Is Kershaw cooling?

[Chronovore]

I don’t know how this will fly here, but after giving it a bit of thought, I don’t really much care. I don’t have a big problem with American companies off-shoring their manufacturing, as long as their off-shore partners are building exactly to the company’s specs. There’s some decent quality stuff coming from over there significantly cheaper than it could be manufactured here. And face it, fewer and fewer of us spoiled brat Americans are willing to work those kinds of jobs. Of course I’d rather see all the work done here at home, but I’ll take this arrangement to the alternative of these companies going tits-up, or is having to pay a premium for even the lowest end knives. I do have a big problem with the blatant knockoffs of other people’s designs and R&D, and the even more egregious counterfeits. But I don’t think legally partnered manufacturers should be grouped into that same category.

They fly with me. At this point, America has lost its edge on the budget market. Most of the American budget entries are being made in China anyway, and most have fallen way behind the Chinese companies making their own budget knives. There is a sense in which this situation was predictable. How many of the Chinese companies got their start by handling the outsourcing from American companies? How many of them were straight-up trained by the American companies? As Sal Glesser explained, Spyderco had to invest in training Sanrenmu and helping them to up their game in order to ensure quality in the Spyderco products they were producing.

Well, some of these companies learned. Then they didn't stop learning, or innovating, or seeking to do better. Now, we have all these brands like Civivi and Kizer delivering awesome budget knives. Meanwhile, a lot of those US companies have remained complacent on their Chinese-made budget lines and in doing so, one of them inspired this thread.

So nowadays, I mostly look to America for customs, more expensive production knives, accessories, or services like mods that I'm not set up to do at home. Does that make me sad? Yeah, but a genuine discussion on this or possible ways that things could change will ultimately be political. That means it doesn't belong in this forum. People wanting to explore that should check out the political forum under Current Events in the Community section.

 

[sgt1372]

I'm trying to think of what other designers may have worked with Kershaw during this time period. What I can think of now are Grant and Gavin Hawk, Ken Onion, Strider, Spyderco, and Ernest Emerson. I can't quite think of the model but there's a really rare Emerson designed ZT (Not the newer ones that are posted here and there). That's all I can think of right now, I'll try to think about it some more throughout tomorrow. I have to go get some sleep (I work swing-ish).

I don't know if you've seen this one MolokaiRider ? The Spyker.

Edit: Wanted to say that the Spyker pictures aren't mine, just something I found.I

Of course, I've got a Spyker (C96GP)!

A Franken Spyderco/Kershaw mishmash that only a Spyderco & Kershaw collector (and Ken Onion fan) would even consider buying.

LOL!

PS: I've also got a Steven Segal Kershaw (1680ST)

 

[LimpCroissant]

Of course, I've got a Spyker (C96GP)!

A Franken Spyderco/Kershaw mishmash that only a Spyderco & Kershaw collector (and Ken Onion fan) would even consider buying.

LOL!

PS: I've also got a Steven Segal Kershaw (1680ST)

Haha yup, nice! Spykers are pretty dang rare now days. And oh yeah, I remember the Steven Segal! That ray skin inlay they have is sweet.

 

[19-3ben]

Nice Kershaws! Those are the classics I was talking about…. Over the years they have offered several versions of the Link. HOB had blue and red versions (of the Dividend also) in S35VN, USA made blade did some blue M390 Knockouts and there’s been more Blurs/Leeks than I can count lol the latest I think was the blue factory special M4 Blur.

It's interesting that this thread has come up.

Just a few weeks ago, I was thinking it was about time to replace my blue handled Link. It was a great knife. When I looked, I was shocked to see it no longer in production, so I went for the straight Al handle like MolokaiRider just showed above... also a no-go. I figured I should see if there was the same issue with the Dividends and sure enough, yup. Same problem.

They still have the OD green scaled versions in higher end steel, but killed the aluminum handled versions in 420HC. The point of the Link name, as far as I recall, was that it was supposed to be the link between American made quality and value. But then they kill the "value" models. WTF? I had been really excited when they released the Link, then Dividend, and Bareknuckle a few years back. It was like Kershaw came roaring back to prominence with USA made value knives that were actually very well made. To see them give up on that ethos is sad. I love my Dividend Composite and was carrying it just yesterday. I'll have to jump on a Link in 20cv before the kill those too.

 

[dirc]

I still edc my kershaw leek, with 14c28n, all around excellent and made locally
only problem is they were under $50 pre-covid, now the kc sale price is $68 with regular/msrp pricing of $105

 

[Sibyrnes]

I still edc my kershaw leek, with 14c28n, all around excellent and made locally
only problem is they were under $50 pre-covid, now the kc sale price is $68 with regular/msrp pricing of $105

They are on Amazon now for less than $60.00.

 

[dirc]

I never buy knives from amazon...
bf friends don't let bf friends buy knives from amazon

many threads here talk about how it's a clearing house for counterfeits ... its even been proven that 'sold & shipped by amazon' could result in this due to how horrible their back end inventory mixing is

 

[Sibyrnes]

I never buy knives from amazon...
bf friends don't let bf friends buy knives from amazon

many threads here talk about how it's a clearing house for counterfeits ... its even been proven that 'sold & shipped by amazon' could result in this due to how horrible their back end inventory mixing is

Are there counterfeit Leeks? Any examples?

