Kershaw Blur - 1670S30V

Short Form: This is a knife that kind of straddles the "tactical" and "edc" roles, and really doesn't fit perfectly into either. That said, decent ergonomics, good feel in hand, nice looks, and very friendly price tag explain the huge popularity of this knife.

Size: Large. With a 3.4" blade and an overall length of 7.9", no one is going to mistake this for a tiny knife. With the large, curved blade and the distinctive "smack" of the speed assist open, no one will mistake this for a letter opener.

Usage Rating: Another medium with heavy-ish tendencies. I'll tell you why. The blade is positively robust, clocking in at .12" (3mm and change). With its heavy recurve and thick handle, you might think "hard usage" when you first look at this knife, but there are a few things that give me pause about rating in that way.

First, the liner lock (shown below) seems like it belongs on a much smaller knife. Compare this to the liner lock on a Spyderco Tenacious and you can see what I'm talking about. I'd be worried about seriously driving this knife into a hard substance because this liner lock seems more like something in the EDC neighborhood. I think it was done to save weight, but it's worth mentioning.

The second reason I'd put this in medium usage is the grip. Don't get me wrong. Feels great in the hand, but even with the trac-tec inserts and the light jimping, this is something that I could definitely see sliding in your hand with hard usage. Compare this to a Spyderco Native or a Mini-Grip where there is a physical barrier to your hand sliding onto the blade, and you'll see what I mean. It's also worth nothing that the aluminum (which makes it pretty darn light for such a large knife) also won't take abuse the way that a stainless steel frame does.

Steel Quality: S30V is great. Fairly easy to sharpen, great corrosion and wear resistance. There's a reason this steel is the darling of the knife community. This is one of the few S30V blades you can get that is comfortably outside of the hundred dollar range, and if you're curious to try this steel without breaking the bank, this is a nice entry point. (If you're looking at the standard models with Sandvik 14c28n, rest assured... that is a great steel, too. Even better corrosion resistance and ease of sharpening, takes an even finer edge... just doesn't have wear resistance on par with S30V). My experience is that S30V will take a really fine edge, degrade to a "working edge" moderately fast, and then keep that working edge (toothy but still cuts well) for a really long time. Great for EDC and hard use both.

Deployment Method: One handed ambidextrous. Liner lock, though, so lefties beware. All that said, Kershaw really has the assisted open down to a science. This is an easy knife to open, but not so easy you'd worry about keeping it in your pocket. Getting it closed again one handed (with your right, at least) is fairly easy despite to fairly robust torsion bar.

Performance Aspects:

1. Slicing - Despite the good steel, this is a relatively thick knife with secondary bevels close to 44 degrees inclusive; just about as fat as you'd get on a knife. Helps the edge hold up to hard use (abuse) but really limits the performance for slicing. Won't scream through materials like a Kershaw Knockout (which I'll review soon).  What's interesting about the performance here is how it defied my expectations. With the fairly noticeable recurve, I thought this thing was going to be a monster cutter on pull cuts, but the reverse is true. Pull cuts take a lot of work, but pushing cuts (especially towards the tip of the blade) work fairly well.

2. Piercing - Another strong point for this knife. The tip is fairly robust and has a lot of material behind it. I'd be comfortable piercing moderately heavy materials with this knife, and I've done so repeatedly. Works well to that end. That said, I still avoid super hard piercing tasks because of the fairly dainty lock bar.

3. Push Cutting - Gotta ding it here. That fat blade with wide edge geometry makes for a really limited push cutter. On a larger knife, though, with more cutting edge and grip, this isn't as much of a problem as it would be for a smaller knife (where you have to push cut more due to the small blade).

Retention Method:

1. Functionality - Clip does a great job here. Regardless of thick or thin materials, this knife will stay in your pocket firmly, but doesn't take an irritating amount of force to get out. The smoothed out portion where the clip meets the scale means this one won't shred your pants, either.

2. Discretion - NONE. This is a big honking pocket clip on a big, thick knife. Probable an inch of knife sticks out of your pocket in tip-up carry. Slightly less in tip down, but nothing noteworthy. Everyone in a ten mile radius will know you have a knife.

3. Versatility - I sometimes wonder of some left-handed person wronged the folks at Kershaw in the distant past. Like many Kershaw designs, no left handed options whatsoever. Right side tip-up and tip-down only. There's a lanyard hole if you're into that sort of thing, but it's smallish for paracord.

Fit and Finish: Gotta ding it here in two places. The grind of the secondary bevel and centering on my model. Secondary bevel is unevenly ground - around an inclusive 35 by the tip, thickening to 44-ish at the base of the blade (more on the problems with this below). The centering is off, too. When I use the pivot screw to get it away from the right handle scale, it becomes a fix bladed knife. It doesn't rub the liner on the right handle scale, but it is bloody close.

