Sharpest Kershaw?

K

Kurtis Smith

Joined
Feb 23, 2008
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17
I currently...don't own a single Kershaw knife (as said in my first thread), but I was wondering what Kershaw is the sharpest out of the box. I've heard that the Lahar has one of the better edges, along with the ZT knives. In your experience, what Kershaws have the sharpest factory edges?
 
How much time have you got? :D

I've been buying Kershaw for years, since before Ken Onion came on board. They have always been dangerously sharp.

Depending on what you need it for, I'd recommend the S30V Leek. It's not the only good one -- I'm interested in the Composite Leek myself -- but mine was typically Kershaw sharp, and easy to maintain, since the cutting edge is straight across.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
How much time have you got? :D

I've been buying Kershaw for years, since before Ken Onion came on board. They have always been dangerously sharp.

Depending on what you need it for, I'd recommend the S30V Leek. It's not the only good one -- I'm interested in the Composite Leek myself -- but mine was typically Kershaw sharp, and easy to maintain, since the cutting edge is straight across.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have too many knives flying through my head (dangerously) as it is. If only I had about $1000 to waste (at first), I could finally get rid of a dozen or so.
 
Mine have all been very sharp out of the box, but if there has to be a sharpest one, it'd have to be my TiSG2 JYD II. I managed to whittle one hair twice with it out of the box. (I posted a picture of the hair a while back.
 
+1 for the JYD II SG2. Kneedeep is right, that thing was so frickin' sharp out of the box it was amazing. The grind is so thin that when you drag your thumb across the edge is hums like a tuning fork. Crazy sharp!!:eek:
 
I shaved a spot on my left cheek with my jyd at work the other morning.i was in a rush when i shaved before I left the house in the morning.It was pretty damn sharp.
 
Yet another vote for SG2, but my Blur was sharper than the JYD II brand new. However, no matter the knife, the first thing I do before I put it into EDC rotation is sharpen it more. How sharp it is new generally doesn't matter to me for that reason.
 
Sharpest out of the box I've found was the big ENER-G. 13C26, but it would clean shave a peach without so much as a nick. The S30V and SG2 are up there, but not like the edge that came on my two ENER-G's.
 
I have a few leeks; damascus, s30v, and ZDP-189 (and a composite one on the way). The ZDP I've been EDCing and cutting upen boxes and apples and what not for the past few weeks. I noticed I missed a spot shaving on the way to work... too late to turn around. So I shaved with the ZDP Leek and it did a great job, even without any suds. Granted I wouldn't want to shave my whole face that way and this was just a little patch, but I'm amazed it was still shaving sharp.

VG-10 and s30v seem to loose the shave sharp pretty quick but maintain a good usable cutting edge for a long time.
 
SG-2 Blur is my sharpest Kershaw. ZDP-189 Spyderco Caly Jr. is the sharpest knife that I have. It is like a razor with a very thin edge.
 
For me, my sharpest Kershaw (right out of the box) is one of my plain old 13C26 Cyclones...I can shave a sheet of paper with that one. Also, my 13C26 JYD-II is pretty much "scary sharp", as it'll also shave paper.
 
This is a hard one, because so many of them are so close...

Ones that stand out:

Perhaps my sharpest Kershaw is a lockback folder, a Macho 2120...these were discontinued in 1987, and this one is unused/never sharpened outside of the factory, but could probably split hairs.

Needs Work, both matte-finish and coated black blade models are scary sharp, including the point...I have a small hole/slice in the palm of my left hand to testify to that.

My Speed Bump (black aluminum handle) is just about as sharp...

Out of 3 Grooves (matte finish blade black scales, matte finish blade gray scales, and black tanto blade black frame/scales), the tanto is by far my sharpest Groove, followed by the bare blade with black scales. The gray-scaled Groove is the dullest knife out of the box of any new Kershaw I've ever encountered...not sure what happened to this one...it looks fine...needless to say, this is truly an exception...Kershaws are always sharp out of the box...I may send this one in for sharpening.

2 Leeks, one with polished G10, one coarse-textured G10, both with S30V and both really sharp.

Every Kershaw I own is more-than-acceptably sharp except for the previously-mentioned gray Groove (definitely a rare exception).

The 2 Zero Tolerance 0300s I have are both exceptionally sharp, also.
 
svrider3 said:
My E.T. was the sharpest out of the box. Crazy sharp!!
Click to expand...

I forgot about my E.T. (Urban Camo)...it is crazy sharp!

Face it...all the Kershaws are sharp!

Edit: I just got in 4 more the last couple of days, and they're all crazy sharp also...at or close to the top of the list: a Titanium/SG2 Junk Yard Dog II (the sharpest knife I've ever owned!), a Lahar, a black-handled Blur with S30V, and the nice brown-handled Blur with SG2.

Face it (redux)...they're all winners, which makes us, the users, winners!
 
the sharpest kershaw i have is my leek. i never knew what "scary" sharp was untill i was able to free hand cut a design out of a free hanging piece of paper. i didnt even want to look at the edge it was so sharp. but to be honest with you aside from that one stand out knife all my kershaws have come shaving sharp. ive never had a knife come dull out of the box ever. i wish i could say the same for other "high quality" knife brands ive purchased from in the past
 
The sharpest Kershaw I ever bought, and I have quite a few of them, is the ZT 0302 I bought a few days ago. The 0302 is as sharp as the Spyderco Matriarch and Civilians I have, these are scary sharp. The 0302 is such a nice knife, I bought it from LACOPS for $236 and that seems like a cheap price! The tiger stripes are a little "over the top" for me, and the knife itself would be hard to explain as a cutting tool for envelopes, packages and boxes and such, it just seems "so big"! A really nice, dream type knife (a Onion designed Strider at less than half the price!) Keep up the great work Kershaw.

Alan Forbes
 
I would like to "drag my thumb" on some SG2 steel one of these days to compare...
Anyways, I would have to say that my ZT 0150 is indeed scary sharp--it is S30V, and has a "polished edge" so if you lightly drag it over your hand it will not cut you, but newspapers do not stand a chance for this sticker. I would have to say that my rainbow leek would be next in line for sharpness.
 
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