konfessing my Kershaw Luv!!!

korbiaka

korbiaka

Joined
Jan 19, 2006
Messages
1,686
I work on the road, and have been stopping at every Wally-World I see looking for the $40 Native. Last week, fed up with not having a new knife I bought a Leek, WOW, this is one hell of a knife!!!
For $45 I can't imagine having a better EDC. Opens like a dream and cuts like a razor. Read today about the S30V and G-10 comming in March and I couldn't be more excited!!!
Ken, I gotta give you props on a fantistic design, and Thomas I'm glad to hear you're gonna stick around. You guys make great products and just found one very loyal customer. :thumbup: :) :thumbup:
P.S. Spec Bump is next on my list!!!
 
I'm sure the Spec Bump will be a great knife, but something about the design really turns me off, which is odd considering I really like most of Ken Onion's designs. The S30V, G-10 Leek will be mine, though.
 
korbiaka, your "just found one loyal customer" quote is music to any manufacturer's ears, and I am loving your excitement with your new Leek. Thanks.

Thomas
Kershaw Knives
 
I don't think it's been said yet, and it might ruffle a few feathers here:

The Big Two have been focusing on competing with the low end imported knives...

whereas Kershaw has been focusing, successfully, on the high end stuff, recently...better materials all around.

I think if this keeps going on and a few more big hit designs like the Bump and Leek lineup, in a few years, we might have a Big Three.

If, like Spyderco and to some degree Benchmade, I had a ton of different G10 high end steel knives to choose from, I think it'd already be there...right now, while I like pretty much all Kershaw knives, only a few are on "the list." But with more high end diversity, they could really be a competitor in my book.
 
Artfully Martial said:
I don't think it's been said yet, and it might ruffle a few feathers here:

The Big Two have been focusing on competing with the low end imported knives...

whereas Kershaw has been focusing, successfully, on the high end stuff, recently...better materials all around.

I think if this keeps going on and a few more big hit designs like the Bump and Leek lineup, in a few years, we might have a Big Three.

If, like Spyderco and to some degree Benchmade, I had a ton of different G10 high end steel knives to choose from, I think it'd already be there...right now, while I like pretty much all Kershaw knives, only a few are on "the list." But with more high end diversity, they could really be a competitor in my book.
Click to expand...
Big Two - do you mean Gerber and Buck? Or Benchmade and Spyderco?
 
I love the Kershaw kitchen range and think I would like to get rid of my $5.00 EDC for the Leek S30V-G10, but I am not sure about the stonewash blade as I like blades 'shiny'. Can I polish it out with chrome cleaner? The powder steel blade interests me. When I was at school in the 60's, this was called 'scintered steel'. I don't remember it being that strong. We took the steel powder, put it in a mould, put the top on and then pressed it in an 8" vice. The item was then heated to yellow hot and quenched. Then it was tempered. How are your blades made please?
 
"Gerber and Buck"? You consider Buck to be in the same class as Gerber? Buck is light years ahead of Gerber, although I will be the first to admit they have some catching up to do to be in the same class as Benchmade and Spyderco. I bought an $11 Buck not to long ago, the 476 Diamondback, I consider it to be the best under-$20-knife I have EVER bought. I have YET to see a $50 Gerber I would buy made in the last 10 years that could stand up to this Buck.
 
The new S30V Leek is going to be my birthday gift this year. Had my Rainbow Leek for 20 months now and it's a great EDC. Like to see how the two compare on an EDC basis.

THOMAS W , any chance of getting a Leek customized from Kershaw? I'm thinking a Rainbow handle with the S30V blade. Perhaps a company logo on several G 10 handled knives??
 
Yup, the Leek and Bump are very beautiful knives. Didn't buy one yet since I am waiting for the S30V version.

Ideal would be a Leek with Damast and grip of your choice. Dreeeeeam the impossible dreeeeeam...

Regards, vC
 
I started buying my son pocket knives a couple of years ago. He now has about 15-18, not sure exactly. His Kershaw Leek is his favorite. He turns 15 in march. I may have to buy 2 G10 Leeks when they come out. By the way, I lost some screws and bent the pocket clip on a Kershaw Blur that I had carried every day at work for about a year. I called Kershaw customer service to get replacements and have never been treated better or received an order quicker. I know that beauty or style are subjective but the quality of Kershaw's customer service is not. It is 1st class.
 
Art & blade-guy, in reference to "the big 2" comments, obviously you guys are on seperate pages. Does big mean volume/dollars, or does it mean BF popularity/high end materials.
There are many questions to ask yourself as a manufacturer, and each has its strong points to work off of. In our case, we want more deversifacation, and we have headed in a more performance driven direction. We are also very focused on American made production as well. Country of origin seems to be a hot topic with knife buyers of all price points, and our eyes are on made in the US. It is unfortunate that there is confusion with where certain knives are made, as this area is important these days. We are fortunate in the fact that we have a state of the art US facility with modern machinery that enables us to produce both volume and higher end knives. Hopefully Kershaw will continue to gain more popularity with the BF performance crowd.

