Whoa... Kershaw Boa looks awesome!

jesseaction

jesseaction

Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
509
What's up everyone,

I just discovered the existence of the Kershaw Boa a few minutes ago. This looks like almost the perfect EDC knife, based on my criteria gained after 15+ years of carrying a pocket knife and a year of trying to discover the perfect one. This knife looks beautiful! Nice fat drop point PE blade with good belly; ergonomic handle with pocket clip mounted right at the end; big finger choil with small flipper option; G10 handle (edit: thought it was aluminum before, which I also like. edit2: There is a typo on the Kershaw description so I don't know if it is Al or G10. Probably Al..which is just fine). Does anyone have any experiences with this beauty that they can share? Any cons? Is there a satin finish option anywhere?

Link to Kershaw's product page: http://www.kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=70&brand=kershaw

Cheers :thumbup::thumbup:
 
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I love my Boas! I've got a bunch of them. A satin finished 440V (now called S60V) with a multi-colored handle (Model 1580MC), DLC coated S60V's, S30V's, and a few sets of factory splash colored scales that never went into production. The earliest BOD I have is Dec 00. One interesting S60V I have has all the logos etched in a copper/gold-ish color with no BOD. Kershaw started etching the BOD's in early 2001, and this one seems to be a rare bird indeed. Some are tip up/down right, some are tip up/down right and tip up lefty and the copper/gold one is drilled for tip up/down, left or right. Kershaw tapped the Boa's clip at the extreme ends of the knife, and in any clip configuration it rides low in the pocket.

As for the knife itself, I think its one of the toughest non-ZT knives Kershaw made. Both the thumbstud (which is reversible for lefties) and flipper work flawlessly, and there is a nice safety built into the spine. When you do not want the blade opening, you slide the safety up behind the spine flipper, and it locks underneath. The blade will not open when the safety is engaged. The AO is tuned just right, as the blade opens and locks with authority, but won't jump in your hand. It has a great feel and is balanced extremely well. Its not a light weight knife. Ergonomics are perfect; you can work with this knife all day and there are no hot spots. Some have mentioned the scales feel slippery, but I've never had this problem. There is some well placed jimping on the blade, and this provides additional grip for your thumb. I think there is a mis-print on Kershaw's site, as all of mine have 6061-T6 anodized aluminum scales.

IMO, it is one of the best models Kershaw and Ken Onion did. In 2000, it won the IWA “International Knife of the Year" award. The Boa is just the right size for a tough-ass folder! A lot of knife for $115 or so.

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Hey that knife has holes in it!!!

:D:D

How come no one is busting kershaw for putting holes in their blades and infringing on spyderco? Just wondering because I think it's a little ridiculous.

If they made a G10 version I would have a couple. Unfortunately metal handles just turn me off. Ti is ok but aluminum and stainless just don't feel right.
 
I still have an all-black one, one of two Kershaws I decided to keep.
That an an old Random Task Knife. Both of which are mostly display knives.
I either sold (cheap), or gave the others away.
 
^^^ Mine too. I've always liked the Boa. Never picked one up, though. Might have to some time soon.
 
SPXTrader said:
I love my Boas! I've got a bunch of them. A satin finished 440V (now called S60V) with a multi-colored handle (Model 1580MC), DLC coated S60V's, S30V's, and a few sets of factory splash colored scales that never went into production. The earliest BOD I have is Dec 00. One interesting S60V I have has all the logos etched in a copper/gold-ish color with no BOD. Kershaw started etching the BOD's in early 2001, and this one seems to be a rare bird indeed. Some are tip up/down right, some are tip up/down right and tip up lefty and the copper/gold one is drilled for tip up/down, left or right. Kershaw tapped the Boa's clip at the extreme ends of the knife, and in any clip configuration it rides low in the pocket.
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Sweet pics, thanks for sharing! I would love to find a satin version. They can't have made too many because there aren't ANY anywhere on the interweb that I could find; in fact, I could barely find any mention of them at all. I guess I will have to look for a black one and just keep my eyes open for anything satin that pops up, either from the past or in the future. It is such a beautiful knife that you think there would have been some runs of different anodized handle colors instead of black with black. At least they are using sweet steel.

Man, another one to add to the list... :cool:
 
jesseaction said:
Sweet pics, thanks for sharing! I would love to find a satin version. They can't have made too many because there aren't ANY anywhere on the interweb that I could find; in fact, I could barely find any mention of them at all. I guess I will have to look for a black one and just keep my eyes open for anything satin that pops up, either from the past or in the future. It is such a beautiful knife that you think there would have been some runs of different anodized handle colors instead of black with black. At least they are using sweet steel.

Man, another one to add to the list... :cool:
Click to expand...

IIRC, there were 312 of the 1580MC's made. Not too many floating around. I see one every now and then, and the prices are 2.5X MSRP.

I have 2 sets of splash multi-colored scales for the Boa. They never made it to production, just the guys at Kershaw playing around with different ideas.

Good luck in your quest!
 
I have one. It's heavier than any G10 knife I have, but that's a given. The flipper works pretty well, although you have to hold it less secure to work it that way. The recurve slices well, too. The blade lock works, sometimes I find it on when I don't want, but for EDC, no problem. SD, think twice (- about the whole idea, too.)

Mine came black, I haven't used it much as most non-TiN blade treatments I have will flake or wear off - so I never used it on cardboard, etc. I like the dimpled scales, and agree G10 would be nice, but then a list of other improvements comes to mind - which would make it completely different.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Hey that knife has holes in it!!!

:D:D

How come no one is busting kershaw for putting holes in their blades and infringing on spyderco? Just wondering because I think it's a little ridiculous.

If they made a G10 version I would have a couple. Unfortunately metal handles just turn me off. Ti is ok but aluminum and stainless just don't feel right.
Click to expand...

ummm, i htink it is g10? i read the description on the site and it said g10, i could be wrong.

and the reason no one is bustign kershaw for usign holes is because they arent used for opening the knife....
 
I pretty much feel the same way about it as SPX Trader. The 440V/S60V steel was done perfectly by Kershaw, and it's potential was brought out lived up too. It was the first real "super steel" used in cutlery that I'm aware of.

The opening does seem a bit slower than some of the other AO's you might be used to. Be aware this is not a defect or problem, but a design feature.

Get a diamond hone to sharpen and rebevel S60V. It's very wear resistant stuff.
 
David1967 said:
Do they still make the non coated model?
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No, the satin finished MC was discontinued in 2001. All Boas come with the DLC coating now. Its a tough finish. A few times I thought I had scratched the coating, I found it was only the material I was cutting left on the blade.
 
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