Kershaw Ener-G2 (vs. OD-1 Orange vs. Native III )

thejamppa

thejamppa

Joined
Aug 20, 2009
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Hi all!

I am bit puzzled of Kershaw Ener-G knives. Are they Assist Open knives or not? Currently those knives are well priced under $30 so they could make good addition to my collection. But A/O is big turn off for me.

On the other hand there is Kershaw OD-1 Orange Limited Edition with TiNi coated steel on handle and TiNi blade with Stone washed ( or so they say ) and Spyderco Native VG-10 steel

So I am bit puzzling between:

Kershaw OD-1 limited Orange $48,00
Kershaw Ener-G2 $29,90
Spyderco Native III VG-10 $45,00

Native III would have best steel for blade out of all three. OD-1 would have frame lock and Ener-G2 would be cheap. Its tough choice.

I am looking something relatively small that I could stash into camera bag and take it into woods and would survive up-to medium cutting tasks without problem.
 
Just ordered myself an ener-g2. I think the price dropped because they now come with full G-10 handles and 14C28N steel. Nothing wrong with the old ones IMO and now they are discounted by almost half.

I like the OD-1 too, it would be great for EDC.

Same with the Native, although I have never handled one.
 
The Ener-G II's you see for the under $30 price are the older models. This handle configuration has been discontinued. The newer ones have a textured G-10 scale, instead of the Trac-tek inserts. The blades on both retain the same thin hollow grind, and are great slicers.

The Ener-G is not an assisted open knife in the general terms of spring or torsion bar assist. It uses a design by Lee Williams and incorporates his patented "pseunetic" opening feature. The flipper is not attached to the blade (similar to the OD-1), but will open as fast if not faster than many AO knives.

For under $30, they are a bargain, and make great gifts!

All three you mentioned would serve your purposes as you described them. There are four different blade lengths involved. The Ener-G (not the discounted models) is 2-13/16, the Native 3-1/8, and the Ener-G II (the new ones and the discontinued ones you're seeing under $30) 3-1/2. The OD-1 is 2-15/16, has a frame lock and a Hinderer lock stop. The OD-1 also incorporates a non AO flipper system similar to the Ener-G designed by Lee. This little knife offers a lot of features for your dollar.

A little history of the Ener-g's. The first series came as you see the discounted ones. Then Kershaw did a small sprint run (limited edition) of the black G-10 and a black DLC coated blade. There weren't too many of these made. The current run is the black G-10 and satin blade.
 
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The NRG II are great deals at $29. I bought one at that price, like it so much I went back and bought 2 more just to horde. The are not AO, but they do open very easily and the liner lock is much thicker then your normal liner.

The OD-1 is a neat knife, and smaller then the others, but I wouldn't want to use it for med. cutting task, just because I like a bit bigger grip.

I can't comment on the Native, though they seem well received. I wouldn't pay too high of a premium for the VG-10 over the Sandvik though. I've been pretty impressed with the Sandvik in the Kershaws.
 
Seems like NRG is best bang for the buck. I am glad its not spring A-O. under $30 makes it a good knife. Its quite a lot cheaper than "limited" edition of OD-1. But I'll receive soon Skyline for EDC so OD-1 is probably quite a lot similar to Skyline... Its weird... almost everytime I've been meaning to buy a Spyderco knife I end up with Kershaw... Couldn't be happier though
 
I bought a couple of the old, green ENER-G2 at the same discount a few months ago. They are a great value. The handle is very comfortable to hold but the thickness is a drawback when clipping the knife IWB. The hollow ground blade cuts extremely well. The liner lock is thick. On both of my mine it engages at the far left but doesn't have much springiness. I would prefer if there was more resistance when disengaging the lock. No bladeplay. Overall a good knife from Kershaw.
 
I just looked more detailed pictures of Native: There's no screws or torxes for tightening the pivot and or disassembling the knife if I saw correctly, is this true? It looks like blade is bolted between FRN handles like my Ladybug 3 Salt, also made in Seki, Japan.
 
thejamppa said:
I just looked more detailed pictures of Native: There's no screws or torxes for tightening the pivot and or disassembling the knife if I saw correctly, is this true? It looks like blade is bolted between FRN handles like my Ladybug 3 Salt, also made in Seki, Japan.
Click to expand...

If it's anything like my Centofante 4 then yes.

The Skyline in a great little EDC, but the OD-1 is beefier with a heavier lock.
 
I am a big fan of my energ 2 it's big and well built with a well shaped and ground blade. I would say the energ 2...I paid alot more for it then 30 bucks though. Good knife.

Alex
 
thejamppa said:
I just looked more detailed pictures of Native: There's no screws or torxes for tightening the pivot and or disassembling the knife if I saw correctly, is this true? It looks like blade is bolted between FRN handles like my Ladybug 3 Salt, also made in Seki, Japan.
Click to expand...
Yes you are correct. It is a very solid knife. Nobody makes pinned knives as well as Spyderco. I have a 5yo Native that has been used hard and it still has a very solid lock up and no lateral play.
 
Alright I went for Kershaw Ener-G2. its price had dropped below $26. So deal became even better now. Good price from USA made Kershaw: $25,95
 
I was comparing the liner lock on the NRG to the Frame lock on the OD-1 the other day and they're about the same size. Not that you asked. I just thought it was interesting.
 
This is off topic but I am just curious. It sounds like you have been bitten by the knife bug and have been buying many knives lately. Why do you not buy a bunch of them at one time to save on shipping costs? Is it because if a purchase goes over a certain price there is some kind of import fee? It seems like if you are paying about 15 dollars shipping for each knife that you could save quite a bit of money if you saved up and bought like 5 knives at a time.

Just wondering and thinking out loud...
 
FlaMtnBkr:
Yeah, knife bug has bit me badly. Simply answer for why not buying many at the same time: at $80 and wham there goes toll limit and I need to add +30% price. When Shipments value is over 55€'s, then I would need to pay 30% toll feed for going over it, as when I buy from the states I don't pay local VAT +23%. And Below 55€ shipments toll feed 30% is not collected.So I buy them separately:

1) I use several dealers
2) To avoid paying toll costs.

So your hunch was right. I kinda wish I could come soon State few couple of weeks with empty luggage and return with luggage full of knives ^^
 
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