Doug Ritter CRKT Mk6 Fixed Blade

Today I stumbled upon a Doug Ritter CRKT Mk6 that I hadn't heard of before. This appears to have come out last year (2014) and looks to be a "big brother" of Doug's Mk5 - a skeleton handled fixed blade knife. The Mk6 is slightly smaller than the Becker BK14 Eskabar.

Mk6: http://www.crkt.com/rsk-mk6-survival-knife-2381
Mk5: http://www.crkt.com/Ritter-RSK-Mk5

Blade Length
Mk5: 1.75"
Mk6: 2.95"
BK14: 3.25"

Blade Thickness
Mk5: 0.12"
Mk6: 0.14"
BK14: 0.165"

Overall Length
Mk5: 3.81"
Mk6: 6.38"
BK14: 7.00"

Non-Blade Length (by subtraction)
Mk5: 2.06"
Mk6: 2.43"
BK14: 3.75"

The Mk5 comes with a lanyard that I've read is intended to help with the hand-hold.

The Mk6 comes with the handle wrapped with orange paracord - including a dangling "grip" - again would certainly help with the hand-hold.

They all come with a hard plastic sheath - the Mk6 includes hardware for a belt clip.

Mk6 Review:
http://www.thetruthaboutknives.com/2014/03/knife-review-crkt-doug-ritter-rsk-mk6/

Price on Amazon.com (CRKT.com or Karbar.com):
Mk5: $17.20 ($29.99)
Mk6: $31.24 ($49.99)
BK14: $40.52 ($67.29)

NOTE: I'm not promoting Amazon.com -- just using it for a non-manufacturer's price.

I've got one. I haven't used it much but I like it. If you have a bit more room in your kit the extra size is welcome. I would take it over any number of more expensive knives I've seen.

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=269545

Huh, I missed that thread. Thanks!

Edit: I went back to make sure I didn't post in the thread. Whew, I didn't.

Of course I would have blamed it on hold age if I had.

These kinds of minimalist knives interest me. in looking for some info on the CKRT "Stiff Kiss.", I ran across this product announcement http://www.crkt.com/or-show-2015 .

More variations on the theme of "bare bones" blades. The "bivy" multitool looks intriguing - locking tools and interesting pliers, but it is rather heavy at nearly 8 ounces.

It is nice to have options.....

On sale at Sierra Trading Post for less than $20.

I used to have a Becker Necker, one of these minimalist knives. It was cute and all, but in all honestly it wasn't one of my favorites. I could make it work, but it wasn't comfortable or fun to work, if that makes any sense.

I'm pretty sure I gave it to my son. But he says he doesn't have it, so one of us has lost it. While that made me sad about losing the money (not much money in truth), it didn't bother me all that much about losing the knife. Maybe we'll find it some day and I can give it to someone else.

Now, this Ritter knife may be better than that Becker I had, but I think these minimalist knives have limited comfort. They serve a purpose, and if you need that purpose, great. But if you're looking for a general purpose knife, these are not it IMHO.

You asked about the K.I.S.S. - note that the original CRTK K.I.S.S. have a chisel grind. I don't know if the Stiff K.I.S.S has that as well. So make sure a chisel grind is what you really want. Come to think of it, I believe I have lost my K.I.S.S. too. Maybe losing them is my subconscious way of dealing with knives that I thought I'd like, but didn't. The original K.I.S.S. had a bad habit of partially opening in your pocket, and stabbing the snot out of you when you reached your hand in there. Of course, the Stiff K.I.S.S. wouldn't do that.

I was less than clear. I have a drop point stiff kiss (it does not have a chisel grind, thank heavens. I was looking for some sort of information on what steel (probably 420, I would guess) goes into it. The tanto models do have a chisel grind. I have one in my dig kit for detail work. The chisel is fine for that specific application.

If you are going to be slicing all day, these are not the proper tool. For normal, intermittent use, they are fine. I like the light weight