
Why I Love: The CRKT SQUID
The Stat Line
(CRKT providing credit where credit is due)
Carry-ability, Reliability, Performance
How does it perform? In a word, well. This knife is small, light, and decidedly un-tactical and I am more likely to carry a SQUID in most situations because of that. The clip is mounted as high up on the frame as possible, and features a looping bend allowing this knife to ride in a low vis, yet highly accessible way.

Since I carry this knife a lot, I have put it through a variety of urban-dwelling, office working EDC lover tasks. I have literally never had a failure of this knife in any way. I also strongly believe that this is the perfect knife for 99% of the things I am going to experience in my everyday life. I really dig the dual thumb studs making it really easy to use with either hand (assuming you have the slightest dexterity in both hands).
(check right. check left.)
The only real drawback I can find is the same problem I have with pretty much anything labelled sub-compact (or whatever equivalent you can think of). It is an excellent all-around knife, solves about 99% of my knife needs daily, but it will under perform in a larger scale project against something a little more purpose built for the task at hand.
The Custom vs The Production
(example of a custom Squid built by Lucas Burnley in 2011 and the CRKT production version)
So…what are the differences between the CRKT SQUID and a Burnley custom Squid? Incredibly, there are very few visual changes that were made to bring this piece into production design wise. The overall silhouette remains the same, down to the pin and screw placement. They both also utilize dual thumb studs to make opening easy with either hand. From all of the images I have reviewed, it appears that the major visual differences are the pviot screw and the name on the show side of the knife. Custom Squids use the Torq head on the show side, but the production version has it on the lock side. The blade on the custom Squids are marked Burnley without text on the lock side and the CRKT versions are clearly marked CRKT and name the knife and designer on the lock side. Variation is another tell tale sign of a custom Squid. With pretty limited exceptions, the CRKT SQUID is available as two variants: a black stonewash and a steel stonewash finish. The Burnley Squid is/was/will be a creative outlet for a talented person, so there are a lot of very cool variations with exotic handle materials, unique finishes, and premium blade steels in the market! Now, I am definitely not comparing the two knives, so much as I wanted everyone to know that it would appear that very few compromises were needed (design wise) to bring the Squid to the masses.
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