Leek 1660TiZDP

[thejamppa]

Hi all!

I have change getting never carried Kershaw Leek 1660 TiZDP with Titanium handles and ZDP-189 steel. The tang stamp is Apr 07. Now I have read a lot horror stories of ZDP-189 especially leeks thin tip is prone to break.

But I intend to put this Leek as my gentleman folder and carry it with suit when you really do not want to carry anything that big, like weddings, sunday churches and other things where is a dress code.

So do you guys have any tips and hints how to take care this knife? I plan to use this only light cutting and such.

 

[spiralarchitect]

I think it should be OK, there are only a few that have broken and there seem to be a great many that are still in existence. A few things to consider with this particular knife:

Slice, don't stab, do not pry at all, lateral pressure is what broke all those tips.... and remember, It isn't that you just shouldn't do those things with a ZDP leek.... you shouldn't do much or any of those things with any extremely thin ground folder.... heck, a 14C28N Leek does not excel at any of those things because it is a thinner ground gents type folder, but, they do cut nice.

 

[thejamppa]

Thanks for info, its a helpful. Idea of prying with knife actually shivers me a lot. Leek seems to be perfect gentleman's folder. Lean, beautiful and good quality.

 

[spiralarchitect]

Thanks for info, its a helpful. Idea of prying with knife actually shivers me a lot. Leek seems to be perfect gentleman's folder. Lean, beautiful and good quality.

I have carried on in office type situations for years and have never had an issue. It is a nice knife for comfort of carry and works great in both slacks and jeans. It also has never frightened anyone. The overall size is right at the upper limit for what many sheeple can tolerate and it has a very non-threatening look due to the near wharncliffe shape and lack of radical swedging.

Another positive is that if you can find one at a good price, the demand for these pieces of Kershaw history is still quite high. It will make you a great user, conversation piece and collectable to be enjoyed for many years to come. :thumbup:

 

[DMS1]

Don't sell this knife short. Gentleman's knife, I'll give you that. Don't pry with it - +1.

What you have there is the best performance knife steel on the market. Keyword "performance". I have 2 of these. I have reprofiled both of them down to the finest angle my lansky will do (10 degrees per side I think?), and while they are not brutes, for cutting without lateral pressure, it will do anything you ask of it. When these hit the market they were the only option for ZDP in that price range. I wanted to try the material for hunting, the first year I field dressed 11 deer with one, cutting through the rib cage to the neck, and on small deer, cutting through the pelvic bones. The knife would still shave hair. Now there are other knives on the market, and I grabbed a ZDP blur blemish for around $50, but with the ZDP leek and it's fantastic edge holding ability, I could do anything a big knife could do, only the knife was so handy I always had it with me.

As far as the tip goes, I picked up a used one that had 1/16" of the tip broke off, i just used a whetstone to profile the top and blend it in. Not even noticeable. If the tip does snap, you have one of the best warranties in the business to fix it up.

 

[godot]

My nephew carried one of these during his 1st trip to Iraq and it worked fine. I love my nephew, but he could screw up Secretariat in a 2 horse race,so I think you'll be fine.