CRKT Rollock

Columbia River Knife & Tool Rollock

CRKT apparently licensed this design from Rolox, who made a limited number of rolling blade knives starting in the 1970s. The concept is actually pretty neat...you push on the back of the blade and it slides up slightly and then down towards the front (sort of like a front-opener). Once extended, the blade locks in place using a back lock mechanism. There is no fixed hinge or pivot for the blade. It's not too difficult to open this knife with one hand, though you have to practice a bit, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how to close it with one hand. I HAVE done it with one hand, but it required a lot of fiddling and it's far easier to simply hold the knife with one hand and retract the blade with the other. Now, you may not care if you can open and close this knife with one hand, but I do and I can't. With that said, the knife itself is well-made and useful. I really don't care for the semitransparent appearance of the knife, but I guess the idea is to let you see how the mechanism works. These sell for surprisingly high prices, I guess because they are a bit unusual.

I would suggest that you don't take the pocket clip off. The knife handle is pretty smooth and the clip gives you some grip when you're trying to manipulate the blade back into place. It's easy to cut yourself on a sliding blade.

  • MFG: Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT)
  • MODEL: Rollock
  • TYPE: Manual
  • ACTION: Front-opening
  • MECHANISM: Rolling
  • CLOSED LENGTH: 3.5"
  • BLADE LENGTH: 2.25"
  • PROS: Nicely-made and useful, good quality blade, good locking mechanism, very little play in the blade when open.
  • CONS: Virtually impossible to close with one hand, semitransparent construction turns me off.
  • VALUE: Over-priced...I guess you pay for the unusual operation.
  • OVERALL OPINION: Nice knife, but not my cup of tea for daily carry.
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