CRKT Tighecoon

metasyntax · **on:** May 08, 2016, 06:13:21 AM

I wanted to do a little bit more on the knife I carried for the first week of the Good Old Days challenge, the CRKT Tighecoon. This is a sweet looking knife, very sleek and curvy.

It's rather unique to me, because it has a button lock. There's a piston with a spring in it, which forces itself into a cutout in the tang, preventing the knife from closing. It reminds me of Benchmade's AXIS lock or Spyderco's ball bearing lock. I don't know anything about the strength of this system but at least I can say it's fun to use. Here's a close up of the lock.

Like the ball bearing lock, this piston also pushes into an angled cutout on the other side to provide resistance keeping the blade closed. Functionally, it's the same as a detent in a liner lock; the force needed to overcome it is strong enough that flipping doesn't require any wrist action. It's not terribly smooth or fast, but it comes out without issue. The handle is an open design: there's no solid backspacer, just standoffs. It's a beautiful design choice, because with no liner or frame lock to get in the way, it looks very clean. Here's a bit more zoomed out look.

The blade is dead center for me, which may be owing in part to its design (no lateral forces on the blade when closed).

Here's a comparison with some other CRKT knives, a small M16 tanto and a Carajas. You can tell about what size of knife I like. The large flipper on the Tighecoon becomes a prominent guard when opened.

The handles are aluminum. The textured material on the side is like nylon or something similar; it's smooth, not grippy. The clip doesn't provide much resistance coming out of the pocket, but it carries pretty deep, so it's not really a problem. As you can see, the clip is stuck where it is, due to the handle shape and the button lock. The blade is AUS-8, which is good enough for me.

It's got a classy but cool look. The lock mechanism is interesting and different. All in all, I think the Tighecoon is a very nice knife to carry. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the pictures!