Kershaw Blur Review

lava_lamp

lava_lamp

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Kershaw Blur Review - Part One

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Kershaw Blur Shown with Casio Pathfinder Titanium

Introduction

I recently received a Kershaw Blur as part of a pass around here. Three cheers for BladeForums member Adlerburg, who was generous enough to loan us his own limited edition Blur and organize the pass around himself. Adlerburg also provided a nice leather belt sheath made by Knives Ship Free. While I have owned a couple of Kershaw Blurs myself, they have long since gone and I was happy for chance to review one.

The Blur (model 1670) is one of Kershaw’s iconic knives. Over the years since its inception, it has been offered in a wide variety of steels, colors, and limited editions. All of the models, however, share the same Ken Onion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Onion) design with a wide recurved blade, anodized aluminum handle, and SpeedSafe opening system.

The pass around Blur is part of an 800 piece limited edition produced for the 2012 Blade Show with premium CPM154 steel and carbon fiber handle inserts. The standard model starts at an MSRP of $109.95 and an online retail price of $60 with Sandvik 14C28N steel and rubbery “Trac-Tec” handle inserts. Kershaw Blurs are a touch big for everyday carry at 7 7/8” long overall with a 3 3/8” blade. They weigh 4.2 oz. and are made in the USA.

KAI USA, LTD.

KAI Group is a Japanese company. KAI USA, Ltd. markets Shun Cutlery, Zero Tolerance Knives, and Kershaw Knives. Shun makes kitchen knives primarily made in Japan. Zero Tolerance makes heavy-duty knives marketed for military and police use. Kershaw offers a wide variety of fixed and folding knives, many of which are made in the USA.

Blade

The pass around Blur has a plain edge, mildly recurved, hollow ground blade with a false edge on top. It is milled from Crucible CPM154 steel. I don’t have much long term experience with CPM154 but it is popular with custom knife makers and highly regarded by many BladeForums members -- many of whom proclaim it to be as tough and corrosion resistant as S30V, but easier to sharpen.

The pass around Blur has a stonewashed finish. I’m not going to have the loaner knife long enough to really test how well it holds up to moisture, but I think this could be a big improvement over the bead blasted finish on many Kershaw knives. I have had several Kershaw knives in bead blasted Sandvik 13C26 steel develop rust spots.

Other Kershaw Blurs have your choice of these blades:

  • Standard Spear Point, Tanto Point, or Rescue Point (blunted)
  • Plain-Edged or Partially Serrated
  • Stonewashed, Bead Blasted, or DLC Coated (black Diamond-Like-Coating)
  • Flat Ground or Hollow Ground
  • Sandvik 13C26, Sandvik 14C28N, 420HC, 440A, CPM154, S30V, S60V, SG2, and composite ZDP-189/14C28N steel


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Continued in Part Two...
 
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Kershaw Blur Review - Part Two

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Kershaw Bump Titanium & Kershaw Blur

Handle

The Kershaw Blur has flat, slightly curved handles. The open back design is great for cleaning access but tends to pick up pocket lint. Two 6061-T6 aircraft grade aluminum scales are assembled with three standoffs, three Torx screws, and an oversized Torx pivot screw. Scale colors offered include:

  • Black
  • Blue
  • Brown
  • Gray
  • Green
  • Olive Drab
  • Orange
  • Purple
  • Red
  • Tan

With all the blade and color combinations, it is not uncommon for someone to combine the parts from one or more of the models to make a “Franken-Blur” to suit their individual tastes. The anodized aluminum looks great when new, but my experience is that it can wear off over time, depending on what else you carry in your pockets. After a while your colored finish may have raw silver aluminum peeking through at the edges.

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Desert Sand Blur (Photo from Kershaw: http://kershaw.kaiusaltd.com)

While the handle is just about the perfect size for my large hands, the painted aluminum can be slippery. Standard Kershaw Blurs combat this problem with “Trac-Tec” handle inserts. Up until 2008, the inserts were a sandpapery skateboard grip tape. It was quite grippy, but tended to abrade pants pockets. The modern versions use pebbly rubber, which is a little less grippy, but much kinder to pockets. The pass around version has beautifully finished carbon fiber inserts, rather than Trac-Tec. They look nice, but are just as slick as the aluminum. Other upscale Blurs versions have silver twill inserts. The Orange County Chopper models have an embossed spiderweb pattern CNC machined into the aluminum.

