Customer Reviews

Kershaw Rake

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent knife and I wanted it badly enough to over pay for it by about 20 dollars. I found it later on AG Russell at a lower price. There is a high demand since it was featured recently in one of the popular knife magazines. There were limited supplies and I don't believe at this time 2/24/11 that it is available on Amazon. AG Russell states that their quantities are limited, so you should call them to see if any are in stock. This being said, I am quite pleased with this knife but wanted to share some discrepancies and observations.

The description states: "Kershaw's newest composite-blade knife. The Rake features ADP 189, a high-end Japanese powdered steel, as the cutting edge and high performance Sandvik 14C28N for the spine, SpeedSafe assisted opening and a built-in Flipper make it fast and easy to open."

First, I see no evidence the cutting edge is ADP 189, rather it is CPM 02. I did a little research and could find very little on the ADP 189 steel, however, the CPM 02 seems to be a respectable quality steel and also used on the Kershaw Tyrade, which I am having difficulty finding a place to purchase.

Also, the cutting edge is not as dramatically different in shading and color as on the picture. Comparing this blade's composite interface with the Junkyard Dog II composite blade, there is a significant difference between the two. The Junkyard Dog has a very noticeable difference in shading and coloring between the spine steel and the edge steel. The Rake's interface blends much less dramatically between the spine steel and the edge steel. The Junkyard Dog II has an almost jigsaw pattern, the Rake has an an almost "zipper" like appearance.

However, I am not displeased with this knife in the least. It has the same G-10 handle and similar grip as many of the Kershaw knives I have. The assisted opening is quite smooth, pops right out, and I did not need to make any adjustments from the factory settings. The edge is sharp and the knife came without any noticeable flaws and in brand new condition. This is one of the best Kershaw knives I have seen and I own almost 20 of them. A bit heavy for Every Day Carry, but certainly you could if you wanted to show it off on a certain day or at a certain event.

I got this knife to use as an everyday carry (EDC) and it excels at that purpose. When I first pulled the knife out of the box it seems a bit thin to me but after carrying it a few days I really appreciate the thinness and flat shape of the G10 handles because the knife just disappears into my jean pocket, I literally can't feel it in my pocket as I sit here writing this. The blade snaps open crisply, without being too over the top in it's snap. The pointer finger recess and thumb rest are grooved and give great control, which is good because this blade is big for an EDC style knife. Aesthetically the shape and flow of the knife is near perfect, I just love the way this knife looks. Out of the box it was OK sharp, but a few passes with a hone and I was able to shave arm hairs. So far it's stood up to a few utility tasks without a problem.

The new Kershaw Rake is terrific. It opens with a nice smooth click & the composite blade is rugged & cuts like a quality knife should; haven't had to sharpen it but bet it will sharpen easily. I find the composite blade design very exotic & have tried to collect all Kershaw's composite offerings; not easy since they sell like hot cakes. I would grab this one quick, it is a beautiful knife no matter how you evaluate it = quality, design, cutting ability or value. Thanks Kershaw for another great knife.

This is the first knife that I have bought that was more than 10 bucks. I am so happy that I decided on this one. It arrived today and I love it. It feels heavy and well made which is a good thing (in case you can't open it up in time you can hit someone with it and Im sure they would feel it haha).Not that you would have a problem opening it,one push of the flipper and it snaps open pretty quickly. The blade looks awesome and feels like it can do anything you need it to do. It comes very sharp right out of the box. Sharp enough to shave some arm hair. I plan on having this knife as my EDC knife and being in construction I'm sure I will have many uses for it. I will give an update in a few months to see how its holding up. I plan on buying another Kershaw knife in the near future, probably one that is half serrated.

