Kershaw Leek opened in my pocket and stabbed me.

I owned a number of assisted knives, including a Leek, all with thumb studs. I decided that they were not an advantage for opening the knife because I had to get my thumb precisely on the studs to open it, and even then I could occasionally slip off of the thumb stud. The only exception to this was the Kershaw Blur that has a large and sharp thumb stud. I found that the large blade hole that Spyderco uses is both quicker and more positive for opening, so those have replaced all of my assisted opening knives.
 
The Aflac Duck said:
Because it’s a tip down assisted flipper, it’s a flawed design.
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Such a bad design, it sells well enough for Kershaw to keep it in the lineup for nearly 20 years so far. ;)

Most of Kershaws speed safe knives come tip down, pretty sure the idea is that with the spine resting against the pocket seam, it's very unlikely to come open accidentally, and if it does, very unlikely to open all the way.
 
Glad you’re okay for the most part, man.

Just my two cents. If I were ever to own an assisted opener, I’d probably keep it in a sturdy leather sheath and just dump it in the pocket. That should make it less likely to accidentally open.
 
Reswob said:
Such a bad design, it sells well enough for Kershaw to keep it in the lineup for nearly 20 years so far. ;)

Most of Kershaws speed safe knives come tip down, pretty sure the idea is that with the spine resting against the pocket seam, it's very unlikely to come open accidentally, and if it does, very unlikely to open all the way.
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Look, I’m well aware of how pockets and assisted knives work. A tip down assisted flipper is what I’m talking about. I don’t care how popular it is, fidget spinners were also popular so that means nothing.
 
I own and have carried many assisted and auto knives and none of them have ever opened on me while in my pocket.

My 1st "real" knife was an assisted Kershaw Shallot (the big brother of the Leek, Scallion and Chive line; since discontinued) and carried it almost exclusively for years w/o any problem, except for losing that 1st knife because the clip was loose and slipped out of my pocket. I made up for that by accumulating a collection of 8 Shallots, which comprises but a small part of my Kershaw collection which is by and large comprised of assisted knives.

So, IMO, if a knife assisted and autos are not inherently dangerous to carry in your pocket. If they were, many more people would be complaining of such incidents than just the OP and, if one opens in your pocket, I suggest you examine the circumstances to understand why it happened and, if assessed objectively, I seriously doubt that the "fault" (if any) will be found to lie exclusively (if at all) with the knife.
 
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Only knife I've had open in my pocket was a Scallion. I never understood the advantage of a lightning-fast opening if the only way to safely carry it is with the safety on. Might as well carry a slipjoint at the point. (Which is where I've ended up. Never had a slipjoint open in my pocket.)

-Tyson
 
sgt1372 said:
I own and have carried many assisted and auto knives and none of them have ever opened on me while in my pocket.

My 1st "real" knife was an assisted Kershaw Shallot (the big brother of the Leek, Scallion and Chive line; since discontinued) and carried it almost exclusively for years w/o any problem, except for losing that 1st knife because the clip was loose and slipped out of my pocket. I made up for that by accumulating a collection of 8 Shallots, which comprises but a small part of my Kershaw collection which is by and large comprised of assisted knives.

So, IMO, if a knife assisted and autos are not inherently dangerous to carry in your pocket. If they were, many more people would be complaining of such incidents than just the OP and, if one opens in your pocket, I suggest you examine the circumstances to understand why it happened and, if assessed objective, I seriously doubt that the "fault" will be found to lie with the knife.
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I have also carried and will continue to carry A/O knives, but disagree with the premise that it’s not an issue with the knife design. I would concede however, that it is a shared issue of design and user variation.

I say this, because as the knife ships, the pocket clip is on the right side, tip down. Also, the Leek ships with a secondary lock, indicating that Kershaw is aware there may be potential inadvertent deployment. I was luckily carrying it in my left pocket.

I believe the A/O must have been deployed when inadvertently bumping against something while in my pocket. On a flipper reliant on detent, the knife might deploy a tiny bit. On an A/O knife, it is opened with force, allowing the blade to open as much as the pocket allows.

As indicated earlier, cargo shorts are pretty loose and probably exacerbated the issue.

At any rate, I personally still enjoy and will use these types of designs. The Blur is probably my favorite, and has no flipper tab to bump.

Also, the Leek is still in my left pocket, but I do have the secondary lock engaged.
 
its the awfully scary thing about spring loaded stuff.
you'll just never know when.
made it a point to carry there types in snug nylon sheaths.
but i guess most of these knife companies
have already done the studies on
reliability and subsequently added the much needed locks.
nothing is ever perfect.
 
bdmicarta said:
I owned a number of assisted knives, including a Leek, all with thumb studs. I decided that they were not an advantage for opening the knife because I had to get my thumb precisely on the studs to open it, and even then I could occasionally slip off of the thumb stud. The only exception to this was the Kershaw Blur that has a large and sharp thumb stud. I found that the large blade hole that Spyderco uses is both quicker and more positive for opening, so those have replaced all of my assisted opening knives.
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After slicing my thumb once I stopped using the studs on the Leek as an opening method.

