Any Nura Love?

[John_0917]

I know it's out, and has been for a year, but have never seen the Nura mentioned or shown by anyone on here. I have been looking for a sort of dress folder, I definitely want a modern design and don't feel interested in spending over $100. I've been looking at the Kershaw Nura, both the 3 and 3.5, and am intrigued by the design and especially the KVT bearing system. I am fine with 8Cr steel and Chinese manufacture, the knife isn't going to see any type of strenuous use.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm especially curious as to whether the KVT works as well as the KVT on my 0560 did. Also, I'm curious as to how it compares (design and scale wise, I know it's lesser materials obviously) to the 0450/0452 family. I am interested to hear feedback and thoughts, I haven't seen it in person yet but at least online it seems like it fits the bill for what I'm looking for.

 

[salehonasi]

I have a Nura 3.0, and while it's a decent blade, it has some drawbacks.

The KVT is very smooth, just like in my 0450, but the geometry of the flipper tab itself is a little awkward. It's hard to explain in words, but the side of the flipper that faces out forward to where the blade will be is curved with jimping on said curve, which makes you instinctively try to put your finger in that spot and drag the tab. This occasionally fails to flip properly, as some force is lost from the angle and dragging on your finger. While most flipper tabs are angled against the direction your finger is approaching from, it ends up being angled away. For reference, my ZT0450 can be pulled just out of the detent, then flipped from there because of the tab, whereas the Nura cannot. That said, once you get used to flipping it "normally," it snaps out with authority. Overall, not ideal, but still very good.

The stainless steel makes it a bit heavy, which is to be expected for a full SS handle, but the real problem I found was the handle being slick. While the jimping that was there went a long ways towards helping, the flat bottom of the handle still felt a little unsure. That said, I have the 3.0, whereas the 3.5 has a bit of a parrot beak at the bottom, similar to the ZT0450, which I imagine would fix this perfectly, so grip will probably be fine. The lockbar isn't the easiest to disengage, due to the lack of a cutout and the coating being a little slick, but it works fine and locks up great.

As a final note, I don't really like coatings on my blades; I think they make the sharpened area on the blade ugly, but that's purely a personal preference, and the contrast does make the overall aesthetics very intriguing.

Despite my complaints, while I don't think it's a perfect knife, I think you could liken the Nura 3.5 to a poor man's 0450. It flips very well if you do it right, and while the steel is unimpressive, it's still perfectly serviceable. For less than $40, it's actually quite good.

 

[grownstar]

Funny you mention this. I was just watching some Nura vids on youtube and wondering the same thing.

I've never owned one, but I've owned a Strobe and that thing fired wonderfully with the KVT. I've heard that the detent on the Nura is dialed in a touch lighter so it doesn't necessarily rocket out. Still, like salehonasi said, once you get used to it I'm sure you'll be fine.

As for the weight, both are listed under 4 oz. That's pretty impressive considering they're full SS framelocks. I think you should get one and try it out. You won't be out much money if you don't dig it, and you can always list it on the exchange.

 

[Linejudgemick]

I have a 3.5 Nura and it's OK. I had to sharpen out a knick in the blade that I'm not sure how it got there. The frame lock was super stiff and went past 50% when I got it. I also thought the pocket clip was too tight. I took it apart and worked on all of these things and eventually got them smoothed out for the most part. After I finished those tweaks, it flipped a little better. For an inexpensive knife the scale's edges are rounded more than you'd think making it feel decent in the hand and the little jimping it has is functional. Overall I'd say it's worth the $34 I gave for it, as long as you're willing to make any adjustments it needs.

 

[katanas]

I have the Nura 3 and really like playing with it. It looks great IMO, is smooth as silk and came VERY sharp. BUT (OH-OH) it is just too heavy, or maybe thick or both? again IMO, for pocket carry.