The Kershaw Vapor has been a BladeForums favorite value for money knife probably since it was first released.
I have a very early production version - which was made in Japan - shown above with the partial serrated edge.
At one time it was one of the very few (affordable) Frame-Locks available and the fit and finish of the Vapor was outstanding.
Please see Frame-Locks (ala Sebenza)
It obviously helped when one could buy it from a local WalMart for under $20!
I hadn't paid much attention to the Vapor probably since doing the Vapor Minutiae review.
But recently I saw in the flesh a Black Vapor 1640BLK - and it looked very attractive ....
for me, one of the "jobs" of my knives is to look good, as well as being basically a good knife
The Ti-Nitride finish surprised me - it wasn't just a dull flat black - but it had some "character" - to me it was really a very dark charcoal grey - probably because of the sheen the satin bead-blast finish has - with this sheen at certain angles the knife could even be mistaken for a much paler gray.
Even though my photos have turned out pretty well - seeing the knife in the flesh will show what I mean.
size comparisons with a Vapor II -
One of the main attractions of the Vapor is that they are Frame-Locks - and these are very good frame-locks -
The spine view shows the blades have a real distal taper -
and for the more observant one - yes, the newer Black Vapor does have dual thumb studs. The Shape has a lso changed to a sloped post vs. the former beehive/pyramid studs
Because the knife blade is so well held in when closed - I found it very difficult ot open the knife lefthanded - but then I am very righthanded - and lefthanders probably would cope a lot better than me. Despite my difficulty I feel the move to dual thumb-studs a is a good one. The slope cut post seems also to feel fine, although I've always liked the looks of the beenhive/pyramid stud.
Overall the Kershaw Vapor remains a classic great value for money knife.
This Black Vapor 1640BLK looks really good too -
at a price of about $20 (or under) one can really afford to own BOTH a black and silver.
--
Vincent
http://clik.to/UnknownVT2006
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