Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Kershaw

I first saw the Kershaw Leek at our Sportsmans Wharehouse a year or so ago. It was made in China with a stainless blade and aluminum scales. I searched on-line to compare prices and found a US made version with S30V and G10 for a few dollars more. I ordered that one and carry it every day - it's a darn good knife.

I also have their Gentlemen's folder with VG10 which has been a great knife.

I'm currently carry a Kershaw Mod.1830 with the assisted open feature and I really like it. Holds an edge OK and is easy to sharpen. Great value. I highly recommend it.

Was looking at the Kershaw Sweet 1830's at Sportsman's and Ebay and like what I see.

A question for you guys in the know about the Sweet 1830.

Some 1830's notice some "assisted opening" while others don't specify it. Are all 1830's assisted opening?

What about blade material? Some 1830's advertise AUS6A Stainless while most show 8Cr13MoV as the blade material. Different knives? If so, which is better?

Thanks for any help.

Lonny, my Kershaw Mod.1830 is made of 8Cr13MoV or so it says on the blade. And it is assisted opening don't know about others.

Thanks T.

That seems to be the common configuration and probably what I'll get.

As was previously stated, the Chinese made knives are 8CR13MoV. Most of the American made Kershaws are 14C28N, a Sandvik steel, roughly comparable to 154CM. a pretty decent steel.
The best value, by far, is the Skyline,an American made knife. They have been discontinued, but are still available from the Bay.
I don't care for an "assisted open" knife, as the blade is spring loaded. A Skyline is a "flipper" (non spring loaded) With a very little practice the flipper is at least as fast as an assisted open, with way fewer parts, and won't come open in tour pocket.
The Skyline also has a reversible clip.

Good info Mc. Was scratchin' my head on the AUS6A SS stuff was supposed to be. And good point on an assist opening unintended.

The Skyline has developed a kind of cult following. I paid around $10.00 for mine, and now a new one gets $30-40 on the Bay. Still a great value.
I own a bunch of way more expensive knives,up to the $400 range. None are much better.

There are still new ones on Amazon for $32.99 with free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001CZBDF8/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Just got a Kershaw Whirlwind as a birthday gift. Really like the Speed Safe opening.
Blade is 3.25" and weight is 3.5 oz. Made in the USA.
On the blade it is marked - Ken Onion design.

One question - who is Ken Onion ?

He's a knife designer that invented the speed safe and licensed it to Kershaw.

Capt Ron - only had the Whirlwind a couple of days but I like it a lot.
It is my first Kershaw knife. Overall I would rate Kershaw as excellent.

Some of my Kershaws. All are excellent for the price IMO......

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8219341/1

I currently carry a scallion everyday. Also had the chive. I've really liked my kershaws.

I have been using one of these for years, its my EDC when Im in jeans. LOVE it!

A couple days ago I realized my good bud has been carrying a Kershaw Chive for years now. Saw him cutting open a bag of shelled corn with it. I think he has a couple of them........

My current EDC is a Kershaw Leek with a D2 cutting edge. Not a dang thing wrong with this knife. Easy to open, slim and weight is about right. Good for opening mail, boxes or anything else you might need a knife for during a days work. Bought mine on amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Kershaw-1660CB-Stainless-Steel-Composite-two-tone/dp/B0017KN4MS

Finally got around to polishing the edge on my Sweet and Skyline and ended up completely regrinding the bevel on both.

Kershaw says to sharpen with an 18-22 degree bevel. Kudos to them for even telling us since a lot of knife makers don't. But when I clamped up the Skyline in the Lansky the first licks showed wear nowhere near the edge. I tried the different holes and that knife had a 30 degree bevel! The Sweet was a little better but it was still about 25 degrees. I had finished the edge of the Chill a few weeks ago and it was right on at 20 degrees.

Anyway, it took me about 1/2 hour to regrind that Skyline by hand with the coarse stone, then finish up with medium, fine and a final stropping with a leather strop. The Sweet was faster since the bevel wasn't so far off but it still took a good 20 minutes.

Now all three knives are super sharp, but the lesson learned is to check this stuff for yourself.



While I'm here - I've been using the Chill for a few weeks now for the general light stuff I use a pocket knife for - opening envelopes and packages, cut some cardboard for wrapping books and stuff like that. This morning when I checked the edge it was still very sharp. I gave it a few licks on the leather strop anyway (who among us can leave well enough alone? ), but overall I am very pleased with this knife. Plus it's great to play with, flipping that blade out over and over and over...

Thought I'd post an update on these after carrying them daily for the last three months or so.

Have settled on the Skyline for jeans carry and the Chill to carry at work. The Chill has a smaller and a little less "scary" blade shape so it won't freak people out in the office when I open it. It is carried hooked to my slacks' waistline with the clip under the belt at the 8 o'clock position (I'm left handed), almost like an IWB carry piece. With a shirt blousing out a bit over it you can't even tell it's there.

But I carry the bigger Skyline in my front left jeans pocket all the time I'm not at work.

Really like the index finger opening. Even though the clips are meant for a right hander so I have to reverse the knife when drawing, it's become a natural movement to grab the knife, twist it around and flip that blade open.

Overall I am really liking these Kershaws and think they are a great value. They don't see a lot of abusive use but for opening boxes, cutting twine or rope and general household use, even cutting a few lengths from an old rubber garden hose, they are just fine. Haven't had to sharpen either one yet in the 3 months I've had them, just licked the blades on a leather strop once.

I don't know how they do it, but my sweet deserves the boomarang award, i.e. it always comes back to you. I've managed to loose it twice while working our 1/2 acre lot, and it showed up again both times. First time I was working brush and it fell out of my pocket. After several months under the snow my son spotted it. The second time I figured it was gone for sure as I'd worked over the lot with a dozer. This Sunday I was at the lot with my wife and as she was sitting on a log I glanced the sweet sitting there next to a stump I'd pushed to the edge of the lot with the dozer.

I think the reason I've dropped it is the pocket clip has slightly "sprung" and it' won't stay clipped in my pocket. I think it's time to loose the spring clip before I loose the knife again.

Also a big fan of the speed opening.