CRKT Pilar III Frame Lock Knife Black G-10 (3" Stonewash D2) 5317D2

Best knife I own under $100

I own several Voxnaes designs, and the ergos on this one are almost perfect for my hand. I really wish CRKT would make a premium version of this knife. Give me 20cv or m390, a micarta and titanium handle, and a bit of jumping near the center of the back of the blade and it'll be the only knife I'll need.

As for this model, it's my favorite working knife. My example is a… read more little harder to unlock than I'd like, but the bearings work great, blade is straight and centered, and at this price I'm not worried about breaking or losing it.

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The Best CRKT.

By far the best CRKT, beats the Squid as my favorite CRKT knife. Great ergos, action, and blade. If you think you like it, buy it.

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Amazing knife

Blew my expectations out of the water. This is a great EDC knife. Would highly recommend this to anyone.

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Best budget EDC, period!

This is the best budget EDC pocket knife you will find for $50. Better then the Elementum.

The D2 blade comes coated and tumbled is razor sharp, and the IKBS bearings provide for incredible performance that is consistent and satisfying to fidget with. I love that they coated the D2 to protection against moisture and reduce a chance of staining.

You are also getting… read more a coated steel frame with a frame lock, that is very well built. The G10 scale is done really well, giving grip but will not sand away at your pockets when you remove it.

I highly recommend this one.

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Save Your Money!

It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve purchased a CRKT knife, but I saw glowing reviews of this knife. Sure, the price is attractive and D2 steel is great for an EDC, but this knife will never see use or carry time in my pocket.

Out of the box the knife was centered which is great.

The hole in the blade feels sharp when using your thumb for deployment, but the… read more edges could be knocked down with some work.

The factory edge on the blade is horrible. It’s not very sharp at all.

I really wanted to like this knife. The G-10 is just the right texture for me. Great size for EDC with a pretty deep carry pocket clip. The knife overall looks sharp especially the stonewash.

I tried adding some light lubrication to fix the problems, but it didn’t help. This knife will be given away or will sit unused in a box.

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Phenomenal Knife

Amazing knife. Nothing more I can say. My new EDC.

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Unreal

If you enjoy vox designs, this is the best I've encountered under 120ish bucks. For 50 bucks, this is one of the best values out there that I'm aware of. The ergos are amazing and the action is butter. It's easily one my favorite knives of the year, and maybe even my favorite ckrt of all time. This knife shoots far beyond its price point in my opinion. There are minor fit and finish… read more issues like a few sharp edges, but they are unnoticeable and are very easily resolved with some sanding. Not a big issue at this price point for me. This is budget edc perfection as far as I'm concerned.

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One of the best at $50

This is one of the gatekeepers at the approximately $50 mark along with the likes of the Civivi Elementum and CJRB Feldspar, IMHO. Ergos, fit, finish (with one caveat), and carry profile are on point. The only minor modification I made is that I sanded down the edges of the G-10 to match the nicely rounded edges of the lock side.This knife taught me to Spydie flick (much easier… read more than using the thumb) before I owned any Spydercos. Sharpens to a razors edge, too. It has one of the best pocket clips in the game. I paid 3-4x this much for my Spydercos, had to upgrade the clips to get deep carry, and this is still better—constant ramp at the end, flush mounting tab and screws. No regrets here.

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From Meh to always in my pocket

Just got this so first impressions. Love the look, ergonomics, and smoothness. Blade is sharp out of the box. Meh because of two things. Can't open one handed because the thumb hole is too close to the handle. Second, it's difficult to access the frame lock from the thumb side to release it to close because the G-10 scale is exactly the same cutout as the steel scale/lock. All it… read more needs is a slight more cutout on the G-10 side then the flat of my thumb could easily press down on the lock. As it is, I have to turn my thumb pad perpendicular to the edge to release the lock, which I can do it but it's not comfortable. So my search continues for the perfect knife ....

7 month Update: I took it apart and cleaned it up so the action was smoother/a bit looser. Also loosened up the frame lock just a touch by pushing it towards the outside scale when disassembled. Made it easier to open with my thumb - not a flick but a fast roll, which is fine for me. And easier to unlock, after I got used to the slight angle needed to reach the lock. Also love the pocket clip: the slightly rounded tip is easy on the fingertip, as I use the clip to push it up out of my pocket with my thumb in on the G10 scale. Easy to access that way. With those tweaks, I started carrying it more. 7 months on I find it in my pocket most days. Like others, if it was S35 it would be perfect, but is pretty darn close. And for only $55! So I upped my review from 2 to 4 stars.

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Buy it !

I heard a lot of good things about this knife and for the money felt I had nothing to lose, so I bought it. I'm very glad I did as it's a great knife: size, proportions, quality, craftsmanship, and materials. The only negative thing I have to say is that the detent is stiff and it's hard to open the knife one handed. I've had it a short time though so I hope it will loosen up.

