help choosing a kershaw!

J

JonQ

Joined
Jul 4, 2013
Messages
15
Hey everyone! So I'm in the market for a new folder. I'm really looking at some things from Kershaw.

The rake
Piston
And blur (regular or s30v)

All have what I'm looking for; a/o, blade over 3", and made in USA. This is where I need your help!

Any and all suggestions on which one of these I should get would be great. I know I'll end up with more than one but which would be a good first.
 
I'd say blur. Everything about it just works. Feels great in hand, can handle most medium duty chores and the speedsafe function makes the blade fly out with authority. The aluminum handles give it a sturdier feeling over the piston.

I have no experience with the rake so I cannot comment on it
 
All are great choices. You have a few options between steels and colors with the blur. If you want a flipper the D2 on the Rake in composite blade is very nice with edge retention and the added coolness of the pattern. Almost reminds me of a ZT 0350. I like the tip of it better than a 0350 though. Here is a 0350 to Rake comp.

DSC_2420.jpg


The piston is a big burly knife, That I haven't had the pleasure of handling yet.

2 others to think about if you are into those 3, are the JYD 2.2 (pictured above also) and the knockout. Very comparable to the ones you alredy listed.

IMG_2636.jpg


For comparisons:

1-14 are blurs

26. is a Rake

27. is a JYD 2.2

28. is a knockout.
 
Last edited:
bad_juju said:
All are great choices. You have a few options between steels and colors with the blur. If you want a flipper the D2 on the Rake in composite blade is very nice with edge retention and the added coolness of the pattern. Almost reminds me of a ZT 0350. I like the tip of it better than a 0350 though. Here is a 0350 to Rake comp.

DSC_2420.jpg


The piston is a big burly knife, That I haven't had the pleasure of handling yet.

2 others to think about if you are into those 3, are the JYD 2.2 (pictured above also) and the knockout. Very comparable to the ones you alredy listed.

IMG_2636.jpg


For comparisons:

1-14 are blurs

26. is a Rake

27. is a JYD 2.2

29. is a knockout.
Click to expand...

#29 is a ripcord...#28 is a knockout

I got yo back Ju ;)
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm leaning towards the blur. The od green looks too badass.
 
I'll toss in my two cents worth. The knockout is fantastic, has a very strong assist mechanism, solid lockup, great stonewash, the handles are more ergonomic in my opinion, and its also a flipper. The blur has a great blade shape, but i'm not a fan of the liner thickness or the thumb studs honestly. I liked my carbon fiber blur, but I ended up selling it because it didn't quite click with me. Also, I don't know how common it is but my knockout came at about 36 degrees inclusive and would easily whittle hair, but my blur came at 50 degrees inclusive and wouldn't even shave hair
 
I saw the pic of that JYD 2.2 up above. I bought three; gave away two as gifts. A great knife with compound blade; good balance; I use it around the house to trim stuff for my wife.
 
My desert tan blur came in incredibly sharp. I love it. I particularly LIKE the thumb studs on the blur. Of course that's just me.
 
metsfan said:
I'd say blur. Everything about it just works. Feels great in hand, can handle most medium duty chores and the speedsafe function makes the blade fly out with authority.
Click to expand...

^^^ This. The Blur is an awesome knife. There are a bunch of variations as well, so you should be pick one that fits you best.

Another one to look into is the Speed Bump (or any of the Bump variants). It is #25 in bad_juju's pic above. There were some US-made ones a year or two back that you might be able to pickup on the secondary market.
 
Im mot sure they are still being made but the Random Task 2 might be worth checking out. They aren't very popular for some reason but I own the origional polished g10/440v version and I love it, its one of my favorite Kershaws.
 
I'm not a big kershaw guy but the knives of theirs I own I really love...

