CRKT XOC Review
If you like big folders this review is both exactly for you and will insult you. As a blog that traffics exclusively in my opinions, don’t take offense.
Lynn Thompson once said (and this is a paraphrase) that he didn’t like little folders because he couldn’t skin an elephant with them.
ASIDE
If the sale of Cold Steel means less Lynn Thompson videos I am going to be very sad. As I have written many times here, Lynn is the master of the inside joke, the wink and a nod to the knowing. He does a great job of promoting his knives, is a world class pitch man, and knows his audience. His thrash metal test videos appeal to people that love blood and gore horror movies, but also folks that appreciate them as bits of over-the-top self-parody. Its that second level of detail that makes Cold Steel so fun to follow and I get a sense, though one can never be sure, that Lynn is behind that second level. So if the sale of Cold Steel means less of that, then the knife community is worse off for the sale. We can all use people that show true joy and don’t take things, and themselves, too seriously.
END ASIDE
That should tell you all you need to know about the utility of big folders. If you wake up, go to your stash of gear, and think: “I should take this 6” bladed folder because, who knows, I might need to skin an elephant today” you probably have bigger problems in life than knife choices. Lynn’s actual point, that you can do both big knife tasks and little knife tasks with a big folder is true, but it ignores two fundamental points. First, very few people actually need to do big knife tasks on a regular basis. Second, carry is much more important than people realize with folders—they are not in use like 99% of the time.
Big folders are absolutely stupid. People that postulate fact-based reasons for being them are engaging in self-deception. There is no way they make sense. You can buy a similarly sized fixed blade for much less money. Fixed blades are more robust, less likely to break or get damaged, and when folders get REALLY big, like over 4 inch blades, they aren’t substantially more difficult to carry. Here is the other thing—we have associated big knives with being more brawny or manly, but let’s be clear every single one of the guys that stormed Normandy, fought at the OK Corral, or drove at the first 40 or so Le Man 24 Hours carried a small non-locking folder, if they carried any folder at all. Big folders are manly only as compensation devices. Grab your big folder, put on your skull ring man jewelry, hop in your non-electric Hummer or hideously ugly V12 Lamborghini. No one will think you are compensating. Not one person…
Put another way—unless you are 6’6” or taller, you buy a big folder for irrational reasons, not rational ones.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a good big folder. Its kinda like how you can have a compelling wrestling match even though fundamentally pro wrestling is stupid (it is a contest that presents itself as competitive, but it is rigged, and the fans know it is rigged, but treat it like it is competitive anyway). There is beauty even in inanity. The CRKT XOC, an older knife in terms of the modern market, but it is still an interesting one. This is not just a good big folder, it is a great one. It is still stupid, but sometimes you have to revel in the dumb. Comparing this to the only other truly monstrous folder I have reviewed, the Cold Steel Espada XL, is like comparing Peak Flair with Peak Lesnar in terms of mic skills. One is a rollercoaster of incredible mindbending ride and the other is a crude, grunting mess.
The XOC is also important as a demonstration of two things: the Deadbolt lock and CRKT’s ability to make a truly high end folder. CRKT has been making both now for a while, it it was the XOC that started it all. In a very real sense the XOC is to CRKT what the Tilt was to Kershaw-a huge knife that is also a blue sky demo project for new ideas and new manufacturing capacities. After a long trip for a warranty issue (which I will detail below), the XOC is back home and it is great.
One concern I have at the outset is that my scale is driven by utility and practicality, and big folders are fundamentally not useful or practical tools. Beware—this scoring is going to be lower than the knife deserves. When you score points for smart, compact performance the XOC is saddled with a handicap.
Here is the product page. Here is a written review. Here is a video review. Here is the review sample (provided by CRKT for review):
Twitter Review Summary: A knife unconcerned with body image and, instead, focused on good design, materials, and fit and finish.
Design: 2
Often times knife designers see all of the extra real estate on a folder and basically get lazy. “Don’t worry about making that forward finger choil, I have plenty of space for grip.” But the XOC is a fully realized, fully thought out, and well designed knife. Even the finger choil works. And that, more than anything else, puts it above the vast majority of hugely stupid big folders. But let’s not kid ourselves, this thing is a behemoth. Here it is compared to a Benchmade Mini Grip (555-1) closed:
Here it is open with the Mini Grip being signficantly smaller than the blade alone:
Finally here is the thickness of the XOC compared to the Mini Grip:
The performance ratios are friggin’ bananas. B:H is not bad (same as the Delica) with a .68. The B:W, however, is nutty: .38. The blade weighs 11 ounces. It will never look reasonable based on the ratios.
Fit and Finish: 1
Aside from the known defect of the thumb stud/blade stop popping off, which, admittedly, is a big deal, the XOC has been amazing. But the way that CRKT has handled this issue like two other similar issues in the past speaks to a more important trait of the company—transparency. A few years ago CRKT won Blade of the Year with the Hi Jinx, an Italian made framelock. It was a truly high end design. But it had lock stick issues. They talked about it publicly and fixed every single unit. Then, after that, there was a scandal involving a steel supplier. Again, the discussed it publicly and fixed every single unit. The same thing happened here. Again and again, when something goes wrong, as it invariably will in life, CRKT does the right thing and addresses it head on. That track record is probably more important than the fit and finish on any one knife and even though the blade stop thing was a serious issue, the way they dealt with it, earns back a point.
