Kershaw Blur review

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I have always like the Kershaw knives you could pickup at Walmart for $15-20 and they would last forever but my last two the pocket clips became loose, blade became loose and just don't hold and edge very well so while scanning Cabelas.com i came across the American made Kershaw Blur. I found the same knife on amazon for about the same price but wasn't sure i would like it so i took a trip to cabelas and found the Blur with tiger stripe camo on the blade for $47.

Pros--I opened the package and thought man this is really light, fits well in my hand, and for some reason i felt the need to test it on my arm hair! Lets just say in one swipe my arm lost a 4'' patch of hair! I couldn't believe it was razor sharp right from the package! Its very sharp, ken onion design (if you care about that) feels good in my hand. I like a flatter handle knife than rounded cause it rides the pocket better but its a trade off in the hand for some. I like the pocket clip as its very large and stiff and i don't see if moving. The blade also locks up very well, no play in the blade and handle and its assisted opening. Made in the U.S.A.

Cons-The handle is flat so some may not be able to get a good grip, The shape of the blade will be an issue using a stone but i don't think ill have an issue with my Lansky sharpener. I don't care for the tiger stripe camo so ill have a friend get it off with some remover. The thumb studs are kind of sharp but i can deal with it. Due to the width of the handle when it assists opens its kind of loose in your hand but it will grow on me.

On a scale of 1-10 i give the first impression an 8. For the price i paid for it out of the selection i had to deal with I'm happy! A close second to this knife would be the Link. It took me awhile to decide on the two but the Link has a very plasticy, rounded handle and just felt cheap to me.
 
I have one in s30v. Its a decent knife. It has made in my collection for several years now without being traded away. Good solid lockup, good traction. Nice flowing ergonomics, typical of Ken Onion designs.

My only complaint is that the pocket clip was too tight. Not spring strength wise, but not enough clearance to fit the lip of my jeans in between. It only wanted to clip on half way without a bunch of wiggling to get it further. The problem is worsened by grippy rubberized inserts. I tried bending the clip out into a more raised shape. Broke it. Kershaw sent me a new one. Then I bent it again, this time with heat. Now it works better.

Also, I have grown to hate assisted blades. Luckily, the Blur takes to deassisting quite nicely. The same cannot be said about most other Kershaws I have dealt with.
 
CZ9shooter said:
I have one in s30v. Its a decent knife. It has made in my collection for several years now without being traded away. Good solid lockup, good traction. Nice flowing ergonomics, typical of Ken Onion designs.

My only complaint is that the pocket clip was too tight. Not spring strength wise, but not enough clearance to fit the lip of my jeans in between. It only wanted to clip on half way without a bunch of wiggling to get it further. The problem is worsened by grippy rubberized inserts. I tried bending the clip out into a more raised shape. Broke it. Kershaw sent me a new one. Then I bent it again, this time with heat. Now it works better.

Also, I have grown to hate assisted blades. Luckily, the Blur takes to deassisting quite nicely. The same cannot be said about most other Kershaws I have dealt with.
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I like the assist on this one as its not crazy fast like some i have dealt with. Another thing i like about this ones assist is its done by thumb screw and not the little fin on the back strap of the knife like most Kershaw's. I have had my cheaper ones open in my pocket due to the fin hitting the inside of my pocket.
 
CZ9shooter said:
I have one in s30v. Its a decent knife. It has made in my collection for several years now without being traded away. Good solid lockup, good traction. Nice flowing ergonomics, typical of Ken Onion designs.

My only complaint is that the pocket clip was too tight. Not spring strength wise, but not enough clearance to fit the lip of my jeans in between. It only wanted to clip on half way without a bunch of wiggling to get it further. The problem is worsened by grippy rubberized inserts. I tried bending the clip out into a more raised shape. Broke it. Kershaw sent me a new one. Then I bent it again, this time with heat. Now it works better.

Also, I have grown to hate assisted blades. Luckily, the Blur takes to deassisting quite nicely. The same cannot be said about most other Kershaws I have dealt with.
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Do you still use the flipper but just remove the spring?
 
1KPerDay said:
Do you still use the flipper but just remove the spring?
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Ummm, what flipper? The Blur is a thumb stud only knife.

I just disassembled the knife, removed the torsion bar/spring deal thing in there and reassembled.

The Blur has a detent ball on the lockbar tab to keep the blade closed and to provide a little resistance when flicking the blade out. Most other "Speedsafe" knives rely only on that spring going over center for blade rertention. No detent. So removing said spring results in a floppy limp bladed knife.