As usual, Amazon processing and handling of my Kershaw Rake knife was flawless. The Kershaw Rake is a very good small to medium EDC. It is small enough to be comfortable carried in the pocket, yet big and sturdy enough to perform very well in light to medium tasks. Deployment is very fast, smooth and effortless. Blade deploys very well with the flipper. It can be deployed with the thumb studs, but they are really unnecessary. They are pressed on and difficult to remove it you don't have a strong vise. I think I will remove them in the near future. The blade's shape makes this knife a very good slicer/slasher, yet it is thick enough that it will stand up to a good amount of force. The D2 metal stays sharp a long time. I have used mine since I received it and it still has great sharpness. I foresee it will be a bit tough to sharpen, but if the edge lasts a long time it is worth it. Pocket clip is OK. The G10 is very grippy. This makes it a bit hard to use the pocket clip. I took the clip off, placed it on a vise and bent it just a tad. Now the clip works very well and the knife will not fall out of the pocket. The only concern about this knife is the handle size. The handle will work regular size hands. If you have large hands, the handle might be too short. It is almost too short for me. I have medium to large hands. And the end of the handle has a funny curve that digs into your hand if you have large hands. Overall I would say the knife deserves 5 stars, but one must be careful to make sure the handle fits the hand.

My favorite knife of all the Kershaw's I own (10). Easily the best. Good grip, knife is very sharp, i took the edges down to @ 20d to allow for a better cutting edge. I'll tell you what, the cutting edge is very tough and took me a while to hone, which I think is a very good sign. It carries well and I use this now as my daily. I was using a Kershaw Leek, Junkyard Dog II, or Turbulence as my daily, but this has replaced them.

The Speedsafe quick release is awesome and I like the solid feel of the locking mechanism (like all Kershaws).

Oh yeah, MADE IN THE USA. There isn't a better reason.

Get this knife, you won't regret it.

The currently shipping knife is not the one pictured. The newer model comes with Kershaws new stone wash instead if the pictured bead blast. It looks much better with the stone wash. The bead blast was disliked by many Kershaw fans. The pics posted by a purchaser show the newer stone wash finish. You will not be dissapointed. The knife came shaving sharp, but I was able to make it scarry sharp with a few passes of super fine. Very nice lockup with absolutely no slop in any direction. I love everything about the knife but one thing: when closed the blade is way off center on the one that I got. I imagine it is only this bad on a very small percentage of rakes. If it disturbs me enough I'll just take advantage of amazons amazing return policy and get a replacement. This knife will replace another amazing Kershaw knife, the leek as my EDC, and I will update if there are any future issues.

Update

The blade being off center got to me enough to exchange the rake for another. Unfortunately after opening the new one I found the blade to be exactly the same. This is not what I have come to expect from Kershaw, but since I've fallen in love with the knife, and it doesn't effect functionality I will keep it.

I got this knife a couple of weeks ago but loved it and wanted it for a long time. The knife came razor sharp but I think it was a factory second with no XXXX on the blade I believe the same for the JYD II composite as well. Will I send them back hell no I have a few Kershaw knives but these are my favorites. The issue I had with this one is the blade looks to have a heavily patina the steel looks so much different than the other Kershaw's I own. At first I thought it was the heavy coat of oil on the blade but after wiping the oil off you can really see the difference. Well besides that the blade has a huge belly great for slicing. The knife is so well made once the blade is open the knife feels like a fixed blade in your hand no play in blade at all. One of the features I like most is the finger choil at the liner lock. The choil is not ground down for easy access like every single other knife in the world (at least that what it seems to me). Both sides of the handle and the liner nearly line up. I wish this was a standard design take some time to get used to but it feels great in the hand. I will try to add a photo to show what I mean about the blade. The is a great feeling tool pick one up you will not regret it.

SUPER fast shipping, knife doesn't look the same as in pictures as other reviews state; coloring is much less drastic. Opens awesome and is VERY VERY sturdy. Great Deal. My knife came with an insignia that was not pictured, a small arrow.

Typical Kershaw/Ken Onion product; well designed, sharp and attractive. Large for everyday "city " use,, perfect for outdoor sports and recreation (camping, hunting, fishing).