Review: CRKT Ripple pocket knife

A few months ago, I reviewed a Gerber pocket knife. While I liked the knife generally, I was frustrated with how fragile it was. In the comments for that review, one of suggestion was to check out the CRKT M-16 or M-21. I sent e-mail to the CRKT folks and they promptly sent me an M-21 for review.

I didn't like the M-21. It's a sweet knife, but bigger and heavier than I need for a daily driver. So I sent it back and they suggested the Ripple, which is lighter and slender-er. And blue.

It was still slightly bigger and heavier than I was looking for, but after 4 months of using it daily (check out the Gerber review for more details on how I use my knives), it's heftiness feels right to me. It's like riding a bike with a different geometry than you're used to: weird for a few feet, then you settle into it.

Here's what I like:

• Bearings. In a knife! I'm a sucker for bearings, so easy points there. The bearings are embedded into a little machined race in the blade. I've never felt such smooth action on a pocket knife. I'm no expert and I've only flicked open a couple dozen pocket knives, but this one beats them all in terms of smooth and fast action. I guess there's a technical advantage to quick flipping in say, street fighting or something, but generally, it's just rad. It's well-made and it's nice to use a well-made tool as often as I use my knife.
• It's solid -- I like to throw my knife to stick into poles/trees etc. I open beers with the non-business side. I'm not gentle with knives. It's not really fair to compare the $125 Ripple to the $20 Gerber, but I'm gonna: 4 months was the end of life for most of my Gerbers. After 4 months, the CRKT shows almost no sign of wear and nothing is wiggly or loosey-goosey.
• Sharp. The blade is hard. There's some serious high-zoot steel going on with the blade. Another unfair comparison to $20 Gerber: there is nothing to compare in this department. I cut food, tubes, wood. I use the little saw bit of the blade to hack through all sorts of stuff. There are no dents or chips in the blade. It's still actually sharp.
• I like the size. Having a bit more blade and a handle that fills the palm of your hand really makes the knife more useful in that "tool" way.

The only thing I'd look to change would be to see how a composite body would work with this blade. As I mentioned, I've come to appreciate the heft, and it's really minor, especially compared to the M-21 they first sent me, but I'd like to see what this knife feels like a bit lighter and I wouldn't mess with the blade or the bearings.

In the end, this is a fantastic knife and I look forward to using it for years.

The lesson here is that I'm thinking that $125 knife that you use every day is worth spending $125 on if it's solid. Note how many times I used the word "tool" here.

I run across my old busted Gerbers all the time. When I pick them up now, they feel toy-ish. I don't think I would've spent $125 on this knife if the folks at CRKT didn't send it to me. I would've kept buying $20 shit knives forever. And that's stupid.

So, call me a shill if you will, but if you use a knife daily, and it's a shit knife, my advice is to go and spend the money on a nice knife.

X0-1 rack done

While I was away last week, Pat finished the clean up work and had the rack powder coated.

It looks great. Fits good. There's a tiny gap on the front fender mount, but I filled it with an M5 nut and it bothers me now not one whit.

Liza just got back from a trip to the grocery store, with one big Ortlieb and one small Ortlieb on the rack. Probably about 30 pounds of stuff. No issues.

This is a cool design. The weight is mainly supported by the stays to the rear fork drop outs, while the tie-ins to the fender keep the rack from rotating. There are no struts to the seat stay.

We're calling Liza's bike done for now. Though, now that she's shifting the front chain rings with a friction shifter, we may put an older derailleur on there so she can carry a second water bottle.

Transportation Plans You'll Want To Take A Look At

Are us 'common folk' still allowed to post on here John? Well I am, because this is important.

Spokane Regional Transportation Council is in the process of wrapping up a couple projects. It’s been a year, but we’re finally ready for you to look over the reports from the Spokane Transportation Vision Project and the West Plains-Spokane International Airport (WP-SIA) Study and let us know if we got it right.

The Transportation Vision Project was an effort to develop a long-term vision and implementation plan for transportation across the region for the next 30-50 years. We talked to the public extensively for this project, and a lot of what we heard was a need and desire for additional modes of transportation, such as better walking and bicycling facilities and public transit options.

That feedback is reflected in the draft project report at on the Vision Project website.
Take a look to make sure we didn’t miss anything that’s a priority for you. You have until May 8 to submit comments.

We’re also looking for comments regarding the WP-SIA Study report. It’s available online at at www.SRTC.org. There's a link on the home page. The WP-SIA Study was initiated to address the transportation needs of the West Plains. Input received from the public during the study raised concerns regarding safety and the need for multi-modal transportation options within the West Plains. The study report contains public transit and bike/pedestrian recommendations as well as a list of roadway alternatives and recommendations for the study area.

The public comment period for that study runs until April 27.

Lovely wife astride a giant bike

I think it actually was a Giant. With 3-piece cranks and everything.

Way more functional than the ancient, chain-throwing rusty Schwinn that I rented in Oceanside for the first half of the week.

The cruiser-bike deal here in SoCal is kinda crazy. There are some who appear to transition well between the various modes of acceptable bikeways: the sidewalk, the multi-use paths, and the streets.

But a lot of cruiser traffic appears to be newer users, who make pedestrian-rooted decisions, and young men who attempt to maintain thier too-fast sidewalk speeds.

Both of these last two user groups provide unlimited entertainment for me, especially around the busy intersections on the multi-use path that runs along Pacific Beach.

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bike

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and they're normal looking

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Game-changer? Hurley Lowrider Phantom

These are surfer shorts.
Super-fast drying.
Stretchy.
Optimized for commando deployment (w/out sewn-in skivies).
Comfy.
Just the right length.
Mayhaps (props to TS for usage here) the perfect daily driver?
Only time will tell.

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