Kershaw Ener-G

10/09/2010 by Kevin

-Price Paid: $35.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

The Ener-G has got to be one of my favorite knives offered by Kershaw.

I love the green G-10 and think it goes perfect with the satin blade. The color combo, along with the very nice drop point blade make for a very elegant design. The blade is perfectly centered and lockup is solid. The flipper is very innovative because it's not part of the blade like most. Mine came a bit tight but smoothed out with use and now opens lightening fast. The steel is not stamped on the blade but it came razor sharp and held an edge well.

One of the criticisms I have is the funny looking pocket clip. I personally don't like the way it looks. It's right hand carry only; tip up or down. It carries pretty high out of the pocket when carried tip up, which might be a negative for some. Carries great tip down though. Another is the rubber inserts in the G-10. I thought they might fall out over time but they've held up really well. I just think they're unnecessary. This is a light to medium duty EDC blade and if Kershaw wanted the knife more grippy they should have textured the G-10 more aggressively.

Overall, I think this is a GREAT knife for EDC and light duty use. It's held up great and out of my many folders this is probably the best looking one and one of my favorites. This knife is a steal, ESPECIALLY if you catch it on sale. Pick one up and you won't be disappointed.

Buck Vantage Pro

10/07/2010 by SharpOne

-Price Paid: $49.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

What's not to like? The Buck Vantage Pro in S30V is a great knife for its value. From the S30V blade, to the flipper, to its low-profile clip, it's a knife that performs just as well as higher priced knives.

Pros:

- Made in USA

- S30V blade (plain edge)

- G10 handle (smooth texture)

- Low-profile clip (tip-up carry)

- Value (where you can you really get a s30v blade knife for <$50?)

Cons:

- I would have liked phosphor-bronze washers sandwiching the blade and liners

- I would have preferred a frame lock over the liner lock

- Weight is heavier than most other EDC i carry

- I would have liked skeletonized liners to reduce the weight (beefy knife)

Conclusion:

The Buck Vantage Pro does not have a "tacti-cool" look to it, so it's a very civil-looking knife when you use it in public. I personally feel like i get more looks when i pull out a HK 14440 Ally.

Kershaw Scallion

10/07/2010 by Josh

-Price Paid: $32.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

This is a cool little knife.

The blade steel is 420HC which I have found to be pretty decent at holding an edge. However, the natural sort of blade shape can make it a pain to sharpen at times. The blade length itself is 2 1/4in and with it being assisted opening it comes out fast when you want to deploy it.

The Scallion does come with a safety for the blade so it won't deploy in pocket, but I think it's a feature that is not needed. I have NEVER had it just open up in my pocket. You can however tighten the safety down so it won't stop the blade from opening when you need it quickly.

The handle is nice. Made from polymide and it feels sorta like a tough rubber. It probably could be a little more aggressive just for added grip.

It also uses a liner lock that has a good solid lock up, and that is easy to unlock when you want to put the knife away. The clip is fixed to one side of the knife so you cannot change it. You can remove it though if you wish to carry it without the clip.

For the price I think this is a cool little knife that looks and feels great in hand.

Kershaw Needs Work

10/06/2010 by KennyB

-Price Paid: $39.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

Blade Steel: Sandvik 14C28N

Blade Style: Wharncliffe

Blade Length: 3"

Blade Thickness: .120"

Handle Length: 4.2"

Handle Thickness: ~.700"

Handle Material: Polymide

Knife Weight: 3.5 Oz

Hardware: Torx bits (T7 for pivot, T6 for clip and handles)

Removable Clip

SpeedSafe Assisted Opening

First of all, I can't really remark on the steel, but it seems like good stuff, I can't say how it compares to most other steels though.. It sharpens to a wonderfully sharp edge and is not very hard to achieve shaving edges.. Kershaw apparently hardens it to 59-60 HRC, but I find it easier to sharpen than my S30V BM930 at that hardness, and I think it comes out with a slightly sharper edge, but that's probably due to blade geometry between the knives I'm comparing since the Needs Work has a pretty thin hollow grind. It also came out considerably sharper than my Case Trapper in CV, but the blade on that has thickened overtime. Either way it was much easier easier to sharpen than these particular steels so that's probably why. I would liken how quickly it sharpens up to some 440 grade steel at 56-58 HRC.

