raccoon city's Favorite Knives, with pics! All Kershaw (except for two) so far.

I carried a fancy version of the Leek for years. It was my “office carry” and served well enough in that role. However, there are three things about the Leek that I don’t like.

1. First is the little safety doodad. It shouldn’t have been a necessary feature but mine also had a weak detent and could be edged out slightly before the assist became active. Given the blade shape, that could mean just enough to bite if the safety wasn’t engaged. I came to hate this.

2. Second is the pocket clip. For the kind of carry and situations where I wanted the Leek, this was the wrong kind of clip. I often ended up carrying it loose in a pocket, which isn’t always very comfortable.

3. This is the fancy anodized aluminum that I was always worried about scratching. This is only a problem on some models of the Leek.

At the end of the day, I feel like the Dividend in decent steel is a good replacement for the Leek. Unless you really love the blade shape on the Leek, the Dividend will often a better choice. The Dividend can also be had with a deep-carry loop-over which makes carrying it a dream. It works well either tip-up in a pants pocket or tip-down in a sturdy enough shirt pocket or inside breast pocket of a suit or jacket.

My absolute favorite thin office carry is this:

https://www.bladehq.com/cat—Protech-Newport—1421

I have a CF/Alu version with just a plain satin blade and it’s awesome. I carried it for years. My only gripe is either I suck at sharpening it or the blade is profiled at such a sharp/thin angle that it dulls too fast if I carry it every single day.

I ended up getting another Protech in thicker blade and different steel and it fixes that problem but it’s WAY too thick and bulky for anything but jeans (IMO):

https://www.bladehq.com/item—Protech-Tactical-Response-2—97807

This is my other newer one, it’s more tolerable but the rough carbon fiber scuffs up everything and it’s a bit bulky but tolerable size:

https://www.bladehq.com/item—Spyderco-Mantra-3-Compression-Lock—80860

IDK I guess I have first world problems.

I’ve had a Cryo II and a Spline in the past, both were fantastic knives. I’ve since upgraded to a ZT0456CF Sprint run, don’t think I’ll find a better knife to replace this one in my pocket everyday.

I’m going to continue hijacking this thread cause I got some good suggestions.

I decided against the Leek because of the tip lock, frame shape, and clip. It did come in good steel options and other ergos seemed very good and the price was right.

I was still on the fence with the Dividend but it’s hard to tell how wide that blade is when closed.

I ended up with a Zero Tolerance 0450 ( ) cause it made even better use of space with a smaller footprint and larger blade with Ti handle and instant gratification and low price on Amazon.

The fun starts and stops there.

The second I unbox I instantly think “this is the size i’m looking for”. I had also read that if you call and ask nicely Kershaw/ZT and many other brands will send deep carry pocket clips if they have one that fits your non deep carry knife (for free usually).

Well the fun stops there. I couldn’t even flip open the blade. It fits so snugly inside the handle I couldn’t manually pull it either and there is no thumb stud for the 3rd option. Needless to say the harder I tried to open it the more it would not budge. The reason was because I was pressing on the F’ing frame lock. The harder I tried to open it the more I pressed on the lock, lol.

I did finally mostly train myself to hold it in such a way as to not interfere with the lock and it flips right open quickly but it’s not where my hand wants to go casually and the knife is so thin there’s not much room for error.

Will carry it and practice opening it some and see if I can get used to this.

Zero Tolerance knives look amazing, but they're out of my price range.

I hope yours loosens up for you.

Anybody know if Kershaw ever made the Chive with a GFN or G10 handle? I’m looking at a Scallion in GFN but just wishing it were smaller.

Great collection of Kershaws Raccoon.

My collection and certainly not as big as yours…only have 12 Kershaws and 4 Zero Tolerance.

Here is my collection of old and new Kershaws I have been collecting over 25 years.
You might like the last one…the rainbow leek.

I don’t believe they did. I certainly never saw one. The Scallion was the smallest in that line which I remember an FRN version of.

That one is nice...

The one that really catches my eye is the multicolored Bump.

Thanks to you and isti242 for showing me how to post pics on BLF since Photobucket charges for putting pictures on their site.

That is the Limited Edition blue Spec Bump with contoured Ti scales and a S30V blade. It is my favourite Kershaw.

I tried to get the matching green Spec Bump with the same serial number but no luck at my brick and mortar store.

Ok, thanks. :slight_smile:

Did you ever get this issue with opening resolved. I had the same knife and it takes a bit of practice, the other thing to check is if the clip has slid to the side on to the frame lock side. It should sit on the frame side and not the lock side. If it has moved over it will be borderline impossible to open and slow opening.

A little light oil is all it should take and the little guy should just fly open. I tell people to this day I believe it was one of the fastest opening knives I have owned. It is a great discreet EDC, small but very functional size and not to heavy.

This knife gets an honorable mention.

8.9cm D2 blade and a G10 handle:

https://www.gearbest.com/pocket-knives-folding-knives/pp_009780560071.html

I have three Gocomma knives, and I like this one the most.

It quick opens pretty well, though the shape of the flipper is not ideal.

Plus the clip is good.

This is the best knife that I own that supposedly quick opens.

This knife is one of the better Chinese-made Kershaws that I own.

Kershaw Boilermaker 3475!

I really like this knife.

I like that it's a different color than the rest of my knives.

I like the different shape when it's closed.

I like the clip.

I like that it's got a nice heft to it.

Overall, it's excellent!

Okay. I read all the posts about how Gocomma knives are amazing. I finally got the two models people were talking about. I want to spend some EDC time with them but I’ll be getting a review up sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Raccoon, what would you say are best value 3” or under blade Kershaw knives, for made in USA & China (grouped separately)?
Thanks!

Hmm...

I'd have to look up the length of every knife I recommended in this thread, and I don't really feel like doing that.

(If you'd like to do that, be my guest.)

Off the top of my head, I know that the Pico and Leek are 3", and they're both very nice.

I also know that the Cryo (not the Cryo II) is under 3", and it's nice.

The Pico is pretty cheap, and the Cryo is really cheap on DHgate.

I usually go for knives that have a blade of 2.9" and up, so I don't know much about knives under 3".

Racoon did u see this years kershaw knifes from shot show? they showed some cool new knifes .

Sorry I hadn’t responded until now — lost track. Yes, I have looked at the Pico, Leek, as well as the Onion. All very nice looking. I know these are all made in China in their budget production line, but it sounds like they’ve overcome most deficiencies. Hard to tell they’re not made in USA. Was looking for a good solid under 3” flipper made of D2. Found one by the Chinese brand “Lemifshe”, called the Warrior D2. It’s a bit on the heavy side, but I’m really liking the design and flip action.

No, I missed that.

There are a few newish Kershaw knives I am thinking about getting.

I'm just waiting for a bargain (probably to be found on eBay).