Can the Kershaw Boa be trusted?

Thomas W said:
Just some food for thought here, if we are going to start threads about knives not being safe because there was a lock fail on a specific blade or two (in this case one from 2004), we might as well start a ton of similar threads on just about every folder ever produced.
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Indeed. When I was looking for my first good EDC several months ago, I originally intended to get a Benchmade with an Axis lock. Then I read a post on another forum where a guy's Axis lock failed. So I searched on the Axis lock and found other reports of Axis lock failures. (All failures of the little C-spring.) On that basis, I rejected the Axis lock. Upon reflection, and the numerous reports from others that have had good results with Axis lock folders, I've decided that the Axis lock is acceptable, after all. I mainly don't plan to have one in the near future because they're all tip-up carry, and I prefer tip-down. But I will have at least one Axis lock folder in the stable some day.

I think if you search on any particular knife, steel, lock mechanism or whatever, you'll find at least some negative reports about whatever it is you're researching. I think that if the liner-lock in the Boa was problematical, Kershaw would've either fixed the design (and probably issued a recall) or would have removed the knife from production. In today's litigious society, companies like Kershaw generally aren't inclined to take chances with that kind of thing, if nothing else. And Kershaw has an excellent reputation for customer service, does it not?
 
Guido, I thought you were very clear in your original post, sorry if I gave you the impression that I thought you were labling Kershaw, or specifically the Boa.

I would absolutely not consider a knife if there's any chance of lock failure
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zimmer, there is always going to chance that any lock will fail, and as EDC said so well, there has been many a post on BF's about a problem with most every one of them, from liners to back locks.

The Boa is a standard liner lock and you will get some on this board that are not in favor of that style of lock, and some that are fine with them.

What you wont find in an inherit bad liner lock issue concerning the Boa. If there was, it would have been addressed internally.
 
Artfully Martial said:
He might just be speaking to liner locks in general.

I rather like the Boa, but I'm not a fan of the blade shape. I'd take a look at the Avalanche if you're in the market for a high end Kershaw also.
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If you read his post again, he specifically says "lock failures on the Boa".
 
I still own a few Boa's...the one with the colorful "Splash" handle. I very much enjoy putting one in my pocket especially on those grey and mournful winter days we get here in the PNW. This is my endorsement of the Boa....several years ago I radically downsized my folding knife collection and began moving toward slip joint collecting. Of the few "modern " folders I chose to keep, the Boa was one...the others were an Al Mar SERE, Spyderco Military, and Benchmade D2 Griptilian. The Boa's a wonderful knife...incidentally I had been warned the recurve blade would be difficult to resharpen.....and some nonsense about CMP-440V being too brittle and prone to chipping...I have never had any problem with either issue, and I use the knife frequently. Like I said, it's a wonderful knife.....I like it so much I bought a second, and keep it as a back-up just in case I lose the first :D

-regards
 
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