Sharpest Blades Right Out of the Box?

Just received a Zero Tolerance 0562CF with 204P today. Blade barely cuts copy paper and only in one part of the blade. Rest of the blade is so dull it can't cut you if you dragged it across your palm. Very disappointing.
Also it is INCREDIBLY hard to open! Every video I watched on this knife says otherwise but as my luck always holds, almost every knife I order online I get the exception and not the norm. Sharpest I did get was a Spyderco Dragonfly 2. Wonderful edge and even bevels!
 
I agree, the Kershaws I've purchased have been nice and sharp right out of the box, even more so with a good stropping. Spyderco's too.
 
Buck knives always seem to come hair shaving sharp out of the box. Great users.
 
craytab said:
I guess I don't get the obsession with out of box sharpness. If it comes out of the box sharp, it won't stay that way. I'm going to dull it. If it isn't sharp out of box I will sharpen it, just like if it was sharp and I dulled it.
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For once I agree with you!
 
Sharpest knife I've ever gotten out of the box is a Spyderco Pingo that literally can whittle hair. Sweet little knife.
 
Shotgun said:
Same here. The thing I hate is when the edge is ground too thick. It goes from sharpening a knife to fixing a knife. Some guys like fixing knives, I don't.
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I agree: The only thing that matters is edge thickness... In fixed blades this is where Randalls win, though I don't much like how wobbly they are in grinds, and the awful uneven finish... Ideally 0.020-0.025" is perfect, 0.035" acceptable, and it doesn't really matter all that much what size the knife...

Gaston
 
Spyderco, definitely. Haven't seen Victorinox mentioned, though: thinnest and most efficient edges I've seen on modern production folders, and responsible for the worst bite I've ever gotten (Spyderco was second on that). No experience with using them myself, but I hear Opinels are in the same territory.
 
1. Japanese kaneyoshi nakiri kitchen knife...(laminated blade made from blue#2 & Wrought Iron)
followed by svord santoku
 
Kershaw & Buck knives I've bought have always been extremely sharp. Almost every Spyderco has also been super sharp right out of the box. The last few Benchmades I bought were super sharp, impressively so. My experience with three ZT knives showed decent edges but not great edges. My only CRK knife, a small Sebenza, was mediocre sharp to pretty dull on arrival. Case and Boker traditional knives varied in sharpness. Queen and Schatt & Morgan traditionals were butter knife dull.

Doesn't matter...first thing I do with a new knife is sharpen it to fit my sharpening routine.
 
Kershaw, Spyderco, SOG, and Cold Steel seem to be consistently pretty sharp out of the box. Sharpest? Who knows.

Basically, it is the Chinese and Japanese knives that tend to be the sharpest overall based on my limited experience.

On traditionals, I'd say Victorinox knives are the most consistently sharp.
 
I've owned most of the major brands brand new, and a few customs. NOTHING comes sharper out of the box than a Mora.
 
The Mora's are very sharp new.

I mostly think about the ones that are kitchen knife dull when I get them new rather than the sharpest since I sharpen them up anyway.
 
In my experience Spyderco is the most consistently sharp out of the box although I have gotten sharp knives from various manufacturers. Some others I've bought that came very sharp are a Blackjack 1-7, BRKT Bravo Necker 2, a couple of Cold Steels, and an old Buck Nighthawk.

I don't worry so much about how sharp a knife is out of the box, but I do appreciate it if an edge has good angles so it is set up for me to sharpen myself if necessary. I've seen too many knives that have reasonable angles close to the handle but the angles are too steep at the point.
 
I don't care about the factory edge, it only lasts as long as the first trip into the woods or to work. But, the sharpest out of the box knife for me was a tie between the Bradford Guardian3 and the Opinel no. 8
 
Every knife I've gotten back from Josh at REK has been the sharpest out of the shipping box knives I have ever gotten.
 
I have over 20 folders quality folders, but by a decisive measure, my ZT 0620CF as been the sharpest out of the box. the tip is truly scary sharp.
 
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