CRKT Hawk K-AT

My latest knife acquisition is another CRKT- this time a Hawk K-AT (Knife-All Terrain). To start with it's a dainty little thing- the blade is two and a half inches long but the overall length is only six and a quarter inches; the handle barely fills the palm of my hand. To add to its diminutive size is its light weight, it really is barely noticeable. I'd be very interested in seeing a full size version of this knife- perhaps with a five inch blade.

The most outstanding feature of the K-AT is the wrist lanyard which is stowed by wrapping it up through the cut-out at the base of the blade and then hooking it over a stud at the end of the hilt. It not only give the knife a very distinctive look but means that if it is being used out of doors there's little chance of losing it- a real possibility with this little knife.

The bead blasted blade is flat on one side with just a single grind. I'm sure that there's a name for this but I'm not that much of a knife geek [yet]. Out of the box it's very sharp indeed. I selected the partially serrated blade preferring to have the extra cutting power of the serrated section on a blade this short. The full length tang is knurled top and bottom at the base of the blade to provide a bit of extra hold and the urethane scales seem very grippable- feels like they won't slip in the wet. The handle shape and knurling seems to fit my hand very well- even though it's short, it's still possible to get a very good grip on it if you need to exert some real pressure.

Another feature of the K-AT is the sheath- so much so that the few friends of mine who have seen the K-AT look at the knife for a moment and then quickly enquire about it instead. It's a two part system- the sheath itself is urethane too with a hollow tube at the base so that the little knife can be carried around the neck (chain not included!). It's quite slim giving a low profile under clothing and the sheath holds the knife well- you have to press down in it with your thumb to release the blade. I'm confident enough in the design to carry the knife upside down like this and not have to worry about the knife falling out. The second part of the carry system is a belt clip which the sheath fits into snugly, held in place by a metal bar over which is hooked the line at the base. The belt clip is about one and three quarter inches wide so it should fit a fair variety of belt sizes. The actual belt loop is right at the top of the sheath meaning that the knife sits quite low on the belt, a feature that I'm fond of.

Like the Pesh-Kabz, the K-AT is not longer on CRKT's homepage- one of the reasons I purchased it now instead of another model. It's a very compact and handy fixed blade design. I'm not quite sure of what place the K-AT will earn on my kit just yet; its small size and weight would seem to suggest that it is ideal for carry on daytrips. And the affordable price means that it would also be a very handy item to keep stowed in a daysack for a "what if" situation. It's not a do-it-all knife by any means but it is certainly a useful piece of kit.

As my second CRKT knife, I have to say that I'm becoming a fan of the company; very interesting design and good quality finish. I'm hoping that time will prove that the build quality is good too. Given that their knives have a lifetime warranty I suspect that this will be the case.