donnord
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 405
Kershaw Collateral Review,
New Knife Day, it happens more often than I’d like to admit. On this day it is worth admitting as the knife is a new Kershaw Collateral in D2 steel. I really like this knife, more than I thought I would. What I like most about it is the price, marked down to $29.99 USD.
What do you get for your money? You get a knife with an innovation in the form of a hidden flipper tab, more on that later, you get a knife with a good amount of weight to it 4.3 oz (122 grams), coated stainless handles, D2 steel blade, frame lock, on washers (I think), and it flips well. Size wise, the blade is about ¼” longer than a Manix 2, the handle is about the same length but thinner than the Manix.
This example, which was ordered direct from Kershaw, arrived very sharp, perfectly centered with no blade play. It flipped good right out of the box, but a drop of oil on the washers seemed to help. Speaking of washers, older versions of this knife were riding on bearings, Kershaw noted on their webpage that the new production will have washers. This appears to have washers as I can see the side of the brass washers. I have not disassembled it to check though and have no plans to do so.
Back to that “innovation” the hidden flipper, well sometimes innovation and gimmick can be similar. Personally, I don’t see the hidden flipper as an improvement. I see it as a little bit of a safety concern. On many other flipper type knives the protruding flipper tab can act as a guard to prevent one’s fingers from sliding toward the edge of the blade. Not so with the Collateral, so be careful. Another curiosity is the lanyard bridge, yep, no lanyard hole, more like the span of a bridge, but it does look cool. The top portion of the spine of the blade is thinned and has a different finish, this makes the blade look thinner.
How does it work? I Used it earlier today to score some desert ironwood prior to epoxy and I was surprised by how deep it cut into the ironwood. It opens mail and boxes with little resistance if any. It carries nicely; the clip is better than one on my Launch 20 especially with thicker pockets. This knife will be a regular in my rotation.
In summary for the price of about 30 bucks this is a very good deal in my opinion, the knife feels like a quality item, looks good and is sharp and should stay that way. Kershaw’s QA seemed to be on target with this one as usual. If you need a knife that can work for you and don’t want to pay a lot of money give the collateral a look.
New Knife Day, it happens more often than I’d like to admit. On this day it is worth admitting as the knife is a new Kershaw Collateral in D2 steel. I really like this knife, more than I thought I would. What I like most about it is the price, marked down to $29.99 USD.
What do you get for your money? You get a knife with an innovation in the form of a hidden flipper tab, more on that later, you get a knife with a good amount of weight to it 4.3 oz (122 grams), coated stainless handles, D2 steel blade, frame lock, on washers (I think), and it flips well. Size wise, the blade is about ¼” longer than a Manix 2, the handle is about the same length but thinner than the Manix.
This example, which was ordered direct from Kershaw, arrived very sharp, perfectly centered with no blade play. It flipped good right out of the box, but a drop of oil on the washers seemed to help. Speaking of washers, older versions of this knife were riding on bearings, Kershaw noted on their webpage that the new production will have washers. This appears to have washers as I can see the side of the brass washers. I have not disassembled it to check though and have no plans to do so.
Back to that “innovation” the hidden flipper, well sometimes innovation and gimmick can be similar. Personally, I don’t see the hidden flipper as an improvement. I see it as a little bit of a safety concern. On many other flipper type knives the protruding flipper tab can act as a guard to prevent one’s fingers from sliding toward the edge of the blade. Not so with the Collateral, so be careful. Another curiosity is the lanyard bridge, yep, no lanyard hole, more like the span of a bridge, but it does look cool. The top portion of the spine of the blade is thinned and has a different finish, this makes the blade look thinner.
How does it work? I Used it earlier today to score some desert ironwood prior to epoxy and I was surprised by how deep it cut into the ironwood. It opens mail and boxes with little resistance if any. It carries nicely; the clip is better than one on my Launch 20 especially with thicker pockets. This knife will be a regular in my rotation.
In summary for the price of about 30 bucks this is a very good deal in my opinion, the knife feels like a quality item, looks good and is sharp and should stay that way. Kershaw’s QA seemed to be on target with this one as usual. If you need a knife that can work for you and don’t want to pay a lot of money give the collateral a look.
