We were delighted when internationally known Japanese knifemaker and American Knifemakers’ Guild member Koji Hara agreed to design a personal knife for CRKT. Koji is noted for his custom folders in exotic materials, and is especially known for his carving of the handle material into a classic terraced landscape that he calls his “Air-Step” design. Our goal was to apply Koji’s remarkable design sense to a small personal folder which could incorporate our patented OutBurst™ assisted opening mechanism.

Logically, we called this first CRKT Koji Hara series Ichi™, Japanese for “one.”

For rigidity and strength, we used our InterFrame open build, with two 420J2 stainless steel liners. In a first for CRKT, we created layered injection-molded scales of Kraton® and Zytel®, the latter with Koji’s terraced Air-Step design. The result is a small knife that gives good grip, fits the hand nicely, and is truly functional for a variety of work tasks.

The handle tapers neatly into a modified drop point pen blade with a high- hollow grind made of high-carbon stainless steel. An ambidextrous thumb disk allows easy one-hand opening.

The Ichi is available in three color schemes: The bright version has a bead-blast blade, frame, and clip with gray Zytel scale inserts and black fasteners. The black-out version features a black titanium nitride blade coating, black Zytel inserts, black hardware and black Teflon®-plated clip. The red and black version features the same black blade, insert and clip treatment as the black-out version with a subtle red scale tone. If desired, the stainless steel clips are easily removed.

Each model is available in conventional non-assisted opening models, or with our patented* OutBurst™ assisted opening mechanism, which instantly springs the blade fully open after you have opened the blade approximately 30 degrees. All have bronze and Teflon® bearings at the adjustable blade pivot for smooth, fast action.

Most of us can’t carry a Koji Hara custom collectible daily, but the Ichi is a friendly and affordable reminder of one of Japan’s premier custom knifemakers.

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• About the Blade Steel