Cutters Knife & Tool Bengal Folding Karambit Knife Review

Reviewed by corwin99 on June 6th, 2012

This is the second Cutters Knife and Tool (CKT) blade I’ve owned, and like the CKT Walter Brend that I owned before, it is very well constructed. While this one I got here is pretty well used and has some oxidation marks on it, the quality of the construction is still very apparent.

Picked up this CKT Bengal Folding Karambit on a trade, and am pretty impressed with it. Its a Reese Weiland design collaboration with CKT, and was released in 2003. Tom Kyle of CKT is apparently still in business doing lots of machining, and can still make these knives I’m told, but this is second hand information – the website has not been updated in years however. Regardless, the Bengal Karambit is a nice piece of kit, and is made in the USA to boot.

Blade
The 154CM Stainless Steel blade is hollow ground and then bead blasted. The bead blast hasn’t held up well on this one since it was obviously subjected to some moisture at somepoint and bead blade is difficult to clean up once it has been oxidized unless you have a bead blaster. The knife was obviously carried and used, so the edge sharpness out of the box is not known to me. It did touch up really nicely after a few strokes on the sharpmaker, however. While the knife shows lots of carry wear I don’t think it was actually used to cut much.

Handle
The handle is bead blasted 6AL4B Titanium, with what appears to be a an annodized aluminum ring. I am guessing it is aluminum because of the way it dinged so easily. Everything is machined very well and the knife fits the hand really well. I’m not a practicing Karambit user, but this design is well-regarded by the Karambit community. The titanium framelock is solid and inspires confidence when engaged. The pocket clip is mounted for right hand tip up carry and can be changed for left hand carry. This knife came to me mounted for left hand carry as the previous owner was a righty but carried it on his weak side.

Fit & Finish
Very good fit and finish, on par with the best knives in this price range. At the time, this knife was incredible. Not too many other knives came close in 2003 aside from the Sebenza, but nowadays there are several that are quite good that can compete such as A.G. Russell Acies and the Lionsteels. Either way, it is a high quality Karambit that nowadays is still quite rare at this quality level and would be a great collectors item if you can get a hold of one in minty condition.

Overall
Overall an outstanding knife, with very nice lines and quality craftsmanship. Since it is a Karambit, the appeal is much more limited than if it were just a regular folder such as the CKT Brend. For that reason the CKT Brend is probably the better buy if you are looking to pick up a CKT to have, but the CKT Bengal Karambit is still a great piece, especially if you are into Karambits.

Specs:
Blade: 154-CM; .148″ Thick; RC 60
Blade Finish: Anopeen, Diamond Black, Satin
Overall Length: 6.1″
Length Closed: 4.7″
Blade Length: 2.36″
Handle Thickness: 0.42″
Handle: 6AL4B Titanium
Pocket Clip: 301 Full Hard SS
Handle Lock: Frame Lock
Weight: 2.9 oz. approximately

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