- Joined
- Jun 8, 2005
- Messages
- 4,761
For the first time in my life, I bought a knife twice--I had a rule that I'd only buy a knife twice if the second one was a gift for someone else.
The knife is a Kershaw RAM. I've had some fairly nice pieces over the years. A 41MC, a Kershaw Tyrade, a Blue Bump, a 960 Osborne, paramilitary and many others. But this was the only knife that ever warranted a second purchase for my own use.
This knife has been out for awhile and consequently doesn't warrant a full review--instead, I've decided to critique it. One of the most interesting things about the RAM is that, despite being arguably the best-designed contemporary knife in existence, it's quite flawed.
But before we get to that, I'll do a quick run down of what makes it so great:
1: The action of this knife is extremely smooth, and extremely powerful, with no pesky spring to break. You can have all the advantages of assisted opening with none of the disadvantages--you don't have to worry about laws that refer to spring-driven blades and more importantly, like an axis lock, this knife can be flicked closed as well as open.
2: Ergonomics. They're fantastic. Finger choils used to be the exclusive domain of Spyderco while flippers were left to Kershaw. This knife has both and uses them to great effect.
3: Subtle and relatively low riding clip, reversible tip up/tip down.
4: Blade retention. There's no ball detent, but the RAM retains its blade better than any knife I've ever seen. And yet, when you use the flipper, the blade shoots out faster than most AOs.
5: Versatility. Great all around blade shape, perfect size, and it can be opened slowed with the studs or fast with the flipper.
With that said, my favorite knife is far from perfect. Which is a shame, because there's no fundamental weaknesses in the design--everything could be perfected or improved.
My first big complaint is the quality control. I've had two of these knives and both were hand selected to be the best I could get of a small selection of other RAMs. The first had a deep scratch in the tang of the blade, wildly inconsistent lengths and finishes on the thumb studs and some other minor things I can't remember anymore.
This one still has inconsistent finishing and lengths on the thumbstuds, but it's not nearly as noticeable and the blade is slightly off centered.
These flaws aren't fatal, but two out of two, chosen from a few over the course of two years is not an impressive quality control rate. That said, none of the flaws on either have affected performance.
The next thing that could be improved is the placement of the lock. I love this lock, but it would be better placed half an inch closer to the blade. You have to move your hand to disengage it, and I don't think you would if it were moved up.
One area of concern is the jimping on the spine and finger choil. They're pretty smooth, and the finger choil isn't very deep. I could conceivably see my hand sliding onto the blade because of this.
And the last area is is simply materials. This is the single best design in Kershaw's mid-sized lineup. Why aren't we seeing this offered with CF/Ti handles and a composite D2/154CM blade yet? With improved quality control and materials, this would be a world class knife at any price.
At any rate, I feel it'd be helpful to compare it to its natural competitors: the minigriptilian and the native s30v. Each is around the same price, with the RAM usually being marginally cheaper than the other two.
I consider them competitors in price and function. These old hands had pretty clear strengths and weaknesses--the Native had superior ergonomics and steel, but the minigrip had a better lock, smoother action and was stronger.
But, in my opinion, the RAM exceeds even these legends. It takes the ergonomics of the Native and makes them better--the Native was pretty revolutionary at the time, but holding it today reveal that some of the contours of the handle aren't placed perfectly. It takes the action from the minigrip and makes it faster and more versatile.
Now, the Sandvik steels probably aren't quite as good overall as 154CM or S30V, but they perform respectably.
The knife is a Kershaw RAM. I've had some fairly nice pieces over the years. A 41MC, a Kershaw Tyrade, a Blue Bump, a 960 Osborne, paramilitary and many others. But this was the only knife that ever warranted a second purchase for my own use.
This knife has been out for awhile and consequently doesn't warrant a full review--instead, I've decided to critique it. One of the most interesting things about the RAM is that, despite being arguably the best-designed contemporary knife in existence, it's quite flawed.
But before we get to that, I'll do a quick run down of what makes it so great:
1: The action of this knife is extremely smooth, and extremely powerful, with no pesky spring to break. You can have all the advantages of assisted opening with none of the disadvantages--you don't have to worry about laws that refer to spring-driven blades and more importantly, like an axis lock, this knife can be flicked closed as well as open.
2: Ergonomics. They're fantastic. Finger choils used to be the exclusive domain of Spyderco while flippers were left to Kershaw. This knife has both and uses them to great effect.
3: Subtle and relatively low riding clip, reversible tip up/tip down.
4: Blade retention. There's no ball detent, but the RAM retains its blade better than any knife I've ever seen. And yet, when you use the flipper, the blade shoots out faster than most AOs.
5: Versatility. Great all around blade shape, perfect size, and it can be opened slowed with the studs or fast with the flipper.
With that said, my favorite knife is far from perfect. Which is a shame, because there's no fundamental weaknesses in the design--everything could be perfected or improved.
My first big complaint is the quality control. I've had two of these knives and both were hand selected to be the best I could get of a small selection of other RAMs. The first had a deep scratch in the tang of the blade, wildly inconsistent lengths and finishes on the thumb studs and some other minor things I can't remember anymore.
This one still has inconsistent finishing and lengths on the thumbstuds, but it's not nearly as noticeable and the blade is slightly off centered.
These flaws aren't fatal, but two out of two, chosen from a few over the course of two years is not an impressive quality control rate. That said, none of the flaws on either have affected performance.
The next thing that could be improved is the placement of the lock. I love this lock, but it would be better placed half an inch closer to the blade. You have to move your hand to disengage it, and I don't think you would if it were moved up.
One area of concern is the jimping on the spine and finger choil. They're pretty smooth, and the finger choil isn't very deep. I could conceivably see my hand sliding onto the blade because of this.
And the last area is is simply materials. This is the single best design in Kershaw's mid-sized lineup. Why aren't we seeing this offered with CF/Ti handles and a composite D2/154CM blade yet? With improved quality control and materials, this would be a world class knife at any price.
At any rate, I feel it'd be helpful to compare it to its natural competitors: the minigriptilian and the native s30v. Each is around the same price, with the RAM usually being marginally cheaper than the other two.
I consider them competitors in price and function. These old hands had pretty clear strengths and weaknesses--the Native had superior ergonomics and steel, but the minigrip had a better lock, smoother action and was stronger.
But, in my opinion, the RAM exceeds even these legends. It takes the ergonomics of the Native and makes them better--the Native was pretty revolutionary at the time, but holding it today reveal that some of the contours of the handle aren't placed perfectly. It takes the action from the minigrip and makes it faster and more versatile.
Now, the Sandvik steels probably aren't quite as good overall as 154CM or S30V, but they perform respectably.