 

[dirc]

when you understand how their back end inventory system & returns work, you'll understand that everything and anything could be subject to this
there are a thousand examples well documented if you care to google "counterfeit amazon"

 

[Sibyrnes]

when you understand how their back end inventory system & returns work, you'll understand that everything and anything could be subject to this
there are a thousand examples well documented if you care to google "counterfeit amazon"

I get it. I’m asking about Leeks. It seems unlikely any one is going to produce a very good counterfeit of a $50.00 knife but I could be wrong. That’s why I asked for an example. Not everything sold on Amazon is fake.

I ordered one - I’ll let you know. It was only $55.00, if it’s fake I’ll send it back.

 

[brancron]

Kershaw has been dead to me for a long time. I really have no interest in any of their knives made in the last 30 years. You have to go back prior to that to find good stuff (see below). I blame it (partially) on Thomas Welk, KAI's director of sales and marketing, who, besides coming across as a total a-hole, seems to think of knives as just another product, like toilet paper or corrugated cardboard. In short, he doesn't give a damn about quality, because to him, if something sells in large quantities it is ipso facto good. Here's just one post out of hundreds by him that reveal his stunted worldview:

To end this comment on a less depressing note, here are some cool old Kershaws of mine. The Macho, Honcho, Little Stud and Rotary Lock.





And here's the cover of a 1979 Kershaw catalog featuring these four knives (with different scale materials):

 

[Alone]

You guys carry-on. I think y'all have 'bout got me talked-into a Launch 1 or OD Link. (*or maybe both)

 

[Sibyrnes]

Bought one of these a while ago.



I had a hard time getting a good edge on it. Sent it back to Kershaw recently and they fixed me up! It's a hell of a chopper!

 

[Danny Linguini]

Kershaw has been dead to me for a long time. I really have no interest in any of their knives made in the last 30 years. You have to go back prior to that to find good stuff (see below). I blame it (partially) on Thomas Welk, KAI's director of sales and marketing, who, besides coming across as a total a-hole, seems to think of knives as just another product, like toilet paper or corrugated cardboard. In short, he doesn't give a damn about quality, because to him, if something sells in large quantities it is ipso facto good. Here's just one post out of hundreds by him that reveal his stunted worldview:

To end this comment on a less depressing note, here are some cool old Kershaws of mine. The Macho, Honcho, Little Stud and Rotary Lock.

View attachment 1901691View attachment 1901693View attachment 1901692

View attachment 1901694

And here's the cover of a 1979 Kershaw catalog featuring these four knives (with didn't scale materials):

View attachment 1901695

So what this tells me is, they’ve made the conscious decision to follow the market rather than lead it. It’s a less risky way of doing business, which isn’t such a bad thing with the state of the world such as it is right now. So they’ll never be market leaders, which means they don’t push the envelope, which means we don’t get cool and revolutionary new stuff, which I think speaks to the point of this thread. Otherwise they are not harming anyone, just approaching business the best way they think will keep them afloat. Meanwhile, you either like what they’re selling enough to buy it, or you don’t. They’ve picked the corner of the market they’re happy to live in, at least for now. I’ve bought five Kershaw knives over the past three months, and I don’t regret any of them, so they’re doing enough to get a few of my $$$. I’m pretty sure I’m not their only customer.

 

[sabre cat]

Pulled out a US made Zing earlier this AM and considered it for today’s carry. What a great folder.
Unfortunately Kershaw shifted to overseas production and ruined the knife.

Oh, the Zing lost out to a Spyderco D’Allara 3.

 

[Hackenslash]

I just checked my knife inventory spreadsheet and found out I have 94 Kershaws! I would have thought around 50.

I guess I better find 6 more that I like to make it an even 100 knives.

 

[Charlie Fox]

Kershaw ahs been pretty good at reading what the market wants while at the same time doing what they want. Thsi can really be frustrating as some of my favorite designs are discontinued within a year of introduction. I own many Kershaw's and ZT's but nothing in their current catalog screams "I WANT THAT". Sad.

 

[jbmonkey]

yes.

 

[sgt1372]

I just checked my knife inventory spreadsheet and found out I have 94 Kershaws! I would have thought around 50.

I guess I better find 6 more that I like to make it an even 100 knives.

Got me beat. I've got 61 of which I classify 51 as "vintage" (made between the late 70's to early 2000's).

This doesn't count the 40 or so cheap, late model Kershaws that I sold off over a year ago.

 

[stevejams]

To reiterate most, I miss kershaw’s “good ol days” and I haven’t even been collecting knives for that long. I purchased a few kershaws from places like Dicks sporting goods and Walmart long before I even knew what “real” (non-gas station) knives were, or even what kershaw was really about. That was about 10 years ago. At that time I remember the link, leek, and blur being on the shelf, and maybe a couple of other Chinese made kershaws. Now, you’re lucky if you find 1 American made kershaw, let alone knife, in the display case at said Walmart or Dick’s. I guess it is what it is, but I try to only buy American made kershaws from now on, which isn’t hard considering almost everything they’re making nowadays isn’t from the states and looks goofy as heck.

Though I have to admit I did pick up a strata xl because I couldn’t resist