Kershaw Strobe or Skyline

H

HFinn

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Sep 6, 2012
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I have never had a Kershaw knife. They seem to have a good reputation and good price/guality - ratio. I am interested to get a flipper knife at some point and Kershaw's could be an inexpensive way to find out if I really like flippers. Strobe might have a little bit sturdier lock being a frame lock. What are your thoughts? The Skyline is on the other hand an established product with a good reputation. I like the design of both, allthough the Skyline has a slight lead because of the G10 scales. Scales on the Strobe could be easily changed and I have had in my mind to experiment with making my own.

I am quite particular about the lock design so this is an important point to me. Your opinion of these knives?
 
KrisNZ said:
Skyline all the way,..............

Kris,.
Click to expand...

Tell my why. :)

I know there are more high end - products on the market that feature flipper opening. Some of those are ZT and Viper and many more. I especially like the Viper Keeper for aesthetic reasons, but the liner lock looks awfully thin.

So, what are your thoughts on Kershaw Strobe and Skyline?
 
Not really sure what features you're looking for. Between those two (I have both) I think I prefer the Strobe simply for the opening. It opens practically instantly with the KVT bearings. It has kind of a strong detent which works against it when closing it, careful not to cut your thumb. It's easier to close if you push the frame open far enough to clear the detent ball, but that takes more effort. But they're both good knives. I love the design of the Skyline with the thumbstud blade stops and light weight. Makes it both light as well as strong as possible, being so thin. The design of the Strobe is uglier and the black scale sticks out weird, having a gap against the frame lock when open. They're pretty similar overall both with pros and cons. The Strobe has a little thicker blade and thicker frame, being an entire steel frame, not just liners. But it also weighs more. Strobe's pocket clip has a pretty weird connection but it's deep-carry. It's right/left tip-up only. Skyline is right-only but tip-up or tip-down. Skyline also has a lanyard hole. Strobe's scales are plastic-y and rounder, Skyline is textured G10 and flatter. Skyline's a hollow grind, Strobe is a flat grind. They're both about the same length, but Strobe is the longer one on both blade and overall (less than a 1/5th of an inch). Strobe is the funner and faster to flip, Skyline has a pretty crappy manual flip but can still be opened well if you do it right (have to manually create a stronger detent/initial force with your finger, so kinda rest it on there and then push/flick quickly maybe with a follow through? heh, I dunno, but it's definitely possible to open it fast without flicking your wrist).

All in all, not sure, they're both good. I prefer each for different reasons. The Skyline is a little lighter and flimsier-feeling, but might be a better design and a better carry. The Strobe seems a little stronger and has the easier, faster opening but might be weirder or not look as good to you. I might choose the Strobe as the winner but that's mainly because I also have the BladeHQ-exclusive Skylines with S30V+carbon fiber, so I'd choose those over both, heh.

And there's other cheaper Kershaws you could consider. The Starter if you don't mind it's heavy weight or looks. Or the Volt SS, thinner, dressier. Or the Scrambler. I highly recommend any of those three, but unlike the Strobe & Skyline, they all have SpeedSafe assisted opening, not sure if you want that (easier to open, harder to close).
 
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Thank you Joey Viner for your comments. I dont want an assisted knife so those you recommended are out.

"The design of the Strobe is uglier and the black scale sticks out weird, having a gap against the frame lock when open. They're pretty similar overall both with pros and cons. The Strobe has a little thicker blade and thicker frame, being an entire steel frame, not just liners. But it also weighs more. Strobe's pocket clip has a pretty weird connection but it's deep-carry."

Looks are subjective, of course. I tend to agree, the Strobe is uglier. The deep carry clip is what I would actually prefer, allthough I avoid using a clip because of the legislation (I don't want anyone to see I have a knife, so carry would be in a pocket holster or bag). The weight of the Strobe might be an issue.

"Skyline also has a lanyard hole." A plus.
"Skyline is textured G10 and flatter." A big plus.
"Skyline's a hollow grind, Strobe is a flat grind." This goes to Strobe.
"Strobe is the funner and faster to flip, Skyline has a pretty crappy manual flip". The bearing system is a really big plus.

So strenght and flipping action go to Strobe, weight, pocket carry and on some points materials to Skyline. This is going to be a hard decision. Looks are subjective, but custom scales would enhance the Strobe immensely. I am thinking of making some paper micarta myself.

If anyone has a picture of Skyline lock-up after some use, that would be very helpfull. The blade is thin so there is less room for hickups on the lock.
 
