- Joined
- Jun 8, 2005
- Messages
- 4,761
I purchased a lovely new Ti Tyrade from the excellent Sooner State knives a week ago and have really had a great time playing with this innovative knife.
I feel that I've owned all of the most important Onion/Kershaw collabs, most notably the Ti Bumps and G10 Offset, knives that represented the creme de la creme of Kershaw's available technology, craftsmanship and Onion's most daring production designs. I consider this knife to be basically competing with these knives for a place in a Kershaw fan's collection, so I'll be comparing them at times.
The Ti Tyrade stats are certainly promising--it's combining not one, not two but four of the knife industry's finest materials, including titanium, carbon fiber, 154CM and D2 steels. It's clear that Kershaw didn't hold back any of its know-how in constructing a knife that surely competes at any price range.
The handle is probably the most comfortable of the three knives I've mentioned--the jimping on the frame and the framelock are perfect in their level of resistance--not abrasive, but they offer plenty of resistance. My fingers can reach the strangely shaped carbon fiber overlays which seems to add a little grip. That said, the anodized flat ti slabs are relatively slippery--ontop of that, they're fingerprint magnets. In this area, both of its competitors are superior. The Ti Bump's strangely contoured Ti handle was very effective--indeed, I believe that it's the greatest Ti handle design ever produced. And the Offset's aggressive G10, combined with the aggressive jimping on the flipper (effectively a finger guard) and on the thumb-rest provide superior grip--when you hold the Offset, it attaches itself to your hand it doesn't let go until you're ready. That said, it's the least comfortable of the bunch--the swell in the middle of the handle is inexplicably large.
So as the handle goes, I believe it falls short of the artistry of the Ti Bumps and the supreme grip of the G10 Offset--but it does manage to find a comfortable medium--it's more visually daring than the Offset and more comfortable than the Ti Bump--unfortunately, it's less grippy than either.
However, the Ti Tyrade fights back in blade design--in a sense, I feel like I understand what Ken Onion must have been thinking when designing the shape of this beautiful composite blade. The other two knives employ extremely strange blade shapes, but the Tyrade uses something much more conventional. I think the use of the wild composite design helped satisfy Onion's desire or the exotic, and as a consequence he used a much more subtle recurve. It was a good choice. I never really quite adjusted to the (admittedly surprisingly useful) Bump blade shape, and the Offset's extreme recurve, while beautiful looking, is so aggressive that subtle use in public is basically impossible. The Ti Tyrade provides a balance--a useful blade shape with its own exotic beauty.
Of course, a blade shape can't tell the whole story. Each successive collaboration has used increasingly exotic steels. The original Ti Bump used the (then) very impressive S30V, where the Offset used the rather experimental MIM 440C to achieve some of its crazy design. Naturally, the Tyrade was one of the first blades to receive Kershaw's new composite blade technology, combining not one but two excellent steels. In fact, the 154CM used for the spine of the blade is often used as a very respectable cutting steel on a large number of other knives (take the infamous Benchmade Griptilian for instance). The D2 edge should outperform both the 440C and S30V in edge holding, but having only had this knife a week, and babying it, I can't say--I'd certainly estimate that, performance wise, this is the best blade Kershaw has made so far.
Like the Ti Bump, the Ti Tyrade uses a very thick framelock. I no longer have the Bump for comparison, but it seems to me that the framelock is even more substantial in the Tyrade--which makes sense as the Tyrade is bigger than the Bump (yet smaller than the Offset). Like the Bump, the lockup is flawless, at least, in my opinion--I like the lockbar to be substantially on the tang, but not pass the center at all to make room for wear--both of these are ideal to me.
Still, I prefer the Offset's stud lock. It's truly ambidextrous and generally makes closing with one hand a little easier--plus I suspect it'll wear less over time. Plus it looks cool.
The pocket clips have never been a real strong point in these designs. They're quite eccentric and are tip-down only. The Ti Bump's clip is the most conventional of the three and performs adequately. The Offset's is far too extreme--it's massive and chromed out--it screams from your pocket "look at me, I'm carrying a huge tactical knife."
I think the Tyrade finds the right balance between the two. Functionally, it's conventional, but it adds a bit of that KO pizazz with some skeletonization. It also appears to resist overextending the framelock ala Hinderer's designs.
I'd have to say I'm not too crazy about the flipper design in either of the Ti models. It's thick and stubby--in my aesthetic opinion, it falls far short of the angular and skeletonized flipper on the Offset.
