# General > General Knives & Blades >  CFK Knives "IPAK"

## DSJohnson

First let me just say "I DID use the search feature to search for "CFK". "CFK knife" and CFK Knives"  :Tt2: 

Have any of y'all looked at, used or tested these knives?  Thoughts, opinions, information about them or the brand?  They seem to be sold "exclusively" on ebay.  Lot of negative posts on some knife making forums and blade forums because they have USA on the blade while it seems that most everyone feels that they are being made in some "other/Pakistan" county.

So anyone care to give me your opinion of the product?

Thank you.

Dave

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## crashdive123

I had never heard about them, so the following opinion is just that....an opinion based on a quick review.

After looking them up and viewing their ebay offerings, I believe that they are not hand made and that they are not made in the United States.  I say this for a few reasons.  First - any knife maker that only offers their knives on ebay is kind of weird to me.  Secondly - some may look at their pricing and think they are getting a bargain.  For Damascus steel, I cannot buy a piece of flat stock for the price point that some of those knives are going for.  Third - many of the knife styles appear to be copies of popular knives that are sold elsewhere.

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## DSJohnson

Thanks Crash.  Pretty much what I think also.

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## DSJohnson

Wow..I really expected/hoped for a little more feed back....

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## Rick

I had nothing to add over what Crash said. I've never heard of them. Seems odd to me they would only sell in eBay.

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## DSJohnson

Okay, I am bidding on one just to see what it actually looks like and feels like. I will let you know how it turns out.

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## canid

> Seems odd to me they would only sell in eBay.


It's cheap, easy, reasonably safe and easily offers reasonable sales volume for items that will move themselves or for which you can generate enough word of mouth.

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## Lamewolf

Uh, the pictures look pretty, but I doubt seriously that their Damascus is hand made just on the price alone.  I've seen some Damascus knives I wouldn't give 2 cents for !

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## Rick

You could also wholesale them through any number of knife distributors and create higher sales volume with less overhead.

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## canid

Rick If you're able to produce that volume, sure.

Lamewolf: it's an often overlooked fact that much of the cheap foreign pweld is also hand made (admittedly working a power hammer, as most who make more than a tiny amount use). It's just not made by well compensated hands.

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## DSJohnson

I, personally, am not a big fan of pattern welded/Damascus steel.  I think that modern steels like D2 and O1 are great for my use.  So I am bidding on one that is made with 1/4" D2

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## buckfynn

At one time I looked into CFK knives but decided against buying one for a couple of reasons. First as DSJohnson already mentioned, the negative comments on some of the knife forums made me leery of a purchase.  Secondly I sent an email request through the ebay system asking about CFK knives which I never received a response. If a merchant doesn't take the effort to respond to an email, it is a red flag of poor customer service as far as I am concerned. For me it just isn't worth it taking a gamble on one of the CFK/IPAK knives.

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## Gunguy

> At one time I looked into CFK knives but decided against buying one for a couple of reasons. First as DSJohnson already mentioned, the negative comments on some of the knife forums made me leery of a purchase.  Secondly I sent an email request through the ebay system asking about CFK knives which I never received a response. If a merchant doesn't take the effort to respond to an email, it is a red flag of poor customer service as far as I am concerned. For me it just isn't worth it taking a gamble on one of the CFK/IPAK knives.


They really have kind of blown up out of nowhere.  There are not a whole lot of reviews out there from people who actually have one of their knives in-hand.  There are a few on YouTube though.  The Jury seems to be out on how the blanks are forged and ground... and where.  The story that there is an old family friend forging the steel in England seems really far fetched but you never know.  More likely these do come from Pakistan via England to Oregon and maybe get some polishing and handles along the way.  Maybe they are done entirely in Pakistan and just held to a higher quality level than other stuff floating around.

Does anyone really think that if these are high quality and test out OK under actual use, that many custom makers would say one positive thing about them?  That would be pretty foolish. 

I don't care for Damascus.  I do like hard use fixed blades.

I can say for sure that the pictures look great on EBAY and having purchased three of these CFK's that arrived yesterday I was pretty shocked.  I didn't expect much for $50-$60.  They are exactly what they look like in the pictures as far as fit and finish.  Knives and sheaths were beautiful and rock solid.  

I can't vouch for the steel yet, but if it is actual D2, regardless of the origin, these will last.

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## DSJohnson

I have two of them now. They look and feel great. They seem to hold an edge well(so far) but I have not really got to use them for any real heavy use tasks yet. 


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## Gunguy

I joined the forum just to read this thread because this topic is pretty interesting to me.  I am not new to knives but I have always had cheap stuff like Columbia River, United Cutlery, Gerber, Chinese made Kershaw, etc...  lately I have been into the better quality production stuff like USA Kershaws and ZT, etc... mostly folders.

