Kershaw Storm II

G3

G3

Via con dios
Joined
May 23, 2004
Messages
2,781
Recently I have been on a crusade to find which knives in the $50 or less price range are worth purchasing. I decided to check out the Wal-Marts, Sports Authority's , etc. My research was inspired by the recent purchase of the Spyderco Native from Wal-mart. $40 and absolutely perfect. As usual, Spydercos quality is no doubt very good even for the Wal-mart model.

I next checked out Sports Auth. and bought the Kershaw Storm 2 for $50.

The style and shape were nice and my purchase was solidified by the sandvik13 steel blade. Having never used sandvik before I gave it a shot.

Now for the review: The blade was locked open so tight after I opened the sealed plastic packaging, that I had to almost pry it back to close it. Fine, no big deal. When I checked the lockup the framelock bar barely slid halfway under the blade pivot area. I did some searching on the forums and found a thread pertaining to framelock failure and the fact that even TI frames can overstretch or fail. The Storms frame is made of 410 steel, not even titanium.
After disassembling the entire knife and resetting the bar, it now locks up properly. It should be noted that all the screws were loose, from the frame screws to the pivot screw. Once blade play was reduced and frame lockup was set, I could barely open the knife.

Now we get to the fun part. Why on earth would you use an angle cut, sharpened thumbstud is beyond my understanding. This has to be the WORST thumbstud setup I have ever dealt with. After bandaging my now sliced up caloused thumb I decided they had to go. I filed and drilled, filed and drilled, and 3 hours later finally got these suckers out of the blade.

Grabbed some nickel silver dowel I had left over from my coffin bowie project and filed them down nice and smooth. Then I hammered it through the thumbstud holes and finished it with some light sanding.

I still have a hard time opening it due to the pressure of the bar and the tension of the pivot screw but they are where they need to be. Since my thumb now has slices from those studs it hurts like hell to try and open it now anyway so I will wait a few days and let my frustration subside until I look at it again.

In a word, discouraged. IMHO...steer clear of this one.

Has anyone else had such issues with these models?

Thanks for the vent.

G3
 
I have one that I love.

Everything you describe is simply a personal preference.

The price is great, and it's USA made.

Mine locked up perfect from the day I got it.

How can you go wrong with a $33 knife? The Storm and Storm II are great.

I open mine by pressing with my index finger on the small flipper and sort of flinging it the rest of the way open.
 
GFarrell, sorry to hear about your disapointment with our Storm.

Couple of comments, right out of the packaging, if you had to pry the lock just to close it, why wouldn't you just return it to SA, and try another Storm or just get a refund?
I do find it strange that the lock barely engages, but yet sticks really bad? It's possible I guess.

$50 titanium frame lock's I'm not sure exsist, they are usually an upper end knife with a premium price. Maybe others could let me know of any budget ti frame locks.

I have to say that the whole review just doesn't sound right. Our knives go through many stages prior to the retailer receiving the product. It is possible, but unlikely that the knife you described was locked up to the point of being unable to close, and falling apart everywhere else, left our facility. Since you decided to do an experiment on it we will never know.

As you all know our customer service dept. is very special, and I urge you to send your Storm into me personally. I will forward you a new Storm (or another knife should that be of interest) asap. I'll inspect your new knife to insure its integrity, and priority it to you so you will not have to be away from your knife for too long.

I also encourage you in the future to contact us immediately, should you have an unfortunate issue with a Kershaw knife. Again I am sorry for your experience.

Thomas
Kershaw Knives

18600 SW Teton Ave
Tualatin OR 97062
 
It may have been a bummer knife, but Kershaw with their exemplary customer service is taking care of it instantly. Seems to me you should have contacted them before placing this "rant" on the forum.

Now that you've hacked, wacked and disassembled the product, not to mention altering it, I would question any knife manufacturer on Earth taking it back as Kershaw (through Thomas W) as admirably offered to do.
 
I use a storm I pretty often and I really like it. I had some minor preference complaints, but why on earth you're using a thumbstud on a storm beats the heck out of me. It's a flipper based knife (the way knives are supposed to be).

I have not personally ever had lock problems with the storm I, but a close friend's storm has had two lock failures. I tried to replicate them but couldn't so I'm not sure how it happened. His does have rather poor lockup. I keep trying to convince him to send it in, but he never gets around to it. You have to watch the lateral blade play if you don't use any loctite on the screw. It has a rather substantial blade and combined with a great action, can develop the play pretty quickly.

I now advise people to buy the knife but to make sure it has good lockup in the store.

The storm really is one of my favorite value buys....I've even had a mental debate to buy one or to buy a mini skirmish...
 