The Kershaw Blur has a lanyard hole at the butt end (the leather lanyard you see in the photos is aftermarket.) One model has a carbide glass breaker on the pommel. All Blurs have a black painted steel removable pocket clip. It is configured for tip-up or tip-down, right-side carry only. A common complaint about the Blur is that it rides a little high in the pocket. BladeForums member STR, however, has designed a "low-rider" clip to address this issue.

SpeedSafe

Ken Onion’s patented SpeedSafe assisted opening system put Kershaw Knives on the map. While Kershaw has turned to flipper mechanisms for most new designs, SpeedSafe has long been a favorite in popular models like the Leek and Blur. Here is how Kershaw describes it:

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Among knife enthusiasts, SpeedSafe is a love it or hate it sort of thing. It’s convenient and fun, but the fun can get old after a while and you don’t always want to flip your knife open amongst people who might be scared by your perceived “switchblade.”

I’ve also had a SpeedSafe equipped Leek and a Scallion open in my pocket. Both of them have safety locks I failed to engage, though, so it’s really my fault. Unwanted opening is less likely with the Blur, however, because it only opens via two angled thumb studs. (The Leek and Scallion have a flipper, as well.) There is no safety slider on the Blur.

Some folks worry about the system’s reliability, but I’ve never broken a torsion bar and have confidence that Kershaw’s customer service will take care of me if I do. Adlerburg, the owner of the pass around knife, decide to remove the torsion bar on his Blur. I thought this would be a bigger deal than it is. It has enough detent to stay closed and the “Adlerburg” version is just a very easy to open folder. I can flick it open with wrist action. No thumb studs are required.

All Blurs have a liner lock. Lock up is secure with no up/down blade play, but the 1 mm liner is a little too thin to inspire the confidence of a frame lock. The pass around Blur has very slight side-to-side blade play, but this could be corrected with a slight turn of the pivot screw.

In Use

Unlike some other Ken Onion designs, the Blue seems built with utility in mind. The blade is pointy, but wide enough to handle light prying (unlike the Leek.) The slight recurve provides a good amount of cutting edge and belly, and the sturdy handle seems designed for work. The only thing that keeps me from labeling it "heavy duty" is the relatively thin liner lock.

I’m not sure if the pass around Blur was used very heavily before it got to me, but it arrived shaving sharp. I cut up some chicken for dinner and it worked almost as well as my Shun kitchen knives. I carried it over the weekend and found it pretty pocket friendly. The flat profile makes one forget it is there.

Who is This Knife for?

The Kershaw Blur is a solid working knife along the lines of a Benchmade Griptillian or Spyderco Endura, but both of those have FRN handles while the Blur has aluminum for about the same price. Plus, you get a unique opening system with the Blur. You could arguably call the Blur the modern evolution of the Buck 110 -- a great tool at a great value. The quality is about what I have come to expect from Kershaw -- well made with top-notch fit and finish, backed by the best warranty in the industry. It is a good choice for anyone, but with its relatively large size and SpeedSafe opener, it may not be the best choice for office carry.

A Note on the Sheath

The Kershaw Blur doesn’t come with a sheath, but Adlerburg provided a leather Knives Ship Free "Modern Classic" belt sheath with the pass around. It was crafted by Sharpshooter Sheath Systems and for $29.95, it is very well made with nice leather, quality finishing. It isn’t an exact fit for the Blur but its would complement many fine knives.

Thanks

My thanks again to Adlerburg and BladeForums for making the pass-around happen.

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Knives Ship Free Sheath
 
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Nice review, this is really a great knife, specially with the cf. I thought this model was flat ground? And sandvik was hollow?
 
Thanks, Lava, for another good read. I appreciate your comparison with the popular Buck 110 series.

I have mixed feelings about my Blurs (S30vs). The best features are the blades, the open-pillar construction, and the nicely-angled thumb studs.

The handles always struck me as somewhat cheap looking and the small amount of jimping is pretty useless. Both of my clips are overly-tight, even after adjusting.

As for the A/O feature, count me among the non-fans. I removed the torsion bars.
But that made the blade easy to fall open. I had to tighten the pivot too much to feel safe again.

I agree that the Blur is just a bit large to EDC. But I also feel that way about my Para 2s, which many happily EDC. So YMMV.

All that said, I'm a fan of CPM 154 and half-wish I had purchased one of these while they were still plentiful. As I said, mixed feelings.

Thanks again for your many fine reports.
 
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