CRKT Eros SS Folding Pocket Knife, Plain Edge K451XXP

This knife is very well made. The sides of the handle are thick steel (~3/32”) and when in the open locked position there is no blade movement. My blade was shaving sharp out of the box and the tip is like a needle. This isn’t a workshop knife. I wanted something to carry around every day that was small and sturdy. There are two models with the same design. I got the smaller one which has a handle that measures 2 15/16” x 5/8” with a 2 1/16” blade. This is not a complaint but there is a certain technique to opening the blade since the handle is thumb-sized. If you pinch the handle in the middle your are pushing the detent against the blade which holds it closed and it takes a lot of force to open the blade. If you pinch the base of the handle against the base of your thumb with your middle finger then the blade flips out easily. (This might save you some cuts.)This is an update. I have had the knife for a few months and I have noticed a problem. The blade contains a semi-circular cutout around the pivot. The peg that limits the blade travel sits inside this cutout. The problem is that this cutout collects pocket lint. This both prevents the blade from opening all the way to engage the lock and from closing all the way. I noticed that when I opened the knife the lock did not engage so the blade folded back. The larger problem was that the blade did not fully close allowing the tip to extend just a little outside the handle. I started getting cut just putting my hand in my pocket. I was able to fix the problem by disassembling the knife and cleaning it. I do not recommend this since the ball bearings are extremely small and reassembly is difficult. DO NOT let the parts become magnetized or it is nearly impossible to reassemble. If you buy this knife (and I still do recommend it) make sure that you periodically wash out the pivot point to prevent this problem from occurring.

be aware.... this knife is a novelty. it is not useful. its very very small. ken onion is making full use of crkt's willingness to make silly, silly knives. that being said i bought one and i love it.... deployed its a little over 4 in long, folded a little over two. this thing is tiny. however it's beautifully engineered and crazy well built. fit and finish is top notch. it flicks out faster than any spring assist. you will never do anything with this other than open mail or packages but you will do it with a fantastic piece of engineering. if you want a knife to carry anywhere that doesn't have a metal detector i'd choose this one. also this arrived crazy sharp, the first crkt i've ever bought that i didn't immediately need to put a real edge on... well doneafter a few months ive noticed that the knife needs cleaning constantly if you intend on actually carrying... the ikbs bearings collect dirt and lint and create incomplete lockups in an already tricky to open knife... ive nearly been cut a couple times... however i still love this thing... 5 stars... i have to clean the bearings once a week... its still on its first edge

I bought this knife as a small knife that I could carry around daily with me at work and at home for small tasks like opening packages, mail, etc. I had a larger knife, one of those classic popular EDC knives the CRKT M16, but found it too big and bulky for my daily use.Firstly, this knife is wonderfully made, the fit and finish seems to be excellent, especially for the money. With the stainless scales the knife has a very solid feeling to it that would probably be too heavy in a larger knife but with one this small it works to its advantage. If it were much lighter I think it would feel cheap and not as sturdy. The clip is well made, and sleek, though because of the angle the knife sits in my pocket it don't choose to clip it most times as it sticks out a bit too far. I tried removing the clip but if you do I found the flipper hard to deploy as it becomes almost impossible to grip the knife without also squeezing the frame lock in and making the harder to open. The clip rests on the scale in such a way that it keeps you from squeezing the frame lock and the clip tips up at the end (to make it easier to clip onto your pocket) and this little flip-up at the end gives the knife a bit more grip when opening.When I first got the knife I found the flipper action to be just a hair tight and gritty, so I disassembled it and re-greased it with some super-lube. What I found, however, is that the IKBS bearings ride in races cut into the blade and then run against the scales. The scales have this satiny sand-blasted finish (which looks very nice) inside and out, however, so the roughness is from the bearings riding against a rough surface. I know this knife is very well priced but it would have been nice to see CRKT consider either polishing the inside end of the scales or using some sort of a thin steel washer to provide a smoother action for the bearings. The other thing is that the little indent in the blade that helps to keep the blade closed works well, but it is almost a little too deep and catches a little too well, so I found the blade just a little hard to deploy (especially since it is so small so getting a good grip on it is tough). Additionally the edges on the flipper were the only part of the knife that seemed to have sharper edges (other than the blade, of course), and I know this is to help give you good grip to flip it open but I found it could be a little rough on my finger after a few flips (which won't be an issue in actual use, just while I am sitting here playing with it to get used to it). There is no way to grab the top of the blade and pull it out with your fingers to open it, so using the flipper is the only way to go. I guess by having the little detent so strong to open it they are ensuring that by the time you overcome that force and the blade starts to open it is much more likely to flip the whole way open, but sometimes I just want to open the knife without having to worry or try too hard.Overall I am very impressed with the knife, and I can already feel it starting to get smoother and easier to open, so maybe after another week or two I'll take it apart again and see if the edges of the detent are getting rounded over and if the bearings are wearing the scales smooth.All-in-all, if you are looking for a nice slim knife that doesn't look too "tacticool" I think this is a nice alternative to the 4" knives (such as the mini-grip and others which are much easier to use but bulkier to carry), and this one comes in a larger version that is about that size so if the issue of grip (large hands) bothers you, I think that one would be a solid choice. As I said at the beginning this is a light-use EDC blade for me, just cutting packing tape and things like that so I don't mind that there isn't tons of jimping and grip on the scales or the fact the the blade steel is a bit average.UPDATE 7-22-2014 ------------------------After using the knife for a little while now I can say that some of the roughness I felt in the IKBS has become smoother, and as a result the knife is a little easier to deploy. It has still only seen light use opening packages and breaking down a few cardboard boxes, but the grind has been very nice for doing those tasks. As before I think this is a great pocket knife for light daily use (most people), and the overall look and finish makes it an elegant option.

Wanted to get a small pocket knife to replace my tiny Kershaw that I misplaced (since it was so tiny). This is a decent little knife. Blade is a nice shape and really sharp. Only issue I have with it is it is difficult to open as other reviewers have stated. I have a nice little cut in thumb palm area from trying to get it open..

Like the K456XXP model, the mechanism is anemic at best. I bought both of these models and both were shown as 'first production' models so maybe they will improve with time. But on the other hand the Ken Onion/CRKT model K455TXP is great. Night and day difference.The 55TXP is on the top of my list followed by Kershaw's Ken Onion model 1660.