Kershaw & ZT: Speedsafe vs. KVT

Moxy

Moxy

Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Messages
1,648
Which do you prefer?

I used to think that a bearing pivot was a premium feature that is mostly found on higher end knives. But now Kershaw is releasing the Nura and the Strobe, both of which are affordable flippers that feature KVT bearings. I suppose thats their answer to CRKT's Ripple with IKBS. To my knowledge that was one of the only "budget" knives that featured a bearing pivot. When it comes to flippers, or any other "flickable" knife that needs a very low resistance pivot, I would certainly prefer KVT over washers. And with a good detent KVT works just as well as Speedsafe in my opinion. So would Kershaw or ZT do away with speedsafe in favor of KVT? Should they? I'd welcome the change.
 
Moxy said:
Which do you prefer?

I used to think that a bearing pivot was a premium feature that is mostly found on higher end knives. But now Kershaw is releasing the Nura and the Strobe, both of which are affordable flippers that feature KVT bearings. I suppose thats their answer to CRKT's Ripple with IKBS. To my knowledge that was one of the only "budget" knives that featured a bearing pivot. When it comes to flippers, or any other "flickable" knife that needs a very low resistance pivot, I would certainly prefer KVT over washers. And with a good detent KVT works just as well as Speedsafe in my opinion. So would Kershaw or ZT do away with speedsafe in favor of KVT? Should they? I'd welcome the change.
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I would think there is plenty of room for both. A lot of Speedsafe knives get sold get sold every year. I do like KVT a lot and it's nice to see it becoming more available at varying price points.
 
I want a speedssafe kvt flipper, that would be one fast knife.
 
KVT all day...however I don't like any assisted open knife so perhaps I'm a bit biased. :o
 
Given a single choice I'd go with KVT. I think there's still room for SpeedSafe since some people have difficulty firing a manual flipper.

This is a good question for a poll where I'd add a third option for manual thumbstud opening.
 
Why not have both? Assisted is better than manual, and bearing is better than washer/etc.. an assisted with bearing would be awesome.
 
AO for me. Not a fan of KVT because it makes more lots of cavity to collect dirt and grime.

The AO cavity is similar I suppose, but it's not at the blade so a non-issue IMO.
 
After carrying a knife with KVT bearings, I have to say that I prefer washers. I use really good lube on the bearings and really, they're almost too smooth. Call me crazy. And I've had the bearings gunk up with orange juice and other random crap before. I don't like HAVING to break my knife apart to clean the crud off so it'll remain smooth.
 
Divine_Madcat said:
Why not have both? [IMO,] Assisted is better than manual, and bearing is better than washer/etc.. an assisted with bearing would be awesome.
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Fixed for you...

If you ask me, assist is a gimmick. I can open a properly tuned manual knife at least as fast as an assisted opener and I never have to worry about it flinging open in my pocket or goofing up with a sketchy grip and opening it then dropping it as it flings open. I'll take a KVT knife over speedsafe any day. I just bought a 0770CF and deassisted it and it flips horribly now but I'll be improving the detent to fix that and it'll be excellent.
 
When I started collecting knives, I was all about speedsafe. As my taste got more "refined" I moved torwards KVT and thought that it was the bees knees. Within the last month or so I have sold off the majority of my high end knives (crk, strider, customs, kvt zt's), becuase they just were not getting used. I started carring my blurs, needs works, and tyrade quite a bit more, and wondered why I ever went away from them. I would have to say that If I had to choose one over the other, I would pick speedsafe every time. Why? No reason except I like it more durring actual use, which is what knives are for to begin with. Of course this is all just my opinion. However, as soon as I finish typing this, I am going to over a Kershaw diskin kvt flipper, because the price is too good to pass up.
 
Definitely uses for both. I love my 566 and with AO it opens very time. Non AO opens most times but every now and then it might not lock. I look at it like manual or auto trans, some like one, some like the other.

Just to add here, I've carried my zt 566 every day for 3 months and it never once opened in my pocket or fell out of my hand when I opened it. There are so many options available I don't know why anybody would buy one and try to turn it into the other.
 
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oharal said:
Fixed for you...

If you ask me, assist is a gimmick. I can open a properly tuned manual knife at least as fast as an assisted opener and I never have to worry about it flinging open in my pocket or goofing up with a sketchy grip and opening it then dropping it as it flings open. I'll take a KVT knife over speedsafe any day. I just bought a 0770CF and deassisted it and it flips horribly now but I'll be improving the detent to fix that and it'll be excellent.
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No, you didn't fix it for me (and i cant stand that idea anyway)..

I do chuckle at the excuses people make to convince themselves why they don't want it. You bought a knife, modified it (making it function worse) and then have to modify it another way, just to get it to perform like before. Doesn't make an ounce of sense, but as they say with people and parting money....
 