Anyway, the only fixed blades I had were an old CRKT sawtooth 2000 bowie with leather sheath and an S&W with a a homemade kydex that someone gave me.  If these knives are not US made (they cannot be) is it so much worse than buying Chinese stuff?  I dunno, I have not decided yet.  Anyway I am glad I found this thread and this forum.  I can post some pictures of my EBAY wins soon.

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## Gunguy

> I have two of them now. They look and feel great. They seem to hold an edge well(so far) but I have not really got to use them for any real heavy use tasks yet.


I got a huge iPAK bowie (about 8"), a CFK bowie fighter (about 7"), and a hybrid bushcrafter which has a tanto/bowie tip and is close to the 1/4" stock in thickness all the way along its 6" or so blade.  All with micarta handles. Interesting pieces.

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## DSJohnson

I "won" a couple of the IPAKS bushcrafters one have a 5" blade and the other has a 3.5" blade


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## Rick

The quality of American products made in China is controlled by the American company. If it's crap don't blame China since they are making it to set standards. I remember (as do many on here) that Japanese made stuff in the 60's were pretty much a joke. Made in Japan was synonymous with trinkets and junket transistor radios. We don't view them that way today. China will be the same way shortly. Pakistan will become the new China then on to Africa!

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## DSJohnson

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## DSJohnson

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So far they are holding an edge and seem like good knives.  They come with a well made heavy leather sheath also

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## DSJohnson

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## MrFixIt

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How thick is the spine on that?

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## DSJohnson

> How thick is the spine on that?


A full .25 of an inch.

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## the wanderer

hi folks  ifound these knives on ebay and could not believe they were really highly polished D2 steel  with micardia handles-but i bought four of them and they really do seem to be more than I d expect for the dough

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## drumwraith

I've bought quite a few of their knives on ebay (30+). They are pretty good knives for the price, but their customer service is some of the worst I've ever dealt with. They have sent me multiple knives, listed as brand new, that were scratched/used...I'm not talking about nit-picky handmade imperfections/flaws...I mean really deeply scratched up, post production. Got a few bad sheaths also with big black ink or grease spots on them and real dirty like they've been laying around on the shop floor.

Until recently they disclosed serious defects, scratches etc. in the listing, and sold them as 2nd's, but apparently they don't always do that anymore...they rely on the "handmade imperfections" disclaimer. If you decide to buy one, you'd better really look at the pictures closely...but of course that may not show deep scratches. Be sure to look at the logos. They are really bad about not striking them deeply enough. Sometimes half is missing...sometimes nearly all of it is missing...sometimes it's fine. 

Don't dare contact them with a problem unless you want a real argument. They take an immediate argumentative/rude stance, like you're guilty of something. I buy, sell and collect knives and lots of them come from ebay. I expect problems, but expect sellers to address the problems responsibly. I never leave negative feedback on ebay, but I left neutral feedback to warn others, and then only after several ridiculous customer service encounters with the company over a $60 knife....anyway, they blocked me, just like they do anyone who complains. They always respond in a snotty way, then block the ebay user. I'd say you may get 4 out of 5 knives without a problem but don't complain about a problem with the defective 5th one.

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## druid

> First let me just say "I DID use the search feature to search for "CFK". "CFK knife" and CFK Knives" 
> 
> Have any of y'all looked at, used or tested these knives?  Thoughts, opinions, information about them or the brand?  They seem to be sold "exclusively" on ebay.  Lot of negative posts on some knife making forums and blade forums because they have USA on the blade while it seems that most everyone feels that they are being made in some "other/Pakistan" county.
> 
> So anyone care to give me your opinion of the product?
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Dave


I have one that I'm reviewing right now.

And I agree, I'm a member of "that" knife forum that just blasts CFK at every turn. I posted publicly that if they sent me a blade, I'd make a video review after a few months of testing - love it, hate it I'd speak the truth. The [one?] owner sent me this huge bushcraft knife that I'm a few months into reviewing. 

I can't speak to where they are made but I can tell you it is high carbon steel. It sparks when I strike chert on the spine. The paperwork that arrived wit hit says it's D2 tool steel. I believe it. The blade patina's fine with mustard. The handles are micarta, attached with aluminum pins. The blade is 1/4" thick at the spine and hollow ground from tip to hilt. It has a 'modified' "Tracker" design and came very sharp. It has obvious imperfections on the blade but that is stated in their ads.

Since I'm not done reviewing it I don't want to give up too much info - but aside from a few minor issues I have with it [and by minor issues, I mean someone will say "you are being too nit-picky, dude"] I like it enough to replace my KA*BAR as my woods blade.




