Kershaw Siege - Model 1073

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: This tomahawk that is made out of one piece of 3Cr13 steel (which is the equivalent of 420B). The balance feels great and it does a nice job cutting logs. I also have thrown this into a few pine boards as well. The point of the tomahawk is very sharp as well. The handle is glass filled nylon.. but to me it feels like thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).The sheath seems to be made of nylon and pvc coating on the inside and some of the outside, and stays to my belt well enough. Vertical, no horizontal carry.

 

Other things to note: This tomahawk is all “one piece” so you don’t have to worry about the handle breaking. I read that some people are comparing this in the same league as more expensive hand axes. The 3Cr13 may be softer steel, but it sharpens back up quicker and has higher carbon, which is more corrosive resistant.

 

What to look out for:One thing that I have read and agree on, that the pry bar end is useful, but to note it is thicker than a “normal” pry bar. The black-oxide coating, will wear off after time.. so expect that.

 

Conclusion: I really do recommend this tomahawk. It’s small enough for a duffle bag or maybe a medium bug out bag or survival bag. Around $50.00 on Amazon.

 

Kershaw Link Model 1776

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kershaw Link Gray Aluminum BlackWash Model 1776GRYB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Both of these Kershaw Link knives are made in the U.S.A. Kershaw facility in Tualatin, Oregon. Both of these are my main EDC knives! They are both drop point blades and they do make these in a Tanto style blade as well. The 1776 model has a nylon glass filled handle and natural stonewash finish, the Model 1776GRYB has a black stonewash finish. They are both “speedsafe” so the blade swing out automatically when activating the “flipper” on the top of the knife.

 

 

 

Other things to note: Kershaw designers wanted to make an affordable U.S.A. made knife, and they made this right in my opinion. The blades on both are 420HC, which are high carbon and very resistant to corrosion like divers knives. A lot of post on the internet are complaining about the steel choice, but those are same people that don’t know about knives. 420HC is easier to sharpen and I’ve flicked both of these knives open over 500+ times now, no issue. FAST DEPLOYABLE BLADE! And the blades were\are hair shaving sharp out of the box. The aluminum gray handle one is a bit more on the heaver side than the nylon filled handle model, but not much 4.8 oz vice 4.0 oz.. I like them both. The drop point blades have a nice belly on them, and I would love to see Kershaw make this into a one bevel grind on each side, like a scrandi’ grind if they could in the future. Reversible pocket clip “tip up” carry only. Lanyard hole is a big oval, which is nice to see.. .no problem getting cordage thru that one!

 

What to look out for: There is no jimping on the top of the handle or blade per se, there is some notches in the top spacer of the knife that aids grip a bit and there is slight indentation meant for a thumb rest. I can get a very comfortable grip on the knife. Also, there is no thumb studs on the blade, all of this is not a deal breaker and it looks like that the designers wanted these knives to be more on the sleek side.

 

Conclusion: The price of these on Amazon are about $35 to 40 dollars give or take and I really mean this, these ones are really tough to beat. When you get a U.S.A. made knife with these specs at that price.. 100% winner in my book for multiple tasks.. even bushcraft.

 

 

Kershaw Ember (designed by Rick Hinder) Model 3560

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview:
I suggested to Kershaw 2 years ago to make a knife that had a 2 inch blade for some of us who worked in places with restricted knife lengths or some of us who live in states that have restrict knife length law. I am very happy to see that they are designing small blades such as this on. This Kershaw Ember knife is one of the smallest automatic knives that I have seen. It is almost the same closed length has a person thumb as well as width. The blade is 2 inches long and blade is 8Cr13MoV. There is a titanium carbo-nitride coating on the blade and the handle as well. The handle is made out of 410 stainless steel, and again titanium carbo-nitride coating on top.

Other things to note: Awesome small blade that I am carrying in my EDC pouch that I bring to work every day. The clip point blade is hair shaving sharp as you would expect and the 8Cr13MoV blade is around 440B\C for steel. Even if I used this out of work, it makes for a very light weight EDC blade @ 2.2 oz. and far better than a slip joint knife in my opinion. Reversible 3-way pocket clip, “tip down” and “tip up” on one side, and only “tip down” carry on the opposite side. There is also jimping on the top of the blade, above the pivot point so you can “choke up” on it, and do fine work if need be. It’s really nice in the hand for such a small knife.

What to look out for:
Closing the knife, be careful of that blade! The first time opening it, I almost winged off my finger tip.. slow and steady friends. There is also no lanyard hole.. not sure why that did not put a hole in the back of this model. Would make a lot of sense for people who wanted to carry this completely in the pocket. The blade was very stiff, after running hot water on the pivot point it cleaned out whatever “greese” that was in there holding back the blade from deploying out. I then used some Remington gun oil with Teflon just a drop and it’s 100% awesome now. I have also read the same small issue from other posts across the internet.

Conclusion:
This retails for about $20 USD and I think it truly worth it, again.. especially if you are in a restricted knife length limit area. A great option for your pouch, or bag inside or outside on molle webbing.

 

 

Kershaw Shuffle II, tan Model 8750TTANBW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview:

This knife.. caused a lot of talking and overview with my small team that I work with.. it took "this long" to come up with a review. This knife has a "great" 8Cr13MoV stonewashed stainless steel blade . It is a "tanto" style blade that is truly sharp. The thumb studs on the blade is nice. The end of the knife, as the same stonewashed finish and has a standard flat screwdriver as well as a bottle opener (and we did test both). The blade scales are glass filled nylon and are textured. There is a liner lock and this is a manually open knife.

 

What to look out for: The first model that we got from Kershaw, we found that the scales on the knife were thiner than we expected. We noted that this caused a bit of "blade play" when cutting between thhe scales and the pivot point. We sent that knife back to Kershaw, and they sent a "2nd" knife to us. Again, we noted that there was a bit blade play again. However after using the knife constantly, this seems to be just how the knife is. We think that the thin scales are "throwing us off" a bit when we are using the knife. We have "not" seen any further issues, as we can still slice thru cardboard and other light tasks with ease.

 

Conclusion: If you are looking for a thin knife for every day carrying, for light tasks.. this knife may be a great deal for you. - Tom