CRKT Seismic: an innovative knife

Franco Palamaro, © F.PALAMARO

The Seismic CRKT can be opened by operating the flipper or the opening pegs on both sides of the blade.

Flavio Ikoma is a Brazilian knifemaker of Japanese origin, a great innovator in terms of both design and technical aspects of folding knives. A few years ago, together with his colleague Rick Lala, he patented the ball bearings system named IKBS (Ikoma Korth Bearing System) , initially intended for balisong type knives, but subsequently also applied to more traditional folding knives.
The American CRKT company manufactured several knives designed by Flavio Ikoma and equipped with the IKBS system, such as the Fossil, and now with the Seismic it puts two exclusive technical solutions into practice.
In addition to the already mentioned IKBS system, the Seismic features a "Deadbolt" locking mechanism , which also comes from Flavio's ingenuity. It is a push-button system located at the blade pivot point: on the blade tang there are two holes, at 6 and 12 o'clock: when the blade reaches the opening position, a spring pushes a U-shaped piece of metal into the holes on the blade and liners, locking the knife open. Simply press the circular button on the right hand side of the handle to unlock the blade. The advantage of this system is that unlike linerlock or framelock knives, your thumb does not run any risk of encountering the blade , which could hurt during uncontrolled closing.

CRKT Seismic: in detail

Franco Palamaro, © F.PALAMARO

The blade of the Seismic CRKT features an unusual "Persian" profile and is 3.97” / 100 mm long with a maximum thickness of 0.15” / 3.8 mm.

Let's start with the blade, which is made of 1.4116 stainless steel and 3.97" /100 mm long, with a tang thickness of 0.15” / 3.8 mm. It is available with a satin finish and plain edge.  The blade has an unusual "Persian" profile with a concave back and slightly raised tip. It is a blade profile now uncommon, typical of traditional knives from cultures that live in desert climates. Such a profile is in fact very suitable for cutting dry and leathery materials. The blade sports a very homogeneous satin finish , with clean and unobtrusive laser markings. There is also a version with a matte blue blade and VEFF serrations, but we like the satin one better. The blade is equipped with both flipper and ambidextrous opening pegs and this, combined with the fact that the handle is symmetrical and that the small clip can be easily removed and reversed, makes the Seismic a knife almost perfectly ambidextrous, to the delight of left-handed people.

Made of black G10 on a steel frame, the Seismic handles are suited for medium-large hands. Thanks to some milling and the checkered aluminum back, purchase is firm and provides excellent comfort . The pommel has two holes for a possible lanyard. The Seismic is not very light: it stops the scale needle at  6.3 oz / 178 grams.

The Deadbolt locking mechanism of the Seismic

Franco Palamaro, © F.PALAMARO

The button on the left side controls the release of the Deadbolt system. To close the knife, just press it.

Out of the box, the Seismic is very hard to open . Especially if you use the blade peg instead of the flipper. Using the Knife Maintenance Tool  also produced by CRKT, we have slightly loosened the screw that also acts as a release button and the situation improved markedly. 

Unlocking is not so neat: pressing the button we noticed a small creep and it seems that the problem does not affect our sample only. However, the system seems very solid and well thought out. 

Wrapping up

Franco Palamaro, © F.PALAMARO

The handles are made of G10. Checkering and texture facilitate the grip. This is the right side: note the  the Deadbolt system locking piece.

Maybe a bit too big and too heavy to be defined as a real EDC (everyday carry) knife, the Seismic is definitely an original tool, equipped with an interesting locking system that effectively solves one of the problems of linerlocks or the possibility that the blade can close on the user's fingers. It is also true, however, that by paying some attention the problem can be safely avoided. The fact is that we like the Deadbolt locking mechanism and in the tests the knife did not shown any weakness . If you like the idea of a well-executed "Persian-style" folding blade featuring an innovative locking system, the Seismic is definitely for you.

The list  price of 150 US dollars (about 135 euro, but it may vary in your country due to VAT and import duties), is not very light either . As usual, with a good eye and some patience you can buy it on the web saving some money.

CRKT Seismic: technical data 

For more information on the Seismic folding knife, please visit  CRKT  website.