The factory grind on the knife was okay, but left some to be desired. The edge came very sharp when it comes to hair popping, but slicing simple fabric was not so great.. It was not free of defects, there was a large dent on the edge and one bevel of the V grind had an additional bevel on the end, as if they were attempting a microbevel but only put an additional bevel on one side of the blade I've never seen a factory edge done like this, and I've seen one person suggest that Kershaw puts a microbevel only on one side, and then buffs the burr off the other side—but it seemed like a defect to be because it was so uneven. It was actually a lesser polish versus the factory off of my 1K Norton waterstone, but it got much sharper after I touched it up on the existing bevels—weird semi-microbevel included. I think it would be one scary sharp blade if brought back up to the original factory polish and given a better bevel.

Sharpening the knife was fairly easy, and as I said earlier about the steel, it seems very readily removed-only needed a few passes to touch it up. One caveat I wanted to mention that someone else noticed was that the Wharncliffe blade doesn't rest squarely on the honing stone because the tip thins out. The user must choke the handle up slightly in order to grind the tip, but must also take great care not to roll the tip dull. Maybe that's why it came dull from the factory, but it's really the only part of sharpening this blade that's very difficult. Otherwise, the flat shape of the blade makes keeping the angle pretty easy. Between the steel, the hollow grind and the overall blade geometry, I think it would be hard not to get this knife sharp.

Reprofiling the blade to 30 degrees inclusive was my final sharpening task. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, but it didn't come out very uniform because I rushed it. I had troubles creating a uniform grind free-hand with this knife because there is just the slightest belly. It's not immediately noticeable and so you really have to slow down and make sure that you grind the entirety of the blade evenly, and when reprofiling it's kind of easy to mess up and have the tip inconsistent with the rest if you don't pay particular attention-it's not quite as simple as just rubbing the blade on the stone, but it's not as picky as a knife with a large belly either. It was just a slight learning curve and after a few strokes the amount I needed to move the blade up and down was locked into muscle memory, but I decided to put a somewhat convex grind on it after reprofiling so that I didn't have all the shoulders from those other angles. All in all, the edge geometry I put on wasn't superb, so I can't really say much for how sharp this knife would be a with a very nice even grind on it.

However, after the profiling the blade was much, much sharper than out of the box or after sharpening the factory bevels. Even with my sloppy free-hand results, a 30 degree inclusive angle and a full reprofile helped the blade out significantly. The tip is probably the most desirable aspect after a reprofile, it's like having an eXacto knife on the end of your blade. I doubt that my convexing did anything to improve things as it would be too uneven, but I can only imagine that with a nice consistent angle sharpened with a guide or a jig, this knife's edge would be pretty hard to compete with in terms of how easily you can get it scary sharp. I haven't even had any desires to fix my uneven grinds, I just strop them up and this knife still outdoes any of my others in terms of how well I can sharpen it.

Edge retention is rather interesting, and I don't have a way to really quantify it. It seems that it holds a very sharp edge for a considerable amount of time, but then once it starts to dull out it gets worse very quickly. Luckily sharpening it is extremely easy, and even just stropping it daily seems to be effective. The steel itself is not really soft at 59 HRC, and in fact after re profiling to 30 degrees inclusive I dropped the edge from about 3" up straight down on the edge of my honing stone, and all it did was create a microscopic nick I can't even see at 30x magnification. I can feel it with my fingernail and an "EdgeTester", but overall I cannot notice it while cutting. So far I haven't really had an opportunity to really use it enough to properly rank edge retention though, but I suppose it all depends on the bevel being used. I suppose hardness isn't a very great indicator of edge retention, but I bring it up because even at 59 HRC it feels as if it were some 56-58 HRC 440 with the rate that I was removing stock.

