2021 Releases from CRKT, Kershaw, & Benchmade: My Take

Let me know your thoughts on 2021 releases and what other companies I should look into this year!
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Thanks for watching and take care!

[@bigboy5978]

I was SUPER bummed to not see a new addition to the launch series.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Good point!

[@zachstuff]

Nice walk thru these three new line ups! Personally waiting for that beefy little mini adamas!

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Yeah, that'll be a good one I'm sure. And I bet there will be other rabbits pulled from their hat, but for me this rollout just didn't seem like much.

[@stephenbarone4053]

Oh boy, CRKT. So they'll talk about how strong the deadbolt is but then put cheap plastic handles around it. So the lock won't break, but everything else will. Yup, the usual backwards thinking you'd expect from them. Anyways, I like the Bona Fide, despite the high price tag. But the best thing coming out so far is the mini Adamas. Pocket friendly beast with Cru-wear - I'm all in.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Smart move by Benchmade to finally do that, yeah!

[@jakefromohiostate]

I’m excited to see reviews (and possibly buy) on the Pilar 3 and Trask from CRKT. Kershaw might bring me back with the Highball XL, that looks suuuuuper cool. I haven’t purchased a Kershaw in several years. I give them both credit for bringing out A LOT of designs!

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Yeah, they tend to do a lot of quantity, which leads me to have atcleast 3 or 4 things I really want from each company. Unfortunately not the case this year.

[@03_austindrake88]

Some good looking knives from CRKT and I like how they are finally using better blade steel on some models. That Nirk Tighe looks good in green and the price is much better than the original. The original is still $90 and the new one is $40ish. Kershaw/ZT has a few good looking releases. Glad they are finally releasing the Turismo and the Collateral. Too bad they aren't exactly like they were in your Shot Show video. I pretty much like what Benchmade is putting out. Great video once again JT.

[@machinaexmente2729]

Don't worry about the lck. Mine was rubbish too. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get a reasonable action out of it.

[@jeremyspaulding7735]

Nothing terribly exciting. A few don't look bad the crkt tighe colab looks sweet. Hopefully more to come thru the year. Great video 👍

[@NoelKunz]

I do think the LCK is good, but I can see why people wouldn't like it, especially if you were one who got it with expectations. For me, I got it on a whim and it was a nice surprise. It wasn't until I got one that I saw the rave reviews. I love it, but I get why some wouldn't. Absolutely valid.

[@jessebergunder]

Glad to see them using some d2 better than the “not so bad” 8cr.

[@bigboy5978]

The trask is D2, I’m excited for it!

[@thomaslanders6244]

I’m a big fan of the CRKT CEO and may buy other versions. I have one Kershaw, the Injection 3.5. Excellent design that should have kept and upgraded materials. BM of course has 47 versions of the 535. I agree that the mini Adamas might be nice.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

The Injection is such a great knife that always gets overlooked.

[@albertptran]

I like CRKT’s new designs. Mixed feelings on the new Kershaws though

[@albertptran]

CRKT Ritual reminds me of the knife in the movie Doctor Sleep

[@benjidowning2609]

Crkt was the most disappointing to me. The designs are awesome, but the assist just kills me. Kershaw wasn’t too bad, but a little underwhelming. Benchmade wasn’t bad, and I really like both of the full sized bugouts and the 945 is cool too. The only knife out of the 3 companies I’m considering buying is the benchmade 535-3

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Yeah. It's a fine mechanism, but their manual knives are just fine so why start doing assisted stuff now?

[@Didier090765]

I confess I skipped straight to the Benchmade part and apparently we've come to different resolutions for 2021 😅... I've been doing some thinking and came to the conclusion that I want to have some more focus in what I buy: instead of buying all sorts of brands I'll be trying to limit myself to Benchmade and Victorinox alox-models... for how long I'll be able to stick to that resolution is another matter of course 😂! Thanks for sharing!

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Hahahaha you won't save any money that way!

[@Didier090765]

@@JTsKnifeLife I'm afraid not 🤑😂

[@Joshadamwyo]

I’ll be frank, I don’t care much about CRKT or Kershaw, I haven’t carried one of theirs in a long time. Benchmade: mini seems to be the trend right now and I’m fine with it. I’d love to see a mini Bugout in the ranger green/ gray colorway. I have mild interest in the mini Adamas. I will support any variation of the 945 since I asked for it for years and now I’ll let it get shoved down my throat.

[@sheltermonkey6065]

I think the LCK is winner with its super snappy detent and very compact size. But quality is hit-or-miss. I had to return my first one.

[@TheLastRanger]

CRKT had the best designs, Kershaw next, little underwhelmed for Benchmade. I ordered only two knives both from CRKT. Bamboo was an 2020 design, didnt like it. I only ordered the Pillar 3 in D2 and the Symmetry. For Kershaw I was intrigued with only the Turismo. Nothing interested me for Benchmade, too expensive or uninteresting. 😕

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Pretty much how I saw it too.

