- Joined
- Apr 10, 2005
- Messages
- 8,808
I went on a bit of a buying spree lately, accumulating those Kershaw models that had steel choices and design features that I found interesting. With the exception of the Ti Bump (which I bought a couple years ago), these are the results of my spree:
The TI/ZDP is getting a lot of pocket time lately, but the Whisper just arrived on Friday and is looking like a strong challenger for EDC duty. That Whisper was something of a random event. I happened to see mention of the "vault lock" somewhere here on BFC and googled around for some information. One of the links that turned up was an ebay auction. Just on a lark, I put in a bid and won.
For those of you who have never looked at one, here is the Vault Lock:
Basically, it works like a one-sided stud lock. Instead of the stud moving forward to unlock, the checkered thumb piece is pushed to the rear to unlock. Pretty nifty execution, but it looks like it was a bear to put into production. I would guess that the stud lock offers all of the advantages of the vault plus extra security from two locking points (each side) and reduced cost.
The notch at the bottom of the blade there is the ledge for the safety. I like that design better than the tip locks on some of the other Speed Safe models. The only real drawback to this knife is the kraton used in the grip panel inserts. I think some pimping may be required if I am going to keep this in the user rotation.
Rick
The TI/ZDP is getting a lot of pocket time lately, but the Whisper just arrived on Friday and is looking like a strong challenger for EDC duty. That Whisper was something of a random event. I happened to see mention of the "vault lock" somewhere here on BFC and googled around for some information. One of the links that turned up was an ebay auction. Just on a lark, I put in a bid and won.
For those of you who have never looked at one, here is the Vault Lock:
Basically, it works like a one-sided stud lock. Instead of the stud moving forward to unlock, the checkered thumb piece is pushed to the rear to unlock. Pretty nifty execution, but it looks like it was a bear to put into production. I would guess that the stud lock offers all of the advantages of the vault plus extra security from two locking points (each side) and reduced cost.
The notch at the bottom of the blade there is the ledge for the safety. I like that design better than the tip locks on some of the other Speed Safe models. The only real drawback to this knife is the kraton used in the grip panel inserts. I think some pimping may be required if I am going to keep this in the user rotation.
Rick
