Blown Away By This $30 knife

Picked one up for 15 and was shocked how much I liked it. But, my son loved it and he has pretty much taken it from me...
 
Love my Atmos but man, when you don't hit the neutered flipper tab just right and your finger slides on the serrations it hurts quite a bit, even after having sanded them down a bit.
 
That aggressive jimping on the flipper tab is one of my favorite features of the Atmos.
Super solid purchase, on such a small tab.
 
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I picked up a Fraxion as a travel knife (in case TSA has sticky fingers) and was impressed. It does feel cheap-ish, but doesn't feel $30 cheap. Impressive action and lock-up. I'd feel confident recommending any of Kershaws low-end knives.
 
I handled an Atmos at a retailer recently and was shocked at the, gentleness(?), of the lockup. I’m sure there’s a better word to describe it. It was definitely smooth with adequate detent. But it was like if you closed your eyes and flipped it, you couldn’t be certain that a blade was attached to the other end of the flipper tab. In my limited experience it felt unusual and I was not sure what to think about it.
Having said that, if it hadn’t been priced 50% higher than you can get them online, I would have bought it.
 
I haven't bought a Kershaw in a couple years, they used to be all I bought and carried and have quite a large amount. I've since moved on to higher end knives but I think I'll have to grab one of these. I love Sinkevich designs and not having Speedsafe is a huge plus.
 
Got one myself recently, and it's a great little knife! I'd like a larger version, like the ZT 0470, but a little bit cheaper!

I am a fan of cheap Kershaws however, have a cryo, Cryo 2, Natrix CF... Just got a Bareknuckle first USA Kershaw besides my ZTs. Really nice and affordable too!
 
Planterz said:
I picked up a Fraxion as a travel knife (in case TSA has sticky fingers) and was impressed. It does feel cheap-ish, but doesn't feel $30 cheap. Impressive action and lock-up. I'd feel confident recommending any of Kershaws low-end knives.
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I have and love a LOT Kershaw knives, but there are definitely some I cannot recommend.
Atmos, Faxion, Cryo 1 and 2, Natrix just to name a few of their good China stuff, but there’s a number of the ~$20 (street price) knives that are just plain bad. What I’ve found in a lot of personal experience is the better stuff kinda starts at the ~$30 mark, with some exceptions like the Ember - great little knife. The Manifold? Horrible junk.
 
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A little tease...

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After:

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rogatsby said:
The Atmos is an unassisted knife. That's one of the reasons I love it. It's one of the few budget Kershaws with no Speedsafe.
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I was referring to the Fraxion mentioned in the post above mine. I have an atmos and love it, although it did take a bit of work to make it to the point that I would carry it and fidget with it regularly.

specgrade said:
I got one on order. If I don't like it I'm sure I'll find a good home for it. :)
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Yeah, in my mailbox ;)
 
iareconfuse said:
I was referring to the Fraxion mentioned in the post above mine. I have an atmos and love it, although it did take a bit of work to make it to the point that I would carry it and fidget with it regularly.



Yeah, in my mailbox ;)
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Um. the Fraxion is also a manual unassisted opening knife. There is no Speedsafe in the Fraxion. That being said, although the Fraxion is quite similar and pretty nice, I much prefer the Atmos design, and I dislike black coated blades in general.
 
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rogatsby said:
Um. the Fraxion is also a manual unassisted opening knife. There is no Speedsafe in the Fraxion. That being said, although the Fraxion is quite similar and pretty nice, I much prefer the Atmos design, and I dislike black coated blades in general.
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Aw crap I have been misinformed, I thought this entire time that the Fraxion was assisted - maybe it was a mislabeled Amazon product description that gave me that idea. Anyways, that's good to know!
 
Got mine about a week ago... It's nice for what it is, but I'm pretty sure it will making friends in the budget knife drawer until I give it away.
 
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