Kershaw's a mystery on this aspect. I have a Knockout, a Leek, a Skyline, and an Echelon that are freaking FLAWLESS. This is the only one where I've had any real fit and finish gripes. Maybe it is because Kershaw makes so many of these knives? Regardless, Kershaw has kick-ass customer service and they've already told me they'll fix both issues whenever I feel like sending mine in.

Ease of Maintenance: Stupid recurve. Gives the blade an interesting look, and arguably helps with some performance aspects. But it is a royal pain in the ass to sharpen on a stone. Easy to get the first 2/3 of the knife scary sharp, but that recurved bit at the blade is a royal pain in the ass, given the knife's fairly fat geometry (you'll have to try this on a stone to see what I'm talking about). This would be a "Sharpmaker only" knife for me but for the uneven grind which makes even that irritating. Once Kershaw fixes that issue, this will probably be an easy knife to maintain on a Sharpmaker. Otherwise, this thing is built like a tank. Don't foresee a lot of other maintenance. The flow-through construction makes cleaning easy.

Conclusion: This is a good knife. Lives in that line between tactical and EDC, but there's just something about it. There's a reason these knives have so many iterations and so many positive reviews. One of the best S30V iterations you can get for the price point. You get a lot for the money and Kershaw's got a kick-ass warranty.

That said, if you had to have ONE EDC (Spyderco Delica) or ONE tactical user (Spyderco Manix 2 or ZT 0300), I think you can get a better engineered product elsewhere.

Benchmade 556 Mini-Griptilian

Short Form: There is a very Zen aesthetic to doing something very ordinary and doing it spectacularly well. There is an equally Zen experience of appreciating such mastery only through time and exposure. I think the Mini-Grip really hits on both of those things. While it leans slightly more towards the "hard use" end of the pool, the Mini-Grip comes close to being a perfectly balanced EDC knife. If you're going to exceed the $50.00 range with one knife, I would recommend that it be this knife.

Size: Smallish end of medium, with a total length of 6.78" and a closed length of a very impressive 3.87". The blade hits just shy of 3" with almost the entire exposed edge being sharpened and usable.

Usage Rating: Medium going on heavy. The only reason I don't say "heavy" without reservation is because it is, on the whole, rather smallish. Other than that, this is a knife with dual steel liners, an insanely strong lock, and a moderately thick blade-stock which is ground in such a way that it can take abuse. More to the point, the texturing and gripping created by the handle make this a blade that wouldn't slip out of our hands, even if you used it to cape a deer or clean a really slimy fish, like a catfish.

Steel Quality: I almost put this in the "high" category. 154 CM is a slippery fish in that way. It is certainly an order of magnitude better than 8Cr13Mov and lower steels. I'm not sure I'd call it "better" than VG-10, although it does have better wear resistance. It is not as easy to sharpen as VG-10, and while it will take a hair-popping edge, it won't easily get to that "scalpel zone" that VG-10 and Sandvik 14c28n will. Here's the trade-off: with the big ol' carbide structures in 154 CM, it gets toothy on the edge quickly and stays that way for a long time. Put more plainly, it will hold a "utility edge" (can't shave with it but still quite useful) for a really, really long time. Easily a competitor to s30v.

Deployment Method: One-handed ambidextrous. Very old school, field-tested-and-approved thumb studs, both average in size and shape. Phosphor bronze washers around the pivot. Again, the whole crux here is that this an ordinary thing done extraordinarily well. This is one of those knives you really have to handle to appreciate it. I've just described half the folding knives on the planet, but the difference here is that you can easily flick this open with slight thumb pressure, despite the knife's rather petite size. And despite that lightning open, the in-handle retention is still very good. The only competitor I've seen to the action on these things is the ball-bearing systems that are starting to come into use on production models, and even then, this gives those a serious run for the money.

Performance Aspects:

1. Slicing - This blade is a pretty good slicer. Decent amount of curvature and a sabre-grind that starts about 1/3 of the way down the blade, ending in the secondary bevel, make for good performance in this arena. Doesn't slice as well as a full flat-ground blade, but keep it fairly sharp, and you'd hardly notice the difference.

2. Piercing - Despite the petite size, this thing has a robust tip. The curvature of the last portion of the blade makes it a fairly pointy tip, as well. Particularly good piercing for a normal, "non-wharncliffe" style knife.

3. Push Cutting - Kind of "meh" here. Only super thin knives with high grinds are great push cutters. This is further hampered by the fact that the secondary bevel is ground a bit wide (broader than 40 degrees inclusive, in some cases - more on that later).

