The most knife in this range by a distance. The Bel Air runs CPM MagnaCut — the powder steel that finally stopped forcing a choice between edge retention and rust resistance — in a reverse-tanto blade with a black PVD coating, on KVT ball bearings with a DuraLock crossbar. The crossbar is the detail that sells it: an ambidextrous release you work with a thumb and a forefinger, with no need to put a finger anywhere near the closing blade.

Specifications

• Blade steel CPM MagnaCut
• Blade length 3.10 in
• Closed length 4.20 in
• Overall length 7.30 in
• Blade thickness 0.10 in
• Weight 2.90 oz
• Blade finish black PVD
• Edge plain
• Lock DuraLock solid steel crossbar, ambidextrous release
• Handle aluminum (Kershaw does not publish the handle material; retailers say 6061-T6)
• Pocket clip reversible deep-carry, black Cerakote
• Reverse tanto blade
• Lanyard hole

How it opens: manual

No assist and no spring — the blade moves only as far and as fast as you move it. Some people prefer this, and in some places it is the only kind of folder worth owning.

Two things we are not going to repeat from elsewhere. One retailer calls this blade a sheepsfoot; Kershaw says reverse tanto, and Kershaw is right. Another calls the finish BlackWash; BlackWash is the base 6105 — the BLK variant you are looking at is black PVD. On a knife at this price those are exactly the mistakes that generate a return.

About the steel

CPM MagnaCut is a powder-metallurgy stainless designed from scratch to break the usual compromise — it delivers edge retention in the class of the high-carbide tool steels while being genuinely corrosion-resistant. It is the current state of the art in production knife steel, and it is the reason this knife costs what it does.

Where these numbers come from

Kershaw publishes no dimensions for this model. The figures above are from gpknives, a retailer — not the manufacturer. Treat them as indicative.

Origin. Kershaw’s own wording for this model is “made in the USA with American and global materials.” We quote the sentence rather than shortening it to “USA,” because the sentence is what they actually say.

Before you order — please read

Knife law in the United States is set at the state, county and city level, and the rules on blade length, on carry, and on assisted-opening mechanisms specifically are not the same in any two places. Kershaw does not publish a jurisdiction list and neither will we — we would get it wrong, and a wrong answer here is worse than none.

What we do instead is tell you exactly what this knife is: the mechanism and the blade length are stated plainly in the specifications above, which is what the law actually turns on. Checking that it is legal where you live, and legal to carry how you intend to carry it, is yours to do before you order. Your local district attorney’s office is who Cold Steel and Kershaw both point people to, and it is the right answer.