If you can do the scales then yeah it could look awesome and drastically improve. And the bearings do make a huge difference; that Strobe I think is the cheapest Kershaw to use the KVT's, at least one of them, it's why I got it. Especially compared to the Skyline which I think is one of the worst flippers I have (doable as I said, but you have to open it differently and think about it, whereas the Strobe snaps open 100% of the time unless you purposely push it really slow against the strong detent). But I do still like the Skyline, both for its weight/thinness as well as me just being a fan of thumbstud blade stops hehe. By the way, it's possible to open the Skyline with the thumbstuds, they have a much higher detent/initial snap and open it faster/more force. But you're asking about a flipper so I just ignored them, plus I use the flipper more myself.

If I was in your position and could only get one, I'd probably just buy both from a place with a return policy and return the one I didn't like. Although that's not recommended from a retailer's standpoint hehe.

And sorry, I can't really comment about the lock strength. Neither of mine see any hard use so for me they're both super strong. Although if you're planning on doing something crazy enough to break the liner lock of the Skyline, I'm not sure I'd even recommend getting something as light and thin as the Skyline? heh

What are you pointing out in the video? The thicker frame lock (a plus for you it seems) or the gap between the scale and the frame (a minus in my book, but I guess maybe not if you replace the scales)?
 
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I was pointing at the lockup and the general dimensions of the parts. And I dont plan on doing anything crazy like spinewhacking on purpose. Hey it has a swedge on top, maybe that could be used to split firewood? :p
 
The skyline is easy enough to pimp out with new scales. Here's mine. I haven't tried the Strobe yet but it looks like it would be very easy to make some new scales to replace the plastic K texture. After watching the video, I definitely will need a new Strobe to check out. They both look like great offerings. Skyline is tried and true and been around a while. The Strobe has KVT bearings for around $40. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Most members here would say get both. :D
Get both if possible.
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Yeah the Strobe is definitely the thicker, probably stronger of the two. The blade, the whole knife in general overall, and the lock. The only thing the Skyline has over it is the blade stop thumbstuds. If you were to be stupid and use it like a prybar, the side to side force would be transferred into the liner/G10. The sideways force on the Strobe would seem to go straight into the pivot/KVT. But other than that, which you shouldn't do anyway, the Strobe seems significantly stronger. And it's still good-looking, I didn't mean to make it sound ugly, I was just grasping at straws trying to come up with something vs. the Skyline hehe. The Skyline's kinda ugly too hehe. Other than the scales-on-top-of-frame-lock (and plastic-y GFN at that) the Strobe is pretty. You can't take the scales off permanently because the steel frame underneath has big holes in it to make it lighter (and the pocket clip wouldn't be flush anymore either I guess).

Nice pic Hale Storm! Cool Damascus.
 
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Pushed the button on Strobe, allthough the Skyline was rather tempting. Especially with the blackwash finish. Oh well...

Let's see what I get in a couple of days. :) I noticed I have also some linen at home that would make nice off-white micarta.
 
I have a Skyline and it's a fine knife, but for the style I like the Colt liner lock in D2 better.
Both lock up fine and both have fine blades. The Colt is a little bit longer but has just
thumbstuds while the Skyline has both thumbstuds and a flipper (which I don't care for).
Also the Colt is half the price of the Skyline.
Rich S
 
HFinn said:
Pushed the button on Strobe, allthough the Skyline was rather tempting. Especially with the blackwash finish. Oh well...

Let's see what I get in a couple of days. :) I noticed I have also some linen at home that would make nice off-white micarta.
Click to expand...

Please post some pics of the white linen scales when you get them done.
 
Hale Storm said:
Please post some pics of the white linen scales when you get them done.
Click to expand...

Actually I found an alternative. At home we have a cutting board made of (drums...) black recycled paper. Black paper micarta, so to speak. Now I just have to convince my wife that it is better used as knife handle material. :D Maybe if I buy her a nice hardwood cutting board?
 
Also consider the Blade HQ version of the Skyline. More expensive, but much more knife. For $105 you get CF handles and, most importantly, S30V steel. Choice of DLC or Stonewash. Limited, serialized and only available from BHQ.

May be more than you want to spend, but IMO the extra $$$ is worth what you get.

Best of luck deciding. :)
 
Got the Strobe from post today. I am going to return it promptly. The blade rubs badly against the liner and the locking liner goes almost all the way to the other side. Action is smooth and the design looks nicer in reality than in the pictures, but the fitting is way below my expectations. What a shame.
 
:( Another one to consider is the Nura 3.0 or 3.5, was just released. It has KVT too although mine doesn't open as good as the Strobe does. The bearings work good but the frame lock seems to push against the blade as it opens, slowing it down. I think it's because the detent is so light, it doesn't have enough force to shoot open. The detent on my Strobe is much stiffer. Maybe I can send it to Kershaw to fix/exchange it. But anyway, fyi if you wanna try one.
 
Well, lets see. The dealer seems now to have the Skyline in both configurations, normal and blackwashed blade.
 
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