Finally the last knife arrived from ebay
CRKT Nirk Tighe 2
obviously this knife is all about the handles.....
Size references, in hand:
and compared to delica
brief out-of-the-box review:
This knife costs in between the price of a Delica and a mini-griptilian. Yet its blade steel is only AUS8. clearly obvious this knife is trying to sell based purely on its looks and its connection to the original custom design Nirk Tighe by Brian Tighe. if you look at pics of the 'real' Nirk Tighe, the handles are identical; but theres no mistaking the blade of the real custom Nirk Tighe and the production model by CRKT.
the downside of the knife does not just stop at the blade steel vs price. the handles are made entirely of steel, with minimal chamfers or bevels. i can tell this handle will be slippery when wet, and produce hot spots when in hard/repeated use.
that klecker lockback is unique and very cool-looking. in case you dont know about the klecker lockback, it will only release the blade from fully open if you push down at the very bottom of the back-handle. even though the entire locking lever looks like a single exposed piece running down the back handle, pushing it down anywhere else wont unlock it. in fact in a full hand grip, it locks tighter because you push the entire locking bar down onto the blade tang, instead of pivoting it to release the lock.
cool? yes. unique? yes. better than a tradition lockback? actually, no. its not worse either, its just that the end-performance is the same. it locks the blade in fully open, and you push down somewhere on the back handle to release. it is unique, it looks cool, but to the end user it works exactly like any other lockback. it just looks cool.
but the flipper, i really like. smooth, with a ball bearing system (another first for me). 9 times out of 10 the blade fully deploys with the flipper without any wrist action. you can also use the spyderhole-like thumb thingies to open the blade.
and thats the conclusion for the story about the CRKT Nirk Tighe 2: its all about the looks. and looks is subjective. do you think it looks cool? cool enough to be worth the price between a delica and mini-grip despite a mere AUS8 steel? and are you just going to carry it around like the stylish gentleman's folder and use it only in light duty?
if yes, you'll be happy. it looks good enough for people to ask "hey whats that first?" before they panic. they'll still panic once they realize its a knife, but at least its beauty distracts them first
but if you dont fancy its looks, or you expect more performance out of your knife, the CRKT Nirk Tighe 2 has nothing to offer you.