CRKT Ken Onion Ripple Knives

Ken Onion is an evolving genius. My first "expensive" pocket knife was the Ken Onion Kershaw Splinter. I thought this was the pinnacle of EDC cutlery - "exotic" AUS-8a steel in an easy to deploy design. I've learned a lot since those days about knife design and blade materials. My next Ken Onion knife was the Kershaw Leek. Innovative Speedsafe opening. The paper thin hollow ground blade that is almost too fragile. Makes quick work of coring apples, just don't slip with it or drop it on a hard surface (so far I have avoided the latter, and have a scar to confirm the former). Ken switched from Kershaw to CRKT some years ago, continues to raise his game. His designs keep getting more beautiful and functional (how DOES he do that?). The IKBS system of this knife makes it a joy to open, once you know the secret. Don't hold the knife in your closed hand and flip it with your index finger. You will squeeze the frame lock with your other three fingers, which puts additional pressure on the tiny ball bearing that keeps the blade from deploying when closed. This makes it much harder to initiate the opening flip, although if you manage it, the blade will fly open with a resounding snap. Instead, hold the knife between thumb and middle finger up by the pivot, and flip the tab with your index finger. This avoids putting pressure on the frame lock, and the blades opens completely with a light click from the frame lock engaging. I have to think that this is why you can only carry this knife tip down. It makes it easy to draw the knife straight up from your pocket between thumb and middle finger, with your index finger falling naturally on the opening tab. (Yes, good knife makers are that subtle). Add to all this the CRKT bang-for-the buck. Comparable knives from other well-known makers would cost double or more. They might justify the price by using an exotic super steel, but it hardly seems like good value to spend $100 more to gain two or three Rockwell hardness points. The 440C-derived steel in this blade is excellent, sharpens and touches up easily, and holds its edge well enough for any reasonable application. This is not a tactical blade for hacking cinderblocks (does anyone really NEED to do that?). I use it for what it was meant for - cutting things softer than itself. Normally I carry tip up and grab my axis lock and thumb hole knives (you guess the manufacturers!) by diving deep into my pocket thumb first. I gladly make an exception for this knife. It's my current EDC favorite.