Kershaw Flourish Knife Review

There is truly nothing like a Kershaw. From 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. The real thing 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, and 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, many 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 nay cardboard box and liberate any purchase from its plastic packaging, sporting knives that make hunting, fishing, watersports, and camping even better, work knives that won’t let you down, and tactical knives that ensure you’re 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 has 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 with interchangeable blades in their Blade Traders. Recently, their Composite Blade Technology, which combines two steels into one blade, gives knife users the best of both worlds by enabling Kershaw to use steel known for edge retention on the edge and steel known for strength on the spine. And they will 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 the 55,000 square foot facility in Tualatin, Oregon, they also draw on Kai’s resources to provide the very best for their customer.

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. We’ve got some cool new blades to show you—along with a wide selection of your favorites. For design, innovation, quality, and genuine pride of ownership, Kershaw is the one.”

 

The Blade:

The blade on the Flourish has been made out of 8Cr13MoV steel. This steel is a Chinese produced steel that has recently started showing up in Chinese made knives, Out of the series, 9Cr steel is the top end of the series and is quite good, as good, and even can be better than AUS-8 steel. The formula for 8Cr, the more common formulation, is worse than AUS 8, a little more corrosion prone, and not quite as hard. The biggest advantage that this steel boasts is how inexpensive it is. It is a popular budget brand of knife steel. This steel at its low cost, demonstrates very worthy characteristics of cutting. With a good heat treatment, which Kershaw provides, the steel can retain the sharpness for long periods of time and will even have a very good corrosion resistance. Blades made out of this steel keep sharpening well and at the same time they are easy to sharpen. They also have highly aggressive cuts on soft materials. This steel formula is well balanced with regard to strength, cutting, and anti-corrosion properties.

The steel has been finished with a black oxide BlackWash. This finish is a special type of Stonewashed 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 finished based upon the abrasive shape, tumbling motion, and the type of finish eh blade has before it enters the tumbler. A black stonewash finish is a blade that has had an acid treatment that darkens the blade before it undergoes stonewashing. The acid oxidation enhances a blade’s rust resistance by placing a stable oxide barrier between the steel and the environment. A very positive benefit of stonewashed blades is that they are low maintenance and preserve the look of the blade overtime. This finish also hides scratches and fingerprints that occur with use over time while giving the blade a very rugged, well-worn look.

The flats on this blade have been finished with a satin finish. This finish is created by sanding the blade in one direction with increasing degrees of a fine abrasive. The satin finish will show the bevels of the blade, showcase the liens of the knife, all while reducing its reflective glare. The finer the abrasive and the more even the liners, the cleaner the satin finish blade will appear.

The knife has been carved into a clip point blade shape. This is a great all-purpose blade. The clip point blade shape is one of the most popular blade shapes that is in use today. The most recognizable knife that features a clip point is the Bowie knife, but it is also popular on many pocket knives and fixed blade knives. The back, or unsharpened, edge of the knife runs straight from the handle and stops about halfway up the knife. Then, it turns and continues to the point of the knife. This “cut-out” area is straight on the Flourish knife. This area is referred to as the “clip”, which is how the shape got its name. Clip point knives look as if the part of the knife form the spine to the point has literally been clipped off. The point that is created by this clip is lowered, which provides more control when using the knife. Because the tip is controllable, sharper, and thinner at the spine, a clip point knife lends itself to quicker stabbing with less drag during insertion and faster withdrawal. In some cases, the back edge of the clip point is sharpened to make a second edge, which improves the function of the tip even more. Clip point knives also feature a large belly area that is perfect for slicing. The only real disadvantage of the clip point blade is its relatively narrow tip. Because it is so sharp and narrow, it has a tendency to be weak and can break fairly easily. By choosing a clip point, you are choosing to own a great all-purpose blade that can be used in many different situations. This knife features a plain edged blade.

