Kansept Cru Flipper Knife Review
The Kansept Cru flipper knife features carbon fiber and S35VN (or Damascus) and two flipping options (thumb and index). It’s a long blade, but it carries slim!
Official Specs
Here’s a link to the Kansept Cru flipper knife.
Versions
At least five versions of the Kansept Cru flipper knife are available. There’s this purple anodized version, as well as copper carbon fiber, twill carbon fiber, and more! The blade is available in this satin finish as well as black (coated) and damascus. There are plenty of options!
Price
The Kansept Cru flipper knife ranges in price from $179.90 to $189.90. Just a $10 range!
Package and Manual
There is no manual.
What’s Included
- Kansept Cru flipper knife
- Cleaning cloth
- Carry pouch
- Card
Look
It’s hard not to love this version of the Kansept Cru flipper knife. But if you don’t, you’re likely to find one that you do love (coated blade, damascus, different colors, etc.) I’m no huge fan of purple, but this purple fade anodizing is incredible. It also feels incredible in hand.
Those inset pieces of carbon fiber add a great touch as well. In particular, I like that the handles are the same on both sides, as well as both having carbon fiber inlays.
The design is by Roman knife maker Marco Villella Rodio of Villella Knives. Marco has been in the business for a decade!
Open / Close / Lock
This is a flipper. That’s really it, too – there’s no area to pinch, for example. But flipping is so smooth and rewarding. I prefer the index finger flipper, in use below.
The activation energy for flipping the blade open this way is fairly low, and the blade thus flips open with a nice (reasonable) slow action and a very solid sound.
There are two options for opening the knife, but the other one is also a flipper, too! This flipper is on the end of the knife, in a spot where most people would use their thumb to flip the blade open.
I won’t ever use this (not really coordinated enough), but I love that it’s there. It seems like a bit of free real estate. What I mean is that it seems like all flippers could offer both of these options!
But I’ll always use this prouder spine flipper.
Locking is a frame lock mechanism. There’s a stainless wear point screwed into the lock area, which will give the action a longer lifespan.
Build and Feel
Build quality is great, which I expect from Kansept.
Blade centering (and action) is perfect.
The action is made smooth by a ceramic ball bearing pivot.
There’s minimal branding, but it does include the model name (Cru) and the designer name (Villella).
The scales are titanium and they are not lined with another metal. They’re perfectly stiff, of course.
The pivot screw can be adjusted with TORX on both sides.
Check out the carbon fiber! This is called “shred” carbon fiber. All of the carbon fiber options offer something special. Copper, twill, or this shred.
Size
Overall Length 8.19”/207.9mm
Blade Length 3.46″ / 88mm
Blade Thickness 0.118″ / 3.0mm
Weight 4.11oz/116.6g
Above, you can see the Kansept Cru flipper knife with the Civivi Elementum in orange G10. I use that knife so much!
Here’s the knife in hand:
Below you can see the Kansept Cru flipper knife with the venerable Convoy S2+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!
In the photo above, you may note that the SRM (standard reference material) flashlight for comparison has changed! I used a TorchLAB BOSS 35 for ages. Now what you can see as the 18350 SRM is the Hanko Machine Works Trident. While I have not reviewed or tested the Gunner Grip version seen here, I have tested a Hanko Machine Works Trident Total Tesseract in brass. I love the Trident, and it’s a striking contrast next to the inexpensive Convoy S2+, which also makes a great standard reference material.
Steel / Cut / Oats
The Kansept Cru flipper knife uses S35VN steel.
The blade shape is a Wharncliffe, and it’s a very nice one! This copy of the knife uses a satin finish, but there’s also a coated version (black) and a Damascus version.
Here is a comprehensive guide on that steel:
They say
35VN has good potential hardness, toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance. It does not particularly excel in any one category though it is not terrible in any of them either.
And I have no reason to doubt that!
The blade is 3.46″, which is longer than I usually carry. But the knife has small attributes. For example, it’s fairly light at 116.9g. And the “height” (or the width of scale) is not much more than an inch. So it carries great!
Retention
A pocket clip is included, and it matches the purple body very perfectly. In fact, it seems to have a sort of flair – the knife fades from purple to a sort of magenta, with magenta being the outermost parts of the knife. And the clip matches that range.
The clip is not reversible and allows tip-up carry only. It’s a nice and deep carry, though!
Kansept’s standard pouch is included, and the Kansept Cru flipper knife fits nicely in that, too.
Summary and Conclusion
I love the dual flip option (even if I’ll only use one of them.) I love that so much that I think all flippers should have this! The blade shape is great and very usable, if just a bit long. (I’d love to see this exact knife scaled down to maybe 2.7″ blade). Action is great, thanks to the ceramic ball bearings, and it carries fairly small! It’s a solid knife!
Notes
- This knife was provided by Kansept for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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