Kershaw Dividend and Gray Dividend Knife Review

There is really nothing like a Kershaw. From award winning technologies and advanced materials to the solid sound of the blade lockup, when you are carrying Kershaw, you know that you are carrying the real deal. The real deal means value and plenty of it. With Kershaw, you get incredible bang for your hard earned buck. Even their inexpensive models are impressive. In fact, everything about a Kershaw is solid, crafted, reliable. That’s why they can back each of their knives for the life of its original owner against any defects in materials and construction with their famous Limited Lifetime Warranty. And yes, people do own their Kershaw knives for a lifetime. The point is, you can always look to Kershaw for every day carrying knives that can tame any cardboard box and liberate any purchase from its plastic packaging, sporting knives that make hunting, finishing, watersports, and camping even better, work knives that won’t let you down, and tactical knives that ensure you are ready for anything.

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 pocketknife, 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 provide a lifetime of performance.

Kershaw pioneered the use of many of the technologies and advanced materials that are today standard in the knife industry. Their SpeedSafe assisted opening knives were first to market. They introduced the concept of knives that had interchangeable blades in their Blade Traders. Recently, they released their Composite Blade Technology, which combines two steels into one blade, gives knife users the best of both worlds by enabling them to use steel known for edge retention on the edge and steel known for strength on the spine. And they committed to keep on innovating, bringing new and better technologies and materials to today’s knife making industry and knife using public.

Kershaw Knives is a brand of Kai USA, Ltd, a member of the Kai Group. For over 100 years, Kai 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. While many of Kershaw’s quality products are made in their 55,000 square foot facility in Tualatin, Oregon, they also draw on Kai’s resources to provide the very best for their customers.

Kershaw has said, “IF this is your first Kershaw, be prepared. You just may be back for more. If it’s not your first Kershaw, welcome back. For design, innovation, quality, and genuine pride of ownership, Kershaw is the one.”

Today we will be talking about the Kershaw Dividend and the Gray Dividend.

 

 

The Blades:

The steel on both versions of this knife has been made out of 420HC steel. This is considered the king of the 420 steels, 420HC is similar to 420 steel but with increased levels of carbon. The “HC” in the name refers to the High Carbon, which makes the steel harder.

This steel is actually considered a lower mid-range steel but the more competent manufactures can really bring out the best in this affordable steel using quality heat treatments. The heat treatments results in better edge retention and resistance to corrosion. In fact, this is one of the most corrosion resistant steels out there, despite its low cost.

Both versions of the steel also feature a stonewash finish. 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. There is a wide variety of stonewashed finishes based upon the abrasive shape, tumbling motion, and they type of finish the blade has before it enters the tumbler. One of the biggest benefits of a stonewash blade is that they are extremely low maintenance and how they preserve the look of the blade overtime. The stonewash finish hides the scratches that can occur with use over time.

The steel on the Dividends have been carved into a drop point shape. The drop point shape is perfect if you are looking for a great all-purpose knife that can stand up to anything. A drop point is one of the most popular blade shapes in use today. The most recognizable knife that features a drop point is the hunting knife, although it is used on many other types of knives as well, including the larger blades in Swiss army knives. The back, or unsharpened, edge of the knife runs straight from the handle to the tip of the knife in a slow curved manner, creating a lowered point. It is this lowered point that provides more control and adds strength to the tip. While the tip on a drop point is not as sharp as the tip on a clip point, it is much stronger. Because of this tip strength and the ability to hold up to heavy use, drop point blades are popular on tactical and survival knives. Because the point on a drop point blade is easily controllable, they are a popular choice on hunting knives. The lowered, controllable point makes it easier to avoid accidentally nicking internal organs and ruining the meat. One of the other reasons that the drop point style blade is so versatile is because of the large belly area that they sport that is perfect for slicing. There are so many advantages to having a knife with the drop point style, but there is a drawback—its relatively broad tip, which makes it less suitable for piercing than the lip point. However, it is this broad tip that provides point strength that you are not going to find on clip point knives. By choosing a knife that features a drop point style blade, you are choosing a knife that is going to help you in any situation.

These knives both sport plain edges. The plain edge is definitely the more traditional style edge when being compared to a serrated or combo edge. The plain edge is more equipped to take on a wider variety of tasks. These tasks that it excels at include push cuts, slicing, skinning, and peeling. One of the disadvantages is that plain edges are not as well equipped to saw through the thicker materials. To get through the thicker or tougher materials, you are going to want the teeth that the serrated edge gives you.

