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.
