Kershaw’s Ken Onion Boa – WORST KNIFE YOU COULD EVER BUY!

[George Hill]

I swear… getting this Boa from Spectre was bad news. I hate this knife!
Since that day – I have not been able to carry anything else. I’ve tried. But the Boa ALWAYS comes back and ends up clipped to my pocket. Every dang time.
I used to carry others… SOGs, Spydercos, Benchmades… even a couple Emersons. I had variety. I had choices. I had freedom to carry any number of fine knives. Those days are long gone…
The Kershaw/Onion Boa has completely ruined all other knives for me. The blade shape is perfect for just about any cutting job… the blade’s steel is like magical or something… the handle fits my hand like it was custom made for me! And the worst feature of all? This Speed Safe mechanism. I can’t use a knife without it now.
How long have I had this knife now? Almost 2 years? I tried looking at some other nice “tactical†folders… but if they are not a Boa, forget it. The only knife I could see in replacing this Boa – is another Boa. Dang it!
My good friend Steve has purchased one of these knives and I feel sorry for him. No more looking fondly at the new Benchmade whatever… he’s done. He has his knife. Life time warranty too… It is going to be on him forever now. It’s like a marriage. I carry mine constantly. If I am wearing pants – I have the Boa. It’s like an inoperable tumor.
I admonish everyone reading this – Avoid the Boa at all costs!

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=Kershaw+Boa

I've taken the thumbstuds off mine. Without them, the knife slides into and out of the pocket easily and quickly... and you don't need them to open the blade. The little "trigger" mechanism works perfectly to open the knife and it's safer too, as your fingers are nowhere near the blade edge. And since the trigger is on the centerline, it's completely ambidextrous. Ken Onion sells his hand made Boas (couple hundred bucks a pop) without any thumb studs... I don't see why the Kershaw Production versions need them at all.

 

[omega5]

I know what you mean. I have numerous Spyderco's. I have one of the very first Spyderco Police models; bought new when they first came out. I've been a Spyderco man for years. Then I friend gave me a Kershaw Blackout. I carry it every day. I'll pick one of my Spyderco's like my Harpy or Delica but when I leave the house, it's the Kershaw Blackout in my pocket.
You have my sympathy

 

[Drjones]

You've never owned a Strider, have you?

Its nice knowing that I can literally cut any other knife in half with mine.

 

[CleverNickname]

I liked my Boa, until one day when I was just sitting at my desk at work and I heard a 'sproing' noise. Couldn't figure out what the noise was until the next time I tried to use it. The torsion bar had snapped. Sent it in to be fixed at the factory. While it was out I got a Benchmade 905. Once I got the Boa back I stayed with the Benchmade, because I liked its axis lock better. The Boa now sits in my safe as backup in case the Benchmade breaks.

 

[George Hill]

Yes, I had a Strider. Search TFL for it... I sold it. Didn't like it.
I've not had a 905... But should I hear such a sproing sound, I'll send it off and use one of my other knives grudgingly until the Boa returns.

 

[Stratford Holdings]

If you don't want your Boa, I'll buy it from you. Nothing better than having 2 Boa's. Hehehe.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

never played with the boa, specifically, but i don't really like the spring assisted knives all that much.

My mini AFCK is my EDC.

I'd buy a full sized afck without reservation if they still made liner locking versions.

 

[Spark]

You've never owned a Strider, have you?

Its nice knowing that I can literally cut any other knife in half with mine.

I know Striders are super thick and all, but please... don't fall for the hype too much.

 

[George Hill]

This is the Boa. Subtle knife... not much to look at... not flashy or gimmicky like some other knives out there.

The other side of the knife, we see the pocket clip. It carries tip down, and this is my preference. I tried a tip up automatic knife and it stabbed me in the hip when I climbed into a Mazda Miata.

Nice recurved blade profile. You can see my knife has the partially serrated blade. This makes for a seriously aggressive cutting tool.

This is the trigger... you pull that back and WHAM! You have your blade at the ready.

Very simple, almost elegant for a "tactical" knife.

 

[Schuey2002]

Do they make a non-serrated version??

I HATE serrations!!

( I used to own a BM 905. Bought it from Cohiba eons ago. I have since sold it. I couldn't sharpen that stupid tanto for the life of me. It has since been replaced with a BM 551. Simply put, I should have bought the Grippy to start with.. )

 

[Stratford Holdings]

Oh yes, they do have the non-serrated version. I like the serrations for the extra cutting power. Yes, it's tougher to sharpen, but those serrations stay supersharp for a long time. Plus, when I'm cutting, I mostly use the tip portion of the blade.

 

[JShirley]

Heh. I almost got you the rainbow colored one!

John

 

[George Hill]

Nothing wrong with that...

 

[hso]

George H.,

Man if you can pick up even MidTech Boas for under $700 let me know. Ken used to sell knives for $350 each, but those days are long gone. The aftermarket dealers have driven the prices on custom Onions up above $1,000 for anything he does. I will say this, the MidTech Boas are disturbingly good. Worse, the customs are even better.

 

[Penforhire]

I'll have to play with a Boa. I've carried a Whirlwind every day for over a year now and I love the assisted open. Scares the crap out of anyone watching me open it. No complaint other than how easily it loses its edge. Your pic of the Boa blade makes it look like a little more of a drop-point.

 

[George Hill]

Yeah, I would call it a drop-point style blade... take a look at a plane edge Boa... the recurve is beautiful.

The metal in the blade is CPM440V... which does a pretty gould job of edge holding.

 

[DTLoken]

Hrm, that flipper, does it work the same way as CRKT's M-16 series?

Or is that one of Kershaw's spring loaded knives (I can imagine how great that would be, flipper+speesafe or whatever the hell they call it)?


I like my CRKT M-16, but another knife wouldn't hurt. I've been wanting an Axis lock benchmade for a while though too, decisions decisions.

 

[hso]

Yep, that's a flipper on a speed safe!