- Joined
- Jun 22, 2003
- Messages
- 3,049
got this for 25$ with 3$ shipping. the kershaw bear 2 is aus8a, made in china, drop point blade with a rubber handle.
http://www.knifeoutlet.com/shop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=KER1029
the goods - awsome blade profile for this cheap of a knife. full flat ground drop point that has a really wide blade gives you the feeling of strength and quality. while technically for a slicer designated knife, the edge profile could be a little thinner - where its at is excellent for edc uses as well as slicing.
the handle is almost always warm to the touch even when its very cold outside. it says co-polymer as its material, but i dont know what exactly that is. it doesnt appear to be kraton, as it seems to be generally stronger and less sticky then kraton. you can still carve on it with your fingernails, but it doesnt come away in chunks like ontarios spec plus lines handles do.
the sheath is made of 2 ply leather and is overal very nice.
the bads -
leather sheath. no offence to the leather sheath makers here, or to the people who like this style of sheath, but for me its simply dangerous. i have to be very careful when i put it in to make sure i dont stab through the sides of the sheath, wich is simply unacceptable to me. this style, wich fully encompasses the entire knife and handle with leather (see the link above to see the original sheath) makes it so that 2 things happen wich are crappy -
- you have to pull the knife out by pinchin it, because you cant easily wrap your thumb around the spine to pull it out in the cutting position.
- when you are resheathing it you have to make sure to pull the flabs back completely because if you dont, you'll run the edge along the back of the snap rolling the edge down its entire length.
the handle grooves are the "make it big for the generic american male hands" - wich is fine, but the grooves are quite large. in a relaxed grip, its comfortable, but when clenching my hands tightly my index finger and pinky finger want to rest on the top of the grooves. if you are choked back so that your pinky and ringer finger are on the very last groove, its comfortable. but not in a normal grip.
the serrations in the handle flats are good - but along the spine of the handle, the edge of the back and the flats is rather sharp, and noticable if your gripping the knife hard.
the pics -
i immediately modified the sheath when i received it. the design was just so dangerous and difficult to use that it was unaceptable, even just to mess around with it at my desk, let alone actually on my belt while walking around. i cut it so that it was more of a "straps holding the handle" instead of "flaps completely encompassing the handle" set up.
i then cut down the last groove in the handle to be flat, and shaved off the ridge on the spine.
its not much more comfortable. if you intend on doing the same to the leather - its a good idea to use a leather glue or to burnish the edges of your cut, as it is 2 ply leather and would fray apart unevenly if you used it a lot like this.
for anyone looking for a beater knife for under 35$ - i will be recomending this as my first choice from now on. awesome knife for the money.
http://www.knifeoutlet.com/shop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=KER1029
the goods - awsome blade profile for this cheap of a knife. full flat ground drop point that has a really wide blade gives you the feeling of strength and quality. while technically for a slicer designated knife, the edge profile could be a little thinner - where its at is excellent for edc uses as well as slicing.
the handle is almost always warm to the touch even when its very cold outside. it says co-polymer as its material, but i dont know what exactly that is. it doesnt appear to be kraton, as it seems to be generally stronger and less sticky then kraton. you can still carve on it with your fingernails, but it doesnt come away in chunks like ontarios spec plus lines handles do.
the sheath is made of 2 ply leather and is overal very nice.
the bads -
leather sheath. no offence to the leather sheath makers here, or to the people who like this style of sheath, but for me its simply dangerous. i have to be very careful when i put it in to make sure i dont stab through the sides of the sheath, wich is simply unacceptable to me. this style, wich fully encompasses the entire knife and handle with leather (see the link above to see the original sheath) makes it so that 2 things happen wich are crappy -
- you have to pull the knife out by pinchin it, because you cant easily wrap your thumb around the spine to pull it out in the cutting position.
- when you are resheathing it you have to make sure to pull the flabs back completely because if you dont, you'll run the edge along the back of the snap rolling the edge down its entire length.
the handle grooves are the "make it big for the generic american male hands" - wich is fine, but the grooves are quite large. in a relaxed grip, its comfortable, but when clenching my hands tightly my index finger and pinky finger want to rest on the top of the grooves. if you are choked back so that your pinky and ringer finger are on the very last groove, its comfortable. but not in a normal grip.
the serrations in the handle flats are good - but along the spine of the handle, the edge of the back and the flats is rather sharp, and noticable if your gripping the knife hard.
the pics -
i immediately modified the sheath when i received it. the design was just so dangerous and difficult to use that it was unaceptable, even just to mess around with it at my desk, let alone actually on my belt while walking around. i cut it so that it was more of a "straps holding the handle" instead of "flaps completely encompassing the handle" set up.
i then cut down the last groove in the handle to be flat, and shaved off the ridge on the spine.
its not much more comfortable. if you intend on doing the same to the leather - its a good idea to use a leather glue or to burnish the edges of your cut, as it is 2 ply leather and would fray apart unevenly if you used it a lot like this.
for anyone looking for a beater knife for under 35$ - i will be recomending this as my first choice from now on. awesome knife for the money.