[@sheltermonkey6065]

From how it has been described, I don't see anything new about the CRKT's assist in the 2021 models. Kershaw SpeedSafe works the same way, at least in modern Kershaws: The blade is sucked in when you get about 10 degrees from closed. That's the "Safe" in SpeedSafe. The torsion spring acts to hold the blade closed, making it safer than a regular detent knife. By the way, it's a torsion spring, not a torsion bar.

[@badmunkyedc1]

Some cool offerings! But I wish Kershaw wasn't doing all the assisted knives, manual is always better in my opinion. They have some great designs but the assist just kills it for me.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

They seem to go back and forth. Some years tons of manual, some years assisted. It's odd.

[@winchesterinc.5643]

I’ll say that I’m not very enthusiastic about most of anybody’s anything. I’ll snag a Pilar and a Turismo. But I think that’s it. We’ll see what everyone else does. On a side note: CRKT replaced my regular PiLarge with the new IKBS version. The QC was still an bit spotty on the backspacer but it was perfectly centered and flips open pretty good. What I noticed was that the lock bar and g10 felt thinner. I don’t know if I’m crazy or if they made it lighter or if they’re cheaping out to save some cheddar.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

And that lockup wasn't particularly stout to begin with. Hmmm....

[@albertptran]

The detent on my LCK is stiff and hurts my finger when flipping it. But i love the form and looks of it. Could help if they added g10 for grip though

[@nickburns7039]

The only ones i'm really interested in are the a few crkts such as nirk tighe, the psd and i kinda really want that persian one. The highball xl is the only kershaw although the new zt (i don't remember the number but it a carbon fiber with their sub frame lock) that looks awesome. not interested in any of the benchmades.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Oh yeah, those new ZTs were interesting, I agree

[@LUC.Knives]

I preordered the Trask and it's D2, im fairly certain that i read the scales are G10 (edit: nvm GRN lol)

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Yeah, just odd that it wouldn't get at least G10

[@LUC.Knives]

@@JTsKnifeLife i have the Clever Girl and its D2/g10 and I love it

[@gt-ct9012]

Kinda disappointed to hear CRKT's assisted system isnt anything truly "new". I think thats what had me most excited. Even so, they are the only ones that had a couple that really interested me. Kershaw has maybe 1 I would consider. But most are just way to big, or have to much of a "stream punk" vibe for my liking. Benchmade, just a flop for me. The -1 bugout is kinda cool, but you can build something cooler in the custom shop. Side note, I have a Blade HQ knife roll I was going to send you from when I upgraded my storage. But I couldn't fit it in the last box i sent your way. After seeing that pile, it will be in the next one 😆

[@JTsKnifeLife]

Hahahaha those were moved there for a purpose, just to help organize. That spot was only temporary!

[@havoso]

The only budget knife that I like so far is the ckrt Pilar 3, kershaw has too many assists, and zt has one bad ass knife but they want 400 for it🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@JTsKnifeLife]

The Pilar 3 should be a homerun. I hope at least?

[@johnwest4492]

Hey JT, love the channel, hey have you check out the new Bugout? 255.00 really o love the bugpit but that's just stupid. Lol

[@JTsKnifeLife]

I love the Bugout took, but I don't think i need to spend the cash on the new ones.

[@lenzielenski3276]

Funny you should say that. Yeah, $255 for aluminum handles is pretty out there. As it happened, I just bought a green/gray Bugout, lightly used to go with a set of aluminum grips I'd picked up months ago. Total cost $140 and mine looks much nicer than Benchmade's version. Ordered a blue thumbstud to break up the monochromatic theme.

[@lenzielenski3276]

Probably a good topic for another video but some of the steel choices make me go "huh?" 4CR? 8CR wasn't crappy enough you had to go 4CR? Seriously? And if I never see another knife in D2 I wouldn't care. Is it really that much cheaper that they couldn't go 9Cr14 or 14C28N? Personally, I live in California (I know, its an oxymoron) so rusting isn't an issue with D2 here but why oh why pick a steel that will rust when you can have stainless? Makes me think Kershaw is the tail trying to wag the dog.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

My guess is Chinese D2 is super cheap and they can make more money by charging more and using that. 4Cr or 3Cr knives end up in Walmart where buyers don't know shit about steel so again, profits can be higher. I really think it's all money related to them.

[@sheltermonkey6065]

There's about 10 models that I would like to take look at... but nothing I need. CRKT and Kershaw are just cranking out models for the sake of cranking out models. Most are forgettable. Wait 2 years and you can get the 2021 models a lot cheaper. Where are the USA-made Kershaws?

[@randyf.9188]

Underwhelmed sums it up 😴

[@jay6920]

I agree, LCK is meh.

[@JTsKnifeLife]

That makes two of us 👍

[@djemanimoore6521]

Booo katannnn !!!! Lmao

[@JTsKnifeLife]

😁👍👍