A cleaver-profile blade with SpeedSafe assist off a built-in flipper, on a textured glass-filled nylon front scale with a steel pivot overlay and a stainless back. The deep-carry clip reverses for either pocket.

Specifications

• Blade steel 8Cr13MoV
• Blade length 3.40 in
• Closed length 4.40 in
• Overall length 7.75 in
• Weight 4.3 oz
• Blade finish stonewashed
• Edge not published by Kershaw
• Lock frame lock (retailer; Kershaw does not publish it)
• Handle glass-filled nylon front scale with a steel pivot overlay, stainless steel back
• Pocket clip reversible deep-carry, left or right

How it opens: SpeedSafe assisted

SpeedSafe is Kershaw’s assisted-opening mechanism. You start the blade moving with the flipper or the thumb stud, a torsion bar takes over partway through, and the blade completes its travel and locks. It is not an automatic knife — nothing happens until you push, and the bar resists until you do. But it opens faster and more surely with one hand than a plain folder, which is the whole point when the other hand is holding a strap, a rope or a steering wheel.

One material correction: a retailer lists the handle as G10. Kershaw says glass-filled nylon with a stainless back. Those are different materials at different price points, and Kershaw is the one making the knife.

About the steel

8Cr13MoV is the workhorse stainless of the value end of the market. It sharpens readily, resists rust, and is honest about what it is: plenty for cutting cord, tape, food and packaging, not a steel for competition chopping.

Where these numbers come from

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

Kershaw does not publish the lock, the edge or any dimension for this model, so we have left it blank rather than fill it in.

Origin. Kershaw does not publish a country of origin for this model. Retailers list it as China; that is not the manufacturer speaking, so we are recording it as unconfirmed rather than printing it as a spec.

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.