Koji Hara 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. Columbia River`s goal was to apply Koji's remarkable design sense to a small personal folder which could incorporate the patented OutBurst assisted opening mechanism. Logically, they called this first CRKT Koji Hara series Ichi, Japanese for one. For rigidity and strength, they used the InterFrame open build, with two 420J2 stainless steel liners. In a first for CRKT, they created layered injection-moulded 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 two colour schemes: The bright version has a bead-blast blade, frame, and clip with grey 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. If desired, the stainless steel clips are easily removed.