> I had never heard about them, so the following opinion is just that....an opinion based on a quick review.
> 
> After looking them up and viewing their ebay offerings, I believe that they are not hand made and that they are not made in the United States.  I say this for a few reasons.  First - any knife maker that only offers their knives on ebay is kind of weird to me.  Secondly - some may look at their pricing and think they are getting a bargain.  For Damascus steel, I cannot buy a piece of flat stock for the price point that some of those knives are going for.  Third - many of the knife styles appear to be copies of popular knives that are sold elsewhere.


I did the same thing when I initially heard about them on "that" forum. But in looking in to their EBay rating, they are doing way better than other sellers period. Last I checked [about 2 weeks ago], they had a 100% feedback rating on thousands of sales. 

If you take them at their word, "bringing good working blades to more people" [or whatever their ad says]...then EBay only makes sense. If you are trying to sell volume and don't have Lynn Thompson kind of money for advertising...then EBay makes even more sense.

The bid system lets you determine what a "bargain" is.

As far as "look like copies"........I can say the same about Buck, Case and almost every other major manufacturer of knives. Use the Buck model 110 as only one example. There are dozens of copies by equal number of companies. No one gripes about _that_ though...

Like i said, without going too far into the blade I like it enough to replace my KA*BAR with it.

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## MrFixIt

> I like it enough to replace my KA*BAR as my woods blade.
> Like i said, without going too far into the blade I like it enough to replace my KA*BAR with it.


That's saying a lot as far as I'm concerned.
Thanks for your initial thoughts!

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## druid

> That's saying a lot as far as I'm concerned.
> Thanks for your initial thoughts!


Yes it is because in fact, I absolutely love my KA*BAR. It's just that I'm one of those guys who believes "every tool has its intended purpose." The KA*BAR has served me well in the woods but it is a fighting knife and so, that's how I prefer to utilize it.

...and actually, my absolute favorite woods blade was my Cold Steel Trailmaster Bowie in Carbon V - but I lost that one to my one daughter for her woods bag. I replaced that with the KA*BAR with the intent on getting another TM Bowie but time went on and never got around to it. Then lately with the CS frivolous and ridiculous lawsuit against CRKT, I have vowed never to buy another CS product ever again.

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## druid

Now that I can post pics, here are a few from the review file:

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The thing's a beast. I had to add Gammo grip tape to the handle because my hands are so big...it kept slipping on me, especially when my hands were gloved.

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## theycallmeBear

so im curious DSjohnson...whats the update?  Did they turn out good or are they crap?  Im looking at a couple on ebay now

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## Goose

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## DSJohnson

I have been carrying one of them in my truck and I gave/loaned the other to a friend. Mine keeps an edge well and stays sharp after cutting up heavy cardboard boxes. I also used it to cut plastic strapping/banding used on pallets. That dulled the edge pretty quickly.  The blade sharpens easily and has not stained or rusted much at all. I have used it to skin a couple of deer this fall. I ended up using it to butcher one of them. It is not perfect for me. the blade is extremely thick when you try and split kindling with it and the handle gets very slippery when it is wet. I have thinned the handle scales some and put a couple of ranger bands on it. I would buy it again and I think if you can get one for less than $65 or $70 I think they are well worth that. If you go much past that there are others blades I would rather spend $75 on. 


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## hunter63

> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk


Now that is established.....
What did you send?

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## DSJohnson

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## Wise Old Owl

CFK CUTLERY CO.
Oregon Assumed Business Name · Updated 8/31/2015

Cfk Cutlery Co. is an Oregon Assumed Business Name filed on January 30, 2013. The company's filing status is listed as Active and its File Number is 911762-98.

The Registered Agent on file for this company is Jason G Baker and is located at 1*8815 Sw Alderwood Drive, Beaverton, OR 97006.* The company's principal address is 18815 Sw Alderwood Drive, Beaverton, OR 97006.

The company has 1 principal on record. The principal is Jason G Baker from Beaverton OR

The address come to a wooded residential neighborhood. - there are no factory locations recognized by Google.

The knives are final assembled in Pakistan. 


The owl has spoken... I don't care if I am wrong... feel free,


The Damascus is forged in England and shipped back. Says so on the website

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## DSJohnson

In my very first post I said that most every one pretty much agreed that they were probably made in Pakistan. No argument from me on that at all.


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## Wise Old Owl

I understand. Kind of surprised he can get away with it.

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## DSJohnson

Wow. I was gonna say something like that but felt it might be perceived as been a smart a$$. I really am curious how he can stamp his blades "Made in the U.S.A."  


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## Rick

Actually, they don't. They simply say USA and handmade knives. Unless something has changed.

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