Columbia River Knife & ToolNIRK Tighe 
When Brian Tighe saw Glenn Klecker’s NIRK folder, introduced last year by CRKT, he was inspired by the elegant simplicity of its minimalist design, stamped and folded out of two pieces of stainless steel. The resulting custom NIRK Tighe won the Most Innovative Custom Design Award at the 2010 Blade Show. Now CRKT has turned that collaboration into an affordable production knife priced at just $150 MSRP.
Instead of CNC machined titanium frames, the CRKT version uses stainless steel with blue titanium nitride coating and an exterior satin finish. Like the original NIRK, the knife is a lockback folder in which the spring, release bar and lock detent are all integral with the frame structure. The blue accents and intricate details make for a beautiful and striking knife.
The 3.875 in. AUS 8 stainless steel drop point blade has a bit of recurve to it. Large geometric cutouts serve as purchase for your thumb to one-hand open the blade, or you can use the flipper, which is even easier. A caged ball bearing system allows it to swing open smooth as silk. A removable stainless clip is provided.
NIRK Novo
Glenn Klecker's latest is the NIRK Novo, a bit smaller than the original NIRK, with a 2.75 in. sheepsfoot blade of 4Cr15MoVNi stainless steel. It is available as plain or combo edge in satin finish. Right hand carry only with a single thumb stud and a deep carry clip, the latter a nice improvement over the original. The frame and back lock are still a one piece design like the original, but there's no lanyard hole in this smaller version. MSRP is $25.
Nathan's Knife Kit
Nathan's Knife Kit was inspired by Glenn Klecker's young son, Nathan. Glenn originally developed the concept for his son as a project they could build together, which evolved into a wonderful book, "
How To Make Wooden Folding Knives." CRKT picked up on the idea and developed this easy-to-assemble kit for those who may find even the simple instructions for making the knife from scratch too much of a challenge or too time consuming(though it only takes a few hours effort with simple tools to do it from scratch). I'll let CRKT explain:
Not only is it an easy first woodworking project, but it is an excellent way to acquaint children, seven years of age and older, with the fundamentals of knife safety and responsibility.
The kit is slightly oversized for easy assembly by young hands, and comes with complete instructions and knife safety education tips. Depending on the skill of the child, the knife can be assembled from the bag by press fit, or it can be sanded, glued, sealed, stained, painted and decorated as desired. We expect to receive many digital photographs, and we’ll post them on our Facebook page.
Many of us at CRKT were part of the great tradition of responsible knife ownership and education. It never occurred to us that our knives could be weapons, so we never used our knives to threaten or harm anyone, and we certainly would have been severely disciplined by our parents and had our knives taken away if we did. We learned that it was an honor to carry a knife, and that we were duty bound to use it responsibly.
Sadly, in today’s culture, knives have been demonized. Despite Americans’ clear Constitutional right to bear arms, knives continue to be regulated and treated as evil by some.
Of course, in the hands of the wrong people, knives can be used in destructive and evil ways. So can a baseball bat. But that is not inherent in what has been called man’s earliest and most useful tool.
We encourage all parents to continue this tradition of responsible knife ownership, and Nathan’s Kit is an excellent first step.
The kit is priced at just $9.99 MSRP to make it easy to buy and to give as a gift. If you have a son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, niece or nephew or perhaps help with a scout troop or the like, this kit would make an excellent project and the time spent assembling and decorating this wooden knife will be fondly remembered.
K.I.S.S. ASSist
Nobody will ever accuse the folks at CRKT of not having a sense of humor. The K.I.S.S. ASSist is the latest iteration of Ed Halligan's Keep It Super Simple knife design that has been a mainstay for CRKT from its earliest days. The added OutBurst assisted opening, with their patent-pending Fire Safe combination thumb stud and safety, does take some away from the simplicity angle, but they have done a great job incorporating it all into the basic design without mucking it up or adding a great deal of weight or bulk..
As described by CRKT, "when closed, the blade is safely locked by a special cam-over pin that extends from the assist spring. It cannot be opened until the safety button on the end of the thumb stud is firmly depressed and the thumb stud is nudged outward. It is both very fast, and very safe, because simply pressing the Fire Safe button does not open the knife. You must both press down and nudge the blade outward deliberately."
The AO spring and mechanism is covered by a thin sheet of carbon fiber composite inset into the frame. A Zytel guard serves to protect the single ground edge. The satin finish AUS 4 stainless steel blade is 2.75 in. long in either a drop point or tanto point and plain or combo edge. The frame is bead-blasted stainless with a removable stainless pocket clip/ money clip. MSRP is $60.
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