Sting Fixed Blade Knife with Sheath: 1055 Carbon Steel Plain Edge Blade, 1055 Carbon Steel Handle, 2020

I buy a lot of knives and I can confidently say that it's VERY hard to find a Chinese-made knife that does not come flawed and/or very dull. I am sad that all the Portland knife companies (Gerber, Kershaw, and CRKT) have cut costs by outsourcing their production to China. However, unlike Gerber and Kershaw, CRKT has kept their quality standards high. The Sting is a surprisingly-heavy full-tang knife that is actually forged from a solid piece of metal. This makes it feel extremely-sturdy for a dagger and very unlikely to fail with reasonable use. The hard plastic sheath is firmly wrapped in nylon and holds the knife very tightly, yet still allows easy draw. Both sides of the knife also came very sharp- able to easily cut paper and much sharper than the Gerber Mark II or Kershaw Secret Agent that I bought. The edges are ground cleanly and symmetrically, and the centerline perfectly bisects the dagger into two halves. As one would hope and expect of a dagger, the tip is extremely sharp. These should all be given qualities, but are very hard to find in most retail daggers it seems. The knife's velcro straps work fine for placement on either the calf or the bicep. Velcro has the benefit of one-size-fits-all for a variety of human shapes, but lack the comfort of a more customized system. It can be hard to find the happy medium between it being too tight that it cuts off circulation, or too loose so it shimmies out of place. Still for the price, I feel that it fills this role just fine; more expensive, customized aftermarket sheaths and securing systems can always be purchased. Overall, the CRKT Sting is a good value for a quality-made dagger/boot knife and certainly beats most of its competitors. You will not find another good, ready-to-wear knife of the same type at this price.

I love this knife. It fits perfectly in the sheath and locks tight. Double edge feature makes for a great blade and good cutting potential. Single unit, full tang, etc makes for a simple and powerful design. I don’t mind the grip but if you have massive hands you may find it a bit small. I wear a size medium glove, for reference.

If you are on the move a lot and/or pride yourself in awesome tactical equipment, this is THE ONLY 'FIXED BLADE KNIFE' YOU SHOULD EVER BUY. The blade: -------------- I am a fixed blade lover and enthusiast and have a large variety of different fixed blades, but after buying and using this one, I will never buy a different fixed blade again. Smaller folding knives may still have a purpose for cutting boxes, envelopes, or a variety of small things, if you don't want to intimidate people by wipping out a bigger fixed blade. However this blade can tackle NEARLY ANY job, except for maybe filleting fish, which in a survival situation it is more than capable. Bottom line, if you love fixed blade knives, buy two of these to start. The price is a major steal, I would have paid 3x as much for this baby. Pro's: Very durable, pretty much never going to break unless you STRAP an explosive to it, otherwise I imagine it would just fly away and land off in the distance scratched but otherwise unharmed. This thing is awesome. It's made to be double edged, which is great for war or expeditions requiring a weapon with a bite. Con's (kind of): It comes with one edge sharpened and one edge dull. This con is actually good for me because I live in California and carrying a double edge in the city is illegal. Dull edge could easily be sharpened for out-of-city use, though. The case: -------------- First impression: kind of bulky for a boot knife case. This can be slightly remedied by cutting off one of the velcro attachments that is sewn on. However, that velcro attachment is extremely useful for mounting the knife to a backpack strap for hiking, camping, whatever, and if it weren't there for that purpose, I would wish it were, so to each their own. This case really leaves nothing to be desired. I can apply it to pretty much any piece of gear I can think of at my disposal. Need to use it with a DUTY BELT? Yes, it works fine horizontal or vertical mounted. Pro's: Everything, this is the perfect case for the perfect knife. Can mount it literally anywhere. Con's: Due to the size it will require a boot made for boot knives (not a $30 pair of "tactical boots" from BIG5) if you want to use it as a concealed boot knife. Otherwise mounts to the leg just fine.

The biggest disappointment I had was that I didn't get the 2 day shipping I paid for. I got a $50 prepaid visa card as a gift and since I was moving to Chicago I ordered this to carry for self defense and spent the rest of what was on the card for the faster shipping and even after processing it came about a week later, so I had to come back from Chicago to get it. Not a big deal, I obviously survived without it. That said, none of that pertains to the knife itself. On to the product! As another review said the nylon on the sheath does have a slightly purple tinted coloration, but it is so subtle that I never actually noticed it until I read that, and I've had it on my belt for months and I use it frequently. The sheath itself has two small velcro patches on it to attach it horizontally to a belt. The strips are about 1 x 1.5 inches and are well made and thick, no worries about my knife randomly falling off my belt like my previous belt knife. The outside strap on the folds has a loop attached, to which an included larger loop goes through. The longer straps to mount it on your arm/leg/boot go through that loop and are long enough to fit just about any body type unless you're utterly massive. It sounds like a lot of extra work just to have a loosely mounted knife, but I had it on my leg for visual effect during a game of airsoft running around in the woods, crouching down, lying prone, etc and it never snagged on anything or fell off. The actual hard part of the sheath is very durable and isn't going to bend or break on you unless you're pounding on it with a hammer. As you can see in the picture, the sheath has a bump that fills the thumb indentation on the handle to hold the knife in place; the knife fits in like a glove and when I shake it up and down as hard as I can there is only a very slight wobble and absolutely no fear of it falling out, so it isn't going to come out of the sheath unless you want it to. That said, it isn't too difficult to pull out of the sheath, just give it a tug. The only complaint I have about the product itself is just me being picky, before I got my first belt knife (extremely low quality, wasn't smart when I bought it) I wore a knife on a shoulder sheath that had it rest on my stomach, and the grip for said knife was rubberized, so it had a very tight grip. This knife is made out of one solid piece of metal and isn't rubberized, but the black finish does have better grip than plain steel. Another thing I had to get used to from previous knives is the way you have to grip it to have a firm hold, if you hold it in a clenched fist it is more likely to slip, but if you hold it with your thumb in the indentation pointing down the blade, wrap your index finger around the narrower part of the grip around the thumb indentation, and let your other fingers just fall into place comfortably you'll have a tight grip on it. Another reviewer said he stabbed his wall with it and rounded the tip, I personally don't believe that. When I was cutting open a package I accidentally dropped it from waist height and it hit my floor tip first. My apartment's floor is cement with a normal layer of carpet over that, and after going through the carpet and hitting solid cement the tip only has a tiny chip on it, and I still use it to cut things. Lastly, another reviewer said his knife rusted after a few months, I've used my knife for almost 7 months now, including a few times where it got wet and I have no traces of rust on the blade. Just make sure if it gets wet to dry it off with a towel if you're worried about rust. Overall it is a great product, just expect to sharpen it and don't waste your money on expedited shipping. The blade wasn't at all sharp when I got it, but a few minutes with an $8 walmart knife sharpener was able to give it enough of a cutting edge for what I use it for.

