About
A jacket pocket at the end of a long day holds a few things that have earned their place there. The CRKT Squid is a folding pocket knife designed by Lucas Burnley that fits that context without friction: 2.16 inches of blade, a closed length that disappears into denim, and a low-profile clip that stays out of the way until it isn't.
The blade is 8Cr13MoV high carbon stainless steel finished in black stonewash, a surface treatment that ages honestly rather than showing every scratch as a failure. It sharpens easily on a basic whetstone, which matters for a knife carried daily rather than maintained occasionally. Friction grooves along the spine give the thumb something to press against during controlled cuts, a detail that sounds minor until the knife is actually in hand under pressure.
The frame lock is the kind of mechanism that inspires confidence without requiring thought. It engages solidly and releases cleanly, and after a few hundred openings it still feels the same as the first. That consistency is what Burnley's compact designs tend to get right: nothing loosens, nothing shifts, nothing starts to feel provisional over time.
The Squid is the right knife for someone who wants a capable tool without the bulk or the statement. It won't impress anyone at a knife show, and it isn't trying to. It simply performs the cuts that come up in a given week and returns to the pocket without complaint, which is exactly what a daily carry should do and what most knives at this size don't quite manage.