 

The Handles:

The handle on these knife has been made out of G10 with a carbon fiber overlay. G10 is a grade of Garolite that is a laminate composite made of fiberglass. It has very similar properties to carbon fiber, except that you can get it for a fraction of the cos. The manufacturer takes layers of fiberglass cloth and soaks them in resin, then compresses them and bakes them under pressure. The material that results is extremely tough, hard, very lightweight, and strong. In fact, G10 is considered the toughest of all the fiberglass resin laminates and stronger than Micarta, although it is more brittle. And while it is cheaper to produce than carbon fiber, it still has to be cut and machined into shape, which is not as economical as the injection molding process used in FRN handles. Tactical folders and fixed blade knives both benefit from the qualities of G10, because it is durable and lightweight, non-porous and available in a variety of colors.

Carbon fiber is a somewhat generic term referring to thin strands of carbon being tightly woven and then set in a resin. This material is crazy strong, yet still lightweight. However, it is pretty expensive. And while it is strong, it is far from indestructible and does suffer from being brittle. Because it is so brittle, it can crack if subjected to sharp impacts.

The handle has a shallow, elongated finger groove to give you a comfortable grip. The texture will provide a secure enough hold to get the job done. There is a finger guard to protect your hand from being sliced. And, as a total bonus, the handle does feature a lanyard hole which will come in handy in many different situations.

The pocket clip that comes with this knife is reversible from the left or right hand, but it can only be attached tip up.

 

The Mechanism:

The Flourish does sport Kershaw’s SpeedSafe assist opening mechanism. They were the first to bring this to market. It was originally designed by Hall of Fame knife maker, Ken Onion, but today, almost all knife companies offer some sort of assisted opening knife. The SpeedSafe is a patented system that assists the user to smoothly open any SpeedSafe knife with a manual pull back on the flipper. The heart of SpeedSafe is its torsion bar. Closed, the torsion bar helps prevent the knife from being opened by “gravity”, it creates a bias toward the closed positon. To open the knife, the user applies manual pressure to the thumb stud or flipper to overcome the resistance of the torsion bar. This enables the torsion bar to move along a track in the handle and assist you to open the knife. The blade opens smoothly and locks into positon ready for use.

The Flourish also sports a liner lock, which locks the blade open during use. One side of the knife’s steel “liner”, the steel plate which the handle scales are attached, moves into position behind the blade to securely lock it open.

The assisted mechanism is a flipper, which is a protrusion on the back of the blade that the user can pull back on, or flip, in order to move the blade easily out of the handle.

 

The Specs:

The length of the blade on the Flourish is 3.5 inches long. When the knife is opened, it measures in at 8.5 inches long with a closed length of 5 inches long. This knife weighs in at 5.3 ounces.

 

Conclusion:

When Kershaw described this knife, they said, “This is your next must-have knife. Of course you’ll like the size and how it feels in your hand. You’ll appreciate the useful modified clip-point blade. But it’s the little flourishes that take the Flourish over the top. The big 3.5-inch blade has a top swedge and a hollow grind. But there’s also a machined recess in the upper part of the blade to add visual interest. Combined, the swedge and the recess also slightly lighten the weight of this larger knife. But we’re not done yet. Next, Kershaw BlackWashes the blade grinds giving the Flourish an attractive finish that also hides scratches. Finally, we put a satin finish on the blade flats. The result is a two-tone blade with an abundance of style and cutting performance. Access the blade with Kershaw’s quick and snappy SpeedSafe assisted opening. The handle offers additional details. The scales, both front and back are machined G-10 with a carbon fiber overlay that gives the Flourish a classy, even high-tech look. Chamfering on the handle ensures that it fits securely and comfortably in the hand. A sturdy liner lock secures the blade open during use. There’s a built in lanyard tie-off that’s actually large enough to get your paracord through. The final flourish on the Flourish is a reversible pocket clip for left- or right-handed carry.” Pick yours up today at BladeOps.