Kershaw vs. Buck

neffarious said:
Yea, um no. Not even close. Kershaw lists all of their steel types on the package or knife. just because they make cheap knives for people that want cheap knives does not mean they are Gerber.
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Kershaw's new lineup is exclusively Chinese made. Lots of low quality 3CR steel. That's Gerber.
 
I wouldn't call them gerber just yet but it seems they are vastly expanding their Chinese production.
 
Fanglekai said:
Kershaw's new lineup is exclusively Chinese made. Lots of low quality 3CR steel. That's Gerber.
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They do have some 3cr blades, but to my knowledge never tried to mask it with the labels "stainless" or "surgical", but have been completely up front about it: Not Gerber.

Most of their Chinese line uses a much better, 8cr flavor, with better consistency across the board then probably any other brand using the same stuff: Not Gerber.

If anything I see them making a strategic business move in overstepping into Gerber's low end territory with a better low end product, while still maintaining diversity and outshining Gerber on the higher quality fronts as well... So I wouldn't say " Kershaw is Gerber", in as much as Kershaw is looking to snag a larger share of the "avg. consumer" market where Gerber has laid root for so long now.
 
Buck for hunting, fishing, camp, etc. Real life uses. Kershaw for EDC, you know, showing it to friends and opening mail and stuff.
 
I will say I prefer my Bucks. Powerful medicine for things that need cutting and gutting and even light chopping.

But I do have a Kershaw I like, too. A Select Fire that sits in my motorcycle tool bin under the seat. Buck doesn't make a tool like that.

Zieg
 
coop1957 said:
This is a scary question. Kershaw is more innovative and market savy. Buck more traditional and less responsive to market trends. My greatest fear is that 20 years from now I will be telling my grandkids about long gone great American knife makers Buck, Kershaw and Case.
Keep manufacturing here. Buy with your grandkids in mind.
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Innovative? Hmm, Buck has a few locking mechs to their credit. Kershaw?
 
ursamajor said:
Innovative? Hmm, Buck has a few locking mechs to their credit. Kershaw?
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You might want to do some research from over the years and I'm not just talking about locking mechanisms. Kershaw has a ton of patents and awards.
 
Slacker180 said:
Kershaw. Love my s30v Blur and camber. Just wish they didn't have speedsafe.
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Remove it, both of those knives make great de-assisted blades, every speedsafe knife I've owned (Kershaw and ZT) was de-assisted as soon as I got it.

As for Buck vs Kershaw , Kershaw
 
afishhunter said:
Buck. Kershaw does not make a lockback, or any slip joints, as far as I know. I also like the heat treat Buck gives all their knives, along with their forever warranty.
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Wrong answer. They make quite a few lockbacks and traditional style knives [emoji2]
 
Fanglekai said:
Kershaw's new lineup is exclusively Chinese made. Lots of low quality 3CR steel. That's Gerber.
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Nope. Skyline. Leek. Chive. The big version of them, the blur, and NUMEROUS others including some new autos. Please get your facts correct before calling me out.
 
Buck; 5th generation, family owned business, predominantly US made. Plus, I simply love the classics in their line like the 110 and 300 series.
 
bad_juju said:
Did you maybe mean new models for this year? Don't be so foppish
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When you go on their site and check the box for "new", that's what I'm talking about. I see a bunch of 3cr and 4cr and some 8cr. Out of the new models only 5 are made in the US. Out of those 5, 3 are automatics, which won't be legal in a lot of states. 21 are made in China. If we take out the autos we're left with 23 knives. 2/23 are made in the US this year. 8.7%. Those are 420HC. I guess that's better than 0%, but this has been the trend with Kershaw for the past several years. They used to make a bunch of new models in the US and they used S30V, ELMAX, or at least the Sandvik. This trend is disappointing.
 
neffarious said:
Nope. Skyline. Leek. Chive. The big version of them, the blur, and NUMEROUS others including some new autos. Please get your facts correct before calling me out.
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Those are old. I was referring to new models. That's why I said "new lineup". Get your facts correct before calling me out.
 
It's kind of disappointing. I've heard it said that if a newbie wanted a quality affordable knife they could pick any kershaw they wanted. Now not so much.
 
Fanglekai said:
When you go on their site and check the box for "new", that's what I'm talking about. I see a bunch of 3cr and 4cr and some 8cr. Out of the new models only 5 are made in the US. Out of those 5, 3 are automatics, which won't be legal in a lot of states. 21 are made in China. If we take out the autos we're left with 23 knives. 2/23 are made in the US this year. 8.7%. Those are 420HC. I guess that's better than 0%, but this has been the trend with Kershaw for the past several years. They used to make a bunch of new models in the US and they used S30V, ELMAX, or at least the Sandvik. This trend is disappointing.
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Elmax Leeks and Knockouts came out last year.

Kershaw is a value brand.

It doesn't make since to compete with their own high end brand ZT.

Also,
Its in poor taste to say Kershaw is the same as Gerber.
 
Buck based on the purchases over the past 30 years. I have a good number of Bucks both folders and fixed. I have two Kershaw folders
I use occasionally. Buck wins for me.
 
kershaw for edc, buck for hunting. they have their applications, but kershaw has the edge over buck I think, better designs and steels. ZT is simply on a different level above Buck.
 
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