The Kershaw Leek is sleek and not so rawr.
Here we are in a thread mocking guys for always pulling out their pocket knives. The irony is not lost on me, but I will take the bait nonetheless.
This is my pocket knife. It’s a RAT 1 Folder made in Taiwan for Ontario Knife. I have carried it day in and day out for years now. I picked the scale color and the blade design because they don’t look as “tactical” as most other designs. The ESEE Avispa and Zancudo are similar in design and price. I had an Avispa for a while, but somehow it fell out of my pocket. There is a factory in Taiwan that does a really nice job with liner lock folders, and they do private label production for a lot of good companies. They make both the OKC and ESEE folders.
This knife has an AUS-8 stainless blade, which is basically fine. If I spent a little more money (or a lot more), my quality of life might be incrementally improved by a better steel. But I can’t justify spending more on account of the aforementioned knife-losing. The handle size and scales are comfortable, and the pocket clip offers much better retention than some other designs. However, the screws in the pocket clip work loose over time and they require torx heads to tighten. I have a hard time getting at the rust that has formed between the handle scale and the thumb-stud.
I think you can find these for $30-$40 now. The knife is a good value at that price. And you won’t feel bad about using and abusing it at that price, compared to some of the super expensive, super quality knives higher on the spectrum.
I think it says more about their circle of friends that they need to borrow a knife instead of simply using their own tool, like any civilized primate would.
Me and my Kershaw are feeling very attacked by this video right now.
If only we had something with which to defend ourselves.
Very nice. Of course a fixed blade knife is the simplest thing of all, but I still stand by the perfect pocket clip and compactness of the Kershaw Leek.
The Leek feels more comfortable in my hand then any other knife I’ve ever held. And I’ve held countless knives. Ken Onion is one hell of a designer to get that part of it just perfect, because in my opinion that is the one thing that most knife makers neglect that can make the biggest difference between whether you choose to pick up a knife or grab something else.
For when fangs just aren’t enough?
Hey, my knife is useful too.
But now it feels sadly lacking in manliness points.
There’s a Vic service centre in Toronto. I’ve had them replace cracked scales (the plastic part) free, and once when the right scales weren’t in stock they just handed me a brand new knife, no questions asked. Their service is unbeatable.
Lots of stores that sell SAKs also sell small replacement parts like tweezers, toothpicks, and scissor springs very cheaply. It’s not that difficult to replace a spring yourself, just a bit fiddly.
I can’t decide if this is a “multitool” in which the only usable tool is a bottle opener, or a perfectly good bottle opener that has been cluttered up with a lot of useless junk.
But you make up for it in lacerated fingers. That was what finally sold me on lock blades
A locking blade is a worthwhile feature, but I’ve never cut myself while actually using a non-locking knife, just when carelessly closing one. Knowing that it can slip teaches good habits.
My most dangerous knife is a worn lockback that is prone to slipping if force is applied to it in the wrong direction. I’m careful what I use it for, and I never loan it to anyone.
My daily carry knife is a Gerber EAB — its great for cardboard.
Up here in Canada we’re just straight up allowed to carry knives that size on domestic flights.
I’ve thought about using one of those instead of the more typical “knifey” knife I do use. It covers 98% of my use-cases and is street legal in all of the states I’m thinking of moving to. Also great for sharpening pencils. No good for bagels, though.
That was fascinating
One hilarity though, when they mentionioned the ‘click’ of selecting a blade near the end of the vid. I honestly hadn’t noticed it until i got a new one.
My old knife was so old and so gunged up it’s silent, the new replacement though, each part has a nice snap and click into position
There is more in the same style on the Amazon page…
…isn’t stupid enough to hand it to someone blade first!
I carry a “ladies” knife…
…because the very low weight allows for proper pants positioning.
Can I still be a man or does that make me man-adjacent or maybe even a gentleman?
People always ask to borrow a lighter for things like lighting birthday cake candles. At first it was funny because people surreptitiously sneak over and whisper to ask to borrow it like it’s some big awful secret that I carry a lighter, but then I realized it’s because they’re using it to set up a surprise.
With the swiss army knife, the bottle opener, small blade (for opening packages), and tweezers are the most borrowed features, although the awl and screwdrivers are also useful.
The lockblades feel better and handle better when there’s more cutting to do. (Also comforting when there are unexpected noises in the dark.)
The even bigger fixed-blade knives are all long-gone now because they were too good. A bowie was the best weighted/balanced knife I ever had; it threw better than knives that were specially designed as throwing knives. Someone stole it at a party. A tanto (also excellently balanced/weighted) was the strongest/toughest knife. But it was in a bag my friend borrowed when going on a trip and didn’t make it through. The scene at security was a surprise all around. My friend hadn’t noticed it when packing (black sheath in a black bag). Security wasn’t expecting a pregnant blond terrorist with an 11" knife. (But if they had known her temper…)
Heh. My brother was (is maybe) the guy who always has a knife. He got so sick of his kid sister (me) asking to borrow it all the time he gave me one of his old ones. Haven’t thought about that in years.
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