Kershaw Vapor: Some praise and some complaints

Joined
Apr 29, 2002
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Sorry if I'm repeating a lot information. But I'd just like to bring attention to a knife that's dropped off the BladeForums radar for a while now. I got a small Kershaw Vapor for $20 some months ago, since I just had to get a knife while I was at Wal-Mart. Mine is the Chinese-made version.

Good stuff:
As many of you already know, it's a pretty good deal for the money. A decent looking knife, smooth travel after some adjustment, and a PERFECT 50% lockup. The lock bar is quite springy, and pushes to the left more easily than my Camillus EDC's. Very slight left-right blade play when the blade is open, no more than any of my other knives. Probably because of the thin synthetic washers having less give than a thick nylon washer. Detent is firm and makes me feel confident about the knife not opening in my pocket.

Bad stuff:
1. The clip is nasty. They attached it with the ugly Philips head screws, which stick out quite a lot. The clip is straight, while the rest of the knife has some nice Onion curves. It sits very flat against the body, so wearing slightly thick pants like jeans would mean you'd have to jam the knife into the pocket with some force to clip the knife.

2. Madonna's bra thumb stud is just not a good idea. Hurts my finger to open the knife repeatedly, though this isn't really a concern for normal non-knifenuts.

3. The blade steel is crap. Maybe I got a dud, but I just cannot get this thing sharp enough to show anyone. It shaves, but it just doesn't slice into the first layer of skin on my finger like really sharp knives. The CUDA EDC was hell to sharpen, but at least in the end it could cut me bad. I think the AUS6 in the Vapor is very soft, with the wire edge just getting pushed back and forth and never allowing a thin edge to form. Stropping doesn't help much. CRKT's AUS6M does a better job in terms of edge-holding (or attaining) but the Vapor does deserve credit for not chipping/deforming after some heavy abuse, described in the next section.

Amazing stuff:
I bought this cheap knife to abuse. I had to make a hole in a wooden door to put another doorknob in, and my Buck-Strider was getting a little impacted on the stop pin, making the lock slip over to the right. So after I had done some chiseling with the Buck-Strider, I switched to the Kershaw Vapor to do some prying. It survived some heavy duty prying and stabbing, and now that I've cleaned out all the wood dust, it looks perfect. In that aspect, it's even done better than the Buck-Strider.

edited to add:
I didn't go easy on the knife. I pushed it as hard as I could, since I really wanted to see the way a $20 knife would fall apart. Especially the girly-thin tip, I wanted to see that sucker snap off in the wood, whereupon I would proudly raise my Buck-Strider and destroy the remains. But that didn't happen, and I was amazed.


Does anyone have experience with getting this knife to scary sharp? I might just give up and make it a mini folding prybar with the secondary function of being a butterknife.
 
>"I had to make a hole in a wooden door to put another doorknob in, and my Buck-Strider was getting a little impacted on the stop pin, making the lock slip over to the right. So after I had done some chiseling with the Buck-Strider, I switched to the Kershaw Vapor to do some prying."

================================

You know, they make tools that are actually designed to do that kind of work. :rolleyes:
 
I bought mine from Wally World during the archery season. I must say for a 19 dollar knife it is a bargain and a half. Mine is razor sharp to boot. Had a choice of several to look at but took the one with the best centering of the blade. Mine is a breeze to sharpen and it seems to stay that way for a good long time. Especially considering this knife rides in my uniform pants and gets general daily use. Don't or haven't cut anything heavy duyt outside of some strapping tape(nylon kind)and caution tape etc. Opens lots of envelopes and cuts string, twine and a couple of ff bowstrings. I hate the thumb stud on it and I think the Chinese did it to just piss off us round eyes. Anyways great little bargain that I carry much more than my 940 which I orginally purchased to wear in my uniform pants pocket. Keep'em sharp
 
that I use my Vapor quite as hard as you :D :D

I got my Vapor (combo edge) about June/2001 - and it is marked made in Japan - so mine may well be "materially" different.

Like you I really like the Vapor for its size and "style" - and really impressed with its very strong frame-lock on basically a budget priced knife.

I only consider myself a "Lite" (tastes better :p ) user - but for me the Vapor is very sharp on the plain edge - the serrated part looks "cool" - but is crude in cutting like all other serrations I know.

I just did some minimal test cutting comparing the Vapor in a review of the same sized Kershaw/Ken Onion LEEK (over on the Knife Reviews & Testing forum) - against some very highly rated/sharp knives including the Chris Reeve large Sebenza with BG-42 steel - all except the serrations, the Vapor acquitted itself very well.

Here's the link to that LEEK review with pics (of the Vapor):

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=243674
 
Originally posted by mnblade
You know, they make tools that are actually designed to do that kind of work. :rolleyes:
Hehe. I didn't have a router, and only had a drill bit attachments for my Dremel. It was pretty slow going, drilling a bazillion holes in the thick wooden door, so I switched over to prying and chiseling with my knives. :) That's more fun, anyway.

I saw your Leek review, UnknownVT. Good job and nice choice of comparison knives. I've never really figured out the sizes of all those Speedsafe knives. About the safety, you can adjust the tension on the screw with a T6 driver. It loosens over time, so you might want to use a bit of blue Loctite.
 
Originally posted by AlphalphaPB
I saw your Leek review, UnknownVT. Good job and nice choice of comparison knives. I've never really figured out the sizes of all those Speedsafe knives. About the safety, you can adjust the tension on the screw with a T6 driver. It loosens over time, so you might want to use a bit of blue Loctite.

...for the kind words.

I thought about the review for quite a bit and really wanted to bring out why I lked the Leek so much - and it was due to the Vapor's "right-sized" and frame-lock.

The tip-safety probably just needed some working to get it to feel just right - as mentioned in the review I don't use it - and it is now working with just about the right feel for even a pinky operation.

Thanks for the hints.
 
I have a small 1640 vapor, Its a great deal for 20 bucks. Mine was made in china and it sharpens shaving sharp. use and carry it at work.I dont put it to too much work, I use it for cutting open boxes and scraping sticky stuff up. Like tape and glue.I bought it when they first came out at wallmart.I have no idea how long i have had it but its been a while. I have had to tighten up the blade only once.
 
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