Andrew, as mentioned in earlier threads on the S30V Leek, there are 500/600 satin/polished finished Leeks currently on the market. They were made for one of our distributors back east. Tough to find...sure, but they are out there. Also, do a search on S30V (and other steels as well), there has been many dedicated threads on steels that I think will help answer your question.

sever, customizing a Kershaw obviously can not be done on a individual knife to knife basis. A "run" of knives has to be commited to prior to the machine's get ramped up. We do offer a laser engraving service for our dealers if they are interested in logo's etc..but everyone should have a local engraver for their own individual needs.

Thomas
Kershaw Knives
 
Just to add, we are very aware of how important customer service is, and pride ourselves in not forgetting about the customer after the sale. Thanks for the kind words flip.

Thomas
Kershaw Knives
 
The big two are Benchmade and Spyderco, definitely....I respect Buck, but they don't really make many designs I find desireable....and I don't respect gerber--though they do have some designs I like--the ones they stole from Kit Carson, for instance.

No, I think if you were to question knife fans (not just blade forums members), the vast majority's "big two" would be Benchmade and Spyderco...some people just have one of those two on their list, but the love of at least one of them seems almost universal.

Even people that know nothing about knives...my friends and family for instance...they've heard good things about one of them and they latch onto it. Sort of like how people who know nothing about cars know what Ferrari and Lamborghini are.

I had known this before I came to blade forums...I actually had to make a post here for a reality check to see if the people agreed with what I had inferred for years...to see if Benchmade and Spyderco were pretty much agreed upon to be the big two, and it seems like most people (not all) concurred.

So it boils down to my opinion. But I gotta say, I haven't ever dealt with better quality than Benchmade or received a design I liked as much as a Spyderco.

And as for what they are allegedly the best at, it's the knives I want to buy, not sales volumes. I have no knowledge of the latter.

But I'm selfish. I want you to make knives I want to buy. So I can have them. If you can make a good living and I get what I want, all the better.

I already respect Kershaw, have for years actually--even before my favorite Kershaw by leaps and bounds, the Spec Bump. But keep on this route, offer a great variety of high end top materials knives while maintaining the top notch affordable ones, and I'll change it to the big three. Probably not that big of a deal to you, but hey, it's something.
 
Thanks

In case anyone else wonders about S30V? Basically, it is not 'scintered steel'.

- CPM S30V steel is a proprietary steel alloy developed by the Crucible Service Centers corporation. S30V is a highly refined
stainless steel alloy that has been specially formed by a proprietary process. First, the steel alloy is melted, and then forced
through a spray "nozzle" - creating microscopic droplets of molten metal. This metal then cools, forming a powder. The steel
alloy powder is then pressed together under high temperature and pressure into solid steel ingots. This process creates a
steel with uniformly dispersed vanadium carbide particles. The alloy is very homogeneous. S30V is stronger, more corrosion
resistant, has greater edge holding capabilities, and greater lateral sheer strength than comparable steels such as 440C,
ATS 134, or D2 tool steel. CPM S30V is truly a "Next Generation" steel, and is used by many knife makers in their high end
blades.

and info here on S30V

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/printthread.php?t=272214
 
This thread inspired me to fire off an e-mail to kershaw about my old Vapor II. It had been sitting in a drawer unused because I had broken the clip and because I had stripped the screws that connected the two handle halves together, and they worked themselves just loose enough that the handle had some play. Mind you, that was after a couple years of EDC, and a couple months of being my work knife (construction).

I offered to pay cost of shipping and parts and such to get it back up and running, because I missed the old workhorse, and they're shipping me all the goodies free. That's really great customer service, and it's a great knife to boot (probably the best value I've used).

Can't wait to play with a leek.
 
Hi Thomas. I'm glad to see Kershaw represented here. I like Kershaw knives. Most of my kershaws are pre- Ken Onions. I have a rainbow leek. it's knife ,but Kershaw's line in the past few years are 90,000 variations on the same shape. I would like to see some knives with a variationsof shapes.
I like the Military Boot Knife, but I would like to see it with a thinner, more usable edge.
 
My father was amazed at the quality of my stainless Leek when I showed it to him recently and it takes a lot to impress him.
 
When I think of Big 2 in reference to the knife world, Benchmade does not come to mind. I suppose I am thinking in terms of dollars and product volume. Off the top of my head I think Spyderco, Buck, Gerber, and Victorinox are the leading manufacturers. Benchmade seems to appeal a level above the average knife consumer. I don't think of them making the "everyman's knife".
 
I saw this post and decided to join up. I am also a lover of Kershaw knives. I've had a few and my current EDC is a leek. I love it. Perfect knife. Now if they would only make a leek without assisted opening I'd be really happy.
 
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