Kershaw Knockout Review
This might not wind up being as much of a review as it is a total hype post! The Kershaw Knockout has quickly become one of must carried knives, and it is one of my top five favorites.
Specifically, today I want to talk about the exclusive version from USA Made Blade! What sets this version apart as well as a few other exclusives from other distributors is the M390 Blade. If you’re not familiar with M390 it’s recently become insanely popular because of its impressive edge retention. Which is interesting considering that it was originally developed for use in molds for injection moldings.
None the less the knife industry has a hold on it now and although it might be a secondary use it’s still doing a hell of a job! The M390 blade on the Knockout comes in both a satin and a black wash finish and is available in a few different color scales. Both finishes look great, some obviously look better than others together. One thing to note about the black wash finish is that as with any blade of it’s hard use some of the finish will start to wear.
For me this isn’t the problem it gives the blade a well-used look and doesn’t affect the performance or corrosion resistance in any real way, this is because of the large amount of chrome in the compound of the metal itself. Rust doesn’t stand a chance!
Next let’s talk about Speed Safe. This is Kershaw’s unique assisted open system. Kershaw explains it as “When closed, a torsion bar in the handle creates a bias toward the closed position. When opening, the torsion bar adds to the pressure from your finger and pushes the blade open.” So, as with any assist open, you either love it or hate it. For me, I love it. Easy, smooth, unrestricted opening with one hand.
Specs: The Knockout is an overall 7.875 inches with a blade length of 3.25 inches. This knife weighs only 3.4 ounces and that’s because the entire idea behind the knife was to build a big knife without a big weight, something that was light enough to be a comfortable every day carry. The Knockout achieves this by building the entire handle out of aluminum. Everything except for the frame lock that is. They “knocked out” a chunk of the handle and inserted a stainless-steel frame lock in place insuring maximum strength in the frame lock. This is where the Knockout got its name from according to Kershaw. If you’re looking at a Knockout that is NOT an M390 version, then you’re likely looking at aSandvik 14C28N blade. This is a great steel with very similar qualities to the M390 so you’re still going to get good edge retention and awesome corrosion resistance. So, nothing to be concerned about there.
Overall, this is a blade that every Kershaw lover has got to have in their collection! If you can get your hands on the discontinued M390 version from USA Made Blade, that’s going to be a no brainer!
Have you had any experience with the Knockout? Or maybe another Kershaw that you loved? Let me know in the comments!