Columbia River Knife and Tool's 1160 McGinnis Tuition Razor Edge Knife

by Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

McGinnis Tuition made by Columbia River Knife and Tool is a 8Cr14MoV stainless steel razor edge knife. This compact and powerful work knife is equipped with a 2.88-Inch blade, has a high hollow grind that gives fast cutting, accurate trimming and excellent tip strength. One hand opening is fast with a friction grooved flipper which duals as a blade guard. The handle is hand shaped black and green layered polished Micarta scales.

Product Description

ATTRIBUTES Blade Material: 

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B001QFH2D6
• Item model number: 1160
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,994 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More knife here than you can see in the pictures., November 5, 2010

By 

Mumblin' Berk "Berk" (Bowelsong, NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Columbia River Knife and Tool's 1160 McGinnis Tuition Razor Edge Knife (Tools & Home Improvement)

Yep. It's better than it looks, by a LONG shot. Trust me.

I liked this one the instant I got it in my hands.

There is a LOT more going on here that what you can see in the pictures. Let me take you there:

1) The handles may look like black plastic. NOT! That's warm, smooth, polished linen micara, with deep blue highlights. In your hand, it feel like polished ebony, but it won't warp and split on you. Outstanding.

2) The steel liners are treated with (I believe) Titanium Nitride which gives you these subtle but very classy accents along the edges of the liners. It's a dark metalic green along the back (spine side), with the traditional "rainbow" effect on the palm side, running between yellow and dark purple. That may sound a bit "wild" to you, but realize this is just a subtle trim along the edges of the liners. Very classy.

3) You can't see the "feel" of this knife, in the pictures. Not a large knife, but the weight, balance, and ergonimics are all first rate given this knife's price category. For a production knife, it's quite unique.

Of other interest, the "sheep's foot" blade design with the down-turned nose give great utility. While it's obviously not great for "poking" things, it give tremendous stregth at the tip, allowing one to apply pressure, and even leverage without fear of damaging a fragile tip. The nose has a generous swedge, curving down from the spine, maintaining blade thickness right down to the tip, again, increasing strength. Extending the forefinger along the spine you can feel the strength and confidence of it. Almost like a heavy tool, such as a tile knife.

The blade geometry also includes TWO more nifty little suprise for you: There is a mild but welcome "belly" curve, making this knife a more useful slicer, and the flat-grind means less drag, so those slices can be the depth of the blade, without inducing un-wanted resistance that you get with hollow grind.

ONE more thing to love here.

It's a strong, manual flipper. No spring assist needed on this one. If you can operate your index finger, you can deploy this blade with either hand in the wink of an eye. It can be as fast as any automatic, yet the sheep's foot blade has a very non-threatening profile to it. Keep the sheeple calm.


Ladies and Gentlemen; I humbly submit that what you have here is about as perfect an EDC - Utility knife as I've seen.
Feel free to check my other reviews. I do NOT hand out 5 stars very often. This knife gets 5 stars, plus a KISS. ** smooch **

That being said...
I have to keep it real, so here is a CON for you:

Those with large hands MIGHT find the hande a little short. The ergonomics are FINE, with excellent choils the swooping thumb ramp, but the pinky has nothing to wrap around, and that may bother some folks. Bothers me a little. I usually add a bit of lanyard to the tail of a short knife, that gives me a more secure feeling, but there's no lanyard hole or tail pilar to use. Oh well. Still gets 5 stars.


One Final Word:

I've fallen into the habbit of using EDC "Pairs". Larger blade for around the house, smaller for carry out in public. Currently, Ontario RAT-1 around house, with the Ontario Utilitac for out and about. (both available here, by the way)

I'm here on Amazon again today to pick up the larger companion knife to this one; The CRKT "SUMMA", which is also a McGinnis design. I hear good things about it, and it's been on my radar for a while. Now that I'm holding the "TUITION", I'm back today to snap up that Summa without hesitation.

Enjoy, all;

-Berk

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CRKT Tuition, November 14, 2011

By 

Black Optimus "B.O." - See all my reviews

This review is from: Columbia River Knife and Tool's 1160 McGinnis Tuition Razor Edge Knife (Tools & Home Improvement)

Didn't get this on Amazon but for $24.00 it was a steal. Every thing the previous poster stated I agree with. One aspect I love is the way it sounds when it locks...you can hear the quality of the lock when it engages. Very smooth action, handle and blade. I have smaller hands so the knife fits me perfectly.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavy Duty, December 26, 2010

By 

MGI - See all my reviews

This review is from: Columbia River Knife and Tool's 1160 McGinnis Tuition Razor Edge Knife (Tools & Home Improvement)

Just received this, so I haven't really done much but break down some boxes so far. Initial impressions are that this is a high quality piece. The blade is heavy duty - thick. Handles and liners are interesting colors yet still subtle. Fit and finish are top notch. It's a great utility knife and one of the more interesting knives I own. Jimping is in all the right spots and cut at a useful depth.

It is unfortunately a smaller knife. I was surprised by the size of the handle and blade. It clearly says 3 in blade, so no fault on the advertising, but for some reason I was expecting a larger blade and handle. If they made this in a 4 in blade size, I'd for sure buy one in that size. The CRKT McGinnis Summa may just fit the bill.

This would also benefit from a thumb stud. The manual flipper is OK out of the box, but a little on the stiff side probably due to the thickness/weight of the blade. I suspect a little oil and 'breaking in' will loosen it up. It does flip open and solidly lock with a medium/strong flick. The flipper is a little large but again, probably due to the thickness of the blade.

No complaints on the clip or lock, both seem to get the job done.

Overall, it's a quality knife and should hold up to some abuse.