Odd Kershaw Speed Bump.

B

blade_scrounger

Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
56
Hi everyone, I'm brand new to the forum and hope somebody can answer a question. Looks like there are a lot of knowledgeable people on here.

I bought a brand new Kershaw speed bump on eBay and it's a little different than what I saw advertised. The ones I've seen pictured are usually gray with black Santoprene overlays on the handle, similar to this:

http://kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=31

The one I received looks about the same, but it has a black handle with NO rubber overlays. Also, there are 4 decorative holes molded into the handle near the lanyard hole. The blade is silver/satin, marked 1595AL and has a production date of Jan 06. I'm mostly curious if this might be a semi-rare or unusual variation. TIA for any help!
 
I'm not sure what the steel is. It's marked "Kershaw, Ken Onion, USA" on one side. The other side has "1595AL, KAI Patented" on it.

The handle doesn't look like the Spec Bump's. It's flat and smooth with no texture machined into it.

Actually, I take that back. :D I just looked at the Spec Bump shown on the A.G. Russell website and -THAT- is the same handle my Speed Bump has! Perhaps not all Specs have the 3D machined handles?

http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_maker/e_through_k/kershaw/kershaw_specbump.html
 
Spec/Speed bumps and the first gen Spec Bumps had smooth but 3D G10 handles, which might be what you have.

ks_1596.jpg


If you paid speed bump prices and get a spec/speed, you got a great deal. It's not rare, but it was limited production. Significantly less valuable than the Spec Bump, so it's probably not going to be some sort of great collectable, but a fantastic user.
 
blade_scrounger, welcome to the forums.

Actually the 1595AL was a 800-850 piece sprint run we did for one of our larger customers.
This Bump has smooth black aluminum scales, 13C26 steel with a bead blast finish.
Nice pick up, enjoy it.
 
Thomas W, thank you very much for the info! I had wondered if that might be aluminum as it felt a little too robust for plastic. Not that I'm complaining at all... :D
 
AM, yea it's funny most folks don't get to see all the variations with a pattern that we produce.

For instance, most people don't realize we have done 80 some sprint runs (50-1000 pieces) with the Leek over the years. Some hit the market, some are made up for a specific customer as a give-a-way for their VIP customers and employees.

To date I believe there are 6 variations of the Stud-Lock Bump that we have actually delivered on. The 3 non-cataloged versions are the 1595AL mentioned above, a red 1595AL version for Snap-On, and the Spec/Speed Bump that has been discussed plenty on this forum.
Now I have seen some 6-8 proto's on new variation Bumps...we will have to see if any of those become reality.
 
I'd really like to see the spec/speed become normal production. It's just the right price and handle/steel combo, in my opinion.
 
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