Kershaw Bareknuckle Knife Review

Kershaw knows that there is nothing like a Kershaw. From the award-winning technologies and advanced materials to the solid sound of the blade lockup, when you’re carrying a Kershaw, you know you’re carrying the real thing. So what does the real thing mean? It means that your knife is going to be full of value and plenty of it. With Kershaw, you are going to get incredible bang for your hard-earned buck. Even their inexpensive models are impressive. Everything about a Kershaw is solid, crafted, reliable.

Kershaw was founded in 1974 to design and manufacture tools that knife users would be proud to own, carry, and use. This has meant that every Kershaw knife must be of the highest quality. Whether it’s a hardworking pocket knife, a hunting knife, or a special collectors’ edition, Kershaw always chooses appropriate, high-quality materials and is dedicated to intensive craftsmanship. Along with extremely tight tolerances and state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques, this ensures that Kershaw knives provides a lifetime of performance.

Kershaw has a commitment to innovation. They pioneered the use of many of the technologies and advanced materials that are today standard in the knife industry. They say, “Our SpeedSafe assisted opening knives were first-to-market. We introduced the concept of knives with interchangeable blades in our Blade Traders. Recently, our Composite Blade technology, which combines two steels into one blade, gives users the best of both worlds by enabling us to use steel know for edge retention on the edge and steel known for strength on the spine.” Kershaw promises to keep on innovating, bringing new and better technologies and materials to today’s knife making industry and knife-using public.

Kershaw is a brand of Kai USA Ltd, a member of the Kai Group. For over 100 years, Kia has been Japan’s premier blade producer. Kai takes an innovative approach to product development based on the close coordination of research and development, production, marketing and distribution functions.

Today we will be discussing one of Kershaw’s newest knives, their Bareknuckle.

The Blade:

The blade on this knife is made out of 14C28N steel. This steel allows for the highest attainable hardness without destroying the micro-structure integrity. This steel is often found on high end knives as well as custom knives. This steel allows for easy re-sharpening, although the steel has such high edge retention that you won’t have to sharpen this knife too often. The steel is also near resistant to micro chipping, rolling, or folding on the edge. This steel can be hardened to a 55-62 HRC and is extremely corrosion resistant, which does cut down on maintenance time.

The blade has been stonewash finished. A stonewashed finish refers to tumbling the blade in an abrasive material. This finish easily hides scratches, while also providing a less reflective nature than a brushed or satin finished blade. A very large benefit to the stonewashed blade is that it is going to be low maintenance while also preserving the original look overtime, because it can hide the scratches and smudges that are going to occur with time and use.

The blade is a modified drop point. The drop point blade is going to give this knife the strength and versatility that you crave out of a knife. The point on a drop point is lowered so that you have more control over you cuts and slices, allowing you to perform some fine detail work. The tip is also very broad, which is where the bulk of the strength comes from. The drop point blade style also features a very large belly which is ideal for slicing. The large belly makes this blade versatile and easy to use even for an everyday carry knife. The only drawback to the drop point blade shape is that because the tip is border, you do lose out on the bulk of your piercing capacities.

 

The Handle:

The handle is made out of 6061-T6 anodized aluminum. Aluminum is a very low-density metal that is often used in knife making. This material is very corrosion resistant as well, which cuts down on maintenance time considerably, because you don’t have to worry about rusting and corrosion. Most knives use a type of aluminum alloy called 6061-T6, which means the type of aluminum is 6061 and it has been T6 tempered. 6061-T6 Aluminum has one of the highest yield and tensile strengths of all aluminum alloys. This type of aluminum alloy is often used in aircraft, so it is sometimes referred to as aircraft aluminum. This is often a selling point on knives with this handle material, but be aware that it is more of a gimmick than actual advantages. Aluminum alloy is cheaper to machine and produce than Titanium and is lighter, weaker, and less resistant to wear. For the most part, Aluminum is an inferior metal to Titanium aside from its lightness. However, when producing complex knives, such as the Kershaw Bareknuckle, aluminum is much cheaper to produce and the material costs less, which keeps the cost down considerably on this knife. Overall, aluminum is going to be strong, light, durable, and resistant to corrosion. However, it is also going to be colder to hold use to the high conductive abilities.

The handle on this knife has been anodized to a dark grey. Anodizing is a method of increasing the corrosion resistance of a metal part by forming a layer of oxide on its surface. The part that is being treated forms the anode electrode of an electrical circuit. Anodizing increases resistance to corrosion and wear, while also giving the handle a sleek look. And because it actually changes the metal, instead of being painted onto the metal, the anodized color is not going to scratch off easily at all, like a coated finish would. While aluminum is normally very susceptible to scratches and dings, the anodized layer helps to decrease the likelihood of scratches occurring.