I prefer the kvt over assisted due to the ease of closing one handed. I don't like overcoming the spring to get them closed.
 
Divine_Madcat said:
No, you didn't fix it for me (and i cant stand that idea anyway)..

I do chuckle at the excuses people make to convince themselves why they don't want it. You bought a knife, modified it (making it function worse) and then have to modify it another way, just to get it to perform like before. Doesn't make an ounce of sense, but as they say with people and parting money....
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No really I did fix it for you. Surely you don't think you've got the be-all, end-all opinion as an omniscient knife enthusiast?

The point of speedsafe is to quickly open a knife one handed. If I can do that myself, then why would I need an extra feature that will eventually break? The 0770 I deassisted is a lously manual flipper because it was designed to be a speedsafe knife. That ought to be fairly obvious. Since I have the tools and the inclination, I can easily make it a fantastic flipper just how I like it so why wouldn't I buy a knife with a design I really like and then personalize it to suit my wants more effectively? Also notice that I say a manual knife suite me better than an a/o. If you like an a/o that's great for you and I would never imply that you were a fool for spending your money on something I don't prefer so I don't really understand why you would go there. If it doesn't make sense that other people might have different tastes than you, then forums probably aren't for you.
 
oharal said:
No really I did fix it for you. Surely you don't think you've got the be-all, end-all opinion as an omniscient knife enthusiast?

The point of speedsafe is to quickly open a knife one handed. If I can do that myself, then why would I need an extra feature that will eventually break? The 0770 I deassisted is a lously manual flipper because it was designed to be a speedsafe knife. That ought to be fairly obvious. Since I have the tools and the inclination, I can easily make it a fantastic flipper just how I like it so why wouldn't I buy a knife with a design I really like and then personalize it to suit my wants more effectively? Also notice that I say a manual knife suite me better than an a/o. If you like an a/o that's great for you and I would never imply that you were a fool for spending your money on something I don't prefer so I don't really understand why you would go there. If it doesn't make sense that other people might have different tastes than you, then forums probably aren't for you.
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No, no, you really didn't. Of course i dont have the be-all end-all opinion; but we are looking at a technological standpoint, not an opinion. The assisted works faster and easier; you may not like that, but no opinion is going to change it either.

As for my other statement - Its not about wanting a manual; its about buying an automatic, modifying, and then being upset that after being modified that it doesn't work as well. Its as silly as buying an auto tranny car, and then complaining that you conversion to manual made it worse, and that you will have to do additional work to get it to just as good as before. I dont see the point of going through all the trouble, when there are plenty of tools already configured as you want.
 
Divine_Madcat said:
we are looking at a technological standpoint, not an opinion. The assisted works faster and easier
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Personally, I find that I can open a properly tuned manual knife (my TiLT, 0777, Skyline) at least as fast as any of the assisted openers I have owned. Plus I don't have to deal with compressing the spring when closing or the spring breaking. I knew full well when I bout the 0770 that it was 1) assisted and 2) that I didn't like that. I knew that I liked the design and that I could easily make it into a great manual flipper in a few minutes on the work bench. I was never upset about anything.
 
Divine_Madcat said:
No, no, you really didn't. Of course i dont have the be-all end-all opinion; but we are looking at a technological standpoint, not an opinion. The assisted works faster and easier; you may not like that, but no opinion is going to change it either.
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If I can open a manual knife as fast or even close to as fast as an assisted and can close it way faster how exactly is assisted the best there is? The added tension during closing is annoying at best. I'm totally with oharal on this one.
 
oharal said:
Personally, I find that I can open a properly tuned manual knife (my TiLT, 0777, Skyline) at least as fast as any of the assisted openers I have owned. Plus I don't have to deal with compressing the spring when closing or the spring breaking. I knew full well when I bout the 0770 that it was 1) assisted and 2) that I didn't like that. I knew that I liked the design and that I could easily make it into a great manual flipper in a few minutes on the work bench. I was never upset about anything.
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It may physically open as fast, but time is still lost in resetting your hand after opening. AO, your thumb naturally flicks into position after the blade, and you are ready to go faster. Not to mention things like glovework doesn't require you to stick to the blade the whole time; tap it out without worry. As for the other points -
1) People actually have a problem closing an AO blade? Frankly, if it is that hard to close, i would imagine the knife is broken.
2) Springs break, and bearings gum up. Even the most basic of manual systems can be broken in many ways..

And maybe i am reading it wrong, but you sure seem unhappy with the knife after messing it it (and have to tinker more to get it back to good again)....
oharal said:
I just bought a 0770CF and deassisted it and it flips horribly now ....
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Knives typically get easier to close when an assist mechanism breaks because the assist mechanism typically serves as the detent too. Just an FYI.
 
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