+5 Knife of Concealment – CRKT Dogfish

Over a month ago I went over the CRKT Triumph N.E.C.K. knife.  This knife highlighted one of the biggest challenges of any piece of gear, an item that is perfect for one person may not be perfect for another.  While this knife was comfortable, useful, and very easy to use, I found it would not work for me on carry.  Peeking into the box of options, my next selection was the CRKT Krein Dogfish.

Strangely I bought this knife on a whim, it has a very unique name and look, and this knife happened to put an order just over the limit for free shipping, so in essence was free for me.  Since then I’m on my second one, the first I owned was a plain edged, and my present incarnation has the serrations as you can see.  The blade is a somewhat angular “modified” Wharncliffe (straight line edge with curved back), which I’ve come to like with some use.

It’s a little smaller than most knives I carry, with a blade length of just over 2 inches.

It comes with a custom kydex sheath that seems to hold the knife in decently for those who are comfortable with that, and a breakaway chain.  I do like the simplicity of this one, however if you wear this under your clothing or have it exposed to moisture, you’ll find the metal rivets in the sheath rust a little bit over time.  This might be a good idea to keep clean and paint over with some M-Nu (for those who know what that is…), or perhaps some form of  nail polish or really durable enamel coating.

CRKT’s description describes ”a secure finger choil and friction grooves at the thumb spine and near the butt” which is easy to notice, and makes for a comfortable, safe, and secure grip on the knife.

The designer’s purpose for the butt area is that the eye can be used as a lanyard hole, and the mouth as a bottle cap tool.  I’ve also found the mouth to be useful for something else as well.

You might recall a previous posting of mine about the outstanding Triumph N.E.C.K. also sold by CRKT.  My ONLY problem was that I found that for my purposes (as well as due to my lack of grace) the kydex sheath/patented mounting hardware just did not work for me.  Well, in this case, vanity and simplicity saved the day.  I have found that the mouth of the Dogfish also can work quite well to aid in retention!

It’s extremely simple, just affix some form of elastic band (i use a hair tie since I don’t want it catching the random body hair…  OW!) using a zip tie laced through the necklace hole on the same side as the blade (and mouth).  Trim the zip tie and make sure any rough edges of it are not going to dig or snag when stowed.

This creates a wonderful positive retention of the knife, HOWEVER:  You MUST be cautious on removal of this knife.  Keep a firm grip, since it can very easily launch itself away once you have pulled it out.

I’ve also occasionally run into non CRKT variations of this knife on the internet, just focus your google-fu on “Tom Krein Dogfish” and see if you can snag one, usually $75 USD and up.