Retention Method:

1. Functionality - this is where we get to the mini-grip's one short-coming I can think of. Clip keeps the knife in your pocket very well. Too well, in fact. The bow of the clip sits on a checkered portion of the grip. The result is a certified pocket-shredder. I won't wear this knife with suits or khaki pants because it will readily tear them up. Even my cargo shorts and jeans wear noticeably after clipping this knife quite a bit. You can cure this by working the clip and sanding the contact point, but from the factory, beware and guard your pants!

2. Discretion - not great here, either. Big, exceptionally wide clip (given the size of the knife) with a good 3/4 of an inch of handle sticking out of your pocket. Everyone will know you have a knife.

3. Versatility - good enough. Good for lefties and righties. Tip up only, but who gives a damn?

Fit and Finish: Sadly, gotta ding it here, too. The first one I got was badly off-centered. Fixing the problem turned it into a fixed blade knife. Didn't rub the sides, but came insanely close. Plastic parts and locking mechanisms were immaculate, though.

Here's the thing. Their customer care is fantastic. I ended up screwing up my blade. Shipped it to them, and for five bucks, they put new axis lock, new springs, new pocket clip, NEW FREAKING BLADE. Cost to me? $5. And they got it back to me a month from when I sent it out. BM also has a free lifetime sharpening service if you're into that action.

Knife was absolutely immaculate when I got it back from them. Super impressed. I guess what I'm saying is that even though fit and finish aren't perfect, you may be perfectly assured they'll make it right if you aren't happy. These people are serious about keeping customers, and I don't doubt this is part of that hefty initial price-tag.

Ease of Maintenance:

Another POTENTIAL problem area. Remember that ultra-wide secondary bevel I mentioned earlier? If you're a sharpmaker guy (or any "set angle" system), your product may not work on this guy. That's how I borked my blade up in the first place, trying a re-profile. If the only tool in your box is a sharpener like that, this could be problematic.

If you just use stones, this is an easy blade to sharpen with its simple shape.

Otherwise, nice low-maintenance knife.

Conclusion: Like I said above. This is a super-solid EDC. Price keeps creeping up (I think they're about $80.00 now), but still worth the money. Great blade, great design, a pleasure to use. There are a lot of reasons this is a long-lived classic. Sometimes simple is best. Just beware of the maintenance issues and the possible pants destruction.

Spyderco Native FRN - C41BK

If you just watched me use this blade, you might get the impression that I hate it. For a $50+ blade with high-end steel, I've beaten the crap out of it. The reason is simple - it was an experiment. I had never seriously tested a linerless FRN knife, nor a blade with pin construction. I spent most of my knife-collecting career refusing to buy knives without liners because I thought they were weak. I avoided pin construction because I thought it was cheaper and indicated poorer quality.

Wrong on both counts! Keep reading and I'll tell you why. 

Here are pictures of my Native FRN (all done against a one inch grid for size reference):

Here is a link to a good video review of the Native by 0100. Here is another one by Cajun Blaze. Those should get you a better visual "grip" on what this thing looks like from all angles.

Short Form: The FRN actually makes this a "tougher" hard use knife than some with steel liners and the pins mean you never have to play with a pivot screw. The steel holds an edge forever... in short, low maintenance, hard use knife!

Size: Medium size at 7" exactly. Cutting edge is only 2.65" thanks to the finger choil, though, so if you need something with a really nice cutting/edge to handle ratio, look elsewhere.

Usage Rating: Heavy use, without question. The blade stock is thick at 3mm and keeps that thickness for a good portion of the blade. This is a blade that I've hammered through small logs. The back lock is plenty strong. The grip... what can you say about the grip in this thing? I think the literature from Spyderco pretty much nails it. "Engineered for the human hand, the Native's ergonomic design maximizes cutting ability while minimizing discomfort and fatigue." The way this thing fits to the hand, plus its thickness and texturing, make this something you can hold and use for a long time with no blisters or hot spots. 

And now to the FRN. I used to think that all knives with no metal liners were inherently weak. Man, was I wrong on that score. I've seen an FRN Native run over with a freaking car. Whereas metal would bend permanently, FRN yields and goes right back to its original shape. I've beaten this knife in ways that would have virtually assured the development of blade play in knives with liners, and it doesn't wobble a millimeter. You have to understand, this thick plastic is strong like bamboo-- it's ability to yield a bit makes it that much more formidable. 

Can you do the same things to this knife you'd do to a Spyderco Military? Maybe not, but for the money you pay, you needn't be at all shy about putting some hurt on this blade. 

