives extremely sharp and It keeps a good edge

I've owed this knife for just under 2 years and carried it daily. As the other reviewers have said this version is large. So for those of you out there who would love to carry a sheath knife but don't want the bulk or strange looks this is the folder for you. First off the design and construction are great. I've owned coldsteel, buck, gerber, spyerco, and benchmade folders. They were all fantastic knives and you can't go wrong purchasing any one of them. The reasons I love this particular knife are the spearpoint blade design, auto-lock, the relatively mild stainless steel, and the price. The blade design is very tough and utilitarian. It's good for carving, slicing, and mild prying. It has a very strong tip for punching through tough material. I really like the additional safety of the auto-lock. Others have complained that it's hard to close with one hand but I haven't had any problems learning how to do this. The steel is mild compared to AUS-8. For me it's a good compromise. You can keep a very sharp edge on this knife without it being overly brittle. Ofcourse this means you have to sharpen it more often but it's also faster to sharpen. The steel is maintenance free and you don't have to worry about rust. Now we come to price. For the cost, you can buy 3 of these for one good benchmade or coldsteel. Having lost both a coldsteel and a benchmade, I can tell you that I actually got sick to my stomach. I don't have to worry as much with the M21. It's every bit as good as it's competitors at a third of the cost here on Amazon. As for production quality issues, I've not seen any. I own three variants of this knife and I just ordered another smaller version of this one to have as a spare.

The G10 feels great, looks great, and is very light. The blade is quite large and hefty, but is very manageable if you have larger hands. The liner lock is very strong with very little play. The auto lawks feature is an annoyance, but it is easily disabled and replaced for warranty service. Now as my title states, it is not designed perfectly. The barrel spacer second up from the bottom touches the blade and creates a dent in the edge which makes smooth cutting impossible. I sent it away to CRKT and they sent it back without touching it. Now I realize I probably should have requested a replacement from amazon but it's too late for that. I wouldn't worry about it if you're going to beat on it.

I own a large collection of knives, several hundred in fact. Having used them daily, some for years; and believing that they are as much a matter of being dressed as wearing pants . I can say Crkt makes great production knives. They are made on cnc machinery and the fit and finish are uniformly good from one knife to the next. I have several of the carson (lic) M16 M21 and M4's I love the design. The M16 in the shorter spear point is lighter at the point, and as such opens with less authority. the M21 has more weight out on the end of the blade so this isn't a problem. These knives are strong and can handle about any abuse you can dish out. I will not carry any other liner lock, I have had too many fail. Now as for the blade; You simply can not buy a knife that will hold an edge under heavy use for under $150 I suppose this is because so many people use their knives for prybars screwdrivers etc The steel in these knives is fairly soft , you can hone it very sharp but expect to resharpen it often. The same applies to buck gerber case cold steel sog and so on. All of these companies use the same steel, and temper it the same way then draw it so it is soft enough you won't snap the blade prying with it. This model comes without the annoying serrations, so sharpening is quick .The edge is also ground symmetrically unlike the serrated models that are ground on one side like you would sharpen a chisel. I am not sure what all the chatter is about this being such a large knife, its just a 3& 3/4" blade no larger than any other lockblade folder with a similar blade length, and narrower in cross section than most. The Lock on the liner lock is simple enough to operate and shouldn't take any reasonably intelligent over a few trys to master. The short version,. its a well made knife, much better than most in todays market Maybe a little large for a letter opener but not for a utility or skinner

It’s a great knife but it was a great knife for 40 bucks. I don’t know about this thing being 80$ now. That’s crazy.

I've had a chance to sample a couple members of the CRKT folding knife family, including a bottom-of-the-line Zytel handle EDC model and a top-shelf aluminum handle "special forces" version, and I can say without hesitation that the G-series represents the best value and functionality for the money. I actually prefer the G10 handle of my M21-04G to the aluminum handle of the SF knife - it has a very solid, rugged, and "grippy" feel to it. While sexy, the aluminum handle always feels like it's in the process of slipping out of my hand... If you have large hands like I do, you will particularly appreciate the extra length and girth of these "Big Dog" M21 models...and make no mistake, these are LARGE, heavy knives not really suited to everyday carry applications. I purchased the knife with the intention of using it as a more compact alternative to a big fixed-blade survival knife for shorter hiking trips, and you can find some interesting reviews of this model for that application on YouTube. At the risk of giving away the ending, you can in fact use this knife to split logs...at least for a little while. Fit and finish of this knife are excellent. There is not a hint of wiggle in the blade pivot, and the Carson flipper deploys the blade with a delightfully robust and unequivocal "ker-SNAP". The combination of the quick flipper and doubly-redundant security of the Auto-LAWKS system may very well spoil you for any other brand of knife. Once deployed, that blade will not budge. The nitride coating on the blade looks to be quite durable and provides a nice matte grey contrast to the black G10 handle. The M21 I received shipped quite sharp, but I would not describe it as razor-sharp (my standard for reference being my Global chef's knife...). I wouldn't rate this as a problem since you're not exactly going to use the M21 to julienne carrots or shave garlic. The only minor defect in the knife I received is a small glitch in the red paint of the Auto-LAWKS thumbswitch, purely cosmetic. Overall, an exceptionally well-engineered, heavy-duty piece of hardware.