Ode to Neck Knives

[Kuolema]

Hola all,

Today I was wondering around my local knife shop, and ended up purchasing a CRKT Folts Minimalist. I've been wanting a neck knife for a long while, considered a Swick but since it didn't come with a sheath I couldn't bring myself to buy it.

The Minimalist comes with a *Zytel* sheath. The site says Zytel, but some other places have it listed as Kydex, so I'm not sure about that.

But my, my, my this is one heck of a knife! The design is superb! It feels weightless around the neck. It locks up tight in the sheath, preventing any "knife falling out and down my pants" situations. All for a very cheap MSRP (I paid about 40$ CAD, but internet/U.S. prices will be a lot lower), the only thing I have to complain about is it was not as sharp out of the box as I'm used to (maybe I've just been too pampered by Spyderco :rolleyes :) I wish Spyderco had something along these lines, but I digress.

Anyone else have a Minimalist? This is a whole new avenue to me, any neck knife afi's around here to share some insight into this wonderful knife niche?

Cheers!

-Jared

[vampyrewolf]

I've been carrying a ss 'fly since 01, 99% of that carry is on my neck in an O/ST rig. Also have kydex for my ss police, millie, spur, bone kiwi... and a blank I still have to form for my mayhem.

It's all a question of what's being rotated in my front pockets at to which one's on my neck.
Right now I've got the millie and lava in my pockets, with the spur on my neck. Going to switch over to zdp caly jr and kris for the next few days (maybe a week?), which means I need something on my neck that I'm not afraid to abuse... the ss 'fly. The last week was my se frn endura and lil temp, with the kiwi on my neck as I had hard use knives in both pockets.

[Dr. Snubnose]

I got one!...It's a pretty nice little knife...wish it had more than 2" of blade and I like all the finger choils...makes it comfy in the hand, IIRC it weighs in at a little over 1oz. and is great in neck carry position, handle are done well and mine came scary sharp out of the box. I'm not using mine cause I like a 3"+ necker...CRKT calls it a wharnie but It's more a cross between a wharnie and sheepfoot design...my little K-bar last ditch (true full wharnie) which is smaller cuts better...FWIW.....Doc :D

[Spyderwings]

I've been thinking about picking up a Swick for a while now, just don't have the cash.

Mostly just wanted to say welcome to the forums from a fellow Saskatonian. I was away from the forums for most of the summer, so I didn't know we had a new member here!

[FLYBYU44]

The lack of a sheath kind of kept me from buying the Swick as well. I have a nice Blind Horse Knives patch knife that I carry in a neck rig occasionally.

[silat]

Perrin La Griffe all day...........

[yowzer]

I have a Minimalist. I really like the design of the knife, but, the execution... well... let's just say I'm getting a lot of (needed) practice at freehand sharpening. Someday I'll make the effort to acquire one of the original Folts-made ones.

[Left Hand Path]

The Minimalist looks like a nice knife that would work well for me, but I have not seen one in person yet. Glad to hear the sheath is tight. Thanks for the quick review.

[jujigatame]

The Minimalist is a cool design, feels good in hand. I didn't get one of the CRKT versions though since my necker lineup is kinda tough to crack.

[Kuolema]

:eek: Another Saskie, heh, small world.

The steel, 5Cr15MoV, HRC 55-57, leaves a little to be desired, but it would do well to remember this isn't a truly expensive knife. It serves it's function well, seeing as how I've always got +/- 5 other knives on me at any given point, it's not a primary blade, and I love this little cutter.

As Doc mentioned, together (sheath+blade) it weighs roughly 1.6 oz, which makes carrying it a breeze.

I've found carring around the Neck suits me just fine, but I've been playing around with a MercHarness, and it's a great substitute if you're worried about having a razor pointed towards your jugular. :D

[Piet.S]

My carry neckers.

[yowzer]

The steel, 5Cr15MoV, HRC 55-57, leaves a little to be desired, but it would do well to remember this isn't a truly expensive knife.

I'd like CRKT knives a lot more if they jacked the price up $5-$10 or so to go with better steels. The 8Cr13MoV that Spyderco uses would be dandy... no need for a super steel, just something with better edge holding than the steels they use now.

That RC rating seems high for 5Cr15, or maybe I just got a lemon Minimalist with a bad heat treat...

[Billy]

My carry neckers.

I love my Izulas too! I have one in pink (usually stays in the kitchen for odd jobs or for the wife to carry) and one in OD, which rides with my everyday in my LFP. Haven't tried it for neck carry yet, but I'm sure the Izula would shine for that purpose.

[Dr. Snubnose]

Juji: Nice Neckers with Todd's sig....very Nice indeed!....Doc :D

[jujigatame]

Thanks Doc. A lot of Todd's stuff is big and imposing but I think his small knives are just great. So well thought out in terms of design and usefulness.

[Dr. Snubnose]

Thanks Doc. A lot of Todd's stuff is big and imposing but I think his small knives are just great. So well thought out in terms of design and usefulness.

I agree as I also own a few of Todd's smaller works...Boker did a great job with his Kiridashi as well...If you haven't seen it yet check it out...very cool design, and as Todd's knives go.... very comfy in hand....Doc :D

[fret]

Those are really nice. I have a neck knife somewhere around here. If I find it I'll post a photo of it. It's fairly old and may not be a brand name?