Kershaw binge.. OD's, Shallot, Skyline, Chill, Zing reviewed

[vic2367]

those sklines are are great bargain ,,great blade

 

[the kid]

I own a Shallot and I have to disagree with some of your statements.
I don't think the fit and finish is awesome. It is good. And adequate considering the price of the knife.

I like affordable knives (Trance, Drifter, Xikar Explorer, Victorinox) and the Shallot is my most expensive knife. But the fit and finish is not as good as my other (much) cheaper knives, with the exception of the Buck Colleague.

Also in my opinion the handle is to slippery for an automatic knife which opens with such force, which you did mention.

The knife is indeed larger then you would expect and you didn't mention the very high riding clip. If I wear it a big chunk of steel is visible to everyone. Not suitable for an urban office environment, at least not where I live!

But I guess people can see that from the excellent pictures you took.

 

[Dorito Monk]

My shallot just arrived - man, your review was spot on!

The lockup on this thing is really tight - I usually end up having to tighten pivot screws a couple of degrees out of the box on assisted knives to get them to where I like them, but this one is perfect.

Blade centered, grinds are immaculate, and it's much more comfortable in the hand than I imagined for such a funky looking design.

Anyway, thanks again for the review, I think I'm really going to enjoy this blade.

 

[hawaiianhawk]

love that skyline, but yeah, that pocket clip is pretty tight. takes a bit to get used to.

 

[jthomas]

I own a Shallot and I have to disagree with some of your statements.
I don't think the fit and finish is awesome. It is good. And adequate considering the price of the knife.

I like affordable knives (Trance, Drifter, Xikar Explorer, Victorinox) and the Shallot is my most expensive knife. But the fit and finish is not as good as my other (much) cheaper knives, with the exception of the Buck Colleague.

Also in my opinion the handle is to slippery for an automatic knife which opens with such force, which you did mention.

Maybe I should have put in the original review what 'fit and finish' means to me... On my knife, all of the edges were nicely rounded and contoured. The screws were all seated correctly (none were proud) and none of them were stripped. There were no spaces between the backspacer and the handles, and the finish over the entire knife was consistent. The blade grind was perfect with the edge bevel being consistent side to side and along it's length. There were no tooling marks or manufacturing relics anywhere on the knife.
I'm glad you responded and made me realize that I should have probably defined my terms. I'm curious if your Shallot and mine differ, or if it is our preferences... either way, thanks for taking the time to reply!

 

[Dorito Monk]

Oh, nutbutter. :foot: Gotta correct my earlier statement: after a bunch more searching I've found that the grinds on my Shallot aren't exactly even. The grinds that form the 'swedge' on the spine of the blade, to be exact. It took me a while to find it, but it's definitely there...

 

[the kid]

Maybe I should have put in the original review what 'fit and finish' means to me... On my knife, all of the edges were nicely rounded and contoured. The screws were all seated correctly (none were proud) and none of them were stripped. There were no spaces between the backspacer and the handles, and the finish over the entire knife was consistent. The blade grind was perfect with the edge bevel being consistent side to side and along it's length. There were no tooling marks or manufacturing relics anywhere on the knife.
I'm glad you responded and made me realize that I should have probably defined my terms. I'm curious if your Shallot and mine differ, or if it is our preferences... either way, thanks for taking the time to reply!

All those things were true on my knife as well.
The handles on mine were not 100% the same length and rounded in the same manner. There was some other stuff I forgot but can't check since I have disassembled my knife
(I send it to Kershaw because the blade was off centre and they loctited my clip screws and can't get them loose.)

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Big +1 on your comments on the OD-1. I love it and it is a true every day carry for me. Everyone I have shown it to is very impressed with how quick it opens. The other comment I have gotten a few times is that it looks like it is missing one of the scales, but that doesn't bother me. I just tell them it makes the knife thinner (which is a good thing). I actually like the fact that it's not an assisted opener, because I can easily open it two handed, so as not to scare the sheeple.

