Kershae Avalanche :-(((

[David1967]

After having very good experience with my Kershaw Starky Ridge and Whirlwind I decided to get the new Avalanche.

The knife finally arrived and I was very excited about it. But my excitement lasted for only a few minutes.

IMO the knife should have never left the factory (or maybe only with significant discount). I can compare it side by side with my Whilwind and the quality of the work is much lower (I am not talking about materials). So what is wrong??

It is difficult to open the knife. Not only the thumb stud is small and with sharp edges (the one on Whirlwind is much better)also the blade touches the liner. Even with very hard push the blade fully opens and locks only in about 50% of the attempts. When closing the knife I can hear the liner rubbing against the blade. It is the liner lock. It looks like it is bent a little or the ball is not big enough. If I open the blade to about 45° I can see the ball (ceramic??) touching the blade and creating a little gap between the blade and the liner. But on the other side of the liner (where the little nicks are) the liner touches the blade.

This picture shows the lock touching the blade even though it should not. The blade is not closed.

But there is even bigger problem. The grind is very bad. It is almost impossible to see it on the picture but is clearly visible. If I run the blade between my thumb and forefinger I can feel it. It is a little "bump" about one inch from the tip of the blade perpendicular to the blade edge. At one point the blade is a little thicker. I tried to do some scans but it is not possible to see it.

Now what shall I do... The knife crossed the ocean 3 times already (due to our stupid customs) and now it will be for the 4th time. I have heard stories about Quality Control problems at Kershaw (especially with their more expensive knives) and now I have one example right here.

I am very sad to report that those problems still exist.


David

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[This message has been edited by David1967 (edited 07-13-2000).]

 

[Tommi]

Mine is good one. I wish that the G-10 and the thumb stud woudn't be that coarse. This knife doesn't open as easily as My Random and mini Tasks but there is no problems with the opening. Grind lines are not symmetric as in my other kershaws but no big flaws in my blade. Blade doesn't rub liners so your problems should be due to sloppy QC.

I like the knife but deu to that coarse G-10 I can't carry it as it really eats pockets.

[This message has been edited by Tommi (edited 07-13-2000).]

 

[richard rosvall]

David- my only experience is with a Random Task, which is a very good knife. I've seen postings about Kershaw's customer service that were very favorable. Too bad about more trips across the ocean, but I'd bet this will be solved to your satisfaction.

 

[Burke]

Tommi, take a sharpening stone and gently rub the top of the thumb-stud with it until you've slightly rounded the edges. I've done this to smooth out thumb-studs and the grippy ridges (don't know what they're called) on the thumb-rest of several blades, and it's worked well.

 

[David1967]

Well, I got second Avalanche today. It is for my friend who saw my Whirlwind and got really excited about it.

This knife is much better than the first one. The grinds are even without any imperfections. There is also no rubbing. But the knife is not "perfect". The ball does not fit into the ball detent when the blade is closed. And since the liner would not recess (I hope that is the correct word) it pushes the blade to the other side. The blade does not touch the other liner but is very close.

So if you intend to buy the new Avalanche, inspect it thoroughly before you do. And if you are going to buy it over the Internet, use only reliable dealer who will do it for you.

David

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[murf]

I purchased an Avalanche in May of this year and the speed safe spring didn't last two months. I bought it from Knife Works which is
an excellent online dealer. I think the problem lies with Kershaw. I heard the spring
"go" today. Now, it's become a manual liner lock knife just like any other. Very disappointing. I own the Blackout which I also purchased from Knife Works and that is okay. So far, anyway. The Avalanche is in excellent condition otherwise; I've not abused it at all. On the contrary, I've babied it. And it still conked out. Anyone have a similar experience with the Speed Safe
mechanism failing on the Avalanche? If so, what was your experience dealing with Kershaw? Thanks.

 

[David1967]

I took my Avalanches apart today to see what is wrong with them. I bent the liner on the first one so now it is not touching the blade. I noticed also that there is no ball detent in the blade. Strange.

Also there is a little hole in the blade holding one end of the the torsion bar (or the spring). On one of the knives the hole goes through the blade, on the other one it does not. I also discovered what made that strange sound.... First I thought it was the blade rubbing the liner but it was the spring rubbing the scale.

I fixed some problems with both knives, I coud not fix the bad grind on the first one. And the absence of the ball detent on both knives is a real mystery for me...

David

PS: Murf, it is really easy to replace the spring in the Avalanche. I am sure Kershaw will send you one if you call them.

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[Gary W. Graley]

David, I believe that since it is a torsion assisted opening type knife the torsion mechanism is what retains the knife in the handle and doesn't rely on a ball bearing detent...pretty sure anyway. Sorry to hear all the trouble you are having.

G2

 

[KenOnion]

David ,
Sorry to hear of your troubles. If I can help out in any way let me know . My suggestion is to E-mail or call Doug Flagg at Kershaw and tell him I sent you explain your dissatisfaction and he will take care of you. 1(800)325-2891
I use an Avilanche and like it real well It is just a no frills every day knife made with great materials and affordable

 

[David1967]

After playing with the two knives the whole afternoon I was able to fix almost all problems. Only one (the bad blade grind) remains.

Anyway I have a few suggestions for improvements. Yes, Gary is right about the torsion bar keeping the blade in closed position. But the liner is pushing the blade to the other side. If there was the ball detent, the liner would not be pushing the blade that much. If I want to keep the blade staight I need to tighten the pivot pin and then it is difficult to open the knife. It took me some time to find the point where the blade opens quite easily and stays straight when closed.

I also think that the distance between the blade (when closed) and liners could be a little bigger. That way the blade would not touch the liner at all.

And something should be done about the thumb stud. It is too small with sharp edges. The one on my Starky Ridge is much better.

I want to say that now things look much better than yesterday. I learned how the torsion assisted opening works, fixed the problems and I am ready to use the knife. The better one will go to my friend for his birthday, the other one will stay with me. It might become even my favourite one

.

David

 

[David1967]

I just wanted to say that I was contacted by Jeff Goddard - the Sales Manager at Kershaw.

He read my comments here and in his e-mail addressed all questions I had and also told me about improvements they are making. He told me to send the knife back if it was really that bad. Well I am keeping the knife since I was able to fix the problems and I would like to thank him (and Kershaw) for his commitment to keep every customer happy.


David

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[kevtan]

After good service from Kershaw I now own four of their knives. A Minitask, Random Task, Avalanche, and Black Colt. I must say that the Ava and Tandom are good value for the money with the 440V and G10 scales. The Ava came with the pivot overtighten and the blade cannot lock unless i use the thumbnails to forcefully open the blade. After loosening the pivot screw by about 10 minute on the clockface, the opening became easier.

But I recently dropped the Ava about 3' and dented the point. Used a cera stick to resharpen. Easily done. would have expected the blade to be harder to resharpen because of the 440V.

Also did the spine whack test. Suuprise!! It failed the fisrt time on the phone book. Now there is a bit of wobble on the blade lockup and the liner would not wedge against the blade. Had to force the liner to halfway into the blade lockup area. Will try to open up the knife and bend the liner more for a more secure lockup.

Other than that have been very happy with it.

Regards

Kevin Tan from Malaysia, where the weather is like a washing machine, Wash, rinse, spin, and dry.