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Field Strip Gen II Debuts on New Ken Onion Design

December 30, 2020

CRKT is coming in just under the wire with a major 2020 reveal: the new generation of their patented, Ken Onion-designed Field Strip knife tech. Field Strip II is making its worldwide debut today on a limited edition knife called the Bona Fide.

Field Strip II

It’s hard to believe, but CRKT and Onion revealed the first Field Strip knife, the Homefront, all the way back in 2016. It’s a simple idea on a conceptual level: create a folding knife that can be disassembled easily and quickly, with no tools necessary, for cleaning and maintenance away from the work bench.

On a mechanical level, that meant a complete reimagining of the interior construction of a folding knife, and the first generation of Field Strip tools featured a two-part opening mechanism. Users first flipped the switch below the pivot, and then turned a knurled dial on the spine to separate the scales.

The system worked, and won the admiration of users, but Onion and his partners at CRKT wanted to improve the mechanism. Field Strip Gen II simplifies the disassembly process: rather than two separate actions being required, users must simply push the switch on the show-side scale down and out of its locked position, releasing an internal arm that keeps things in place and allowing for the separation of the blade and scales for cleaning. This renovated, one-button design brings another advantage: it allows for the implementation of an IKBS pivot in a Field Strip design.

Bona Fide

The Bona Fide is the first CRKT knife to feature Field Strip Gen II, and, fittingly, it is a Ken Onion design. Its blade measures 3.55 inches long and sports a curving, organic shape that is pure Onion. It locks in place with a liner leaf, and in this iteration weighs 4.3 oz.

We say “this iteration” because this particular Bona Fide is a limited edition, restricted to an extremely small, 100-piece batch. It comes with some significant material differences compared to the standard production model to follow: bronze anodized titanium scales, embellished with designs taken from Hawaiian culture, play up the visual aspect; and the blade here is made from S35VN steel.

The standard model – which CRKT tells us is set to arrive next month as part of the company’s 2021 lineup – will have gray or OD green aluminum scales and D2 blade steel. You can check them out below:

The standard Bone Fide knives, with aluminum scales and D2 blades

The limited edition Bona Fide is available today, directly from CRKT.

Knife in Featured Image: CRKT Bona Fide

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