Blade retention is not spectacular on my Blur. I can shake it out if I try real hard. But it is fine.


I tried deassisting some Kershaw flipper actuated knives. The Cryo and the Leek among others. They DO NOT work without the spring. There is no detent to keep the blade shut or to provide the preload necessary to snap the blade out with the flipper.
 
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hso said:
That's because they have a cam over design that uses the spring to bias towards closure until you get over the top.
Click to expand...

Correct. The Blur does this too, but with the added benefit of a ball detent.
 
ohihunter2014 said:
If i cant remove it ill just cold blue it.
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You'll need to use cerakote or a similar paint. Stainless steels don't take well to bluing to start with. Further, my understanding is that those those blades have a light base color coating the full length, and then the black stripes are painted in over the top of the full base coat.

I hope it works out for you, and keep us updated on your progress.
 
I don't dislike the knife, in fact I own 2 of them. I have one I've had for years, and more recently bought one with S30V steel. But there is a known problem with some of them. The lock on some will fail. I think most of the new production knives have just fine, but I'd still check it out. After watching this you-tube video I checked mine and found the older one would fail. The new knife passed, but the older one would unlock very easily. I returned mine to Kershaw and they repaired it.

I'm not knocking Kershaw or their products at all, they make a good knife, I own several that I like, and they fixed the problem. But I'd recommend anyone with a Blur try this test and if it fails send it back. If it passes then you've got a good knife.

This guy gets long winded, skip to the 6 minute mark to see what I'm talking about.

 
Just a slight update on this knife now that I have carried it daily for a few weeks.

The blade stays very sharp. I was hiking and got caught on some thorn vines and it cut cleanly through them as well as cutting various ropes and such. The other morning I was on my way to work and realized I missed a spot of facial hair so knowing this knife would take hair off my arm with one swipe I tested it on the patch I missed and it took it cleanly off.

Cons-When you put your hand in your pocket the texture on the knifes grip is a bit rough but good when its in hand. I also will be fixing the thumb screw because its very sharp when you put your hand in your pocket. It has about a 45 degree angle on it which leaves a sharp edge so ill be rounding that off.

Other than the cons above im happy for the price I paid but they do need to fix those issues.
 
Own the $58 Walmart version----Meh

Just can't compare to my Benchmades or Spyderco-----so never gets carried or used

Own a few Kershaws and I'm just not really a fan and I've tried to like them but they just don't do it for me.
 
Omaha-BeenGlockin said:
Own the $58 Walmart version----Meh

Just can't compare to my Benchmades or Spyderco-----so never gets carried or used

Own a few Kershaws and I'm just not really a fan and I've tried to like them but they just don't do it for me.
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I think that many folks outside the knife world don't realize that Kershaw's premium brand that's made to a standard to compete with Benchmade, is ZT. Without telling us which Spyderco you're comparing the Blur to we have no frame of reference. Spyderco sells everything from $40 Chinese made liner locks, to $300+ titanium handle folders made in the USA, Italy, and Taiwan. The $60 Kershaws, depending on model, tend to be very competitive with $60 Spydercos.

In the $200-$250 range my ZT 0562CF is better made than my Spyderco Domino red weave CF. But I carry the Spyderco more because it can be opened with the flipper or thumb hole, while the ZT is flipper only. I also prefer the thinner blade stock and the handle color on the Spyderco. Those preferences aside, the ZT is slightly to much better in every other area.
 
I bought a Blur on a great amazon sale a few months ago. It served as my EDC since that time and from a fit/finish/quality standpoint I really have no complaints. All of the Kershaws I have owned have been good quality knives.

Two things that I do not like about the knife
1) The thumb studs are sharp. Putting my hand into my pocket results in scratches across the top of my hand every time. I realize that you can use a grinder to knock the edges down on these, but my blade has the black coating so grinding will leave a bright silver blemish.

2) The knife is touted as being ambidextrous and for the most part it is, however there is a notable carve out in the right hand scale (below the thumb stud) that makes getting your thumb in there to open the blade very easy. This cut out is no present on the left hand side and being a left handed person, I find it takes more direct pressure on the thumb stud to get enough purchase to open the blade. This additional pressure makes opening the blade more difficult than the same operation when using the right hand.

Unfortunately these two issues were enough of an annoyance that I decided to drop it from EDC. I replaced it with a Spiderco Para Military 2 and find that even though the scales are a bit larger than the Blur, it carries just as well.
 
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