I was fortunate enough to spend some time with designer Richard Rogers at SHOT show this year, and I used the time to ask him some questions about his wildly popular knife – the CEO.
To be honest, I was not initially a fan of this knife – it seemed small and awkward, and I had a hard time opening it smoothly. However, after talking with Richard in some detail, I now understand this knife’s target market and niche much better, and have come around to it.
My initial gripe was the opening – you’ll note the thumb stud is almost completely recessed into the handle. This makes it challenging to perform what I would term a “normal” opening by flicking the stud out and forward. Speaking with Richard, I learned it works best when you lead by pushing your thumb outward only, then push forward a bit as the knife opens.
It’s challenging to describe on a blog post, but it becomes quite intuitive once you get hands-on with the knife.
The target audience for this knife is folks who generally can’t or won’t carry a knife, primarily for social reasons – for example a … wait for it… CEO. Other use cases include doctors (especially those who rock scrubs, at 2.1 ounces, this knife is light enough it can clip on to the v-neck of a set of cheap hospital scrubs and not drag it down), nurses, and anyone who dresses business casual or nicer at work.
As you can see here and in the header image, the knife looks an awful lot like a pen when it’s slipped in to a pant or shirt pocket. My only (minor) gripe is that I’d love a non-branded clip, but someone who will disapprove of knives won’t necessarily recognize “CRKT”, so it’s a pretty minor complaint.
Any CRKT folks reading this – how about a line of accessories for the CEO, such as different color/style/branding clips? It’s just a couple Torx screws.
With the IKBS bearings this knife shares with quite a few of its newer CRKT counterparts, the action is smooth and the lockup is solid – with its size and geometry, even when it’s open it looks more like a traditional Case knife than a modern folder, which may help put folks at ease if they see it come out.
Overall I’ve become a convert to the CEO – I can see why it’s so popular, and I look forward to getting my hands on one for a longer-term review sometime soon.
Until next time.
-T