Ode to the Baby Boa

M

MaxFisher

Joined
Feb 5, 2005
Messages
922
I recently purchased a Kershaw Baby Boa, and wanted to share my thoughts on this knife.

I watched several videos on YT and read several reviews of this knife before deciding to make this purchase. Everything I looked at seemed to say the same thing: this knife is nice but very similar to the Chive for just a little more money. All the reviews I read seemed to agree that it was not worth the little extra price.

I'm here to tell you that those reviews were wrong.

I'll preface this by saying I'm comparing this to my red/black smoke Chive for closest possible comparison.

After having this knife for about two weeks now, I can tell you that this is very different and far superior to the Chive IMHO. The first major difference for me is the blade steel. The Baby Boa is made with what I'll call the Kershaw standard steel. What I mean, is that this knife came in 13C26 and now comes in 14C28N. It's made in the current Kershaw standard instead of the 420HC that the Chive and Scallion are made in. This is a huge improvement in cutting ability and edge retention. Also worth mentioning about the blade is the improved blade finish. It comes mirror polished instead of the bead blasted finish of the Chive. This finish makes the knife more attractive and also, IMO, provides a smoother operation which allows for faster opening than the Chive.

I'm also a fan of the slightly shorter and stouter size on this one over the slightly longer more slender Chive.

So far, this knife has been leaps and bounds above my Chive as a small carry knife. I absolutely love it.
 
I loved mine, I traded it locally in Feb. and am working on getting it (And a few others) back from the guy. It fires so hard unlike some of the smaller Kershaws do when they age. Locking system is sweet as well.
 
Agreed! This knife does snap open with much more authority than other smaller Kershaws. I credit this to two things. The torsion bar is at a different angle than the chive. I also think the broader, more top-heavy blade carries some extra inertia.

The locking mechanism is also great in that it is unlocked near the flipper rather than at the tail end of the handle.
 
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