Steel Quality: High end. S30V is widely revered for a reason. While it is a bit "toothy" with its large carbide structures, that is no problem in a utility knife. That super mirror polish you'd want on a cooking knife isn't necessary for the applications this blade was designed for. It will still take a hair-shaving edge and keep it for a couple of months at a time. Corrosion resistance is fantastic (again, adding to the low maintenance allure of the blade), and sharpening is relatively easy (though not ridiculously so, like it is with Sandvik 14c28n or VG-10). 

The steel was the main reason I got this knife. First blade with S30V and one of the cheapest you can get. It absolutely doesn't disappoint. 

Deployment Method: One-handed ambidextrous. This design is a little older, so it lacks an oversized spyderhole or the "hump" that makes many spyderco blades so easy to open. All that said, there is a reason designs weather the years. This blade is plenty easy to open with either hand, and the back lock and reversible pocket clip (tip-up left or right side) make this friendly no matter what your strong hand is. 

Performance Aspects: 

1. Slicing - This knife is a fairly good slicer. It doesn't compete with most really narrow, full flat-ground blades, but the moderate hollow grind does an acceptable job and the relatively constant curvature of the cutting edge also helps. This type of grind was probably used, at least in part, to keep costs low. The awesome ergonomics on this knife also improve what might be "meh" performance based on blade geometry alone. 

2. Piercing - The Native is an awesome piercing knife. Some have certainly groused about the thin tip, but I think its narrow profile makes it an even better piercer and the concerns about a "delicate tip" are unfounded. I've driven the tip through canvas, heavy plastic, and even nailed it into wood and it is none the worse for wear. What I keep seeing when people break the tip is that they use it for prying. Prying will break the tip off just about any knife. It isn't what knives are used for, so I don't really factor that into my reviews. 

3. Push-Cutting - This is a thick blade, so push cutting isn't spectacular. 

Retention Method:

1. Functionality - The hourglass clip Spyderco uses ain't pretty and it ain't discreet... but it works perfectly. With the "pinch point" nicely placed over the smooth logo, it is the perfect amount of tension to keep this blade clipped to your pocket without getting it out turning into a wrestling match. The hefty chunk that protrudes from your pocket when clipped makes taking the knife out easier, as well. 

2. Discretion Factor - The barrel screw used for this clip is an elegantly simple solution to the problem of how to anchor the clip on a linerless knife. The problem is that this clip (along with the relatively thick handle of the knife) really make this thing protrude. There is no chance in hell that anyone will ever think you are doing anything other than carrying a knife. 

Aside: It is also worth mentioning that, on the whole, this is a kind of aggressive-looking knife. The contoured grip, finger choil, and thinned tip kind of make the whole blade look tactical. I find myself only carrying this one on the weekends, because even though I think it is firmly in the utility knife category, its looks could bother "non-knife" folks.

3. Versatility - It's left and right side tip up only. Good enough, but not the delightful "however the hell you want it" of the Delica and Endura series. 

Fit and Finish:

I was actually disappointed here. This was my first Spydie from Golden, CO. I expected masterful workmanship. What I got was fairly "meh". Don't get me wrong - the knife deploys, locks, and unlocks perfectly - but the FRN handles are only roughly finished inside, and the pins which hold it together look battered. This is by no stretch a pretty knife. 

But then again, it kind of goes back to what I said in the beginning - this is a hard use knife. Not meant to go in a show room.

Ease of Maintenance:

If there's a selling point for the knife, it is under this category. The pin construction means that you don't have to screw around with the pivot. No bi-monthly adjustments, or messing with blue loc-tite, or anything like that. This blade was perfectly centered when I got it, and it remains that way (even after it got run over!!!). 

That's the real strength of the FRN. Even if it gets dropped or smashed, that yielding, but incredibly tough plastic just keeps its shape, no matter what. Also, since it is plastic, you don't have to oil the pivot to keep the action smooth. 

Like, ever. 

I mean, you could, but you'd be wasting time. I've not oiled that knife for two years of hard use, and I can still flick it open with my weak hand. 

You can wash the blade with no worry. There's no steel liners to rust, and the S30V steel has fantastic corrosion resistance (not to mention fantastic edge retention). 

Conclusion: 

This is a working man's knife. It's affordable. It works well. You can beat the daylights out of it. You can get away with sharpening it two or three times in a year of regular use. In short, you can ignore this knife's needs and get great performance anyway. Sal Glesser designed this knife with "big box" stores in mind. It's a design aimed at people who needed good cutting tools but aren't willing to jump through all the hoops us "knife knuts" love so much. 

If I'm right about what Glesser was aiming for, he hit the bullseye with the Native.