Get into the Groove!

T

thombrogan

Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
9,948
It is my undeserved privilege and a fond pleasure to have a Kershaw brand Groove folding pocketknife in my possession. It has a 410 stainless steel framelock (stronger than titanium albeit heavier) with G-10 overlays and a Sandvik 13C26 recurved blade.

13C26 is a chameleon steel able to handle both low-force cutting and low-finesse cutting with just a wee tweak in its heat-treatment. It is similar to the non-stainless steel 1095 both in having these dual faces and in driving a lot of people crazy when it's used for low-finesse instead of low-force (okay, 1095 drives six people crazy when used that way and only two of us for 13C26, but that's a lot if you drive a small car or bicycle).

The pocketclip can be carried right-hand tip down or right-hand tip-up. Right-hand tip down; which is how the knife is shipped; is excellent for southpaws used to left-hand tip down carry. Through careful manipulation, I've found that this knife will also work for right-handed people.

My new before-it's-used test for edge-stability is to cut into a block of hardwood. Here are the before and after pics of the Groove's factory edge:

groove60x1.jpg

Nifty!

groove60x2.jpg

No change! I'm no Victor Tseng, I admit. :(

The knife springs open with ease and locks up very securely for an integral liner-lock/framelock. The steel lock is quite stable yet easily disengages as designed.

The drawbacks for me involved the clip. It could've been a little looser and it could've been positionable for left-hand carry.

I would complain about any factory edge; and I do; so the reader may discount my comments on that. Larger pics will follow later. Thanks for reading.
 
I'll bet with a little ingenuity and some holes that could be set up pretty easily for tip up left hand carry with little problem Thom. Tip down would be just as feesible though.

I think I know a guy that could do that too. Lets see what was his name again? :D

STR
 
Do the grooves affect cutting at all?
Seems like it would bind in cardboard and plastic packaging. The grooves are the one thing keeping me from investing in one of these.
 
The grooves don't cause binding, but they can prevent it. The knife might require a coarse finish to handle plastic if you don't thin the edge. Should the edge somehow get thinned (like accidentally running it into a belt sander to set a thinner edge and then polish said edge with a series of progressively finer Trizact belts and adding a micro bevel with the finest belt.....), it'll be aggressive in plastic with a polished edge.

Here are the larger pictures:

Groove01.jpg

That thumbramp isn't aggressively serrated, but it's comfortable and effective.

Groove02.jpg

If you like recurved blades for slicing goodness, please note the pronounced recurve.

Groove03.jpg

Integral guards are very important to me when using framelocks and liner locks. The Groove's integral guard is very enjoyable.

Groove04.jpg

This knife can actually be used by right-handed people. Who knew? Who cares, but who knew?

Msiley,

Low-finesse cutting is what's done when one's attitude is "who needs the right tool for the job? I've got a knife!"
 
I had it for one week and then I returned for several reasons:

1. The frame lock was engaging only by the very edge, it didn't look safe and it required some modification to lock in deeper.

2. The g10 inlays have a sandpaper like surface. I didn't like the feel of it and they kept catching on the jeans pocket. Required some smoothing.

3. Ok, this one is silly. I liked the look of the grooves but I couldn't stand the sound they were making when cutting in. Sounded like sawing a washboard. YMMV.
 
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