how sharp is the Kershaw Leek?

waterford said:
So is the Leek really always scary sharp
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Pardon the macabre response, but a Leek was sharp enough for a North Carolina dentist to kill his wife with it. It was featured on 48 Hours a while back, and the knife they showed was clearly a Leek. The dentist was found not guilty, btw, based on self defense. Link.
 
Interestingly enough my SS Leek was razor sharp out of the box and my G10 S30V Leek was quite dull. I was anticipating the S30V to be just as sharp if not sharper.
 
With my standards, neither of my Leeks (14c28n, CPM-D2) were very sharp out of the box...but I fixed that immediately, and I've have been very happy with them.
 
BTW, many people always talk about blades shaving arm hair...that really doesn't mean much in my opinion.

I've seen knives come stock with easily noticeable wire edges that will still shave hair, but if put to some real cutting tasks will dull almost immediately.
 
I gave my thumb a gash from opening and closing mine (all black) with one hand. Strangely enough, it wasn't from piercing myself with the way the blade is shaped.
 
Many knives come sharp out of the box. If you use them, they will become dull. So sharpen them.

Many knives which are sharp out of the box have fragile edges. It is easy to overheat the thin cutting edge with factory sharpening. A good hand sharpening will take that edge back into the better steel behind it.

The Sharpmaker is good for this.
 
The Leeks I've gotten have all been plenty sharp out of the box. A good factory edge is nice, but I would be more concerned about edge retention and ease of re-sharpening. If you plan to use the knife, it will eventually dull and need re-sharpening.

The modified Warncliffe blade of the Leek is easy to sharpen. The cutting edge is pretty straight, so you don't have to adjust for the curvature of the blade belly or, even worse, recurves. The standard Sandvik steel will take a very fine edge with decent wear resistance. The CPM-D2 on the composite blade version and the S30V on the G10 version both also take a keen edge and will retain it through a lot of use (noticeably longer than the Sandvik).
 
Talk to Dave at Kershawguy.com for a great price on a Leek. They're blemishes and often you can't see what's wrong with them. I love them and all mine have been sharp. Good luck.
 
All three of my Leeks came very sharp (standard, G-10/S30V, and OCC), but as has been said already, it can always be sharpened/resharpened to even better condition.
 
I got a Rainbow Leek blem from Dave (KershawGuy) and gave it to the wife. She works in an office and uses the heck out of hers on boxes, tape, envelopes, etc. She likes the flipper/assisted opening because it doesn't trash her nails. Same reason she likes the Purple Blur.
 
All of my Kershaws(Leeks too) have been pretty sharp out of the box. I highly doubt the assisted opening on such a people friendly little knife.

However, if I were to pick a knife for an office, I would go with the Chaparral you mentioned. It has better steel(unless you get an s30v Leek), the Carbon Fiber handles are beautiful and have just enough grip. It's small and can slice better than most knives. Will work for regular EDC outside of the office as well. The deep carry clip is minimalist and people likely won't be able to tell you have a knife in your pocket. And I never ran into one person who didn't think my Chaparral was adorable lol.
 
when I sold the kershaw leeks at the flemarket in the past I didnt have one of them not sharp enough to not shave your arm. they where all razor sharp.
 
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