Let me say up front that I’m a big fan of Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT). I own several of their products and have been using them for years without failure or complaint. As a general rule, I find CRKT products have great value for the dollar.

Recently, I was brought on to be Editor-in-Chief for a new prepper/survival magazine that will be out in January 2018. The working title is AMERICAN PREPPER. One of the articles I did for the magazine is an extensive knife buyer’s guide and the CRKT Moxie was one of the knives I chose to include.

The Moxie is an assisted-open folding knife. I’ve been carrying it for the last several weeks and have used it for all manner of routine chores, from opening packages to whittling fuzz sticks. To date, it has held up to everything I’ve tossed at it without blinking.

Let’s run through the basic specs.

Open length: 7.5″
Blade length: 3.29″
Closed length: 4.23”
Steel: 8Cr14MoV
Weight: 3.2 oz

The Moxie is equipped with CRKT’s Outburst® Assisted Opening technology. On this knife, it works in conjunction with their Fire Safe® Thumb Stud Actuation. The way it works is very simple. The thumb stud is actually a button that releases the assisted open. Hold the closed knife and push in and up on the stud with your thumb. Rotate the blade upward and the assisted open takes over, snapping the blade open in a flash.

You can see the blade in action here:

The first couple of times you open the knife, this can actually be somewhat intimidating as it seems as though you are certain to slice your thumb off. I assure you, though, that after opening and closing this knife a few hundred times, I’ve never once hurt myself doing so.

The blade shape is a drop point profile and it is made from 8Cr14MoV, which is a Chinese steel that is roughly equivalent to AUS-8. It is a durable steel that will take a great edge and keep it for a while. It is hard enough to stay sharp but not so hard that it is a bear to sharpen in the field.

What I don’t like about the blade profile or shape is the large ricasso. For those not in the know, the ricasso is the unsharpened part of the blade between the handle or guard and the actual blade edge. Not all knives have a ricasso, of course. Here, you can see there’s about ½” between the handle and the sharpened edge.

While it makes for a neat looking blade and gives it an interesting shape, many knife users like myself use that part of the blade quite often when carving or performing similar activities. Having no sharpened edge in that spot on the blade lessens the overall leverage available. If there were a Moxie 2.0 made, I’d hope they would design the blade so the sharpened edge ran much closer to the handle.

The knife has a liner lock that secures the blade in place. To release, simply use your thumb to move the lock to the side and then close the knife as with any other folding knife.

There is a slight bit of resistance when closing the knife due the assisted open technology. Honestly, it feels about the same as when closing a knife that has the lockback type of mechanism, where the button is on the back of the handle. It can be closed with one hand, it just takes slightly more effort to push the blade all the way into the handle.

The Fire Safe® technology locks the blade in place when it is closed, too. There is virtually zero danger of this knife opening without your express intent. Open or closed, there is absolutely no blade wiggle. It is tight and solid.

The pocket clip has an interesting shape. I like a wide clip like this as it helps prevent damage to the pocket. I also find that the wider clips allow for easier removal from the pocket but it still holds the knife securely. It is removable, should you wish, by means of three small torx screws.

The handle is a mix of hard and semi-hard surfaces. The softer segments are textured and also add to the handsome look of the knife. The handle is contoured as well and the overall result is a very positive grip even with cold or wet hands.

I especially like the groove at the butt end for the pinkie finger. This is a little bonus that’s not often seen but is very appreciated.

There is also a lanyard attachment point for those who prefer such things on their knives. On a folding knife like this, it can give you a secondary carry option if you don’t like to use the pocket clip. Attach a lanyard that will sit outside the pocket, then pull the lanyard to remove the knife.

The CRKT Moxie is available in three colors (linked to their respective pages on Amazon):

Black
Gray
Green

Overall, I really like the Moxie. It is a great size for EDC and while the Outburst® open assist really snaps the blade out fast, the knife isn’t likely to scare the hell out of coworkers. All three models are under $50 on Amazon right now, with the black and gray models even south of $40.