TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:59 am
The Meat man wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:34 am
MacLaren wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:32 am
Ok, thanx Rick & Connor
Connor, what the difference in feel and action, if any?
I've never handled a 31 so I can't make a comparison. Hard to believe it would be smoother than my 21,though.
I bet my 31 is though
Hahahaha!!!
Paul, you'll have to wait for abbazaba to chime in. He has/had just about all of them!
The 31 and 21 are of course very very similar. Is the 31 action smoother than the 21? Really depends on the knife as they all feel a little different, mostly due to varying lock bar tension. The washer setup is the same and the bushing pivot still allows for near frictionless free swinging when the lock is disengaged, even at full pivot bolt tightness. I'm not aware of any pivot changes.
To summarize the 21 vs 31 changes with my silly opinions:
Ceramic ball lock interface/detent combo - I LOVE the ceramic interface of the 31/Inkosi/Umnumzaan... It gives the knife such a smooth and even soft feeling action, making a sweet sound when it clicks into place (sounds like cracking a knuckle to me). It also doesn't suffer from the same issue all other dentents have - the lock sits on the blade after slipping off the detent ball before it engages completely, creating that "double click". The ceramic ball is an elegant all in one solution with a single click, with the blade tang going directly from riding on the ball to fully locked up. The larger detent ball diameter also has a greater angle of attack to defeat the detent hole on the blade (think bigger wheels on a vehicle over a pot hole), making it theoretically slightly smoother out of the fully closed position.
Tilted clip position so it is not on the lock bar - This is my biggest issue with the 31. The angled clip position doesn't sit comfortably in the fold of my fingers like the 21's (an inlay on the 31/Inkosi helps with the comfort a bit). Not a deal breaker but something I wish they left alone. Others like the new position better.
New stop pin I really liked that every bolt/nut on the 21 was IDENTICAL and interchangeable (with three different size bushings used on each) which is not the case with the 31. The new stop pin is bolted from both sides. Not sure why they did this, but some think it is stronger this way.
New Inlay Pattern/ No locator hole I like both inlay styles for different reasons - The 21 inlays have a more uniform design (when compared to the lock side) and add a little grip with the space in between. BUT that big slab of micarta on the 31 just feels awesome and really fills the hand... Plus I think the larger inlay of the 31 is more what people that aren't super into CRKs expect to see on knives in general, rather than the odd and unique split inlays of the 21s.
I know others will probably disagree, but I would have really liked to see some internal milling on the 31 PJ to change the balance. The inlay models are actually slightly lighter because of the milling for the inlays, creating a better balance in hand IMO. A little light milling to make them the same weight would have been nice.
's in 10 different steels
