By Jim and Mary Clary
Jim reviews the first knife you can field strip and clean, the CRKT Homefront Knife with Field Strip Technology.
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- A lot of us carry folders on a routine basis, using them for everything from cutting the insulation from wires, or slicing plastic/rubber tubing to dressing out small and large game animals.
We like our folders as they are convenient to carry and do the job when called upon.
However, they have one problem…. they are tough to clean when we get them covered with grease, dirt, blood and…. well, you get the idea.
Ken Onion has been making knives for years and working on his motorcycles. You can imagine what his folders looked like. He decided that there had to be a way to design a folder with a “field stripping” potential.
CRKT Homefront Knife with Field Strip Technology
It took him awhile, but he finally developed the patent pending “Field Strip” innovation. It took over ten years to develop and refine the Homefront knife that could be disassembled when the knife is in a closed position. The tool-less feature permits one to take the knife apart in the field, clean it completely and reassemble it for full use in a matter of minutes, No more will you have to worry about your folder getting “gunked” up (if you have the Homefront, that is).
The process of disassembly is so simple, it makes one wonder why it took so long. The answer is easy. It looks simple, when you see it….. but, prior to Ken designing it, no one in the business ever thought of how to accomplish it… But, HE DID.
“The user then pushes the front release lever away from the blade, and spins the turn release wheel on the rear of the handle away from the pivot shaft. Once the user feels the handle release, the handle pieces can be pulled up and away from the blade. This provides three main pieces that can be cleaned, oiled, or polished easily. Reassembly is as easy as reversing the procedure.”
Ken designed the knife to have a unique WWI heirloom appearance, from the mimicking of a tire tread on the handle to the tank jimping on the backstrap that blends with the “gear-wheel” at the back… this knife is a wonderful piece of art as well as a functional tool.
We have a feeling that the Homefront knife will not be the only knife that Ken engineers with his field strip technology. And, for the record, the modified drop point blade on the Homefront is typical Ken Onion with its high hollow ground. That grind of Ken’s makes his knives ideally suited for dressing and skinning game animals.
In fact, another of his knives, his Skinner Fixed Razor Edge Knife (K700KXP), is the best skinning tool we have ever used. We cannot begin to tell you how many folks have tried to buy or trade it from us.
Features and Specifications of the Homefront:
- Model number: K270GKP
- Designer: Ken Onion
- Type: Hunter/skinner,
- Blade type: Modified drop point, high hollow ground
- Blade length: 3.502 inches
- Blade width: 1.125 inches
- Blade thickness: 0.133 inches
- Blade material: AUS-8 Stainless Steel
- Hardness: HRC 57-58
- Edge: Plain
- Blade Finish: Brushed steel
- Handle: 6061 Aluminum
- Closed Length: 4.728 inches
- Overall length: 8.313 inches
- Weight: 4.8 ounces
- Locking Liner
- Field Strip Technology
- Country of origin: Taiwan
- 2017 MSRP: $150.00
Although it has a high MSRP, you can find it for under $100 in many big box stores as well as online. It is worth every penny.
About Jim and Mary Clary:
Jim and Mary Clary have co-authored over three hundred and fifty articles, (and counting) on shooting and hunting. You can read many of them on AmmoLand News.
