columbia river knife & tool inc. type privately owned industry manufacturing founded 1994 ; 22 years ago 1994 headquarters tualatin oregon key people founders paul gillespi and rod bremer president sales executive rod bremer finance executive peggy bremer products knives revenue us 2.5 5 million est. annual sales number of employees not available website www.crkt.com columbia river knife & tool inc. crkt is an american knife company established in 1994 and currently based in tualatin oregon united states . the company s president and sales executive is rod bremer and the finance executive is peggy bremer . 1 though based in the united states most of its products are manufactured in china and taiwan . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 patents 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit crkt was founded in 1994 by paul gillespi and rod bremer . both individuals were formerly employed with kershaw knives . the company did not truly take off until the 1997 shot show when the k.i.s.s keep it super simple knife was introduced . the small folder designed by ed halligan was a success . within the opening days of the show the years worth of the product was sold out . they sold at 4 5 times original production numbers resulting in a tripling of production efforts . 2 on october 3 of 2000 us customs seized a shipment of 80 000 crkt folding knives worth more than 4.3 million . all 50 models seized had always passed every customs test in prior situations . the shipment had cleared customs on september 29 but on october 3 an inspector decided that the knives acted like switchblades despite the fact that none of them fit within the definition set forth by the u.s. switch blade knife act of 1958 . on october 17 a letter was co signed by oregon u.s. congresswoman darlene hooley and senator gordon smith that petitioned the head of customs to aid crkt . because of their action there was a federal inquiry of the us customs actions that had to be answered within thirty days . on october 20 the company was once again allowed to move their product . however this was not before losing over 1 million in sales and spending over 30 000 on legal fees . 3 products edit crkt carson design m16 12 the company produces a wide range of fixed blades and folding knives multi tools sharpeners and carrying systems . crkt has collaborated with custom knifemakers such as ken onion harold kit carson allen elishewitz pat crawford liong mah steven james greg lightfoot michael walker ron lake tom veff steve ryan and the graham brothers . patents edit crkt owns fifteen patents and patents pending . these include the outburst assist opening mechanism lock back safety l.b.s. mechanism and veff serrated edges . the outburst is the company s proprietary mechanism for their assisted opening knives . these knives are standard pivot joint liner lock or frame lock folding knife . inside the knife there is a spring tab that catches the tang of the blade as it is manually opened . once the blade reaches thirty degrees the spring takes over and quickly snaps the knife open . 4 the lock back safety mechanism also invented by ron lake is similar in function to the lawks mechanism . it is a lockback folder with a switch that can prevent the locking bar from being depressed . inside the handle there is a small rod with a flange near the butt of the handle . the other end is connected to a switch near the pivot end . when the switch is pulled back away from the pivot the lock functions as a regular lockback . when the switch is closed the flange on the rod slides under tip of the locking bar at the butt end . this prevents the depression of the bar and the blade from unlocking . when the knife is closed the system functions the same way to lock it closed or allow it to open . 5 veff serrations were developed by tom veff a sharpener and knife maker and are exclusively licensed to crkt for production . the veff serrations differ from standard ones in that they are large and set at an angle of 60 degrees whereas most serrations are small and arranged 90 degrees from the cutting surface . 6 a closed knife with outburst outburst operating as the knife is opening outburst once the knife has opened schematics of the l.b.s. mechanism diagrams of the veff serrations see also edit list of companies based in oregon references edit referenceusa columbia river knife & tool . retrieved 2008 11 22 . knife deals plus crkt info . retrieved 2008 11 22 . akti presentation to u.s. congresswoman darlene hooley in may 2000 helped set the stage for her and oregon u.s. senator gordon smith to come to the rescue of columbia river knife and tool company . retrieved 2014 04 08 . united states patent pocket knife with lock design . retrieved 2008 11 21 . united states patent folding knife having a locking mechanism . retrieved 2008 11 22 . veff sharpening service homepage . retrieved 2012 03 26 . external links edit columbia river knife & tool official website v t e knives and daggers list of daggers list of blade materials types of knives aircrew survival egress knife athame balisong butterfly ballistic ballpoint pen knife bayonet boline bolo boning boot knife bowie bread knife cane knife cheese knife chef s knife cleaver clip point combat knife commander corvo cqc 6 deba b ch diving knife drop point electric knife fairbairn sykes fighting knife gerber mark ii ginsu grapefruit knife gravity knife gunong hunting knife jacob s ladder karambit k la kirpan kitchen knife kukri laguiole knife machete mandau mezzaluna misericorde mora knife multi tool nakiri b ch navaja neck knife nontron knife opinel knife palette knife pantographic knife parang penknife penny knife pocket knife putty knife puukko rampuri resolza sabatier sami knife santoku sark scalpel seax sgian dubh sharpfinger shiv sliding knife smatchet sog knife straight razor strider smf survival knife swiss army knife switchblade taping knife throwing knife tomato knife trench knife tumi ulu utility knife warrior knife x acto yanagi ba yatagan types of daggers anelace applegate fairbairn fighting knife arkansas toothpick bc 41 bagh naka baselard bichuwa bollock dagger cinquedea dirk ear dagger emeici fac n french nail hachiwara hunting dagger janbiya kaiken kalis kard katar khanjali khanjar kris mark i trench knife ocean edge knife parrying dagger poignard push dagger rondel dagger seme shobo sica stiletto tant marine raider stiletto v 42 stiletto yarar parachute knife yoroid shi knife manufacturers aitor al mar knives american tomahawk company bear mcg benchmade b ker buck knives caber camillus cutlery company cattaraugus cutlery company chris reeve knives cold steel columbia river knife & tool cuisinart cutco cutlery dovo solingen dexter russell dirte knives eikhorn ek commando knife co. emerson knives erizo f. dick f llkniven famae fiskars f ritechnics gerber legendary blades global golok hanwei imperial schrade j. a. henckels ka bar kershaw knives kitchenaid korin japanese trading company kyocera leatherman mad dog knives mercworx microtech knives morseth murphy knives ontario knife company opinel pro tech knives randall made knives ranz rigid knives r sle sog specialty knives sabatier a n & perrier spyderco strider knives survival aids tekna thiers issard tramontina victorinox vox knives w. r. case & sons cutlery co. walther arms wenger western knife company wilkinson sword windlass steelcrafts w sthof yarara ltd knifemakers a.g. russell american bladesmith society rex applegate james black blackie collins john nelson cooper ernest emerson jerry fisk phill hartsfield bill harsey jr. gil hibben knifemakers guild zanjan knifemakers jimmy lile bob loveless bob lum william f. moran ken onion ralph osterhout bo randall chris reeve jody samson william scagel mike snody robert terzuola michael walker buster warenski daniel winkler book knives and daggers category knives daggers retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title columbia river knife % 26 tool & oldid 741290781 categories knife manufacturing companiescompanies based in tualatin oregoncompanies established in 1994privately held companies based in oregon1994 establishments in oregon navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 26 september 2016 at 15 37 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of 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