Hi there, new member here. About 2 months ago, I purchased my first real Pocket Knife, a Kershaw Blur in Black with Tanto Blade. I absolutely love it, and I think I'm hooked now. Since then I bought four other Kershaw knives, and I thought I would share my first impressions.
1. Kershaw Blur in Black with Tanto Blade - 1670TBLKST
Oh man this knife is sweet! The Trac-tec provides an excellent grip, and the thumb-stud is nice and large and has it's own aggressive feel for a sure-fire every time. As large as the blade is, it pops out wicked fast with a very satisfying *clack*. It came from Kershaw sharp as hell. It looks good, it looks aggressive, and feels powerful. On the other hand, it is larger than a knife I would always want to have on me, and the Tanto blade and serrations don't make for a good EDC, which is why a month later I bought...
2. Kershaw Leek with Stainless Steel/CPM-D2 Composite Blade - 1660CB
This knife is the thinnest of the knives I bought because it uses a frame lock. It also feels like one of the sharpest! The combination of 2 steels separated by a thin line of copper looks beautiful. One of the first things I noticed is that the D2 steel shimmers in the light. Looking straight on, it looks the same color as the rest of the knife, but if you look at it at an angle, the D2 begins to look dark. It's a sweet little knife, but I do have some complaints. My main issue with this knife is the grip. Because it is a smaller knife, it isn't as easy to hold on to. This is worsened by the stainless steel frame, which can be slipper in your hands. The small size means I need to be very careful holding it when I flip the knife, otherwise my fingers overlap where the blade is. It's not all bad for the Leek's though, because my next favorite knife is the...
3. Kershaw Leek with G10 Handle - 1660G10
I found this model to be a HUGE improvement over the 1660CB. The frame lock is replaced with a liner lock, and the frame is now a thick coat of extra-rough G-10 material. This makes it about 1/3 thicker than the 1660CB, which makes all the difference in my hands when holding this knife. Others have complained about the G10 on this knife being too rough and suggested sanding it down so it doesn't wear out their pockets. For me, I love how rough it is and would like more knives like it, since I know it won't slip out of my hands! The S30V blade is stone washed to lessen the shine on the steel, and I think it looks really good. The flipper mechanism on both leeks is solid. It comes with a locking mechanism on the knife which I will leave on, since I wouldn't want that flipper to accidentally get hit and open up the knife unexpectedly. The only flaw I saw in this model is that the liner on the locking side has a small gap between it and the handle where water or dirt can get trapped. I can shrink the gap by tightening the blade lock screw, but then it becomes too tight to move from locked to unlocked.
4. Kershaw Junkyard Dog 2.2 - 1725CB
I'm actually debating returning this knife. It has a nice looking combination Sandvik/D2 steel blade with a saw pattern etched in copper between the two metals. It has a G10 handle, but not nearly as coarse as the handle on the G10 Leek and kind of just looks like a big slab of uninteresting dark material. The first thing you notice about this knife is that it's LARGE. Much too large for an EDC. This knife is a manual flipper, but the blade is quite large and you need to give it a good jerk to actually open this guy up. I think it's just too large for me, especially without an assisted opener. I would probably make an exception if I could get my hands on one of the small versions of the Galyean Junkyard Dog Pro Series, which has this awesome bomber style design on it.
5. Kershaw Blaze Skyline Orange - 1760OR
I had to get this knife after reading so many reviews about how great this inexpensive little knife is. I wasn't sure about trying another manual opener, but it really isn't an issue with this knife. The blade itself is light enough and the flipper mechanism large enough that with some practice I could very easily flip the knife open with one finger without having to whip it forward. In order to flip it comfortably, I also had to loosen the torsion screw, which ends up leaving the blade slightly off-center when closed. The G10 scales are close in coarseness to the Junkyard Dog, and the orange color is refreshing although it does get dirty quick. I think I'll pick up a black one of these too. The Sandvik steel is nice and sharp, and I like it's shape. One complaint I have is the small bead in the liner lock that is used to keep the knife folded closed until enough pressure pushes it open. The bead actually sticks out too much, and it is too far from the edge of the lock. What this does it it causes some friction when you are moving the blade from open to closed, so even after you push the liner to close the blade, it will hit this bead and stop until you give it an extra little push to get past it. Overall, I think this is a great knife. For the price it is worth having something around that I won't worry too much if it gets damaged or lost.
