Knife Review: Kershaw Navy Blue Chive Spring Assist Knife

The Kershaw Navy Blue Chive Spring Assist Knife

Kershaw knives was founded in1974. Their purpose was to design and manufacture tools that knife users would be proud to own, carry, and use. To make sure that their users were proud to carry their knives, they knew that they must make each and every knife with the highest quality materials and manufacturing tools.

Kershaw also has a commitment to innovation. Because of this, Kershaw has pioneered the use of many of the technologies and advanced materials that are the standard in today’s market. Some of their best innovations have been the SpeedSafe assisted opening knives. They also had the idea to create knives that can have interchangeable blades with their Blade Traders. One of their most recent innovations is their Composite Blade technology, which actually combines two steels into one blade. This gives the user the best of both worlds because they can have one steel by the sharpened edge that provides them with a fine edge and long-lasting edge retention, but then still have a strong spine, because they can use a stronger steel on that portion of the blade. Because one of their major drives is to keep innovating bigger and better technologies, they will constantly have excellent knives in the market.

Kershaw Knives is actually a sub brand of Kai USA, Ltd. Kai has been Japan’s leading blade producer for over 100 years now. This larger company also vows to take an innovative approach to their products, product development, marketing, and distribution functions.

Kershaw says, “If this is your first Kershaw, be prepared. You just may be back for more. If it’s not your first Kershaw, welcome back.”

The Chive has been around for a while, but this is a new release: the handle is Navy Blue.

The Blade:

The blade on this is made out of 420HC steel. This is a modified version of 420 steel. This version has higher amounts of carbon and chromium which help to boost hardenability as well as the corrosion resistance of the steel. This steel makes an excellent everyday steel because it is tough, corrosion resistant, and easy to sharpen. Lastly, this takes a good shape time after time. This steel hardens to an HRC: 58.

The benefit of this steel is that it is not going to cost a fortune to manufacture or produce, which does mean that the overall cost of the knife is going to be kept down. However, it is going to give you a good quality steel that can get the job done.

The blade has been finished with a stonewash finish. The stonewash finish is created when the steel is tumbled around in ceramic stones. This roughs the steel up and provides it with a textured-appearance. The blade is then removed from this process, smoothed out, and polished. This creates a sleek blade that steel has the appearance of texture. This is rugged looking finish works to hide scratches and smudges easily. This means that it is a low-maintenance blade finish, because you don’t have to worry about polishing it too often.

The blade has a unique shape to it. The blade extends in a sharp angle down form the handle to the tip of the point. It is a lowered point, so you should have a little bit more control over your cuts with it. The belly is unique though. Instead of one curve, the blade curves upward before it bulges outward and extends up to the tip. This creates an ideal shape for getting basic tasks done with the Chive.

The point is relatively fine, which does mean that you will be able to pierce with this knife. However, because of how fine it is, you do need to worry about not using them on harder targets—the tip may be prone to breaking.

The sharpened edge has been sharpened into a plain edge, which does equip you to take on a wider variety of tasks. The edge will be easier to sharpen, because you don’t have to worry about the serrated teeth when you are sharpening it.

The Handle:

The handle on this Kershaw knife is made out of 6061-T6 aluminum. Aluminum is a popular handle material in the cutlery industry, because it is lightweight and pretty durable. Aluminum is known as a low-density metal, which means that it is not going to weigh down the knife. That being said, it is going to provide you with the heft that you need to take on your regular tasks.

Aluminum has a high conduction property, which does mean that in colder environments, this is going to be a colder knife to hold. Also, aluminum does not offer the most grip and texture, which does mean that the handle can be rather slippery in some situations.

Aluminum is tough though—it is going to be able to take on quite a variety of tasks without you having to question it.

This alloy of aluminum is 6061 and it has been T6 processed. This specific alloy of aluminum has the highest yield resistance of any alloy. This means that out of the aluminum handles, this alloy is going to be the toughest strongest, and most durable.

The handle has been anodized a navy blue. The anodization is a chemical process that literally changes the surface of the aluminum metal. This creates a metal that is harder, tougher, and more durable. Plus, it is not as prone to scratches, which makes a sleeker and less-maintenance handle. Basically, the anodization increases all of the good qualities that you find with aluminum.

The handle itself is relatively simple. The spine of the handle curves from the blade to the butt in a slow curve. The belly has an elongated finger groove that curves down to the butt of the handle. There is a lanyard hole in the butt.