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Almost perfect for me

I agree with almost all of Seth G's review. I would pay for a high quality version of this knife. I like my Ace Biblio, but the choil is not right for me. If I could get this Pilar III shape with higher end materials and a button lock as Seth mentioned, I might not need to try anymore EDC knives for quite a while.

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For the price it is amazing

Great budget blade. It looks beautiful and carries well in the pocket. The blade came centered and the grind was surprisingly good. It snaps open so easily compared to the Pilar Large. My only complaint is that the clip overlaps the frame lock and when closed. the clip never makes full contact with the lock spring but does on the frame. It was fixed by bending the clip slightly… read more but definitely shows that it is not a premium knife. If you want something that looks more premium and is a beautiful budget EDC it will work well.

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A good knife

I enjoy everything about this knife, but I do not know if this was just for the one i got. But i find my CRKT Pilar III to be very difficult to open with just my thumb.

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This thing is really well made

This is honestly one of the best knives I've seen at this price point. Great design and great materials for the price. I've handled lot's of high end spider co knives, bench made, CRK, and many others. This definitely doesn't compare to a 250$ knife, but it really does feel good as a budget blade. I would've definitely been fooled by it if I had no info about it and then I handled… read more it going in blind

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Wonderfully smooth

Very smooth action.
Love the brass spacer, as it shows a touch of refinement.
Other things are as expected - perfect centering, fantastic ergonomics, quality steel and finish.

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Pilar 3

Nice knife. Very comfortable and ergonomic with the finger choil.. But like the Original Pilar it desperately needed a very small Detent Ball Ramp cut in the blade tang with a diamond file. Also a sharp edge hot spot on the handle right above the frame lock bar. Carefully smoothed and fixed that with a small diamond file also. While apart I smoothed the sharp inside edges of the… read more G10 scale with some fine grit sandpaper.. Come on CRKT, you can do better. If you have the where-with-all to make these simple fixes you can transform this into a great knife. Easily a 5 instead of 4..!

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Great knife!

This is my first knife, and I am more than satisfied with it. I did some research and after looking at some knifes and watching videos online I pulled the trigger on this one, I'm glad I did. The action is super smooth and the blade is sharp right out of the box. I have large hands and the handle is a perfect size. BladeHQ's delivery was fast.

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Are all frame-lock actions this smooth?

I am fairly new to knife collecting but I liked how the Pilar 3 looked so I picked one up and holy hell I fell in love with it the second I opened it up. Does every framelock open this easily? It feels like it's assisted at times. This knife is finding more pocket time than my PM2, I am blown away.

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Production Vox F11, a Jesper Voxnaes masterpiece.

TLDR: If you are a fan of the Pilar Large, buy this knife. It is about 1 inch longer, much slimmer in the pocket and the action on it is like butter.

The second I saw Jesper was making a pointy Pilar on bearings I knew I was going to like it, but I didn't realize exactly how much. This is Jesper's production version of the custom Vox F11 and is easily one of my favorite knives… read more in my collection now.

I will attempt to be brief in my review by stating pros and cons.

Pros:
- The action is super smooth and can be spidey flicked like no other knife I own, both right and left handed. I don't miss having a flipper tab on this knife at all.
- On close, once past the detent bearing it drops shut like some of the 3-400 dollar knives I own.
- The brass backspacer looks classy af and balances the knife right where your middle finger lands in the back choil. Feels really nicely balanced.
- Stone wash finish of the blade perfectly matches the stonewash of the handle.
- Pocket clip is one of the best I've seen on a knife of this price. Recessed clip and countersunk screws. Leaves just the right amount of the knife above pocket to show off the brass and allows the lanyard hole to be exposed.
- Ergos easily surpass the previous version of the Pilar Large, which was already one of my favorites. The narrower build actually feels much more natural in hand.
- Has an over-travel guard on the frame lock.
- Steel side of the knife is chamfered nicely and doesn't dig at your thumb like the old lockbars used to on the Pilar Large.
- Blade shape is still unique looking but much more practical and EDC friendly.
- Feels usable in all holding configurations, finger choil, no finger choil, reverse grip, etc. Could not do these comfortably with previous Pilars.
- Lockup is solid and snappy with a nice metallic *schinck!*. Absolutely no blade play and the pivot tightness is not finicky at all in regard to overtightening. Very easy to maintenance.
- Blade came very sharp and evenly ground. Comparable to some of my WE knives. A little stropping had it shaving sharp.

Cons:
- G10 scale should be chamfered on the inside of the knife and is a bit sharp. Nothing a little sandpaper can't fix.
- Could use a detent ramp on the blade to make closing a bit smoother. Nothing a file can't fix.
- Some people might say the thumbhole could be more chamfered, but honestly I prefer the grip of it. It is knocked down already and won't hurt during repeated use/fidgeting, but I could see some people wanting it smoother. Again... sandpaper.

EDIT: Took the knife apart (very easy disassembly) and sanded down the sharp G10 with 1000 grit sandpaper and used a fine grain diamond file to notch a smooth detent ramp. This knife is near flawless now. If this had a solid button lock vs framelock and higher-end steel it would probably stop me from buying other knives. Probably.

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