Customer Reviews

Leatherman Crater c33T Straight Blade Knife

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own the previous model and I think they have made some improvements, but there are some negatives.

It is thinner and lighter with out the metal liner, and this is a big deal if you carry it all day.

On the negative side:
The knife sits a little deeper in your pocket with the new clip design, But not deep enough. So its still likely to fall out. I prefer the way the SOG Flash 1 and Buck Vantage fit all the way in my pocket with the blade down.

There is a problem with the pocket clip TOTALY interfering with the straight blade screwdriver opener. The rubber side grips are gone. They also removed the jimping (traction) and the slight bump from the top of the blade, so the grip is not as secure as it used to be.

Like the older design the screwdrivers snap very securely into place, but they do not actually lock in. The odd bottle opener/belt loop clip makes the knife too bulky.

The quick opening system works well, but both of my knives needed a drop of oil.

I lost this knife a few months ago and now use something else.

I got this knife for everyday carry, and for the most part it has been great. The blade is sharp and seems to hold its edge well (after a couple weeks), the screwdrivers are useful and ergonomic, and I've used the bottle opener a lot more than I expected. This was exactly the combination of tools I wanted, and I'm not disappointed.

The one-hand opening feature gets a mixed review. I find that using the thumb stud is a bit awkward, you need to push fairly hard to get it started. The blade launcher is quicker, but at first it took a pretty good wrist flick to get it all the way open. It was fun and all, but people found it a little alarming when it looked like I was trying to throw my knife across the room. So I mostly opened it about halfway with the launcher and then used the thumbstud to do the rest. However, when I lubricated the pivot with a couple drops of 3-in-1 oil, the launcher got much better. It works by itself most of the time now, and I like it a lot. If the knife came better lubricated, it would have been less frustrating at first.

My blade locks up really solid, that is great and important. But the other pivot, with the bottle opener, is a little wobbly. You can slide the two scales back and forth at that pivot and feel them moving. I guess this could be annoying if you were really seriously using the phillips driver, but I think I would go get a real screwdriver before that point anyway. It will only be a problem for me if it gets worse, in which case I'll just send it back under warranty.

I read some complaints about the scales being slippery, but the texturing works fine for me. One complaint there is that the inside edges of the scales were fairly rough and burred. They hurt a bit when I used the blade launcher, as my thumb slid down the edge of the scales in back. But this was also an easy fix, I just ran a bit of sandpaper along the burred edges, and they cleaned right up. Another thing it would have been nice to see out of the box, though.

But those are pretty minor complaints. They would bother me in a $100 knife, but not here. Overall, I like the knife a lot and I think it's a great value.

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Six months in:
I still carry the knife every day, and find it very satisfactory. For Christmas this year, I gave various relatives one of these and also the comparable Buck X-Tract Essential and the Kershaw Select Fire. of course, I took the opportunity to see how they compared. I liked the construction better on the Leatherman and Kershaw than the Buck, though the scissors on the Buck could be handy. The Kershaw seemed like a more serious knife and gave more flexibility with the bit driver, but the liner lock was less ergonomic and the driver takes more time and effort to open and set up. The Leatherman is also the only one of these made in the USA. Of the three, I was happy to have the Leatherman, but they are all worth a look. (There's also the Gerber Obsidian, which I haven't seen.)

Under light every-day use, the blade stays quite sharp for about two weeks. I find the blade easy to re-sharpen, and I'm not particularly skilled. I guess the Expanse model would stay sharp longer, but probably not sharpen as easily. The main pivot needs to be re-oiled every couple months to keep the blade launcher working well. I did end up tightening the carabiner pivot. That fixed the wiggle mentioned above, and it hasn't come back. (But I did have to buy a second torx driver to do it.)

Great knife, so much so it is my everyday knife. Very durable and always have the right tool for little jobs on you,,,,even to get those beer caps off.
This is my third one. One in the lake another got left on the bumper one day.

Leatherman is mainly known for the multitools, but give the knives a chance too!

I purchase this knife for my husband he had lost his original one. The pictures were very accurate and it was delivered when it was suppose to be, my husband is very happy with his knife, he later found his, but is keeping this one for a back up. I would recommend this product.

it really doesn't get any better than this. lightweight and extremely strong. i was prying WAY TOO HARD with it and snapped the tip of the screwdriver blade off but leatherman covered in under warranty. im buying another just so i have a spare because losing this was like loosing a hand. im an industrial electrician and use it 5+ times a day just as a screwdriver. and just as all other leatherman products it is razor sharp right out of the box.


seriously it doesn't get any better than this.

I've had dozens of good knives, and functionally, this is one of the best. really handy screwdrivers and nice combination carabiner and bottle cap opener. only strange thing about it is that the grip is kind of plain, no ridges or grip, just a small cut-in for your thumb to do the one-handed blade opening. but that's okay, gives the knife a bit of a geeky no-frills look.

Upon receiving the knife I was disappointed at how thick the knife is. None of the photos show the thickness. This concern soon went away the more that I handled the knife. The overall construction is great & the blade is perfect.
Cons: The carabiner/bottle opener seems flimsy & the blade launcher is cumbersome. Neither of these features were a selling point for me anyway, that is the reason for the 5 star review.
The thumb peg works great.

These Leatherman knives are excellent value and very useful as a every day carry knife for anyone that regularly has to use a knife or screwdriver.
They are very durable and sharpen easily. I prefer the plain blade models but if you need to cut rope then the serrated blade model would be better.