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip is not technically a deep carry clip, but because of how small the handle is, the clip does stretch almost the entire length of it. The clip is a bright and clean silver that is kept in place by two silver screws that match the rest of the hardware on the knife. It is a single position clip—positioned for tip-down, right-handed carry.

The Mechanism:

The Chive has been equipped with the SpeedSafe assisted opening as well as a liner lock and flipper.

Kershaw describes the SpeedSafe by saying, “SpeedSafe is a patented system that assists the user to smoothly open any SpeedSafe knife with a manual push on the blade's thumb stud or pull back on the flipper. SpeedSafe is built into many of Kershaw's best-selling knives. 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 position. 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 position, ready for use. SpeedSafe® was specifically designed for sporting, work, or everyday situations where one-handed opening is preferable and safer. It’s safe, efficient opening has made it a popular choice for hunters, fishermen, and those who require the one-hand opening function on the job-site.” The SpeedSafe is very reliable and durable. While it is not an automatic mechanism, it is going to allow the knife to open smoothly each time. This helps with fumbling and allows you to bring it into play much easier than if there were no SpeedSafe.

Next is the liner lock. Kershaw describes this mechanism by saying, “The liner lock is the most common of today’s blade-locking systems. In knives with locking liners, the handle consists of two metal (usually steel or titanium) plates (the “liner”) on either side of the blade. Handle scales, which can be made from a variety of materials, such as G10, aluminum, plastic, or natural materials like wood or bone cover the plates. When the knife is opened, one side of the knife’s liner, often called the lockbar, butts up against the backend of the blade (the tang) and prevents the blade from closing. The lockbar is manufactured so that it angles toward the interior of the knife, creating a bias for the locked position. To close the knife, the knife user applies manual force to move the lockbar to the side so that the blade is unblocked and can be folded back into the handle. The liner lock provides a secure and convenient way to make using a Kershaw folding knife even safer.” The liner lock is also going to be reliable. You do not have to worry about the knife closing on you when you are using it, especially with the Chive, since you won’t be taking on too hard of tasks. That being said, when it comes to the heaviest duty of tasks, the liner lock is not going to be that tough.

Last is the flipper, which is a small wave-shaped protrusion that extends out of the handle of the knife when the Chive is shut. The flipper is nice because it enables fast and easy one-handed opening. It is also accessible from either side of the handle, which does make it ambidextrous friendly—left and right-handers alike will be able to use this knife with ease. To use the flipper with the SpeedSafe “Hold the knife handle vertically in one hand. Place your index finger on the top of the flipper or thumb on the thumb stud. Gently apply downward pressure on the flipper or push outwards on the thumb stud. SpeedSafe opens the knife quickly and easily, and the blade locks into place. Keep fingers away from blade edge while closing.” The flipper is also a safer mechanism than the thumb stud, because you do not have to worry about your fingers crossing paths with the blade when opening it.

The Specs:

The blade on the Chive measures in at 1.9 inches long with a handle that measures in at 2.9 inches. This creates an overall length of 4.8 inches long, which is a miniature knife. It weighs in at only 1.5 ounces, which is incredibly lightweight. This does mean that it is not going to be able to take on the toughest tasks, but it will be able to get your day-to-day tasks done. This knife is made in the United States of America. Kershaw says, “When you see this on one of our knives, it means the knife was made in our Tualatin, Oregon manufacturing facility by skilled Kershaw knifemakers.”

Conclusion:

When Kershaw is describing this knife, they say, “With its less-than-two-inch blade, the navy-blue Chive is a small knife. This, of course, makes it perfect for pocket, pack, purse, or briefcase carry. But just because it’s small doesn’t mean the Chive isn’t mighty. In fact, the Chive is perfect for just about any cutting task you’d care to ask it to do—from opening packages to cutting duct tape.

“To ensure this handy little blade is always ready when you need it, the navy-blue Chive is equipped with SpeedSafe® assisted opening. Just pull back on the flipper and the blade moves out of the handle, ready for use. The high-carbon blade steel offers good edge retention and excellent corrosion resistance. The bead-blasted finish is easy to maintain. This Chive’s handle scales are navy blue anodized aluminum over steel liners. Anodizing not only enables the aluminum to take a scratch resistant color, but it actually strengthens the aluminum.

“The navy-blue Chive’s handle is strong, lightweight, and colorful. For safety, it has a locking liner to keep it locked safely open and a Tip-Lock to keep it locked safely closed during transport. If navy blue is your color, this Chive just might be your knife.”

You can order this knife today from BladeOps.