Kershaw " blem"

R

rmeron

Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
399
I've seen some Kershaw xxxx blems online at great prices. What would the problem be in the knife to make it a blem.
 
They're usually just cosmetic issues. A scratch or small chip in the handle for instance. A lot of times you can barely tell that it's a blem at all. There's no impact on the functionality of the knife. You don't receive a box or warranty with the knife, though.
 
After purchasing a few blems I will say I can't find anything wrong with either of them. The Kershaw logo is faded a little on one of them....but I can live with it :)
 
The one blem I've bought had the biggest flaw in it that ive seen or heard of; the copper welding holding the CPM-D2 to the 13c26n on my JYD II had some porosity (small pin holes) near the tip. However I haven't seen any problems arise from this and its been modified to make a whole different beast but is easily one of .my absolute favorite knives.
 
I've bought several "blems" from Kershaw/ZT. The first couple I couldn't even find the blem. I actually had to contact the distributor to find out exactly what the blem was. The last blem I bought was a Bradley Kimura 6. The only thing I could find was a very tiny spot on the handles, barely even noticable. I will vouch and say that blems are a very good deal. If you're going to use your knife, why not save the 25-50%? I'm going to suggest you be careful with who you buy your blems from. I imagine there are companies out there that will really rip you off. If you're looking for anything Kershaw, contact KershawGuy. He has a webiste and he's a great guy to deal with. If you can't find what you want on his site, shoot him an email/PM because I know he has items that aren't listed on his site aswell.
 
I did buy a used Volt 1 blem that had something wrong with the blade tang. I sent it to Steve Rice and he said it couldn't be fixed, as the machine that cut the blade had made a double cut, allowing the lock bar to slip out of lock up. Bottom line was it needed a new blade. Couldn't see anything else wrong with the knife.
 
my orange blem skyline has a black dot on the orange handle that cant be flicked away.

oh..and it has those annyoying XXX marks on the blade.
 
often the blem is a uneven grind...for people who really are buying to use, it makes no difference...i LOVE blems...

but if you're buying for show or if you're anal-retentive, don't even consider buying blems...you'll really hate the "XXXX" LOLOLOLOLOLOL
 
jill jackson said:
I did buy a used Volt 1 blem that had something wrong with the blade tang. I sent it to Steve Rice and he said it couldn't be fixed, as the machine that cut the blade had made a double cut, allowing the lock bar to slip out of lock up. Bottom line was it needed a new blade. Couldn't see anything else wrong with the knife.
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Did you contact kershaw about this? It is my understanding that a blem/second whatever the defect should be functional and safe to use.
 
rycen said:
Did you contact kershaw about this? It is my understanding that a blem/second whatever the defect should be functional and safe to use.
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It didn't give entirely, just the blade would move if stressed by hand. I bought the knife used and there was no mention of the defect. I didn't even notice it for awhile and wound up trading it off, with the poor lock-up noted and ironically enough got another Kershaw (used) that while having no blade tang cut wrong issues, exhibited the almost same sort of slipping lock-up. (and it was represented to have dead tight lock-up and a centered blade, which it did have a centered blade, as long as the pivot was loose, enough for side to side play!) So, I just cut my losses and kept that one and figured the heck with it!
 
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I've seen "XXXX" Leeks with burnt tips, stripped screws, or sticky spring assists.
 
I don't mind cosmetic blemishes.How would I find out if the knife is strong and functional because I just sent a scallion back for repair that had a sticky assist spring .I wouldn't want that with a knife that has no warranty.
 
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I got a kershaw leek blem and the only problem was that there was a scratch on the clip. No biggie.
 
I really recommend that you dont buy a kershaw blem if it's a model with speed safe (assisted opening). kershaw makes great knives but the speed safe system breaks eventually on all the knives i've had (especially if you're like me and sit there and open it over and over and over again). i had a leek that lasted about a year? (pretty impressive considering i opened 1000's of times) but on one of my cheaper kershaws the assisted opening only lasted a couple weeks. I don't know about you but i would have been really pissed if i didn't have kershaws excellent warranty covering my knives when they broke.
 
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