after a lengthy discussion with my gunsmith, the posts here and over at KTOG, i'm going to stick with the smith 642. lightweight, sleek and stone cold reliable.
the problems both guns experienced, sending it back to respective factories and size contributed to my decision.
the kahr's price put it off for me. the kel tec seems like a good design but a "cheap" gun. i would prefer KT to put another $100-150 in their pistols to bring up quality/reliability or maybe a "premium" line.
thanks to all those that replied.