Grip: 2
If there is any real reason to carry a big folder, this is it. With more real estate on the knife, you have a lot better grip and an easier time avoiding hotspots. Compared to something like the squished handle of the Para3, which is a minefield of hotspots, the XOC is amazing—a lush garden-like lawn with gently rolling hills.
Carry: 0
No pants/belt combination is up to the task of carrying this monstrosity. Time and again, I began my trip with the XOC looking like a middle aged Dad and ended up looking like a late 90s, early 00s rapper. Perhaps the XOC should come with a pair of suspenders. Think of this as a pack knife. But the logic here fails—if carry this knife as a pack knife, why not just carry a fixed blade. After all, my Bravo 1 in its sheath weighs less than the XOC. Again, there is no logic that supports a big folder.
Steel: 2
XHP, for reasons that are not clear, has become a much rarer steel than it used to be. Billed as a combination of D2 and 44C, I have always liked XHP. It one of those steels that is just great, never a problem. Its probably not a super premium steel anymore, but it is plenty good enough and in the CRKT line, it is the best steel available.
Blade Shape: 2
This is a massive drop point. In fact, the blade is so tall that the “drop” in the drop point is as big as the entire height of a Spyderco Ladybug. There is a very small recurve, which, like all recurves functions poorly but looks amazing. It is not big enough to be a hassle, instead, sharpening like the rest of the blade. It helps that the cutting bevel is huge.
Grind: 1
Sure it is easy to do a good grind on a big thick knife. You have a lot of steel to play around with and it is something that can look amazing. That said, even with the lower degree of difficulty the grind on the XOC comes off beautifully. It is still massively thick, so this is not a slicer, but for a massive folding pry bar, it looks nice.
Deployment Method: 1
This is not one of those kinetic flippers that, once you push through the detent, deploys automactically. There is simply no way to do that without an assist or an auto set up. That said, it is incredible how good the flipping action on this knife really is. It pops open with a clack that frightens animals and small children. This is not a knife you want to open in Target but man does it fire well with the size cavaet.
Retention Method: 2
Its a curvy, beautiful pocket clip and most of those stink. However, thanks to a smart design and a smooth set of carbon fiber scales, the clip works marvelously well. But that is not to say this is a clip that should ever be used. If they ever make a third Magic Mike movie, perhaps they will give the male strippers the XOC because the only way your pants can come off faster than pocket carrying the XOC is if they are rip away stripper pants.
Lock: 2
Ah the REAL reason why there is a XOC—the Deadbolt lock, a Flavio Ikoma design. While functionally similar to the extremely complex-to-make Axial lock, the Deadbolt lock’s design is different and much less complex. In essence, there are an “I” shaped pin that falls into an “I” shaped hole as the blade opens. Releasing the lock is as simple as depressing the “I” shaped pin in the pivot of the knife. I have used other Deadbolt knives and beat the living hell out of them with no noticeable results. I used that Deadbolt knife to chop through a shipping pallet and while the edge collapsed and chipped during the beating, the lock held and still had no blade play in the end. The Deadbolt here is even larger and more robust, though I have not similarly bludgeoned this knife’s lock.
Overall, I love the Deadbolt lock. It is probably the most functional lock on the market right now. It is intuitive to use, it is easy to engage and disengage. It can be disengaged without having the user’s fingers pass through the blade’s closing path. Whether it is stronger than the Tri-Ad lock, I don’t know. That said, both are sufficiently strong. Furthermore, the blade play seen in the Espada XL was significantly greater than the blade play found in the Deadbolt lock knife I treated equally poorly.
Other Considerations
Fidget Factor: Very High
Wanna feel like Conan? Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women? These are exactly the kinds of people that think big folder are reasonable. That said, there is a lot to play with here—a flipper, a cool lock, nice machining and materials.
Fett Effect: Low
Meh, this is not a knife you want to weather. Its just beautiful in its new state. That said the materials, other than the silver bolsters, are pretty impervious to wear.
Value: Very Low
This is a $750 production knife. Its totally bananas. But it is exceptionally well made with top shelf materials. If someone handed me this sans makers marks and said it was a custom I would not have batted an eye. But seriously, it is a $750 knife.
Overall Score: 15 out of 20
This is a tremendously silly knife, even for a big knife. Its a big knife that is designed to be showy and not used hard. Its kind of an oxymoron. Like a luxury SUV, this is a product class that we don’t ever need. But this is still a very good knife. I’d love to see a 3” version of the XOC with the exact same features and materials. It would be a very competitive knife in the current market, even with a price in the $200-$300 price range.
In short, this is a truly superior blade, the finest knife I have ever seen with a CRKT logo on it. The S35VN Pilar is their best knife, but that was not the showpiece that this knife is. CRKT has released a few of these ultra high-end knives and they are all very good. But even in that subset of their product line the XOC is really incredible. I love these blue sky, blank check knives from big makers (see also Spyderco Nirvana).
But all big folders are dumb.
Competition
There are very few knives in this size range because, well, big folders are stupid. Of them, I see the Espada XL (the upscale version) is a clear competitor—in fact, the only real competitor as it is both huge and nice (and expensive). There are about a half dozen Cold Steels this large. Comparing this to the budget friendly Espada XL I far prefer the XOC. The Spyderco Tatanka is also a competitor. Then there is the Benchmade SOCP folder. Its also massive. Which is the best? Bleh, who cares? These are all dumb. I would stick with small folders. If pushed, I’d probably say the XOC because man is it sweet with all of its nice materials and the great lock.
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