Leeks Leeks Everywhere, but not an Onion to Chop - or.. how do I choose one?

B

Beaverius

Joined
Jan 11, 2011
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I've owned and loved a few Kershaw knives, namely a Chive, a Scallion, and I recently purchased a used Blur in fantastic shape to practice sharpening on ebay for a great price....

The scallion is one of my main user knives, but I'm thinking for my uses at work, the Leek may be a better choice. Hell, even it's not a better choice, I just want one:)

I have scoured the net and it seems like there truly is a plethora of choices and I'm having a really hard time choosing.

Various colors, various blade steels, frame locks, liner locks, sweet looking composite blades... over stimulation!

My top choice so far is the fantastic Leek in in S30V steel and the G10 handle but I also know that for what I am gonna use it for, the most basic model would suffice... except that I'm not a huge fan of SS models and it is about $30 or so more. I'm also concerned that the thinness of the SS model may be even too thin even for me and my size S gloved hands.


What models do you guys and gals like?



Thanks in advance for your input!

-Chris
 
I have a composite Leek blem I got from Kershawguy and can't find anything bad to say about it. I did put a small patch of skateboard tape on the handle opposite the clip where my thumb sits when opening it. Makes a BIG difference when gripping to open it. The stainless handles can be a little slick. Love the D2 steel.
 
I owned a Leek S30V G10 1660G10 model...I gave my son in law a choice of knives for Christmas and he picked it out of several because it is such a fun knife...I miss it and will buy another...

That would be my choice and you can find them for 60ish bucks...
 
I have both the the 1660CB and the 1660G10 (factory blems purchased from kershawguy here in the Dealer section). Great knives.

IMG_0682-1.jpg

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The normal stainless steel leek is rather slippery when your hands are wet and if you want to carry it around for EDC its pretty flat in your pocket. So if slipperiness is an issue i'd go with the G10 handles. But the plain stainless steel is a framelock as opposed to a liner lock for the G10 one.

But the best thing about the leek vs the scallion is that satisfying THWACK when you open the leek.
 
I have owned the G10/S30V leek, but I sold it. IMHO it's pretty pointless to have such a coarse material on a very gentlemanly knife - it's a guaranteed way to tear up a person's slacks. Besides, it's not a design that should really be used hard in the first place, imho: it has a very slim, fragile blade design and the liner lock is paper-thin.

On the other hand, I still own the plain model, which is quite a bit slimmer, sleeker, and carries better in the pocket, imho. I also prefer the frame lock design to the liner lock of the G10 version, and the 14c28 steel is pretty good stuff - it works just fine for my uses.
 
Another vote for the composite blade vesion. I have a cb and a regular version. The cb is my favorite. The blems from Kershawguy are definitely a fantastic value. I'm thinking of getting an S30V one just cause. In any version, the leek is one of my
favorite knife patterns.
 
Definitely go with the composite blade. The CB concept lets you get a great steel for a low price. Plus it retains the frame lock design, and it just looks cool.
 
I picked up a G10/S30v version form Kershawguy right before Christmas. Great little knife. I would agree with what has been said about the G10 being too aggressive for such a thinned bladed gentlemen's type knife. I plan on taking the scales off mine and contouring the edge a bit and putting a nice high polish on them.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, that is totally the info from experience of ownership I was hoping for!

Drooling over those fantastic leek shots in the thread above!

It looks like I'm leaning towards the CB model and I noticed that kershawguy has a blem for $38 shipped.. quite a good deal!

My main thing is really that aesthetically I much prefer anything other than the plain old SS but having said that, since I'm buying this primarily for function, it looks like the thinness and value of the CB will win out.

The way I see it is that I can always just... buy another one if I really end up not liking the SS handle :)
 
Dorito Monk said:
I have owned the G10/S30V leek, but I sold it. IMHO it's pretty pointless to have such a coarse material on a very gentlemanly knife - it's a guaranteed way to tear up a person's slacks. Besides, it's not a design that should really be used hard in the first place, imho: it has a very slim, fragile blade design and the liner lock is paper-thin.

On the other hand, I still own the plain model, which is quite a bit slimmer, sleeker, and carries better in the pocket, imho. I also prefer the frame lock design to the liner lock of the G10 version, and the 14c28 steel is pretty good stuff - it works just fine for my uses.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:Totally agree

I do have to add though, in my experience, the Leek holds up to abuse better than it looks like it should...My .02 cents
 
To be honest I don't know anything about the Leeks, other than they seemed like a good knife at an affordable price. So far I have a CB blade , stainless handle version and my wife got me a Damascus one for Christmas. I still would like to get a rainbow anodized one.

DSC01951.jpg
 
So I went ahead an ordered a CB blem from kershawguy for a great price, can't wait to get it!

I came across an all black tungsten dlc iteration of the leek that caught my eye. I know some people are not huge fans of coatings but man I really like that look even if it can come off.

Having only had experience with tini, I'm curious if the tungsten dlc adds any texture to the grip or if it only cosmetic.

Thanks again for the replies!

-chris
 
My kids got me the black tungsten DLC coating one and after over a year of every day use it still looks great! I use the sandpaper/mousepad method of sharpening and the coating still looks great! Great little kni:Dfe!
 
My favorite is the black S30V framelock with the reverse tanto blade. I have had that one for years and the black coating has barely worn off.
 
The standard stainless version has been my EDC for quite some time now. I really like that it is so slim and fits in a pocket so well. The wharncliffe blade shape is personally a favorite of mine, so that's another plus. And the assisted opening is just plain fun.
 
So the only way to get an S30v blade with a frame lock is the reverse tanto leek? That stinks. I was looking at the S30 Blurs but didnt realize they were liners... :(

The CB leek has a D2 cutting edge and a frame lock? Hmm... that might work.
 
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