The Scallion is the Leek’s smaller sibling — 2.4 inches of 420HC, SpeedSafe assisted off a flipper, with the same Tip-Lock slider. At two and a half ounces it is the size most people will actually carry every day rather than mean to.

This is the lighter, less expensive Scallion: the same blade and mechanism in a textured glass-filled nylon handle instead of machined aluminum. Twenty dollars less and it will not show a scratch.

Specifications

• Blade steel 420HC
• Hardness 58 HRC
• Blade length 2.4 in (6.1 cm)
• Closed length 3.5 in (8.9 cm)
• Overall length 5.75 in (14.6 cm)
• Blade thickness 0.11 in (2.9 mm)
• Weight 2.4 oz (68 g)
• Blade finish bead-blasted
• Edge plain
• Lock liner lock, plus Tip-Lock blade-closed slider
• Handle glass-filled nylon, textured
• Pocket clip single-position, right side, tip-down

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.

Tip-Lock. The Chive, Scallion and Leek all carry a small sliding lock that holds the blade closed, independent of the main lock. It is the reason this family is comfortable to drop in a pocket with keys in it, and it is a genuine advantage over the Blur, which has no such slider.

Where it sits: Chive 1.9 in → