CRKT Sting Fixed Blade Knife with Sheath: 1055 Carbon Steel Plain Edge Blade, 1055 Carbon Steel Handle, 2020

First of all, I must enthusiastically agree with every positive 4- and 5-star review this product has received. Every good thing these people are saying is absolutely true. That being said, my personal impression is that this is a very high quality blade. I expected nothing less from Columbia River and I was not disappointed. From the shape, to the materials, to even the brilliant execution of the sheath, this knife has quickly become a standard by which I judge other knives I consider for purchase or use. The knife is all one piece, solid metal from stem to stern with no additional handle material or needless embellishments. The grip lends itself to easy removal from the sheath - but only when the user demands, of course - and fits nicely in my hand. The depressions in the handle make it easy to maintain your grip, although you should probably exercise due care if using this with wet hands as the surface is rather smooth. Understand that the description says "razor sharp" for a reason; out of the box this knife needs nothing. The blade is double edged and razor-sharp on both sides, which makes it great in a survival situation if, for instance, you wish to lash it to a pole and make a spear. I am sure this might be useful in a self defense scenario if necessary, but I don't think I should comment on that. I wouldn't want to risk having this tool labeled a "weapon" because that might make it difficult to have this shipped to your location. The lanyard hole on the end makes the knife more versatile in that you can attach a length of paracord, carabiner, or your favorite decorative key fob. The durable, well-made sheath is as high quality as the knife it protects. The hard-sided case holds the Sting securely until you are ready to draw, and the blade returns home with a satisfying click that lets you know it isn't going anywhere. You are given a variety of carry options with the configurable, secure velcro straps. You can choose to use some, all, or none of the straps to comfortably and confidently carry this knife on belt or boot, tip up or tip down. This velcro material is some ingenious sorcery that has both the soft and rough parts of the velcro merged in each piece. I don't know how they did it, but they did it. I try to steer clear of the word "tactical" these days, because due to over-use it's fast losing its currency, but this sheath is tactical in every sense of the word. The construction of the sheath, the appearance and the materials used give it a very professional appearance. It's a sheath that could reasonably be sold by itself for what we're paying for the whole package. Police, military, or security personnel could probably carry this on the job - though you may want to check with your CO first! The Sting is well balanced, which shouldn't surprise you. When you buy the Columbia River stuff you're paying top dollar for quality, and you get what you pay for. Although the balance on the knife is exemplary, I cannot attest to its throwing characteristics because, well, I'm not one to hurl a knife this nice. However, I have just placed an order for a second Sting to tuck away in case anything ever happens to my first one. This knife is THAT good. I'm making sure I have an extra BEFORE the day comes that I need it. I intend to get some use out of this knife and I'm willing to pay for the peace of mind of being able to take it anywhere, and use it for anything, without reservation. I wouldn't expect this knife to break, and I hope never to lose it or have it confiscated, but I am aware that the unexpected can happen. The mere fact that I'm buying a knife like this suggests that preparedness is more than just a buzzword for me. I think it makes sense to invest a little more up-front for the security of having a back-up to this incredible blade. That being the case, I suppose there's a chance I may one day edit this review to let y'all know how this knife performs when thrown. Oh, who am I kidding. Even when I own two of them this knife is too nice to go around throwing it at things...unless SHTF and I need to, in which case I am sure it will perform like the top of the line knife that it is.

If you are on the move a lot and/or pride yourself in awesome tactical equipment, this is THE ONLY 'FIXED BLADE KNIFE' YOU SHOULD EVER BUY. The blade: -------------- I am a fixed blade lover and enthusiast and have a large variety of different fixed blades, but after buying and using this one, I will never buy a different fixed blade again. Smaller folding knives may still have a purpose for cutting boxes, envelopes, or a variety of small things, if you don't want to intimidate people by wipping out a bigger fixed blade. However this blade can tackle NEARLY ANY job, except for maybe filleting fish, which in a survival situation it is more than capable. Bottom line, if you love fixed blade knives, buy two of these to start. The price is a major steal, I would have paid 3x as much for this baby. Pro's: Very durable, pretty much never going to break unless you STRAP an explosive to it, otherwise I imagine it would just fly away and land off in the distance scratched but otherwise unharmed. This thing is awesome. It's made to be double edged, which is great for war or expeditions requiring a weapon with a bite. Con's (kind of): It comes with one edge sharpened and one edge dull. This con is actually good for me because I live in California and carrying a double edge in the city is illegal. Dull edge could easily be sharpened for out-of-city use, though. The case: -------------- First impression: kind of bulky for a boot knife case. This can be slightly remedied by cutting off one of the velcro attachments that is sewn on. However, that velcro attachment is extremely useful for mounting the knife to a backpack strap for hiking, camping, whatever, and if it weren't there for that purpose, I would wish it were, so to each their own. This case really leaves nothing to be desired. I can apply it to pretty much any piece of gear I can think of at my disposal. Need to use it with a DUTY BELT? Yes, it works fine horizontal or vertical mounted. Pro's: Everything, this is the perfect case for the perfect knife. Can mount it literally anywhere. Con's: Due to the size it will require a boot made for boot knives (not a $30 pair of "tactical boots" from BIG5) if you want to use it as a concealed boot knife. Otherwise mounts to the leg just fine.

I absolutely love this knife, and it among the best I have ever owned. It is just small enough to be practical for every day carry, but just large enough so that it functions as a highly effective tool, and the sheath is great as well. I haven't found one thing I could complain about after carrying it with me every day for the past month. The Blade The blade of any knife is the most important part, and the Sting has it were it counts. The knife came very sharp right out of the box and the overall shape of the blade has a very nice contour to it. It is a double edge, dagger style blade which makes it optimal for penetrating, and the powder coating, which covers not only the blade but the entire piece is nearly flawless. The shape of the blade also makes this knife one of the easiest to sharpen, and it holds an edge very well. The Handle There is no need to say if this knife is full tang or not because it is one solid chunk of steel, and no flimsy stainless steel either, durable, high quality carbon steel. The handle fits nicely in the hand, and even though it it metal, it does not feel uncomfortable in a tight grip. Some people with larger hands may had a problem in a reverse grip though because of the size of the overall piece. For the size that it is, this blade does have a nice weight to it, which I find desirable as well because it shows the rugged durability of the piece. The Sheath I have to say, before this I was not a fan of nylon sheaths, and I thought that I would have to get a leather or kydex on for this knife, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The sheath is awesome and nearly matches the quality of the blade. It is heavy duty nylon on the outside with a plastic insert that really holds the knife tight. My favorite part thought is the two straps that make this piece very easy to carry around your ankle or your arm. Just awesome Overall this is an extremely good knife, even if it were more that 40 bucks. The price makes it that much better. I would definitely recommend this knife to anyone who has even thought about buying it. I am an extremely picky person when it comes to my blades and I was just blown away by this one. Just get it. You will not be dissappointed

I buy a lot of knives and I can confidently say that it's VERY hard to find a Chinese-made knife that does not come flawed and/or very dull. I am sad that all the Portland knife companies (Gerber, Kershaw, and CRKT) have cut costs by outsourcing their production to China. However, unlike Gerber and Kershaw, CRKT has kept their quality standards high. The Sting is a surprisingly-heavy full-tang knife that is actually forged from a solid piece of metal. This makes it feel extremely-sturdy for a dagger and very unlikely to fail with reasonable use. The hard plastic sheath is firmly wrapped in nylon and holds the knife very tightly, yet still allows easy draw. Both sides of the knife also came very sharp- able to easily cut paper and much sharper than the Gerber Mark II or Kershaw Secret Agent that I bought. The edges are ground cleanly and symmetrically, and the centerline perfectly bisects the dagger into two halves. As one would hope and expect of a dagger, the tip is extremely sharp. These should all be given qualities, but are very hard to find in most retail daggers it seems. The knife's velcro straps work fine for placement on either the calf or the bicep. Velcro has the benefit of one-size-fits-all for a variety of human shapes, but lack the comfort of a more customized system. It can be hard to find the happy medium between it being too tight that it cuts off circulation, or too loose so it shimmies out of place. Still for the price, I feel that it fills this role just fine; more expensive, customized aftermarket sheaths and securing systems can always be purchased. Overall, the CRKT Sting is a good value for a quality-made dagger/boot knife and certainly beats most of its competitors. You will not find another good, ready-to-wear knife of the same type at this price.

The biggest disappointment I had was that I didn't get the 2 day shipping I paid for. I got a $50 prepaid visa card as a gift and since I was moving to Chicago I ordered this to carry for self defense and spent the rest of what was on the card for the faster shipping and even after processing it came about a week later, so I had to come back from Chicago to get it. Not a big deal, I obviously survived without it. That said, none of that pertains to the knife itself. On to the product! As another review said the nylon on the sheath does have a slightly purple tinted coloration, but it is so subtle that I never actually noticed it until I read that, and I've had it on my belt for months and I use it frequently. The sheath itself has two small velcro patches on it to attach it horizontally to a belt. The strips are about 1 x 1.5 inches and are well made and thick, no worries about my knife randomly falling off my belt like my previous belt knife. The outside strap on the folds has a loop attached, to which an included larger loop goes through. The longer straps to mount it on your arm/leg/boot go through that loop and are long enough to fit just about any body type unless you're utterly massive. It sounds like a lot of extra work just to have a loosely mounted knife, but I had it on my leg for visual effect during a game of airsoft running around in the woods, crouching down, lying prone, etc and it never snagged on anything or fell off. The actual hard part of the sheath is very durable and isn't going to bend or break on you unless you're pounding on it with a hammer. As you can see in the picture, the sheath has a bump that fills the thumb indentation on the handle to hold the knife in place; the knife fits in like a glove and when I shake it up and down as hard as I can there is only a very slight wobble and absolutely no fear of it falling out, so it isn't going to come out of the sheath unless you want it to. That said, it isn't too difficult to pull out of the sheath, just give it a tug. The only complaint I have about the product itself is just me being picky, before I got my first belt knife (extremely low quality, wasn't smart when I bought it) I wore a knife on a shoulder sheath that had it rest on my stomach, and the grip for said knife was rubberized, so it had a very tight grip. This knife is made out of one solid piece of metal and isn't rubberized, but the black finish does have better grip than plain steel. Another thing I had to get used to from previous knives is the way you have to grip it to have a firm hold, if you hold it in a clenched fist it is more likely to slip, but if you hold it with your thumb in the indentation pointing down the blade, wrap your index finger around the narrower part of the grip around the thumb indentation, and let your other fingers just fall into place comfortably you'll have a tight grip on it. Another reviewer said he stabbed his wall with it and rounded the tip, I personally don't believe that. When I was cutting open a package I accidentally dropped it from waist height and it hit my floor tip first. My apartment's floor is cement with a normal layer of carpet over that, and after going through the carpet and hitting solid cement the tip only has a tiny chip on it, and I still use it to cut things. Lastly, another reviewer said his knife rusted after a few months, I've used my knife for almost 7 months now, including a few times where it got wet and I have no traces of rust on the blade. Just make sure if it gets wet to dry it off with a towel if you're worried about rust. Overall it is a great product, just expect to sharpen it and don't waste your money on expedited shipping. The blade wasn't at all sharp when I got it, but a few minutes with an $8 walmart knife sharpener was able to give it enough of a cutting edge for what I use it for.

This knife has to be among the best knives I have ever owned, used, and abused. I am a soldier in the U.S. Army currently posting this review from service in Iraq. I set out on a search to find a very portable but effective knife for everyday use, off-the-wall use, and everything in between. I have had the knife for a little over two months now and it definitely fits the bill. When I pulled it out of its neat packaging tucked away beneath plastic bubbles the first thing I noticed was its weight. I was set back by the weight for its size, but soon came to find it a very comfortable weight. Although it isn't heavy by any means, it certainly isn't the lightest blade you'll ever find. The sheath is very light and sturdy, the straps are dual Velcro that adhere to any other part and don't let go. I have had it strapped by the inside of my arm, strapped to my ankle, and strapped to my back on my belt, the sheath is very comfortable wherever it goes; though I would not suggest sitting down in a chair for an extended period of time with it on the back of your belt. The knife is constructed entirely of high grade 1050 carbon steel. My father was a metal fabricator, from what he has taught me, this is definitely made of an exceptional metal. It is very easy to sharpen and it holds its edge well. I have been able to shave with this knife after a short session with a whetstone. I have taken this knife to fabric, to wood, to cables, even thrown into a tile floor (which it stuck into without a problem, the problem was pulling it back out), NOTHING has done any extensive damage to the edge of this knife. Bear in mind though, abuse their product like I have countless times, and you are bound to void CRKT's warranty; just take comfort knowing you'll never need that warranty! The handle is just the right length and width for my hands to keep a very firm grip on it even with tough use. The coating over the knife has a nice smooth feeling to it; but allows excellent grip when the time comes. I have noticed some scratches in the coating from having used the knife on dense materials; but that can be expected with any fashion of abuse. The grooves and indents over the handle make it very ergonomic and easy to control, and if it strikes your fancy you can even tie it to something with the hole at the pommel and the edges of the finger guard. Overall, this is an outstanding knife. You simply will NOT find a better knife, especially at this price! The next best thing is easily over $150!! This blade gets my vote in terms of portability, durability, and it looks pretty too.

I love this knife. It fits perfectly in the sheath and locks tight. Double edge feature makes for a great blade and good cutting potential. Single unit, full tang, etc makes for a simple and powerful design. I don’t mind the grip but if you have massive hands you may find it a bit small. I wear a size medium glove, for reference.

First off, all I have to say is that the knife was a little smaller than I had expected, but I will not take a star off because that's my fault, and because the function of the knife is a hundred times the size! The second thing I did when i got it was stab the blade into a brick wall, to test the 1050 carbon steel out and sure enough, the wall has a hole and my CRKT remained flawless:) The blade: very very strong, the knife itself is a single piece of steel making it extremely durable. It arrived razor sharp, in fact sharper than any knife I've received through the mail. Very sleek look and feel to it, it's a good kind of heavy, you can tell this is no cheap potato peeler. Has an indent perfect for your thumb which doubles to lock the knife into the sheath. The Sheath: very well put together, although I haven't tested like I did the knife. Come with straps enough to mount to any part of your body or backpack. Holds the knife securely, you can shake it violently upside down and it wont let go of the knife. A great plus! So sick of decent knives coming with cheap sheaths Overall: i love this knife I was skeptical at first but this is worth double what I paid for it. Shipping was very fast, and it doesn't disappoint. Really gotta feel to believe, all I know is if I ever lose it (because it seems I won't be breaking it) I will be ordering another CRKT!!

El cuchillo es excenten, la funda fue de las cosas que mas me agrado de este modelo, sin embargo fue necesario mejorar el agarre en el mango, yo lo recubri con paracord, fuera de eso excelente.