Reswob said:
Such a bad design, it sells well enough for Kershaw to keep it in the lineup for nearly 20 years so far. ;)

Most of Kershaws speed safe knives come tip down, pretty sure the idea is that with the spine resting against the pocket seam, it's very unlikely to come open accidentally, and if it does, very unlikely to open all the way.
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Tip down is how you get stabbed in the leg. Carrying tip up is how the spine of the blade will rest against the inside of your pocket keeping it closed. Unless you carry in a pocket different than your right front one.

Get yourself an MXG Gear pocket clip. The clip is meant for tip up carry only (you could carry it tip down but it sticks out past the handles quite a bit) and bends out of the way of the safety. I have it on all my Leeks.
 
IMO the thumbstuds on the Leek are a stop pin only, it is designed as an assisted flipper. On the same subject though I feel that Auto's and "Assissted" opening knives are cool, and I've owned and carried a few.
I have always been a bit scared though that at any random moment 3-4" of razor edged steel will pop out in my pocket. Whilst Ive not been cut too badly it has happened!
Even tip down thumbstud folders have opened when pulling out a hankercheif or other items from my pocket, at times I have not noticed until I get a gentle slash or slice from a open knife still clipped to my pocket, nothing serious,...so far.
Tip up against the pocket seam, manual or flipper has NEVER! bit me like that.
Ive carried a one hand folder of some kind everyday for over 30 years. Tip up, tip down is a preference I suppose, but for me auto"s or even assisted of any kind feel like carrying a handgun with the hammer cocked.
 
Planterz said:
After slicing my thumb once I stopped using the studs on the Leek as an opening method.



Tip down is how you get stabbed in the leg. Carrying tip up is how the spine of the blade will rest against the inside of your pocket keeping it closed. Unless you carry in a pocket different than your right front one.

Get yourself an MXG Gear pocket clip. The clip is meant for tip up carry only (you could carry it tip down but it sticks out past the handles quite a bit) and bends out of the way of the safety. I have it on all my Leeks.
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I was gonna say the same thing....the leek is one of my favorite “cheap” edcs except for the fact that if you set it up for tip-up carry you have half the knife sticking out of your pocket. Think I might get one of those deep carry clips soon, since I never use the lock anyway.
 
yep, those locks get loose over time on that model. I like a safety but this one in setup, in tip down and real touchy to open easily......isn't so secure. needs a better lock design and tip up setup. that would help a lot.

glad your okay, Sir. scary, and glad it wasn't worse.
 
I've been there before...and now I no longer pocket carry liner-lock or frame-lock knives or compression-lock knives.
 
I have two smaller Kershaw assisted flippers, one being the reverse tanto Leek and have never had an issue with them in either a regular or 5th pocket. They both have the slide lock so the blade stays in place which I have used on occasion and solves the potential problem of accidental deployment.
 
Had a Leek open on me once. I recall using the safety alot after that.

Some time later I snapped the tip off of it while subjecting it to some sort of abuse. I just filed the tip down to a usable shape and kept carrying it with the safety.

I had it open up on me again, which freaked me out until I realized that I'd shortened the tip to where the safety bar didn't engage the blade any more.

The Leek is such a cool EDC that it's hard not to carry one, especially the Carbon Fiber one in CPM-154.

Not much a fan of safeties on knives, but I guess I'm less of a fan of having a needle tip spring into my dingus membrane. Safety it is.

BTW, my Leek opened up in cargo shorts as well. Probably the bigger factor in all of this.
 
I had a Leek open just slightly. It wasn't enough to engage the Speedsafe. It was just enough for the tip to drift up past the scale and stay there. Between the blade shape and carrying tip-down, it was a perfect storm of circumstances. I reached past to get something from that pocket. Pulling back past it, the tip caught my skin. It wasn't a severe cut but it sure bled a lot.

I always hated the safety but I'm pretty sure I used it regularly. I wonder if I had forgotten or if it had just slid over in pocket... Either way, that proved to me that the safety was necessary and made me question its efficacy at the same time. This all contributed to me retiring my Leek. I'd eventually sell it and put the money towards a premium Dividend in M390.

Now that Dividend is the only example of tip-down, assisted opening, or aluminum scales in my EDC rotation. It sticks around because with a deep-carry loop-over, it's amazing in the role of shirt-pocket carry.
 
No tip down carry for me, ever.

The only knife I've ever had a problem with is the Benchmade Aphid. I carried it in my front pocket and when I reached in for my keys, my hand got spiked by a partially deployed blade. Luckily, I knew what was happening at the time and immediately stopped. Always tip up against the seam of my front pocket now. I'm also not a fan of assisted openers, but that's another story.
 
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