My first kershaw was a cryo, followed by an echelon then a blur (1670BLK). I liked it so much I got a S30V blur and I liked those 2 knives so well I bought a ZT0350 because (to me atleast) they're very similar. I've also moddified and gave away several other cryo's, my personal one has a translucent G10 scale on the A/O side (A/O removed), a .38spl lock dampener, a sheepsfoot blade, the thumb studs removed and a wave ground into the blade for easier/faster opening. My Blair's also have waves ground in them and they look the best out of all the knives I've done.

Anyway out of your list I'd say none will be a bad choice but I recommend a blur, careful, a knife collection with one blur can easily turn too a blur collection with a few other knives. I use to only be interested in sub3" blades but it was the blur that opened me up to larger liking larger knives. Like I said I'm not a kershaw guy but the blur is one of my favorite knives and it really changed my whole oppinion of what I like in an EDC knife.
 
Out of your three, the Piston will be the lightest. Its lack of steel liners does that. Some don't like its weight since to them it feels too light for its size. Others love that they get a nice, long blade in a more pocketable package.

Regarding the Rake, CPM-D2 will probably hold the edge the longest (vs. S30V Blur is up for debate). It will also probably be the hardest to sharpen since it is, in fact, the hardest. Conversely, though it may not hold the edge for the longest, 14C28N on the Piston and standard Blur will be able to get very sharp relatively easily.

I'd also like to say that if you wanted to buy all three and send them to me to test, I'd be happy to help you out further :D
 
JonQ said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm leaning towards the blur. The od green looks too badass.
Click to expand...

I always come back to the Blur myself, other young folk here like other Kershaw models. The color variations out there can keep it from being boring :) I'll attach our latest video review on the blur.

[video=youtube;zTLL_3AHCSk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTLL_3AHCSk[/video]
 
I think my top 2 now are the blur and the knockout.

The knockout wasn't one of my top 3 at first but I took a second look at it and I really like it now. It seemed too slick from the pictures but I read some reviews that say this might not be the case.

Hmm now the question of OD green blur or in s30v?
Any comments on how the sandvik 14c and s30v compare in medium duty tasks? I plan on getting a sharpmaker, will this suffice to sharpen the s30v? What's your view on the dlc blades? They seem too tactical for edc IMO. Hah lots of ?'s I know.
 
I haven't handled a Knockout yet, but I am a big fan of the Blur. As far as I know, the S30V Blur only comes with the black handles. If you want a S30V blade on OD green handles, you'll have to get both and make your own FrankenBlur. ;)

Both Sandvik 14C28N and S30V should be more than adequate to handle just about any urban EDC cutting task. Sharpening/maintenance on 14C28N will probably be easier, although edge retention will be better on S30V. The Sharpmaker will handle S30V just fine. Sharpening on the corners of the stones on the Sharpmaker also makes recurves just as easy to sharpen as a straight edge.

Personally, I prefer a good stonewash finish to DLC, just because the DLC seems to get marked up very easily. DLC is extremely durable though, so you don't really need to worry about damaging it. I've cut a steel can (soup can) into a spiral with my 0550BLK, and it looked like it tore up the DLC. After a little buffing though, it turns out the "scratches" were just steel residue embedded in the DLC. The coating itself was completely unaffected.
 
JonQ - can you share a bit about what your knife use is like? Is this an EDC buy?

Have tons of feedback but I want to aim it the right direction. Long story short, all great knives....but we can hone in on the one to get first.
 
I love my Kershaw Knockout and in that price range it would be my choice, well it was my choice. I like the blur too but I already had a couple re-curve folders in my collection and don't desire to have anymore the ZT0350 is my go to if I feel like caring a re-curve. I also prefer a flipper on my Kershaw blades. The Knockout just fit all those categories better for me and it opens super fast and with an authoritative thwak much like my ZT AO folders do. I find my blades with S30V steel can be easily maintained on my Sharpmaker but trying to put an edge back on a very dull blade can be time consuming at least with the standard medium and fine stones.
 
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