FOG HORN April, 2016
Twobirds Flying Publication
Copyright 2016, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.
Columbia River Knife and Tool Clever Girl
Confidence in Hand
CRKT Clever Girl 2016
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
CRKT Clever Girl – confidence in hand
By: Sal Palma
Calling a fighting knife “Clever Girl” is
interesting to say the least but not
inappropriate given the very classy flowing
curves of this, new for 2016, fixed blade knife
from Columbia River Knife and Tool, CRKT.
Clever Girl is a collaborative effort between
Austin McGlaun, an Army veteran and its
designer, and the folks at CRKT.
After returning home from Iraq, where he
sustained several injuries, Austin joined the
police force but the annual salary of $36,000
was insufficient for him and his family. It was
then he decided to pursue knife making,
something he’d done and started in his garage.
As part of the Forged By War™ program1,
Austin McGlaun of Columbus, Georgia, designed
Clever Girl™. It aligns with his philosophy that a
knife is more than a tool. It's a psychological
deterrent very different from a gun and tells
your attacker, very quickly, that you mean
1 In 2013, Ryan Johnson of RMJ Tactical, designer of elite, military, tactical tomahawks, approached CRKT with the news that he had been working with a few combat veterans that had returned from war with varying degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To help work through their challenges, they have been designing and forging steel into custom tools. Drawing from their experience earned in combat situations, they have been creating tools they wished they had available to them in the battlefield.
business. The Clever Girl™ was created so you
can grab it, use it if necessary, and then return
to your family.
Clever Girl is an interesting design with a blade
profile credited to Middle East origins2, very
much like the Yemeni Janbiya, but formally
Clever Girl’s blade profile is a trailing point
design. The curve along the spine terminates in
a tip that extends above the spine resulting in a
sweeping belly that gives this knife amazing
slashing and slicing power.
Don’t get me wrong, Clever Girl also has a
menacing point with tremendous piercing
ability but this baby is a slicer from the ground
up and simply a thing of beauty!
CRKT used SK5 for the blade material which has
excellent harness and edge durability.
SK-5 is the Japanese equivalent of American
1080, a high carbon steel with carbon between
0.75%-0.85% and 0.60%-0.90% manganese. As
2 CRKT describes it as Persian
CRKT Clever Girl 2016
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
quenched, it has a hardness near Rc 65 and
produces a mixture of carbon rich martensite
with some small un-dissolved carbides. The
excess carbide increases abrasion resistance
and allows the steel to achieve an ideal balance
of blade toughness with superior edge
retention.
With that little bit of metallurgy, I’ll continue
with Clever Girls’ hollow ground 4.6 inch long
and 1.58 inch thick blade sharpened to a razor’s
edge. This is so characteristic of CRKT
excellence. I have never experienced a dull knife
edge from CRKT and Clever Girl is no exception,
you can shave with this edge, and that is no
spoof folks.
CRKT has also included a black powder coat
finish for enhanced corrosion resistance and
tactical application.
Handle design is important in any class of knife,
but in a fighting knife, a properly designed
handle is everything. It determines how well
and how controlled you’ll draw and use your
blade and Clever Girl’s handle is worthy of a
dedicated review highlighting its numerous
exceptional qualities. It’s here where Austin’s
military experience is evident.
Clever Girl uses a full tang design with a
beautifully sculpted G10 grip creating a natural
hand-filling curvature with finger coils forward
and to the rear of the grip. All edges are
rounded and nothing bites into the hand,
gloved or not so it’s extremely comfortable to
grip. With this type of handle design, the user
will find that both a saber grip and reverse grip
work extremely well. Even an icepick edge out
hold feels natural due to the handle design and
a flattened surface along the lanyard hole at the
end of the tang.
Carry options are also important when
considering a fixed blade fighting knife. CRKT
meets that requirement by including an
excellent MOLLE compatible glass-reinforced
nylon sheath that securely holds the knife in
any orientation.
Austin McGlaun and CRKT have created an
impressive tool with many of the boutique
features but without the boutique price point.
CRKT Clever Girl 2016
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
Clever Girl is a knife possessing all of the
attributes credited to excellent fighting knives.
Its tenacious blade profile, razor sharp edge, full
tang design and superb handle make her a
formidable deterrent. Clever Girl’s spirit is best
captured by William Congreve’s, English
playwright and poet, "Heaven has no rage like
love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a
woman scorned," spoken by Zara in Act III,
Scene VIII from “The Mourning Bride.” And it’s
yours for a very modest $125 MSRP. Check it
out!
Manufacturer Specifications
Dimensions Open Overall Length 10.125 inches
Weight 6.3 ounces
Blade
Length 4.6 inches
Thickness 0.158 inches
Material SK5
Blade-HRC 54-56
Finish Black Powder Coat
Grind Hollow
Style Persian
Edge Plain
Handle
Material G10
Carry
Carry System Glass-Reinforced Nylon
Weight 1.6 ounces
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