Entrez-vous my lovely spear-point (obnoxiously orange) CRKT M16 – my go-to work knife. This is one of the medium sized “flavors” of M16, with a spear point and CRKT’s rescue features, which, if you want a spear point, can only be found in “tactical black” as far as I can see.
The tactical black (with accent color: slightly darker black) colorway does look remarkably good in its own right, but I’m still partial to the orange. Either color sports a handy pocket clip that keeps the knife comfortably low in the pocket, but high enough to grab quickly for use (see below).
Regardless of pedantic notions about color, this knife is sturdy enough for regular use in a professional capacity, and has features I care about in a work knife – first, a proper tungsten carbide glass-breaker (not one of those absolutely garbage soft steel ones on those $5 gas station knives).
Second, it has a seat belt cutter, which in this case is built in to the flipper; a move that conveniently allows you to keep the knife closed while using the cutter, although do note if you’re not careful when you re-clip this guy to your pocket, you can catch the edge of the pocket with the cutter like so:
Not a deal-breaker, to be sure, but something to be cautious of. Just like holstering a firearm, speed is not the goal here.
In the photo above, you’ll also note the red dotted lever indicating this knife has CRKT’s “AutoLAWKS” [wiki] system, which I personally like and appreciate. For the uninitiated, just know it’ll take one additional bit of manipulation to close the knife – familiarize yourself with it and I think you’ll find you like the extra security.
Pros
- Reliable design
- Extra locking safety feature
- Helpful rescue features that don’t suck
- Reputable manufacturer with good customer service
- Comes in “tactical as f##k” black
Cons
- More expensive than $5 gas station “rescue knife”
- Little seatbelt cutty boi might cut yo pants by accident
- Rides a bit high in the pocket for some peoples’ taste
- Doesn’t come in even-more-obnoxious chartreuse/safety yellow
In short, this is a reliable knife that doesn’t completely break the bank (about $55 on Amazon as of this writing) – if I were to lose or somehow destroy it beyond repair, I’d happily run out and buy a new one with no wailing, and only a little gnashing of teeth.
Get you one!
[Update]
As of SHOT show 2020, CRKT has released a new variant to the M16(ish) family – the M40 family, written up here. I’m hopeful we’ll see a “rescue” variant at some point, but nothing so far…
-T