I bought a Kershaw Leek and carried it every day for more than a year.
I still carry the Leek, but have had some problems with it.
The "assisted opening" feature is whiz-bang and cool. That's primarily why I bought the Leek.
However, the "assisted opening" feature is no more.
Basically, I'm rough on stuff. I use my pocket knives.
It just took a couple of drops and bumps to ruin the assisted opening feature on my knife.
Also, in the course of carrying the knife, all the little special hex screws in the frame kept coming loose.
I had to keep tightening those little screws over and over. But one is now missing, and I have no idea where it went to.
Also, I have found that the little "safety" on the butt end of the knife is basically useless and downright annoying, because it tends to get stuck in the "safe" position right when I'm trying to open the knife.
I got so annoyed with having to constantly tighten the screws on the frame that I eventually took the thing completely apart, and pulled out the broken leaf spring that used to make the blade go "flick" at the touch of the little lever on base of the blade.
The bad thing is that the blade won't go "flick" any more.
The good thing is now, with that extra little piece gone, I can now tighten all the little hex screws down tight enough so that I can go for about a month without having to worry about tightening them all again.
I still carry the Kershaw. But now it just works like a regular pocket knife.
The next knife I buy will probably be a Spyderco.
It's that old adage at work again.
Something that's more complicated means it's got more parts to come loose or break or malfunction. And complicated and prone to breakage or coming loose is just not something I look for in a knife.
I still think the Kershaw assisted opening feature is wicked cool. It's just not for everyday use.
But from now on, I'll stick to more simple knife designs with fewer screws to come loose, and fewer parts and mechanisms to break with wear and use.
hillbilly