CRKT Ruger Hollow Point +P Knife Review

I got a chance to test the Hollow-Point +P ™ knife, part of the Ruger Knife line by CRKT, designed by Ken Onion.  It’s quality and design by far exceeds the MSRP of  $79.99. The compact version of this knife (2.75”) has an MSRP of $59.99.

The Hollow Point +P Knife is an EDC self-preparedness knife designed by Ken Onion. It has a non-serrated 3.60” blade from 8Cr13MoV (58-59 HRC) with a satin finish.  The scales are plastic, although they really don’t make up much of the knife. It’s steel framed and steel lined. I have several CRKT Ken Onion designs, and their most notable characteristic is the fact that users can employ the entire length of the blade.

The Hollow Point+P is a liner lock style, with a flipper and a thumb pivot. The flipper protrudes enough to lock the forefinger behind the blade, enlisting the strongest parts of the hand in a solid grip. Ken Onion has checked all of the boxes for getting the blade out smoothly, including a feature that knives costing $500 don’t have, even though they should.

You see, every person who looked at this knife said the same thing: The blade flies out of the handle, with very little coaxing and hardly any repositioning of the hand. This product has accomplished what I have been telling knife makers to do for 20 years.

My readers should be surprised, because I don’t like frame lock knives and I wear this sentiment on my sleeve. Pressing on the lock while opening the knife sometimes acts like a brake for the blade, except on Ruger’s Hollow-Point +P.  First, the fingertips contact the scale, not the lock. Second, they use something called IKBS ™ ball bearing pivot system, which reduces the friction during opening but prevents blade wobble. The smoothness is extraordinary.

The Hollow Point +P looks like the traditional folding hunter style knife, except it has a deep belly upsweep and a high blade-to-spine ratio. This design gives the user cutting a folded length of rope a little more cutting power, yet still allows the camper to tap the blade through a length of kindling.

I like an upswept, rather than trapezoidal, point on my EDC knife. This style is more useful when doing camp chores. “Tactical” style knives are pretty useless for a rolling cutting motion, the way a person might cut vegetable stalks on a cutting board.  

The steel holds an edge well in cutting tests. The characteristics of the locking mechanism didn’t change, and the “stainless” really resisted staining. Above all, and a credit to Ken Onion’s experience, the knife does a great job preventing hand fatigue.

Ruger left the door open for custom scales for this knife, and it’s pretty enough for custom work. . They are secured by hex screws. I would love to see this one with aluminum scales with an inlaid Thin Blue Line on one side and a bright red Ruger logo on the other. The scales are molded and one can feel the line where they mate to the frame. For a working knife, this works.

The pocket clip is reversible for tip up or tip down carry. It is low profile and allows for a pretty deep position, but I found it jut a little too tenacious. That is, it was so springy; it wouldn’t let go of my pocket, even a shirt pocket.

The spacer is thick and it has a grip-improving scalloped pattern and a generous lanyard hole. The taper in the grip and texturing allowed the user to really bear down on the blade surface. The additional jimping on the spine was not only pleasing; it consistently positioned the thumb during precision cuts. 

This is a 6 oz knife, hefty enough for light camp chores, and light enough to be a stylish back up blade. I found this design to be the most useful I have seen that can pull dual duty.

Who should consider this knife? It’s excellent for the officer that doesn’t like to switch things around, like one who would use it for work, then dress game on days off.  There’s no question about its defensive utility, especially given the reliability of the locking mechanism.  Moreover, this knife is a bargain at twice the price.