CRKT Journeyer Folder

The CRKT (Columbia River Knife and Tool company) Journeyer is an UK legal carry knife but with a twist and was designed by Liong Mah as a knife that is capable of being taken anywhere in the world without being confiscated at the airport. It is a folding knife with a 64mm long, non-locking blade. The slip joint system is housed within the glass reinforced nylon black handle scales.

The blade is almost a pure spear point and has a 6.4mm wide, 24.2mm long recessed slot machined into both sides as an aid to opening the knife, Liong steered away from a thumb stud, as even these are banned for EDC knives in certain countries. What Liong did do was to look at making his slip joint knife safer to use, the sometimes very restrictive knife laws take no account of user safety, just perceived threat!

The Journeyer has a T6 Torx key that sits in a slot in the rear top of the handle. Removing this T6 key and placing it blunt end first in the slot near the blade and it prevents the blade from closing, there is a 1.8mm hole in the blade allowing the end of the key to pass through it.

The T6 Torx key can also be used to adjust the tension of the hinge, making the blade stiffer to swing out if you so require. I left the tension as per the factory settings, even with just the shallow slots for your thumb to get a purchase upon it is very easy to open. Once open, the front finger groove also has the blade as part of it, making it fairly safe even without the T6 in place. Be aware however, having the T6 in place turns it into a fixed blade knife for UK users.

The actual blade is 8CR13MoV, a good value-for-money steel and I like the stonewash finish. The reversible pocket clip hangs over the back of the handle, so you could fit it with a lanyard. I can see UK users dispensing with the T6 key altogether, to be on the safe side of our knife laws. It feels good in the hand and very light, and I feel it is safe even without locking the blade in place. The Journeyer is a value for money knife; you feel it can be a real world EDC without fear of losing a very, very expensive knife. This is the plain blade version but it also comes with a part serrated blade also. I liked the Journeyer a lot, daft name but a real winner of a worldwide EDC.To learn more, visit Heinnie Haynes at www.heinnie.com. Thanks to Bruce and Ben at Heinnie Haynes for their assistance with this article.