I think the only real criticism I have for the knife is that I found it to be unsafe to carry tip-up, as I cut myself on it 2 or 3 times when putting it in my pocket before I got it switched over. I like it better that way, anyway, because it makes it handle exactly like the M-16 I used to carry all the time. I used to think my CRKT M-16 was great, but the version I have was larger and thicker and obstructed the opening of my dress pant pockets too much. The other big difference is that my M-16 is a combo blade, and I much prefer the plain edge. The OD-1 improves on the M-16 in pretty much every area IMHO.

OD -1 and OD – 2
I Love these knives. LOVE THEM. The OD-1 is a frame lock knife with one G10 scale. It opens via a ‘flipper’ that is mechanical, rather than being part of the blade. It is hard to explain, but in practice it opens quicker than my Kershaw AO knives. Once open, the little flipper ends up in a recess in the spine of the knife, out of contact with your hand. The knife is drilled for tip up or down, right handed only carry. The 14C28 blade was shaving sharp out of the box (that is the case for all of these knives) and was perfectly centered when closed. Closer look under the clip revealed a frame-lock stabilizer, which is a nice touch. My only concern with these knives is that there is no extended tang, flipper, or choil to keep your hand from sliding up onto the blade if you were using this knife in some extreme manner. It won’t be an issue for me as I don’t routinely stab things, but I did notice it. Also, in the frame cut between the lock and pivot, there seems to be precious little metal... I wonder about strength at this point, but we'll see. Not a deal breaker for me.

The OD-2 is the little brother… it is a liner lock with two G-10 scales. Same opening mechanism, drilled for tip up right or left hand carry. It is made in China, and the blade is 8cr13moV, but the knife is put together very well, the liner lock seems good, there is zero bladeplay. I have no issues with it. It is what I would consider a ‘pretty small knife’.

OD-1

 

[JustSomeGuy]

BTW, can you post a pic of the OD-1 and the OD-2 open next to each other so we can get an idea of the size difference?

 

[jthomas]

BTW, can you post a pic of the OD-1 and the OD-2 open next to each other so we can get an idea of the size difference?

I can indeed... I'll put some up tonight when I get home. I agree with you that the OD1 is an improvement over the M16. I've had a few M16's in my day, and the Kershaw offerings are higher quality all the way around, IMHO. I've never had a problem with tip up carry, but if I ever do I'll probably change them all back to TD. Once bitten and all that.

 

[Dusty One]

Thanks for the reviews... Have had a Leek in my pocket for years. Really like the looks of the Shallot may have to get one.

 

[jthomas]

BTW, can you post a pic of the OD-1 and the OD-2 open next to each other so we can get an idea of the size difference?

 

[mjhMN]

Recieved a Shallot in trade. I have been pleasanlty pleased. Has become my EDC. Was able to put a more expensive Benchmade in the drawer to used for more special occasions. My first Kershaw, I'll keep them in mind for quality and price.

 

[mqqn]

Hi jthomas -

Thank you for the well thought out and nicely illustrated reviews.

I have a zing, and one of my friends recently bought a shallot (he wanted a larger leek, just as you stated).

I really like Kershaw knives - they just seem to have a high level of quality.

I have not been able to get my zing as sharp as I would like, I am not sure if it is just me or if it is the striations on the blade, but whatever the issue, I surely cannot get that blade nearly as sharp as my leek.

Thanks again for the very nice reviews.

best regards -

mqqn

 

[jthomas]

Hi jthomas -

Thank you for the well thought out and nicely illustrated reviews.

I have a zing, and one of my friends recently bought a shallot (he wanted a larger leek, just as you stated).

I really like Kershaw knives - they just seem to have a high level of quality.

I have not been able to get my zing as sharp as I would like, I am not sure if it is just me or if it is the striations on the blade, but whatever the issue, I surely cannot get that blade nearly as sharp as my leek.

Thanks again for the very nice reviews.

best regards -

mqqn

I haven't had to sharpen mine yet... it's probably close to time. I generally use a Lansky, we'll see how it does. I did slice myself pretty good with it today, couldn't feel the striations at all