“Own both, love both, but the tuff lite i have abused for years now and has held up great so I think it's a little better.”

69% of 84 verified owners recommend the CRKT Pilar, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
Affiliate blogs here say 100% recommend, while the owner-based score is 69%. They earn a commission on every sale — so we show them for transparency but never let them move the score.
The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. YouTube and Affiliate blogs are shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.
Synthesized from what CRKT Pilar owners say — not a spec sheet.
Retailers' own star averages, for comparison — separate from our vetted owner-verdict score above.
“Own both, love both, but the tuff lite i have abused for years now and has held up great so I think it's a little better.”
“My Pilar broke.”
“CRKT Pilar is my fave but mine has strong detente and isn’t that fidgety if you care about that. And it comes in copper which is nice.”
“Since I bought it, it has been my dominant/ primary EDC knife … honestly my #1 knife I’ve ever owned!!”
“I carry a CRKT Pilar that I paid $20 for. It replaced my Kershaw Leek that I paid $25 for.”
“The Pilar came with a stripped screw so I can’t take it apart, blade stock was way too thick for my preference, uneven grind, a little too heavy, and mine isn’t able to be flicked open”
“The CRKT Pilar is pretty indestructible, but I don’t carry it much for some reason.”
“I cannot ever endorse tip down carry. Tip down only is an abomination!”
“CRKT Pilar, perfect size to carry and still be useful without getting in the way.”
“In cutting performance the pilar isn't even close.”
“My favorite knife still is the inexpensive CRKT Pilar in D2 with copper scale. The ergonomics along with the fact I can cut, pry, screw & not think twice. The blade can take a beating.”
“it’s a Crkt Pilar with 8Cr13MoV steel so I don’t expect it to hold an edge for a very long time.”
“Stainless steel handle of Pilar is slick.”
“If the CRKT Pilar III in D2 is still available for >$50, that thing is fantastic”
“I wouldnt go for CRKT PIlar on the picture .. it has good ergonomy (Voxnaes design) but being CRKT leaves a lot to be desired in materials, action is not good, price is higher than it should be.”
“CRKT Pilar 3. Perfect knife for me. I love everything about the form factor. And it’s cheap enough that it’s replaceable if something were to happen to it.”
“Mines probably the crkt Pilar!!! I absolutely love that thing”
“I have a CRKT Pilar 3 that sliced my thumb open while closed. The blade sits so far back in the scales that it caught my thumb.”
“My EDC is a CRKT Pilar. I found them at Sportsmans Warehouse last year on clearance for $17. So I bought 10. If I lose it/ gets stolen/ break it. Who cares. I have more. For my needs it gets the job done.”
“CRKT Pilar 3. People tend to ignore everything CRKT does nowadays in the budget segment but it slaps.”
“The CRKT pilar 2. It is the thickest knife I own”
“I dont know if id ever buy it.”
“I like my Copper CRKT Pilar at the moment. It's not the best quality knife I own, but it does more than what I need from my knives, and I like how it looks.”
“Also adding the CRKT Pilar to this list. Similar form factor to the Squid but *much* better ergos IMO”
Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.
“the CRKT Pilar (because the Petit is a little bit thick behind the edge). Pilar has really good ergos, but a really, really overly thick blade😩”