- Joined
- Sep 3, 2010
- Messages
- 2,460
Well, when I went to the Kershaw factory sale, I knew one of the things that I was looking for was a very light knife that would ride well in the athletic shorts that I wear all day when I am not out of the house. All previous knives had caused a lot of, shall we say, down-leg drag, and so I needed something light. When I saw the olive handled black bladed liner lock model (1660OLBLK), I snapped it up. It was a hard mental battle not to also buy a blue smoke version, but I resisted and got a shallot instead. When I got it home, I couldn't stop flipping it. and flipping it. and flipping it. it was so smooth and so fast that it was just addictive. I fell in love and have been carrying it for a month almost every day. Here are my comments.
Pros: I love the locking system. Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that the stop pin is the only thing that really matters as far as keeping the blade in place, and that the liner lock has to be horrible to not do it's job. The whole knife is smooth and I just love it.
The blade shape is about perfect for every day use, though the tip isn't perfect. I will talk about this later in the Cons section. Also, the thickness of the knife, or lack of it, is also both a pro and a con.
The form factor is amazing. not too round, not too pointy. just right. Also, the aluminum is quite comfortable, especially when it is allowed to absorb lots and lots of body heat.
The clip is nice. it is pretty tight, but not too tight. it is a bit big for the knife, though.
I love the flipper. When in conjunction with the speed assist, can you say addiction?
The steel is good. I have used this knife for everything from cutting bananas to light firewood batoning. I have barely resharpened it, and it is still just fine.
Mehs: I am not a huge fan of the coating. It is nice, but the pictures will show that just regular use has started to wear on it.
The thumbstuds are useless in general. they are blade stops, I guess, but they are just useless for anything else.
The lockup is not perfect. I have a pic later, and it is fine, with no sides of the blade rubbing, but it isn't dead center.
Cons: I have a love/hate relationship with the tip of this knife. While it is very nice for almost everything, it is a stinking laser beam, and responds to prying about as well. I am always worried about it, and have bent it before.
The lock is just unnecessary, IMO. The knife stays closed very well, and the lock just detracts from the look of the knife.
Everything about this knife seems a little thin, which is slightly frightening, but I thought that the 0200 was just about right, so I am probably just paranoid.
Overall, I love this knife. I would recommend it again, and never hesitate to approve if someone bought it. I feel that this completes my EDC completely, and that the only knife that I really want to the point of almost throwing up when I know I can't afford it, is the TILT. Trust me, I want it bad.
Now, pics.
This is an overall pic of the knife. I can't get the color of the handle very well, but it is a very nice, almost olive drab green.
This is the tip. It is just scary thin.
This thing is about as thin as you can get without scaring me. as it is, it is amazing.
This is the liner lock compared to the whole knife. while thin, pushing on the spine creates no distortion and no slip.
lockup is about 40 percent.
Just a random shot. Super nit pick- I think there is a little too much writing on the side of the blade. However, I would never factor that into any decision that I made about the knife.
the coating is wearing just a little bit. However, this never leaves the house, and so I'm not really worrying about it.
Here is a shot of the tip centering. overall, it is fine with me. not perfection, but, for 23 bucks, what do you want.
Finally, an action shot
. This thing puts greased lighting to shame.
Please let me know how I did on the review.
Steven
Pros: I love the locking system. Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that the stop pin is the only thing that really matters as far as keeping the blade in place, and that the liner lock has to be horrible to not do it's job. The whole knife is smooth and I just love it.
The blade shape is about perfect for every day use, though the tip isn't perfect. I will talk about this later in the Cons section. Also, the thickness of the knife, or lack of it, is also both a pro and a con.
The form factor is amazing. not too round, not too pointy. just right. Also, the aluminum is quite comfortable, especially when it is allowed to absorb lots and lots of body heat.
The clip is nice. it is pretty tight, but not too tight. it is a bit big for the knife, though.
I love the flipper. When in conjunction with the speed assist, can you say addiction?
The steel is good. I have used this knife for everything from cutting bananas to light firewood batoning. I have barely resharpened it, and it is still just fine.
Mehs: I am not a huge fan of the coating. It is nice, but the pictures will show that just regular use has started to wear on it.
The thumbstuds are useless in general. they are blade stops, I guess, but they are just useless for anything else.
The lockup is not perfect. I have a pic later, and it is fine, with no sides of the blade rubbing, but it isn't dead center.
Cons: I have a love/hate relationship with the tip of this knife. While it is very nice for almost everything, it is a stinking laser beam, and responds to prying about as well. I am always worried about it, and have bent it before.
The lock is just unnecessary, IMO. The knife stays closed very well, and the lock just detracts from the look of the knife.
Everything about this knife seems a little thin, which is slightly frightening, but I thought that the 0200 was just about right, so I am probably just paranoid.
Overall, I love this knife. I would recommend it again, and never hesitate to approve if someone bought it. I feel that this completes my EDC completely, and that the only knife that I really want to the point of almost throwing up when I know I can't afford it, is the TILT. Trust me, I want it bad.
Now, pics.
This is an overall pic of the knife. I can't get the color of the handle very well, but it is a very nice, almost olive drab green.
This is the tip. It is just scary thin.
This thing is about as thin as you can get without scaring me. as it is, it is amazing.
This is the liner lock compared to the whole knife. while thin, pushing on the spine creates no distortion and no slip.
lockup is about 40 percent.
Just a random shot. Super nit pick- I think there is a little too much writing on the side of the blade. However, I would never factor that into any decision that I made about the knife.
the coating is wearing just a little bit. However, this never leaves the house, and so I'm not really worrying about it.
Here is a shot of the tip centering. overall, it is fine with me. not perfection, but, for 23 bucks, what do you want.
Finally, an action shot
. This thing puts greased lighting to shame. Please let me know how I did on the review.
Steven