The Wharncliffe blade itself is very nice, very short and stout. The tip is quite thin though, as the first .200" back from the very tip is only .015-.020" thick at the spine itself. It quickly tapers into the full spine width shortly after the .200" mark though. To me it almost seems fragile, and while I don't make a habit of stabbing my knives into a tree or something, I'm not sure this tip could take it, so I would be worried about it being ran into something too tough for it. On the other hand, if you have a delicate task that requires precision the tip is fantastic. Then not to mention all of my usual EDC tasks like opening packaging material ( clam shells ) or boxes is usually handled by just this front portion of the blade. Seeing as it's only .020", it cuts packages open like they weren't even there. The blade geometry itself means there's not a whole lot of force needed to complete the cutting job anyway with that great hollow grind and the swedge on the tip, but the thickness of the tip beyond the taper point still worries me a little. I'm just not sure if I would call that tip the knife's greatest asset or weakness, but I guess it depends on what kind of work you think the "Needs Work" needs. For delicate precise work it is quite awesome, but I think if someone is going to be using it for buschcraft or something like that it would probably snap off. It's .020" thick at the spine itself at some points, pretty much similar to the thickness of a box cutter's blade.

The handle is arguably the most notable feature of the knife, and as others have mentioned it really comes down to function and comfort over aesthetics. There are large circular divots in the sides of the handles that make it extremely "grippy", and are even quite comfortable to put the tips of one's fingers into. The handle may be 4.2", but with the contour where the liner lock is just behind the pivot, it really shortens the practical portion of the handle you can actually grip on to down to 3.2". My hands are 3.5" wide, and 7" long palm and fingers included, and the handle fits very well into my hand even though my pinky finger kind of dangles off and rests against the butt of the handle. A reverse grip wouldn't be very comfortable, but an inverted one would be, though I can't see the practicality in this-I suppose if you wanted to pretend that it was a fighter knife; it does kind of have a Klingon Warrior appeal to it.. Despite the less than appealing-to me anyway-looks, I think the ergonomic design is a very good one. The knife is super comfortable in my hand, really fits it just like a glove, and ergonomically speaking the handle puts very little stress on the actual hand, as the offset to the blade gives the user a lot of leverage in the cut.

The knife's weight is actually pretty light, but it's deceptively heavy feeling. I think this is because of the thickness of the handles, it's very noticeable in the pocket. The clip is everyone's number one complaint with this knife, and I'm no different. It's extremely tight against the plastic, and it extends down over one of the divots which is probably the reason it's so hard to clip onto anything.. Even after I bent the handle to be easier to attach, it's still mounted quite low on the knife, I still think it rides awkwardly, and the clip itself really makes the grip uncomfortable to me. It doesn't quite gouge into the hand, but it's just a much more comfortable grip without it. I usually like folders to have a clip so coins don't fall in through the back and get the edge, but the backspacer between the liners is closed so I don't have to worry about that with this knife. The only problem is that I often don't like it in my pocket because I worry about something pressing the lever for the AO.

Overall the fit and finish of the knife is quite nicely done. The liners and the backspacer are flush, but the handles are not; they extend out over the liners a couple of thousandths of an inch, and there are little burrs left on the plastic; I doubt this is an issue with the G10 model, and not really an issue for me-if anything it's nothing a little sandpaper can't cure. The blade itself has no vertical or horizontal play out of the box, and the liner lock locks up snugly and square with the blade. I think it probably as something like 80% engagement at the worse times, and the blade is even centered very well-probably not quite dead center, but close enough for me. The jimping on the spine is not too aggressive, but it is functional, which is surprising as it is rounded over slightly. I think people with softer finger tips might appreciate this, but I would have preferred more aggressive jimping. The only other complaint I have is that the radius where your index finger is supposed to rest is so tight I have a problem engaging the liner lock with my thumbnail, and have to use my index finger instead.

The hardware and opening mechanism of this knife are quite impressive to me as well. It not only comes with no vertical or horizontal play, but it doesn't develop any with use as something like my AXIS lock does over time. Better yet, the adjustable pivot seems to place an extremely small amount of friction on the opening of the blade, making adjusting away any horizontal blade play very easy in comparison. The SpeedSafe assisted opening is smooth and engages the lock nearly every time, and if it does not the flipper will sit in the contour provided for the index finger, so as the user goes to grip the knife the index finger will force it open completely, and if not, the flipper will prevent the users index finger from being cut, or at the very least alert the user that the lock didn't fully engage. I thought that this was actually one of those only assisted opening knives I've seen that actually makes it safer to use, and you can even convert it to a manual opener by removing the torsion bar. The only problem I have with it is that I think it's rather likely that it might open up in the pocket, and in fact I already had it partially engage while in the pocket with an Altoids container. I think I would probably try to get a new clip or something rather than carry it in my pocket. The flipper lever is just too large in my opinion.