At any rate, when I've got a cable for my camera ready to go, I'll add some much nicer photos than the ones I've taken with my phone. Hopefully this gives a little glimpse into what I consider the greatest KO collaboration yet.
I feel that I've owned all of the most important Onion/Kershaw collabs, most notably the Ti Bumps and G10 Offset, knives that represented the creme de la creme of Kershaw's available technology, craftsmanship and Onion's most daring production designs. I consider this knife to be basically competing with these knives for a place in a Kershaw fan's collection, so I'll be comparing them at times.
The Ti Tyrade stats are certainly promising--it's combining not one, not two but four of the knife industry's finest materials, including titanium, carbon fiber, 154CM and D2 steels. It's clear that Kershaw didn't hold back any of its know-how in constructing a knife that surely competes at any price range.
The handle is probably the most comfortable of the three knives I've mentioned--the jimping on the frame and the framelock are perfect in their level of resistance--not abrasive, but they offer plenty of resistance. My fingers can reach the strangely shaped carbon fiber overlays which seems to add a little grip. That said, the anodized flat ti slabs are relatively slippery--ontop of that, they're fingerprint magnets. In this area, both of its competitors are superior. The Ti Bump's strangely contoured Ti handle was very effective--indeed, I believe that it's the greatest Ti handle design ever produced. And the Offset's aggressive G10, combined with the aggressive jimping on the flipper (effectively a finger guard) and on the thumb-rest provide superior grip--when you hold the Offset, it attaches itself to your hand it doesn't let go until you're ready. That said, it's the least comfortable of the bunch--the swell in the middle of the handle is inexplicably large.
So as the handle goes, I believe it falls short of the artistry of the Ti Bumps and the supreme grip of the G10 Offset--but it does manage to find a comfortable medium--it's more visually daring than the Offset and more comfortable than the Ti Bump--unfortunately, it's less grippy than either.
However, the Ti Tyrade fights back in blade design--in a sense, I feel like I understand what Ken Onion must have been thinking when designing the shape of this beautiful composite blade. The other two knives employ extremely strange blade shapes, but the Tyrade uses something much more conventional. I think the use of the wild composite design helped satisfy Onion's desire or the exotic, and as a consequence he used a much more subtle recurve. It was a good choice. I never really quite adjusted to the (admittedly surprisingly useful) Bump blade shape, and the Offset's extreme recurve, while beautiful looking, is so aggressive that subtle use in public is basically impossible. The Ti Tyrade provides a balance--a useful blade shape with its own exotic beauty.
Of course, a blade shape can't tell the whole story. Each successive collaboration has used increasingly exotic steels. The original Ti Bump used the (then) very impressive S30V, where the Offset used the rather experimental MIM 440C to achieve some of its crazy design. Naturally, the Tyrade was one of the first blades to receive Kershaw's new composite blade technology, combining not one but two excellent steels. In fact, the 154CM used for the spine of the blade is often used as a very respectable cutting steel on a large number of other knives (take the infamous Benchmade Griptilian for instance). The D2 edge should outperform both the 440C and S30V in edge holding, but having only had this knife a week, and babying it, I can't say--I'd certainly estimate that, performance wise, this is the best blade Kershaw has made so far.
Like the Ti Bump, the Ti Tyrade uses a very thick framelock. I no longer have the Bump for comparison, but it seems to me that the framelock is even more substantial in the Tyrade--which makes sense as the Tyrade is bigger than the Bump (yet smaller than the Offset). Like the Bump, the lockup is flawless, at least, in my opinion--I like the lockbar to be substantially on the tang, but not pass the center at all to make room for wear--both of these are ideal to me.
Still, I prefer the Offset's stud lock. It's truly ambidextrous and generally makes closing with one hand a little easier--plus I suspect it'll wear less over time. Plus it looks cool.
The pocket clips have never been a real strong point in these designs. They're quite eccentric and are tip-down only. The Ti Bump's clip is the most conventional of the three and performs adequately. The Offset's is far too extreme--it's massive and chromed out--it screams from your pocket "look at me, I'm carrying a huge tactical knife."
I think the Tyrade finds the right balance between the two. Functionally, it's conventional, but it adds a bit of that KO pizazz with some skeletonization. It also appears to resist overextending the framelock ala Hinderer's designs.
I'd have to say I'm not too crazy about the flipper design in either of the Ti models. It's thick and stubby--in my aesthetic opinion, it falls far short of the angular and skeletonized flipper on the Offset.
At any rate, when I've got a cable for my camera ready to go, I'll add some much nicer photos than the ones I've taken with my phone. Hopefully this gives a little glimpse into what I consider the greatest KO collaboration yet.
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