A short review of the CRKT Squid Pocket Knife.

This knife known as the Squid comes from who I would call the kings of budget knives, CRKT. The knife was a collaboration between CRKT and designer Lucas Burnley, who I would say is widely known for his Kwaiken design which he made with Boker. The Squid was based off a custom knife he made previously, but this production version came out in early 2015 and made a huge impact on the budget knife game. And, as far as "budget" knives go, the squid is a real beast of a blade. A compact fully functional knife designed to be ahead in the "tactical" knife world. Although this knife is compact, it is certainly a very stout piece. And, I have to say, for $15 I don't think it can be beat, though there are some things with the knife I think drag it down which I'll get to in a bit. 

Lets start out with the dimensions on this folder. What are you getting? A 2" spear point blade which is 0.11" thick, housed in a 3.5" stainless steel frame and scale. The weight on this knife is somewhat heavy for it's small size, coming in at 3.5 ounces. That might be an issue for some people, but for me, It's not. I honestly can't even say I notice the weight while carrying the knife. One issue though is the weight distribution is definitely not even, though it doesn't affect the knife all that much. Either way, the knife is extremely well made for it's price point. The blade is 8Cr13MoV steel, which is to be expected at this price. It's a cheaper blade steel, but it's of decent quality and holds up well for EDC use. 

This particular squid has an acid stonewash finish as well which I think looks quite nice. And, ergonomics wise I think it's a fairly comfortable piece. There aren't any hotspots that I have noticed on mine, though I think the stainless steel handles are fairly slippery/too smooth and could use some aggressive texture. It's still pretty nice in the hand however, and depending on how large your mitts are, it can either be a 3 finger hold, or a full finger hold. The thumbstuds on the knife are just about the right size, and don't poke you or feel too rough on your fingers. The deployment isn't terrible, but I think it could be much better. They chose to use teflon washers, which I think is holding the knife back a bit. If they just used some polished bronze washers, I think it would up the deploy-ability and overall quality of the knife. 

Overall, I think the squid is a pretty damn decent knife for it's price point, but could be something amazing if they changed a few things. I think if they used a textured G10 scale instead of just stainless steel it would work much better ergonomically, and it would also reduce the weight by a fair amount. I also believe that the washers really need to be swapped, because it would deploy much smoother. Other than those two gripes, I think the knife should hold up well to any daily tasks from home or work that you throw at it. 

Hope you enjoyed this quick little review! Feel free to follow me for more knife and gear reviews and overviews!