I think it's probably one of the more higher quality knives that I've brought for one of the more mild prices. I spent $38.99 on it plus tax at BiMart, and despite the poor factory grind it's a fantastic knife in my view. A lot of people don't like the polymide handle (there's one in G10 too though), but I think it's very comfortable and grippy, and as far as the finish is concerned it's only a sanding away from being perfect. I'm not sure that I'm comfortable carrying it everywhere though, the aesthetics of it look very intimating for some reason, and the assisted opening isn't really all that people-friendly or pocket-friendly. Combine that with clip-less carrying being the best way to carry in my opinion, I could see it being misconstrued as a concealed weapon under the right circumstances, especially with the Assisted Opening. However, the great thing about the SpeedSafe assisted opening systems is the ability to simply remove the torsion bar and turn it into a manual knife, which is great to carry it in cities. I never wanted to take it to Seattle before that, and as it seems municipalities are starting to attack AO's as switch blades, it's good to have that ability. Combine that with the option of G10 scales, the premium Sandvik steel, and it's hard to find that much value in a knife for $40-$45.

I still use mine mostly around the house though. I carried it as my EDC for about a month, and found that some of the "everyday tasks" I use my EDC for leave this knife under-tasked.. I can't clean my nails with it because the tip is far too sharp and the knife is flat, and if I flick it open to open packages or envelopes it just seems like it's insulting it. So I generally leave it at home when I have some cutting task that needs either a very fine tip, or if I have to cut a lot of stuff and want a comfortable handle, or if I need to make a really forceful cut and need the right shape of handle. I like how it handles all of those well, and I think that's really where its name becomes suiting. I don't think it's really a "hard use" folder, but you'll definitely wind up finding it more useful for a wider array of tasks than most of your other folders. Either for EDC or just having around the house, I think that for $40 it's kind of one of those knives that everyone should have one of.

Spyderco Police 3

10/06/2010 by Josh

-Price Paid: $119.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

If you are looking for a big bladed folding knife the Spyderco Police 3 is definitely worth a look.

The blade steel is VG10, and has held its edge for a good amount of time now even after doing a few medium/heavy duty tasks. The full flat grind on the blade is perfect as well. Unlike some of the FFG blades on Spydercos lesser models. The length of the blade is 4 3/8 inches so it does stand out when you open it up.

The handle features full steel liners that are skeletonized. The G10 on the handle is also excellent. Not too smooth, but not overly aggressive. The locking feature on the knife is a lock back design. This knife is solid when it locks! Don't let the length of this knife fool you either this is a very thin knife. You won't even notice it while it's in your pocket.

The pocket clip is mountable on all 4 corners of the knife. I have noticed some wear on the clip itself from riding in pocket. The black oxidation has began to come off.

This knife could come off on some to be a little big for a EDC blade. It is named "Police 3" for a reason, but there are also people like myself who don't mind carrying around a larger blade in their pocket. Overall I don't regret the purchase of this knife at all. Worth the $119 I picked it up for.

Kershaw Junkyard Dog 2 Composite

10/03/2010 by gundude73

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

the kershaw junkyard dog 2 composite blade is an excellent knife for EDC, i bought mine a good 7 months ago and it has been solid since then. the ergos are exceptional, it feels like an extension of my hand when i hold it. the composite blade is both good looking and very economical. it brings the end line user a high quality cutting edge steel at a lower cost. the G10 on the handles is very grippy and feels nice in the hand. the lockup is very tight and assuring. opening is very easy due to the flipper mechanism. my only complaint with the design of the knife is the pocket clip, it is too wild for my tastes. but it does a great job of holding the knife to your pocket. overall i highly recommend the kershaw JYD composite blade, it is a great knife for the money and cool looking to boot.