 

The Handles:

The original version of the Dividend has a handle that is made out of glass filled nylon, or GFN. This is the same material as FRN. It is a thermoplastic material that is super strong, resistant to bending, abrasion, and is practically indestructible. And as a bonus, it is a cheap material. With the GFN, the nylon fibers are arranged haphazardly throughout which results in it being strong in all directions as opposed to G 10, carbon fiber, and Micarta which have the fiberglass strands aligned in a single direction. Many knife enthusiasts did not warm up to this material because they felt like it was cheap and felt somewhat hollow. Another drawback is that it tends to be a little less “grippy” than G 10. GFN is inexpensive because it can be injection molded into any desired shape and textured in a multitude of ways in the production process. All this lends well to high volume manufacturing and hence low cost.

The Gray Dividend is made out of aluminum. Aluminum is a very durable material for knife handles. It is a low density metal that provides for a nice, hefty feel to the knife without weighing the knife down. When the handle is properly texturized, an aluminum handle can provide a reasonably secure grip that is also comfortable and easy for extended use. On the downside, if you use your knife a lot during colder winter months, you might find the handle uncomfortably cold given its conductive properties. Aluminum is generally considered inferior to its stronger, yet more expensive brother Titanium which tends to be found on the more premium knives. The aluminum has been anodized for color, hardness, and protection. In this case, the anodization has given the handle a gray color. One of the other drawbacks is that aluminum is susceptible to scratches and dings.

There is an elongated finger groove to give you a comfortable grip while you are using this knife. There is a finger guard to protect your hand from slipping and getting cut. On the butt of the handle, there has been a lanyard hole carved in. The lanyard hole has a variety of benefits, one of the best being that it keeps your knife out of the way when you don’t need it, but gives you quick access when you do need to use your knife.

 

The Pocket Clip:

Both knives have deep carry pocket clips that are black. This pocket clip is kept in place by two small screws. All of the other hardware is black to match the pocket clip. These are four positon pocket clips. This means that you can attach it for left or right hand carry and you can keep your knife tip up or down.

 

The Mechanism:

These knives are assisted opening knives. They sport a flipper mechanism, a liner lock, and the SpeedSafe mechanism. The flipper is a shark’s fin shaped protrusion that extends out of the spine of the handle when the knife is closed. The flipper actually employs an index finger, and the features in naturally ambidextrous. One of the benefits to using a flipper mechanism is that it keeps your fingers out of the way while you are opening your knife.

Line locks are one of the more common mechanism seen on folding knives. This mechanism’ characteristic component is a side spring located on the same side as the sharp edge of the blade, “lining” the inside of the handle. When the knife is closed, the spring bar is held under tension. When the knife is fully opened, that tension slips the bar inward to make contact with the butt of the blade, keeping it firmly in place and preventing it from closing. To disengage a liner lock, you have to sue your thumb to push the spring bar “down’ so that it clears contact form the butt of the blade. This lets you use your index finger to push the blade just enough so that it keeps the bar pushed down so you can remove your thumb from the blade path, then continue to safely close the knife.

The SpeedSafe Assisted Opening assists you to open your knife quickly and easily with a manual push on the thumb stud or pull back on the flipper.

 

The Specs:

The length of the blade is 3 inches long. The overall length of this knife is 7.25 inches long with a closed length of 4.25 inches long. The GFN version of the knife weighs in at 2.6 ounces. The anodized aluminum handle weighs in at 2.8 ounces. These knives are made in the United States of America by skilled Kershaw knife makers.

 

Conclusion:

The success of Kershaw’s made in the USA link series has yielded a Dividend. It’s a slimmer, sleeker pocket carry—proudly made in the USA in our Tualatin, Oregon factory, yet still built at a very affordable price. While the original Link is a larger and stouter knife, some of you prefer a slimmer blade. The Dividend is made for you. Not too big, not too small, the Kershaw Dividend is a just the right sized pocket knife. Its elegant drop point blade is a perfect 3 inches long and offers enough belly to be an efficient slicer. The knife is easy to open, even one handed, with SpeedSafe assisted opening and the flipper. The anodized aluminum handles in matte grey curves gently to fit the hand comfortably. A decorative molded back spacer and left/right reversible pocket clip make the Dividend both handsome and handy. Pick yours up today at BladeOps.