The handle has a deep finger groove that makes this knife comfortable to hold while also providing a more secure grip. There is a finger guard, but there is also a flipper that extends off the finger guard when the knife is opened and gives you a safer handle. After the finger groove, the belly of the blade has a slight curve until it meets the butt of the knife. The spine of the handle has an inward curve until about halfway up the handle, where it angles sharply towards the butt of the knife. The butt of the knife is triangular. Across the face of the handle are etchings and ridges to add enough texture that this knife is not going to slip out of your hand while you are using it.

 

The Pocket Clip:

The handle has only been drilled to attach the pocket clip tip up. However, it has been pre-drilled for reversible attachment on either the right or left side of the blade. This helps to make the knife more ambidextrous and allows you to attach the knife for the most comfortable attachment. This is not a deep carry clip, but it is arrow shaped, with the butt of the clip lifting up a little bit, to better clip onto your pocket. This allows for a more secure hold, so you don’t have to worry about it falling out. The clip is kept in place by two small screws, that match the rest of the hardware on the blade.

 

The Mechanism:

This knife features the KVT ball-bearing opening system, a flipper, and a sub frame lock.

The Kershaw KVT ball-bearing system makes one-handed opening of your knife fast and easy—without the need for a mechanical assist. While SpeedSafe assisted opening uses a torsion bar to help move the knife blade out the handle, KVT relies on a ring of “caged” ball bearings that surround the knife’s pivot. (“Caged” means the ball bearings are secured within a ring that surrounds the pivot. It keeps the ball bearings in place, while allowing them to rotate freely.) When the user pulls back on the built-in flipper, the blade rotates out of the handle as the ball bearings roll in place. KVT makes one-handed opening quick, easy, and smooth as butter.

In knives with the KVT ball-bearing system, you will also notice that the knife has additional “detent.” This is a design feature that helps hold the blade safely in the handle when the knife is closed. When opening the knife, you may notice a little ‘stickiness’ just as you pull back on the flipper and before the blade rolls out of the handle on the KVT ball bearings. Just a little extra pressure on the flipper overcomes the detent and the knife opens with ease.

The flipper is a triangular piece of the blade that extends out of the handle when the knife is closed. The flipper helps the user have fast and easy one-handed opening while also being ambidextrous in design. To open this knife, hold the knife handle in one hand with the butt end resting firmly in the palm of your hand. Place your index finger on the highest point of the flipper. Push down strongly and quickly on the flipper. The blade will move out of the handle and lock into place. (If you have trouble moving the blade fully out of the handle, add a slight flip of the wrist.)

The Kershaw Sub-Frame Lock is a variation on the traditional frame lock. In this case, a piece of the lighter weight frame, usually G10, glass-filled nylon, or aluminum, is machined out and a piece of steel is riveted into its place. This piece of steel acts just like a standard frame lock. It’s angled inward and biased toward the locked position. When the blade is open, it moves into position behind the blade tang, blocking it open. As with other frame locks, the user moves it to the side and out of the way in order to close the knife. The Sub-Frame Lock is Kershaw patented technology and enables us to make a knife with a slimmer profile, while still providing the strength and security of a frame lock. The Kershaw Sub-Frame Lock is covered under US Patent 9,120,234.

 

 

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 3.5 inches long, with a handle that measures in at 4.7 inches long. The overall length of this Kershaw knife measures in at 8.2 inches long. Weighing in at 3.4 ounces, this is an extremely lightweight blade—perfect for your everyday tasks. This knife is made in the United States of America, which means that the knife was made in their Tualatin, Oregon manufacturing facility by skilled Kershaw knife makers.

 

Conclusion:

When Kershaw is talking about this knife, they say, “If you already like the Kershaw Natrix, but would like it even more if it were built in the USA, your wish is granted. Like the other knives inspired by the original Zero Tolerance 0777, the new Bareknuckle, model 7777, is based on the style of our original award-winning design, but this one offers a slimmed down profile and upgraded materials. The blade is Sandvik 14C28N, a blade steel that was originally created through a Kershaw-Sandvik partnership to produce this high-performance steel. Increased nitrogen in the formula enables 14C28N to provide excellent corrosion resistance and the ability to be hardened to 58-60 Rockwell. Sandvik calls 14C28N the overall highest performing knife steel in the world that still maintains the productivity benefit of being fine-blankable. The Bareknuckle comes with handsome, anodized-aluminum handles in matte gray. And like our popular Knockout, the Bareknuckle features Kershaw’s patented Sub-Frame Lock to lighten in-pocket weight and to ensure safe blade lock up while in use. The blade opens manually with Kershaw’s KVT ball-bearing system and a flipper. For an additional touch of style, the blade rotates out of the handle on an oversized pivot. We complete the Bareknuckle with a reversible, deep-carry pocket clip for convenient carry on the left or right.” You can pick up this brand new knife today at BladeOps.