• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

Chinese Kershaw Quality?

grownstar said:
Man I've been going back and forth about picking this one up, and I don't know why. How long have you had your Tremor?
Click to expand...

I've had it a few weeks now and a buddy of mine got one around the same time and feels similarly.

I'd say if your considering it, go ahead and get it. It was recently discontinued but they are still readily available for now which is why I got a second one while I still could. That's how much I liked it.

I don't see how you would be disappointed unless you got a stright up lemon but that's unlikely. It's a good, quality knife that impresses. Like I said, for the price, best $20 I ever spent on a knife.

All the best!
 
pbcg said:
I've had it a few weeks now and a buddy of mine got one around the same time and feels similarly.

I'd say if your considering it, go ahead and get it. It was recently discontinued but they are still readily available for now which is why I got a second one while I still could. That's how much I liked it.

I don't see how you would be disappointed unless you got a stright up lemon but that's unlikely. It's a good, quality knife that impresses. Like I said, for the price, best $20 I ever spent on a knife.

All the best!
Click to expand...


I also recently got a Tremor on the cheap. Solid, sharp, and big for under $20. Plus, I like the stonewashed blade.
 
I picked up a 1840KT Ken Onion Design Blem at their annual sale, I think it was Blem'ed because the clip finish isn't perfect. I love the thing and with the speed safe it is fun to play with. I have used it a lot and flipped it open at least 1000 times and I have no complains at all about the quality. If they made a 560 for half price that was made in china would I buy it? Likely not, but only to keep jobs at home. Hope that helps.
 
I have Volt II and Oso Sweet both of which are excellent. Do you consider you iPhone or iPad or iPod junk? They're made in China too - all depends on the design and the manufacturing / inspection process of which I would say KAI is world-class on both aspects, regardless of country of mfr...
 
Dadonred said:
I have Volt II and Oso Sweet both of which are excellent. Do you consider you iPhone or iPad or iPod junk? They're made in China too - all depends on the design and the manufacturing / inspection process of which I would say KAI is world-class on both aspects, regardless of country of mfr...
Click to expand...

That said, I've never tried to cut a Toyota Prius apart with either one of them...
 
Dadonred said:
I have Volt II and Oso Sweet both of which are excellent. Do you consider you iPhone or iPad or iPod junk? They're made in China too - all depends on the design and the manufacturing / inspection process of which I would say KAI is world-class on both aspects, regardless of country of mfr...
Click to expand...

That said, I've never tried to cut a Toyota Prius apart with either one of them...
 
One of my EDC's is a Chill, have had about three of them so far and have three more in my safe as back ups. So it would be safe to say that I love them!!!

On the other hand, one of my Cryo's has a terrible grind on the blade. I'll need to get it touched up sometime soon.

But other than the grind, they are really great little knives.
 
when i first started collecting the kershaws made in china were all i bought.....for one i didnt know anything about knives and two its what i could afford. that said i have 12 plus china made kershaws and never had an issue with any........and all have lived up to my hopes.
 
Based on inputs from owners here I am ordering a Volt II and a Cryo. I already have a Tremor on the way. I hope that I will not be disappointed.

I originally posted with my question due to being disappointed with a Chinese made Gerber F.A.S.T. Draw that I bought. It has a burred Torx screw head, feels/sounds gritty when opening or closing and the blade lock pin appears to be very small diameter so I wonder about the locking mechanism strength. Also not too impressed by my SOG Trident Tanto which except for the blade seems to be virtualy all plastic and the SOG Slim Jim is a joke, and a poor one at that.
 
Have the Crown and a Brawler. The Crown is super nice for the price, the Brawler came with a terribly thick edge and had to be reprofiled. Can't complain for the price these are going for, very good quality. I kind of wish Kershaw made a version of the Crown that was a tad larger, in a better grade steel.
 
bertosknives said:
they are pretty good only thing is I've had some screws strip and some round off.
Click to expand...

I've had this happen as well, but at the price I can live with not being able to disassemble these knives. I do wish they would use the same torx sizes they use on their US knives instead of hex screws, but so it goes.
 
I received a USA made Chive with a damaged Torx screw head and Kershaw sent several replacement screws when I contacted them. I would expect them to support their Chinese made knives the same way if needed.
 
Exactly how I started collecting Kershaws.I have 12 or more China made only issue i had with some was cheap screws that stripped easy..Didn't help i used cheap torx ..But i love the Tremor,Chill,Scamp all of them really..I think the Scamp is one of the best buget line Kershaws around it found it's way into my pocket often.Wish it wasn't discontinued :(
 
I can second or third what has been said about the Tremor. It came sharp out of the box, and the fit and finish was equal to some knives I have seen that cost $100's. I like the size and the heft of it in my hands. It is my favorite knife behind my slippies. Too heavy for me for an EDC, but have used it for brush pruning and it was great. It is one of the sharpest knives I have, and is easy to sharpen and remains so for an extended time even when being used to trim bushes.

Blessings,

Omar
 
I have 3 cryos, 4 tremors (both CE and PE) and a clash. Love them all but the tremor is my favorite Chinese knife. My dealer gifted me one then i loved it so much I bought 4 more @$15 each. I always have one on me, in addition to others.
 
My first Tremor arrived today and it is IMO the best Chinese made knife I think that I have seen. Sharp out of the bubble pack and with a reasonably symmetrical blade edge. Good pivot adjustment and smooth operation. Makes my Gerber F.A.S.T. Draw look and feel like junk in comparison. Seeing as how it has been mntioned that it has been discontinued I will probably order another to keep on hand just in case.
 
Thomas told me (paraphrasing) "Where others ask what can you do to save me a dollar, I ask what they can do for a dollar more" I think the knives reflect this. You aren't getting ZT quality at those prices, but you still get a quality knife and they come at an exceptional value.

In my opinion some of the older designs just don't work for me. The full size knives just didn't translate well in to the smaller designs with a different locking mechanism. It is probably a large part my familiarity and a personal thing... like a sedan version of your favorite coupe.. not that there is anything at all wrong with any of these knives. The new Zing and Volt SS though are quite nice as are all of thr various Cryo models. The new designs for 2013 that are being made in China look phenomenal. I wish some of them had Santoprene hard rubber handles as I think they would be nice in that material and I have a hard time gripping those smaller knives. I've always thought the Needs Work would have been great with a rubber handle. I was a big fan of the Gerber gator rubber back when Gerber still made most of their knives here.
 
i owned kershaw crown, not happy with it. up and down blade play.

i owned volt2 and also not impressed, sticky lock, and the framelock is hard to reach(to close). but it has no blade play whatsoever.
and it is hard to find the right torx driver.

eta: i also have handled cryos but i have to admit it was a better knife. not as close as my leek or scallion, but it is definitely better than the other chinese knives mentioned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top