GFarrell3 said:
When I checked the lockup the framelock bar barely slid halfway under the blade pivot area. I did some searching on the forums and found a thread pertaining to framelock failure and the fact that even TI frames can overstretch or fail. The Storms frame is made of 410 steel, not even titanium.
After disassembling the entire knife and resetting the bar, it now locks up properly.
Click to expand...

I'm confused, what do you consider proper lockup? For me, engagement at 50% of the tang is ideal, lots of room for wear. I've never had a liner/frame lock fail with that amount of contact. Does your engage at 100% now? I don't even consider purchasing them when the lock bar is about to touch the opposite liner.
 
All,
Sorry if this seemed harsh. It wasn't meant to be, and I appreciate the offer although I never had any intention of seeking a refund or replacement, that's why I replaced the studs. I was just stating the problems I found "out of the box".

Having the bar line up flush with the blade when it locks is not considered to me a "personal preference". It's a must.

Frame screws had loctite on them and were still loose. In its packaging, this would either have been from factory or severe vibration or shock.

Thumbstuds were fairly sharp. I thought they could be smoother.

Not saying $50 knife with TI. Just saying that framelock article stated that even TI can bend or fail if not locked properly and this one wasn't made of TI so that makes me more worried.
 
Not bashing Kershaw.

I love Kershaws. Just asking if others saw this and what I found.
 
On my Storm 2 lock works just excellent - same as on any top line knives (which it is even with $35 price tag on it) and it is pretty thick, almost as thick as blade.

If thumbstud is too sharp (which is not a case for my Storm 2, it actially pretty comfortable and fit my thumb nicely because of that angle and not sharp at all) I rather file sharp angle about 3 to 4 strokes (less then a minute) to make it less sharp, or even use sandpaper.

I think this is an excellent example of Kershaw delivering great quality for very small price. This knife has premium Swedish steel - Sandvic (which was choosen for KaBar Next Generation by commity of designers).

Storm 2 has great design and on my opinion more tactical then any other knives. Compare it with MOD or Microtech (like ATFK and Amfibian). Framelock, grippy inserts on the handle, it is diassembleble, wide clip, flat ground, persian blade shape... - same set of solutions. And cost about 30-40 in NewGrapham! Common! This is incredible.

Kershaw-StormII-01.jpg


Kershaw-StormII-02.jpg


Only thing I don't like, and this is what Ken Onion doing a lot on his Kershaw knives - holes all over handle (as on Boa etc), of course it is good for dirt to go avay from inside the handle but it does not look good on my opinion (which has nothing to do with performance).

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I'm confused, what do you consider proper lockup? For me, engagement at 50% of the tang is ideal, lots of room for wear. I've never had a liner/frame lock fail with that amount of contact. Does your engage at 100% now? I don't even consider purchasing them when the lock bar is about to touch the opposite liner.
Click to expand...


I don't want to speak for GFarrell3, but I thought he meant only 50% of the locking bar touched the tang (which would mean only 1 or 2 mm of contact I guess), not the other way around. However, I could be wrong.
 
Thats exactly what I meant. Half the width of the lockbar was under the blade pivot when it locked up. I thought framelocks were supposed to lineup flush. This to me would be the strongest.
50% means it can go another 50% - in or out...100% is alot harder to move.
 
I love my Storm II. :D

All of the Kershaw's are 50% - the Leek, the Chive that I have. I'm not too concerned.
 
tungsten said:
I don't want to speak for GFarrell3, but I thought he meant only 50% of the locking bar touched the tang (which would mean only 1 or 2 mm of contact I guess), not the other way around. However, I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

Well, on a framelock, that's usually about the same thing. I like ~full thicknees engagement of a liner, cause it's usually about 1/2 as thick as the blade (so ~50%) And if the frame slab is the same thickness as the blade, then I like half the blade and half the slab to contact.
 
[snip]

Now for the review: The blade was locked open so tight after I opened the sealed plastic packaging, that I had to almost pry it back to close it. Fine, no big deal. When I checked the lockup the framelock bar barely slid halfway under the blade pivot area. [snip]
After disassembling the entire knife and resetting the bar, it now locks up properly. It should be noted that all the screws were loose, from the frame screws to the pivot screw. Once blade play was reduced and frame lockup was set, I could barely open the knife. [snip]

In a word, discouraged. IMHO...steer clear of this one. [snip]

It's entirely unfair to title your post as "Buyer beware" when you only have the experience of one of all the Storm 2 made and sold.

[snip] Has anyone else had such issues with these models? [snip]

No!

Calm down before you write or you're simply showing the world how stupid you are.
 
What's the deal with everyone's disdain for steel liners?

Sure, titanium liners are lightweight and can be anodized, but steel is more abrasion-resistant, ain't it? Correct me if I'm wrong.
So from a functional viewpoint, I just don't see why ti would be preferable in liners.
 
You are right hardheart, this might usually be the same thing, but I could understand his worries if the locking bar would be barely touching the tang.
 
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