I really like the quality of materials in all of these knives. Kershaw provides so much variety, and it's addicting to try out all the different styles, handle materials, steels, and color combinations. I see many more Kershaw knives in my future.
1. Kershaw Blur in Black with Tanto Blade - 1670TBLKST
Oh man this knife is sweet! The Trac-tec provides an excellent grip, and the thumb-stud is nice and large and has it's own aggressive feel for a sure-fire every time. As large as the blade is, it pops out wicked fast with a very satisfying *clack*. It came from Kershaw sharp as hell. It looks good, it looks aggressive, and feels powerful. On the other hand, it is larger than a knife I would always want to have on me, and the Tanto blade and serrations don't make for a good EDC, which is why a month later I bought...
2. Kershaw Leek with Stainless Steel/CPM-D2 Composite Blade - 1660CB
This knife is the thinnest of the knives I bought because it uses a frame lock. It also feels like one of the sharpest! The combination of 2 steels separated by a thin line of copper looks beautiful. One of the first things I noticed is that the D2 steel shimmers in the light. Looking straight on, it looks the same color as the rest of the knife, but if you look at it at an angle, the D2 begins to look dark. It's a sweet little knife, but I do have some complaints. My main issue with this knife is the grip. Because it is a smaller knife, it isn't as easy to hold on to. This is worsened by the stainless steel frame, which can be slipper in your hands. The small size means I need to be very careful holding it when I flip the knife, otherwise my fingers overlap where the blade is. It's not all bad for the Leek's though, because my next favorite knife is the...
3. Kershaw Leek with G10 Handle - 1660G10
I found this model to be a HUGE improvement over the 1660CB. The frame lock is replaced with a liner lock, and the frame is now a thick coat of extra-rough G-10 material. This makes it about 1/3 thicker than the 1660CB, which makes all the difference in my hands when holding this knife. Others have complained about the G10 on this knife being too rough and suggested sanding it down so it doesn't wear out their pockets. For me, I love how rough it is and would like more knives like it, since I know it won't slip out of my hands! The S30V blade is stone washed to lessen the shine on the steel, and I think it looks really good. The flipper mechanism on both leeks is solid. It comes with a locking mechanism on the knife which I will leave on, since I wouldn't want that flipper to accidentally get hit and open up the knife unexpectedly. The only flaw I saw in this model is that the liner on the locking side has a small gap between it and the handle where water or dirt can get trapped. I can shrink the gap by tightening the blade lock screw, but then it becomes too tight to move from locked to unlocked.
4. Kershaw Junkyard Dog 2.2 - 1725CB
I'm actually debating returning this knife. It has a nice looking combination Sandvik/D2 steel blade with a saw pattern etched in copper between the two metals. It has a G10 handle, but not nearly as coarse as the handle on the G10 Leek and kind of just looks like a big slab of uninteresting dark material. The first thing you notice about this knife is that it's LARGE. Much too large for an EDC. This knife is a manual flipper, but the blade is quite large and you need to give it a good jerk to actually open this guy up. I think it's just too large for me, especially without an assisted opener. I would probably make an exception if I could get my hands on one of the small versions of the Galyean Junkyard Dog Pro Series, which has this awesome bomber style design on it.
5. Kershaw Blaze Skyline Orange - 1760OR
I had to get this knife after reading so many reviews about how great this inexpensive little knife is. I wasn't sure about trying another manual opener, but it really isn't an issue with this knife. The blade itself is light enough and the flipper mechanism large enough that with some practice I could very easily flip the knife open with one finger without having to whip it forward. In order to flip it comfortably, I also had to loosen the torsion screw, which ends up leaving the blade slightly off-center when closed. The G10 scales are close in coarseness to the Junkyard Dog, and the orange color is refreshing although it does get dirty quick. I think I'll pick up a black one of these too. The Sandvik steel is nice and sharp, and I like it's shape. One complaint I have is the small bead in the liner lock that is used to keep the knife folded closed until enough pressure pushes it open. The bead actually sticks out too much, and it is too far from the edge of the lock. What this does it it causes some friction when you are moving the blade from open to closed, so even after you push the liner to close the blade, it will hit this bead and stop until you give it an extra little push to get past it. Overall, I think this is a great knife. For the price it is worth having something around that I won't worry too much if it gets damaged or lost.
I really like the quality of materials in all of these knives. Kershaw provides so much variety, and it's addicting to try out all the different styles, handle materials, steels, and color combinations. I see many more Kershaw knives in my future.