Spyderco Military

10/02/2010 by Dinozzo

-Price Paid: $140.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

My carbon fiber military has been my EDC for about 6 months now...no other knife can even touch it.

It is a 4" blade knife and not very small by any means, but it is so light and slim its like its not even there.

The ergos on the millie are downright excellent. It is very comfortable in all grips, but yet fits like a glove in normal grip. There is a choil area that is perfectly designed so it does not waste cutting edge(like striders) but yet allows you to get very close to edge for detailed work.

The blade is perfectly designed with a perfect balance between "tactical" and utilitarian. The Taper on the blade is pretty extreme and leaves you with a needle like tip, but yet still having a 4mm thick blade.

The liner lock is one of the best in the business. It looks up very solid every time, but yet is not hard to disengage.

The clip position cant be changed, and it is set at right-hand tip down, but i love it that way. The clip is very very strong, but yet is easy to get in and out of the pocket.

The Spydie-hole is 14mm wich is a little larger than normal and this knife is very easy to use with gloves on.

Overall, this is my absolute favorite knife. I would highly recommend you pick one up if you havent already!

Kershaw OD-1

10/02/2010 by gundude73

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

the kershaw OD-1 is a great EDC knife, the overdrive mechanism is not you average flipper, and personally i much prefer it to a standard flipper, it allows you to use said flipper no matter where the blade is, if you partially open it you can still push down on the flipper and open the knife. the only cons to this knife (in my opinion) are the weight, due to the stainless steel framelock, and the pocket clip, i would like for it to be a "lowrider" but besides that it is very affordable knife. another downside ( if you want to call it that) are the materials, i like the design so much that i would like to see an optional material upgrade. a titanium frame, lowrider clip, and say an elamx blade would make transform a good knife to an exceptional one. another nice addition on this knife is the hinderer lock stop, which prevents overextension of the framelock mechanism.

Spyderco Persistence

10/02/2010 by Rich

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

My son gave me the Spyderco Persistence this past Christmas. Although security at work prevents every day carry I keep it with me on the weekends. It has proven up to the task for a variety of projects around the house and yard. It fits comfortably in my hand. It provides a sharp clean cut on plants and cuts through cardboard boxes easily. I particularly like that I can open it with one hand leaving my other hand free and the blade lockout is solid so there is no worry that it could close unexpectedly. It is very durable and has maintained its edge despite my using it in place of the proper tool from time to time. I would recommend it to anyone as a general all purpose knife.

Benchmade 556 Mini Griptilian

09/23/2010 by Austin

-Price Paid: $55.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

I bought a OD green combo edge black blade 556 Mini Griptillian for about $55 at a gun show. Almost everything about the knife is perfect, especially Benchmade's amazing Axis Lock. The only problem I have with it is that the thumb stud can be a bit slippery at times, but the 555 model has a thumb hole, which may work better than the thumb stud. This is an amazing knife and I would recommend it to anyone.

Spyderco Perrin PPT

09/22/2010 by Robb

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

This was a knife I wasn't sure about until I handled it. On paper, it seems too heavy & perhaps not so comfortable. However, it is comfortable in the hand. It's basically a frame-lock & the corrugated G-10 allows for great grip W/O tearing up your pocket.

The blade shape is a low belly Clip blade, which is quite useful. Blade steel is S30V & this is one of Spyderco's Taiwan made knives, which means the build quality is excellent.

The knife specs at over 5 oz., but actually feels lighter & the low-rider clip is very well thought out. It does what it needs to do (Conceal well), but your pocket won't bunch where the clip & handle meet.

Overall this is an excellent folder. The only thing I wish it had was Ti on the lock side, but otherwise, it is fine the way it is.

---

Spyderco Salt

09/22/2010 by Chuck

-Price Paid: $50.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I bought this knife for my father-in-law, long time inshore fisherman, he has been using Queen steel twin blade slip joint for his poket knife for years. I though i could get him something better, needless to say he did not like the non-tradional shape and would not even try it. fine, i carried it at work (Haz-Mat) nice blade bright color not easy to loose, but the poket clip sucks, the light plastic handel material will allow clip movement and this material will break out leaving you with a less than secure clip. still in all great knife for the money.