New Kershaws 2017!

The dividend sure looks like a good functional knife.

The reverb is interesting... I don't know what to think of it. Weight is very solid, blade shape it nice. It's kind of got a fancy keychain knife look to it. Seems like it could be a cheap way to get a dragonfly kind of knife, super portable. Makes me wonder if the clip is small enough to put on a zipper ring on a bag.
 
their almost all 8cr... hell no. also less USA made versions. I won't be buying any kershaws this year. the one made in USA with 440xx isn't that bad lookin, but its not making me want to throw money at it either.

my s30v blur and skyline are descent enough
 
Lapedog said:
I love Kershaw and KAI so don't take this the wrong way. Too many of Kershaw's knives these days seem like they are trying too hard to be different. As if that gives the knife some unique style. All these weird textures and shapes, weird milled grooves in the handle. Overall alot of their designs look overdone and BUSY!! They should stick to their more classic designs. Their Blur and Boa, Speedbump, those were all great models with nice designs.

Most of Kershaw's good knives are the ones designed by third party designers. I think Kershaw needs to stop with these wack blades and have more confidence in their products so they will sell on quality rather than flash and attention grabbing looks. I mean the knives look like aborted alien fetuses. They should go back to using Sandvick steel too. Although I actually like 8cr13mov.

If they would spend less on wacky textures, milling, cutouts and design they could put that money in the blade steel instead. Come on Kershaw none of these are design classics!
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yep. you summed it up well . and yeah the boa was a great knife. wish i had grabbed an extra large version plain edge.
 
Lapedog said:
I love Kershaw and KAI so don't take this the wrong way. Too many of Kershaw's knives these days seem like they are trying too hard to be different. As if that gives the knife some unique style. All these weird textures and shapes, weird milled grooves in the handle. Overall alot of their designs look overdone and BUSY!! They should stick to their more classic designs. Their Blur and Boa, Speedbump, those were all great models with nice designs.

Most of Kershaw's good knives are the ones designed by third party designers. I think Kershaw needs to stop with these wack blades and have more confidence in their products so they will sell on quality rather than flash and attention grabbing looks. I mean the knives look like aborted alien fetuses. They should go back to using Sandvick steel too. Although I actually like 8cr13mov.

If they would spend less on wacky textures, milling, cutouts and design they could put that money in the blade steel instead. Come on Kershaw none of these are design classics!
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I don't believe the companies they contract with in China work with anything but Chinese steel. I'm also not sure if they can procure the higher end stuff in enough quantity. Reate and other companies can get it in small quantities for a couple thousand knives but I don't think KAI plays in those numbers. That may change in the future, who knows but the Chinese knives are value knives and so they get value steel.

As far as designs go, several years ago, the big knock on Kershaw was every knife looked the same. black g10, blasted blade, speedsafe etc. So I guess its a damned if they do, damned if they don't.

LG&M said:
They can't be too proud of the Natrix, after all they used 8Cr13MoV.
I'm done with 8Cr13MoV.
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It's a value version so it gets value steel. Want better, get the ZT0770 or the ZT0777.

Mo2 said:
their almost all 8cr... hell no. also less USA made versions. I won't be buying any kershaws this year. the one made in USA with 440xx isn't that bad lookin, but its not making me want to throw money at it either.

my s30v blur and skyline are descent enough
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How less USA Made ones? They have introduced several new USA models in the last couple of years and discontinued very few.

Kershaw is the value brand is it's really hard to make sub $100 knives in the USA.
 
less "new" USA made. other than speed safe the rest of the Kershaw USA made knives are great.

sadly I know its hard to produce cheap knives with good materials as they do cost more. and I accept that and because of that I cannot buy those from Kershaw but I am not the intended target, and that's fine.
 
Lapedog said:
I really wish that they would stop putting speedsafe on so many of their desireable models.
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Ditto, especially since I live in a country where AOs are considered illegal.

What's the point of making so many knives that fall within the magic 3" blade length and then make them illegal for certain countries to import by putting in SpeedSafe.
 
Etna said:
Ditto, especially since I live in a country where AOs are considered illegal.

What's the point of making so many knives that fall within the magic 3" blade length and then make them illegal for certain countries to import by putting in SpeedSafe.
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its because speed safe sells. noobs who are new to knives and don't know any better like it, like it a lot. the money they make selling speed safe is the majority of sales.
 
Etna said:
Ditto, especially since I live in a country where AOs are considered illegal.

What's the point of making so many knives that fall within the magic 3" blade length and then make them illegal for certain countries to import by putting in SpeedSafe.
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Because other countries that buy way more knives don't have such problems.
 
[video=youtube;NfP5nIZiLvE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfP5nIZiLvE[/video]
 
While I would also like to see more USA made models (especially with 14c28n), my biggest gripe is with the speedsafe dominance as well.

I know we have been told by Kershaw that it's what sells but how trustworthy is that when 85% of what they sell is Speedsafe and most of the manual models they offer are smaller, gimmicky knives. When the Strobe and Nura came out with KVT flippers a few years ago, it was supposedly just the start of many more. Yet none ever came.

To be honest, I think this is why that chinese-direct brand has done so well. Sure they have their knockoffs but I think it's more they are giving knife collectors that buy "less expensive" knives for the money what THEY want. Even if they would give you a knife that had a proper detent so we at least had the option of taking out the torsion bar and operating it manually, but this seems like another step that may add a few cents to the production costs per knife. Given that option I think knife people would buy more than enough knives they would normally pass on to offset that cost. There's been so many knives I might have purchased over the years if that was an option. Probably in just the Knockout alone.
 