I don't understand the negative reviews for this product, unless people have been getting counterfeit knives. The packaging is simple but good quality. It arrived in a green CRKT box, inside the knife was in the sheath inside a plastic sleeve bag, it also came with a CRKT insert. The sheath is hard plastic and nylon. There's a part of the plastic that extends up with a divot that fits snuggly into the part of the knife handle meant for your thumb when in use. I've read reviews by some that say it rattles in the sheath, but mine doesn't. It's a quiet and secure fit. The velcro straps are long enough for my lower calf, some have said they're too small but they fit me fine. I haven't measured but I'd guess they're around 15 inches long. They are pretty stiff, so I plan on boiling them a bit to soften them up, other than that they're great. The knife itself came oiled and quite sharp, it won't shave the hair off your arm, but still very sharp. This knife is meant for puncturing, not slicing. It comes to a perfect point, and the spine of the blade is dead center. It's got quite a bit of weight to it, which is what I was looking for, so I was quite pleased at how heavy it was. If you're looking for something lightweight and barely noticeable, you may want to keep shopping, you will definitely know this knife is there when you wear it. This knife is made of a strong steel, but it isn't immune to rust, best to keep it oiled to make sure it stays clean and rust free. All said, this is exactly what I was looking for. I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase and will be buying more CRKT knives in the future.

This knife had great reviews on here, so I figured I would pick it up and give it a shot. The box arrived and I ripped it open in anticipation. Wow! It's a very solid knife. Quite sharp and has a good weight to it. Has a nice black matte coating on it that feels like it would be durable. The more I look at it the more good things I have to say. I would say the best part is the sheath. It is quite nice and very useful. It's made to go on your lower leg or maybe arm. It also has built in retention. No straps or buttons. It's held in by tension from the sheath that keeps pressure on a little divet on the handle. This ensures it will only come out when you want. I actually wore it around one day on my leg and was comfortable. It didn't move around or make any sound at all. Best part is that it isn't noticeable at all under your jeans. The only improvement that I would make is to make it serrated. But I won't mark it down at all for that. Great knife, great buy.

What can I say. This dagger came with a really nice holster which keeps the blade quite secure, I don't even worry about it being upside down and falling out, that's how secure it is. The blade edge itself doesn't need to be resharpened at all (at least mine didn't). I first used it to open another Amazon package, which was a dumb idea. The knife stuck on a piece of cardboard while it went through the tape like butter. However, since the dagger stuck on the cardboard, when I freed it, the result was me overshooting the cardboard box by a few inches, nicking my index finger. If you want an idea of how sharp the knife is, I didn't really feel a thing when it cut through my finger and my fingernail (halfway through). It stopped before it hit bone. I went to the bathroom to clean up, bled quite a bit and ended up passing out after finally getting a proper bandage on my fingertip. This might sound crazy, but man, this is a great dagger. The only downside is the fact that it has no stop on the grip, so practicality, if you were going to need to use this to defend yourself, you might end up accidently sliding your hand down the knife and cutting yourself. There is a hole in the handle that you could use to start to make a cloth handle wrap out of paracord. If anyone really wants pics of my accident, I'll gladly up them. I was being a moron, and I also really didn't expect such a sharp blade.

First off, all I have to say is that the knife was a little smaller than I had expected, but I will not take a star off because that's my fault, and because the function of the knife is a hundred times the size! The second thing I did when i got it was stab the blade into a brick wall, to test the 1050 carbon steel out and sure enough, the wall has a hole and my CRKT remained flawless:) The blade: very very strong, the knife itself is a single piece of steel making it extremely durable. It arrived razor sharp, in fact sharper than any knife I've received through the mail. Very sleek look and feel to it, it's a good kind of heavy, you can tell this is no cheap potato peeler. Has an indent perfect for your thumb which doubles to lock the knife into the sheath. The Sheath: very well put together, although I haven't tested like I did the knife. Come with straps enough to mount to any part of your body or backpack. Holds the knife securely, you can shake it violently upside down and it wont let go of the knife. A great plus! So sick of decent knives coming with cheap sheaths Overall: i love this knife I was skeptical at first but this is worth double what I paid for it. Shipping was very fast, and it doesn't disappoint. Really gotta feel to believe, all I know is if I ever lose it (because it seems I won't be breaking it) I will be ordering another CRKT!!