Kershaw Sapphire

S

Shortknock27

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2002
Messages
919
Forgive me for bringing up an old knife, but how come the Sapphire never really went over well? I can come up with very few opinions of it and nobody really seems to talk about it at all. I realize it's been discontinued for quite some time now, but I was just wondering why it never went over as well as it did. Thanks for your responses.

Scott
 
Probably because of the Ken Onion knives. If I had to choose between an American-made Ken Onion LEEK, with Speedsafe for +/- $45, versus the manual opening AUS-8 Sapphire for +/- $60, I would and DO choose the Leek. And lately, with all the different Leek configurations (Damascus, Boron, S30V, ZDP, Random, etc...) the Sapphire and Splinter just don't compare in MY opinion.

Thomas is the National Sales Manager for Kershaw, so he can give you the official reason, if there is one.
 
nygiantsfan3342 said:
Probably because of the Ken Onion knives. If I had to choose between an American-made Ken Onion LEEK, with Speedsafe for +/- $45, versus the manual opening AUS-8 Sapphire for +/- $60, I would and DO choose the Leek. And lately, with all the different Leek configurations (Damascus, Boron, S30V, ZDP, Random, etc...) the Sapphire and Splinter just don't compare in MY opinion.

Thomas is the National Sales Manager for Kershaw, so he can give you the official reason, if there is one.
Click to expand...


It is a great looking knife, but I have to agree with nygiant...I've weighed the options with other Kershaws and found my money was best spent on knives of simular size and found the Leek is the best bang for the $$ IMHO.
 
fair enough, I just wondered if there was something I didn't know about. Thanks for the replies, all others are welcome too.

Scott
 
If I could get this knife for less than $30, would it be a good buy, or should I leave it alone even at that price. Thanks!

Scott
 
With a retail of $110, that would be a steal at $30. Ti scales, nicely finished, slick action, no way to go wrong at that price.
 
I just bought a Sapphire and I am pretty impressed with it. I picked it up for $35 shipped, so it was worth a shot. My impression is that it is a very well made knife. Fit and finish is similar to Japanese produced spydercos, which is to say, very good. The blue handles look good, they get fingerprints easily and I am told the anodized color does wear. I figure I will blast the handles one day and flame them. The blade to handle ratio is incredible, the blade actually looks longer than the handle. The blade is a "splinter picker" type with a very sharp tip for fine work and it slices great. Some people don't like AUS8, it works fine for me, and it justs takes a minute to touch up an edge, not a big deal to me. Kershaw chose to line the titanium with steel liners on both sides, making it thicker and heavier than you would think it should be for a titanium knife. One liner is has been trimmed to minimize weight I assume.

Nit picks are the liner lock is very hard to disengage, even with practice. The very small thumbstuds are a little hard to index on the right side, impossible on the other, this knife is NOT lefty friendly. Oddly, the stepped pattern on the non clip side of the knife really irritates me. They aren't very smooth as they graduate from one to another, creating an edge that catches on my hands. Much prefer this be left smooth as the stepped edge goes all the way around the perimeter of the handle.

I like thin, light, 3" blade knives for my EDC. The Sapphire fits that bill perfectly. It looks great, fit and finish are impressive and at sub $50 this is good deal at sub $40 I believe its a great deal. I own a little of everything, and my last five knife purchases have been Kershaws and I like them all. I don't think anyone would be dissappointed in the Sapphire as long as you can deal with the opening and closing issues that I have.
 
Here's a decent pic for those who are curious
sapphireks.jpg
 
I like the Blue handles. I kinda wish Kershaw would do to the Leeks what it did with the Ti Bumps. The ZDP Leek has a nice grey Titanium handle, but I would like a Blue and Green anodized titanium handle too!
 
i never realized how beautiful the sapphire is. i will have to pick one of these up. where did you find it for $35?
 
Thanks for the replies, I was just curious as I thought it was a good deal for less than $30 but I'm afraid I may have to forego it because I think I may have talked myself into the G-10 Offset.:o I already have a Groove, SG2 Blur, S30V Leek, and Centofante and I think I may need something bigger. But thanks for the opinions. After all, I may get both, if I can find a way to swing it on a college budget.:rolleyes:
Thanks again,
Scott
 
Shortknock27 said:
Thanks for the replies, I was just curious as I thought it was a good deal for less than $30 but I'm afraid I may have to forego it because I think I may have talked myself into the G-10 Offset.:o I already have a Groove, SG2 Blur, S30V Leek, and Centofante and I think I may need something bigger. But thanks for the opinions. After all, I may get both, if I can find a way to swing it on a college budget.:rolleyes:
Thanks again,
Scott
Click to expand...

i kno how ya feel. i started college today. you'll love the Offset. the g-10 is very grippy alot like the spec bump. you'll like it! (im biased obvously :D)
 
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