I also am tired Kershaw's insistence on 8cr13mov/Speedsafe, but I really like the look of the Al Mar flipper.
It appears to have a detent ball, so maybe can be de-assisted.

Induction and Dividend also look good.
 
The more I look at the CF Leek the more I want one, they will probably get some money form me for one of those also. Like others I wish more were made in the US, I'd be a lot more interested if they were.
 
RamZar said:
[video=youtube;NfP5nIZiLvE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfP5nIZiLvE[/video]
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Okay, having a video helps a lot. There are a lot of new models to go through. In general, I find many of them simply too short in blade length for me personally. Some that I do really like:

Deadline: Like the blade. Very interested in the TDS. Wish the handle wasn't so funky.

Barstow: I wish it were bigger. Still really like it. At that price point I might have to get one.

Flourish: Great looking budget EDC.

Emersons: These are more what I was expecting than the previous ones kershaw put out. Very interested.

Launch 7: If I could carry an Auto this would be a nice option.

Honorable mentions but too short go to: induction and natrix

Can't wait to see this in the wild with some actual reviews.
 
It's interesting to read all of the negative comments about the steel. It seems that the higher-end market is getting a little taste of what us low-enders have had to live with—beautiful designs that were never intended for them.

My biggest gripe about any knife manufacturer is how they play 'keep away' with some of their best designs. There's no reason to not offer the same aesthetic value to all segments of the market except for maintaining luxury branding b.s. (hearing me, Benchmade?) Selling an affordable version of a high-end design will only MAKE money. No high-end collector is going to stop buying ZT's because Kershaw put out a version for the masses. It's idiocy to leave so much money on the table and it looks like Kershaw finally woke up.

People who complain about 8cr on the Natrix are missing the whole point. Kershaw had a tiny bit of blame to shoulder for the whole Microtech fiasco. If you build sizeable market demand and buzz for a product then run limited numbers or quit making them altogether, then someone will swoop in to take the prize—thus, the clone wars. Kershaw realized that if they wanted to truly 'own it' they had to make the design as widely available as possible, high and low. I for one hope this marks a turning point for the entire industry.

If you hate clones then you should support this effort, FULLY. If you don't like 8cr then buy a ZT because these knives were not made for you. It's that simple.

P.S. If anyone from Kershaw happens to read this... PLEASE make more affordable versions of the Tilt and ZT 0888. A dream, I know, but I never thought I would see something like the Natrix.

Edit: Additional observations... I agree with criticism regarding the Speedsafe dominance, but it's hard to argue with market numbers. Perhaps more research into a good convertible that can be stripped down to manual operation and please both sides. I also agree with more Sandvik 14c28n—Real Steel, a Chinese company, uses it on their $50 folders, so Kershaw should be able to offer more of it on their budget line. Enough with the Art Deco styling. If they are only going to make a small number of manual flippers then they shouldn't get so tricky with the designs and make them more widely appealing. Only one black oxide blade? YES! Hopefully this is a sign. The Flourish does what the Showtime should have because black oxide looks like shit in short order. I'm not personally excited about the high contrast two-tone look but I AM stoked that Kershaw may be steering away from black oxide in general.
 
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I'll likely get a Deadline just because the tech involved is cool and wharncliffes are always useful and an Induction because Hawk Lock flipper. No real interest in the Natrix, but it made me laugh out loud and is therefore worth mentioning. One might become a gift for someone just to support that kind of a 'screw you'.
 
ThereCanBeOnlyOne said:
It's interesting to read all of the negative comments about the steel. It seems that the higher-end market is getting a little taste of what us low-enders have had to live with—beautiful designs that were never intended for them.

My biggest gripe about any knife manufacturer is how they play 'keep away' with some of their best designs. There's no reason to not offer the same aesthetic value to all segments of the market except for maintaining luxury branding b.s. (hearing me, Benchmade?) Selling an affordable version of a high-end design will only MAKE money. No high-end collector is going to stop buying ZT's because Kershaw put out a version for the masses. It's idiocy to leave so much money on the table and it looks like Kershaw finally woke up.

People who complain about 8cr on the Natrix are missing the whole point. Kershaw had a tiny bit of blame to shoulder for the whole Microtech fiasco. If you build sizeable market demand and buzz for a product then run limited numbers or quit making them altogether, then someone will swoop in to take the prize—thus, the clone wars. Kershaw realized that if they wanted to truly 'own it' they had to make the design as widely available as possible, high and low. I for one hope this marks a turning point for the entire industry.

If you hate clones then you should support this effort, FULLY. If you don't like 8cr then buy a ZT because these knives were not made for you. It's that simple.
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Couldn't agree more, well said.
 
ThereCanBeOnlyOne said:
People who complain about 8cr on the Natrix are missing the whole point. Kershaw had a tiny bit of blame to shoulder for the whole Microtech fiasco. If you build sizeable market demand and buzz for a product then run limited numbers or quit making them altogether, then someone will swoop in to take the prize—thus, the clone wars.
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Whilst I see you're point, I can't agree. One thing is to make a design to satisfy the demand already in place, another thing is to offer a model exactly the same and just changing its name.

Winning the prize by your hard work is one thing, stealing others work is a whole different story.
 
I'm cool with 8cr13, not so cool with speedsafe. I can tolerate it though.

Glad to see them adding more Emerson collabs.
 
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