Customer Reviews

Kershaw Ken Onion Red Blur Folding Knife with Speed Safe

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This knife is my favorite among all. I have Gerbers, Bucks & Kershaws.

Pros:
- Sharp out of the box, & tough steel
- Serrated edge is sharp & aggressive
- Red & black contrasts well, which is easy to spot should you drop it in the grass at night
- Grip is VERY aggressive; It's basically skateboard grip secured to the knife (like 80 grit sandpaper)but is very durable & waterproof
- Simple one-handed operation; right amount of spring action -- not too springy to the point of accidental opening

Cons:
- Though the grip is good, it can be a little too aggressive on the clip side. It will likely shred-up your jeans/belt eventually clipping the knife off & on.
- I'd like to see a little more for forefinger slip protection, but still adequate

I would recommend as a good general purpose knife.

I saw this knife in a glass display case and had to have it. I have had it now for one year. The red, black, and steel of the knife are eye-catching. I have always held Kershaw knives in a high regard, and this is no exception. The handle is rugged, anodized aluminum with inset no-slip grip. The clip is strong, albeit sometimes difficult to clip on to something thicker than a pocket. The knife has an assisted open spring, and with a simple flick of your thumb the blade flips open. Closing is easy too. The blade and handle are firmly attached, and do not wiggle. The blade is great, very sharp out of the box.

If you are looking for a folding utility knife that looks sharp hanging off a pocket, this is the one.

And, best of all, it's made here in the USA!

This is really a sweet knife. I really like the color scheme and the fit and finish of this, extremely sharp, knife. It has a great heft and balance, with smooth, efficient operation. The blade is thick and strong, making it an excellent work knife. The speed safe option works very well for one-handed operation, with either hand.

It's an excellent value, in my opinion. You can't go wrong with this knife. I like mine so much that I ordered another for a spare.

I've had this knife for just over 6 months, and it's seen occasional everyday cutting tasks, such as opening boxes, cutting rope, stuff like that. It's extremely useful, but there are some downsides:
1.) it's a liner lock, which has worn out with use. But, if you take out the pivot screw all the way, then put it back in, it seems to clear it up, and make the blade lock up better.
2.) the blade is hard to sharpen with a stone, but you can touch it up with a honing steel, or diamond rod.

I would buy this knife again, without hesitation. I would go through two 100$ knives in 6 months while this humble 50$ has lasted me for almost 7 on it's own. It's a great knife, and will last for a while with occasional maintenance.

Just wanted to point out as I did in another review that this blade is exclusive to Amazon buyers. I LOATHE this type of deceitful sales where the manufacturer, perhaps at the request of their other vendors, provides a downgraded version to Amazon (I really hope this is not the start of a trend). Kershaw phased out the 440 and 420 steel on this knife years ago. The "real" Blur has upgraded Sandvik steel. Or, it can be purchased for a higher price in S30V steel. Most buyers of this knife may never realize they got the "cheap" version from Amazon. This is still a good knife and therefore I give it 4 stars. I have a Blur in the 420HC and has worked fine for my very light use, and it was quite a steel (pun intended) at the $30 price (red version costs $18 more - go figure!).

CORRECTION/UPDATE (8/5/2011):
It appears the Amazon description of the steel grade is incorrect (see the replies to this review). Even though the black Blurs sold by Amazon are made in a lower quality steel than the "standard" Blur, this is most likely the "standard" Sandvik 14C28N steel. This is a great knife at a great price! This error in the Amazon description probably occured because Kershaw used to make the blur in the 440 but upgraded to Sandvik 14C28N a few years back. My apologies to Kershaw . . . Amazon, if you are listening, please correct your description.

This is the second Ken Onion Blur with speed safe. Both have far exceed my expectations.

Specific to this knife, it can be held with a solid grip and because it locks open there is almost no danger of the thing folding by accident. It is sharp enough out of the box to shave with, and it stays that way. To be candid, I abused it in an "emergency" that coffee lovers can understand. I was camping and went to the trouble to bring a can of evaporated milk for the coffee. Gadzooks!!! No can opener; what to do? Do without, or stab the can open with the tip of the blade. You can guess the answer: the blade cut through the can like butter and didn't even dull the edge.

Three things that may help:

1. As other reviewers have pointed out, the color in the photo is a bit off. The color is red... sort of a cherry red. (Just in case you need the knife to match your two inch open toe strap heels.) To be worn with black hose... OK, I'll stop.

2. CLP is a great lubricant for the pivot point, and

3. Vaseline(R) works great to protect the blade, and in small quantities you can eat it if you use the knife to cut food!!!

~B

MADE IN CHINA...Great knife, razor sharp, looks good, feels solid. Like the other reviewer said the color is not like you see on Amazon. It is a darker red with a satin like dull finish not the bright shiny finish That I was expecting. The box has a sticker that says MADE IN USA I peeled it back and the box says.................. MADE IN CHINA .... just in case that matters to you. They probably did a final assembly or etch or some other minor step here to be able to say made in USA. Legal , yes... misleading YES

First of all I would like to make a clear point that I think Kershaw makes awesome knives and the Blur knife in particular in both reqular and Rescue version's are of exceptional quality and get my highest reccomendation.

My concern is with this particular listing as it changes in title and description periodicly from advertising a regular blur and then to a rescue version of a blur.

When I made my order out today for this knife this is what the title of this listing said--> "Kershaw Ken Onion Red Blur Folding Knife with Speed Safe " and in the description it mentioned nothing about this being the "rescue" version of this knife...later on today after my knife shipped I come back to this listing and the title says "Kershaw Blur Rescue Folding Knife" and now the description says that this is indeed the "rescue" version.

I just want to warn some of you that you may not recieve what you think you are ordering especialy after I read some of the responses made to some of the reviews already on this site about this listing.

I Love Kershaw products and realy enjoy shopping at amazon but something realy funky is going on with this listing and I will come back in a few days and change/delete my review and let you all know what I recieve from amazon.

*UPDATE* 2/23/2012 I recieved my knife today and it was the model 1670RD Red/Black handle with straight edge and regular blade. This was great news to me because this is what I ordered and this is also what this listing advertised when I made my order out but for those of you making an order out for the "rescue" version you may want to give amazon a call to make sure which knife you will get.

I Love this knife but unfortunatly this particular knife the blade has a little bit of trouble opening all the way and the only way to make it work right is by loosening the bolt but at that point you start to get blade play so hopefully it will break in...most blurs do not have this problem so I know I'm a minority. Anyway this is a great sharp well built knife that I highly reccomend gonna bump my review to three stars but still keep it low so it stands out so other's can read it and make sure they contact amazon first.

My wife got this for me for Christmas and it was my favorite gift this year. Larger than I expected (not huge, just right), it has a very nice heft. The skateboard taped handles give it a secure grip (haven't used it in the rain or anything yet) and it is very sharp right out of the box. Speed safe opener is quick and smooth.

I know that Kershaw stands behind their products and if anything goes wrong, they'll make it right. But this is a solid knife that I expect to use for years. By the way, my wife liked it so much that we ordered one for her, too.

I haven't had this knife for too long (3 weeks) but so far it has been fantastic. Razor sharp out of the box and quite good looking. The rubber grip is not hard on the fingers at all and gives it a very safe and sturdy feel. The assisted-opening is fast and always gets peoples attention.

Very good product. Might be a bit large for a smaller guy or someone who wears smaller jeans (as far as EDC goes), but for me it's been fantastic and I carry it on me daily.