New Kershaws? What is this?

Paratrooper06 said:
Would you trust D2 heat treat from anyone but Civivi?
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Chinese arguably not, though I think the only Chinese knife I have left that is in D2 is the Elementum (and I haven't really done much with it). D2 in general however, I have two Medfords that I have used pretty hard that have performed very well.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
MTech?
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MTech doesn't make it, CH Knives does, they're an odd duck but they're run by Richard Wu's brother. Wu is the guy behind Rike, and can certainly make knives properly. Given that they have done a collab or two between the two companies, I feel like CH is probably a decent enough off-brand brand. I've never handled one myself though. They don't get bad feedback and there are a fair amount of them in the world now. It's definitely going to be the best build quality MTech ever.
 
tony281sc2 said:
that’s a pretty bold statement. I don’t see that happening but I could imagine some companies taking a turn from being more in the “enthusiast” market to selling more of the Walmart crap to teenagers. That’s probably where they make half their money anyway.
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I think sometimes we hobbyists and aficionados get a little too caught up in the elitist levels of the industry and lose sight sometimes of the cold hard truth: Cheaper usually sells better. People will choose quantity over quality. There is a reason companies make “gas station knives”, and why Amazon carries a massive selection of Chinese knives sub $50. It’s impressive that some domestic companies find a way to compete at all. Chinese made products have an incredible market share, but margins are low.. and things like tariffs help with domestic competition.

Companies that really rattle the industry as it pertains to us are WE and Reate (and designers outsourcing with them), but it often times promotes growth in times of stagnation.
 
^ Exactly this!

It is far too easy for those of us on this message board to lose sight of the much larger demographic that exists. Spending upwards of $200 (which is easy given the tastes that many of us have) is unheard of for most - they only need something that cuts. Essentially a $40 (INSERT NAME HERE) knife cuts and is basically disposable once it has lost it's edge.

There is little question that many makers today are marketing towards that crowd.
 
I don't think the Launch 14 is too terrible, but it's definitely not my style. Now the Federalist is something I'm very interested in. I think they did a great job on that knife, although I wish it had a clip.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
Well, I’ll call that *D2, the asterisk means you’re rolling the dice.

If it doesn’t come from Civivi, you just don’t know if it’s actual D2, or if someone melted down some pots and pans, or parts from a Volkswagen.
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Paratrooper06 said:
MTech?
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There has been legitimate concern over obscure brands stamping "D2" on steels like 3Cr13, 5Cr15, etc. It happens. It's a big part of why people don't initially trust new or obscure Chinese brands. The following companies are known to use real D2 (although it is still Chinese D2 and there are some considerations on that). This is only off the top of my head so there may be more...

WE (including Civivi and Sencut)
Kizer
Bestech
Artisan (including CJRB)
TwoSun
Steel Will
Ganzo
Kubey
Petrified Fish
CH

Like I originally said and N NG VI also mentioned, MTech is not manufacturing the knife in question. This is a CH knife rebranded for MTech. I'm not sure that MTech actually makes anything. It's possible that their entire business model has been to rebrand and distribute Chinese-made knives to America. Remember that they've been around for a long time. I remember buying an MTech in the 1990s, long before I'd ever heard of specific Chinese manufacturers or could buy knives directly from China. Their bad reputation is based on their history of bringing us very cheaply made knives, often with outlandish or tacticool designs.

The joke here is that while some of these new Kershaw knives are evoking that historical trend from MTech, MTech has since stepped up to offer a few decently made knives with better materials for a better price.
 
BTTLBRN said:
... It is far too easy for those of us on this message board to lose sight of the much larger demographic that exists. Spending upwards of $200 (which is easy given the tastes that many of us have) is unheard of for most - they only need something that cuts. Essentially a $40 (INSERT NAME HERE) knife cuts and is basically disposable once it has lost it's edge. ...
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That seems to be the common theme with companies like CRKT and Kershaw. They apparently sell a lot of knives at Dick's, the sporting goods counter at Walmart, etc. Brands like Civivi (et al.) just aren't there to compete. How many people shopping there have never even heard of those brands? They might not know about Blade Forums or retailers like BladeHQ.

That's an especially big shame in today's market. Now you can get a surprisingly good EDC knife for around $40. For instance, consider the Sencut Snap from WE. It has a good manual action riding on ceramic bearings. It has a nice blade with decent geometry. It uses 9Cr18Mov with an excellent heat treatment. You can get the fancy version with wood scales for less than $45!
 
NG VI said:
D2 is a hundred years old and super common, if you're buying from any semi-legitimate manufacturer there is zero reason to question whether they're using what they say they are. Unless something weird happens, but like we saw with Bark River, manufacturing mistakes can and do happen and a human error of mislabeling or improperly storing materials is going to be the culprit if an otherwise ok company puts out steel with the wrong stamp. Even Ganzo is far beyond the point where there is anything to gain from scamming a few people with a slightly cheaper material.
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problem with that thought process, is you dismiss other highly important things, like good heat treat protocols - which are super important to how good any steel is in any knife

(yes, mislabelling is wrong of course, also... frankly I won't buy from any of the companies you mentioned ;)
 
Kershaw is going with future tech look, leave it to cleaver, and some old timer blades for this release.

The Inception looks good and if I was buying a knife for the first time as a teenager or just starting out in the work force, I'd be all right with it. I love everything about the Parley except the steel. If they upgrade the steel, I am all over that thing. The nail nick opening, old style folders they have are fine, but really that kind of knife I'm going to get from someone like Case or Hen & Rooster who make those kinds of knives into works of art.

Also, this is only their big release for this quarter. Kershaw are planning to release a bunch of new knives every quarter, so there's a lot more to look forward to in 2022.

 
The Grendels said:
Kershaw is going with future tech look, leave it to cleaver, and some old timer blades for this release.

The Inception looks good and if I was buying a knife for the first time as a teenager or just starting out in the work force, I'd be all right with it. I love everything about the Parley except the steel. If they upgrade the steel, I am all over that thing. The nail nick opening, old style folders they have are fine, but really that kind of knife I'm going to get from someone like Case or Hen & Rooster who make those kinds of knives into works of art.

Also, this is only their big release for this quarter. Kershaw are planning to release a bunch of new knives every quarter, so there's a lot more to look forward to in 2022.

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It’s just too painful to watch them try to hype that knife up. “Wow I’m so excited about this one”… yeah, I’ll bet. Lol.
 
dirc said:
problem with that thought process, is you dismiss other highly important things, like good heat treat protocols - which are super important to how good any steel is in any knife

(yes, mislabelling is wrong of course, also... frankly I won't buy from any of the companies you mentioned ;)
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The thing you're ignoring, is that the buyer of these knives has absolutely no way to compare heat treats of any given knife or brand without either buying one and running it for a long time, or by spending dozens of hours looking through other owner's feedback to see if their experience indicates a good heat treat.

Neither of those methods are particularly useful for someone shopping for a knife, since only the worst and sometimes absolute best heat treats will be noticeable. So you can rely on the opinion of strangers or buy it and try it.

How do you assess the heat treat of a knife you don't own?
 
The Federalist is Really well done, I’ll give them that. If I was into slipjoints I’d be all over it.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
I guess Spyderco caught wind of what Kershaw was doing and said: “hold my beer”

View attachment 1719152

“Yo, doooooodes check out the STOVEPIPE knife!” Such a badass name!
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I actually like the looks of this one, but the name doesn't fill my mind's eye with pleasant images. 😄

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