CRKT M16-12 Designed by Kit Carson

Grant Lamontagne · **on:** January 07, 2015, 04:47:22 PM

It's been a few months since Kit Carson passed away, and I have been meaning to show some pictures of this knife for a lot longer than that. I'm pretty glad I have this one as it is one of the early knives that he did with CRKT. You'll see a few differences between this one and the current M16-12 from CRKT.

This was actually my first knife from CRKT. At the time I was into SAKs and the occasional Spyderco, Benchmade and Cold Steel. In fact, this was bought around the same time as the Benchmade Panther went extinct.

I bought this one as I was going through a serious tanto phase- if a knife couldn't stab through an armored Suburban, it was no good to me. Not that I ever needed to stab through an armored Suburban, I just wanted to have the option.

Keen eyed members will notice that this knife predates the flipper mechanism, which became so popular it ended up on almost every knife since. The flipper would have been very handy on this knife as the thumb stud is quite recessed into the handle and is a bit close to the pivot, making this knife a little difficult to deploy at times.

Also missing from this early version is the Lake And Walker locking mechanism called LAWKS, which basically wedges a hunk of steel into the gap between the liner lock and handle slab so you don't accidentally disengage the liner lock in use.

I'm not certain how important the LAWKS system is with this knife, as the liner lock is actually pretty tight to the handle slab and sometimes difficult to release when you want it to release. Still, it locks up tight, even after many, many years of carry, use and play.

If I had to guess when I bought this, I'd say probably '97 to '99 maybe. I don't know when this knife was released, but I imagine it couldn't have been too long before I got this one. At least I seem to think I bought it the very first time I saw it. It's not my favorite knife, but it is one that I have never been able to bring myself to trade away, while many others that I liked more came and went. There's just something about this knife that makes me want to keep it even though it hasn't been carried in a long time.

Now, given that Kit Carson is gone, I imagine I am less inclined to let it go. One of these days maybe I'll buy one of the new ones just to see how they have evolved.

Def

NKlamerus · **Reply #1 on:** January 07, 2015, 05:21:02 PM

Don't buy a new one IMO. The "LAWKS" Thing is crap. Doesn't hold the blade open whatsoever! I can push the liner lock and close the blade with 1 finger. I was extremely dissatisfied with this knife other than the streamline of the design.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #2 on:** January 07, 2015, 05:39:20 PM

I had the LAWKS system on my folding Razel and I liked it. I didn't use it all the time, but it seemed ok enough.

Was yours faulty or have you experienced that on a few different knives?

Def

NKlamerus · **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2015, 06:59:45 PM

I'm not quite sure. This was the first CRKT I've ever owned. I really like the idea, it just doesn't work on mine. I've considered removing it all together.

NKlamerus · **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2015, 07:04:53 PM

Mine is an 01Z. Cheaper end but should not matter.

In this pic we see the LAWK tab with the knife and liner lock fully engaged.

NKlamerus · **Reply #5 on:** January 07, 2015, 07:06:32 PM

Here we see the knife on its way back to the closed position. I did not pull the LAWK Lever. I only closed the knife with the liner lock.

The tab literally just bends in.

I can imagine with any failure of the liner lock that the LAWK will not keep the knife away from your fingers in a real world situation.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #6 on:** January 07, 2015, 09:22:02 PM

That is horrible looking. The LAWKS on my Raze used to actually fit in between the liner and the handle so there was no way the liner could move.

That is kind of horrid.

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

NKlamerus · **Reply #7 on:** January 08, 2015, 03:21:15 AM

Yeah, I paid retail for it too.....

shark_za · **Reply #8 on:** January 08, 2015, 07:11:49 AM

I will swap you a SAK for a newer "Big Dog" M16-14Z,I got this to be an indestructible hard working knife but hardly ever use it. It seems to have the holes but not be tapped for the screws so I cant change it to tip up carry.

The LAWKS on mine is positive and not like the pictures posted above, maybe an evolution.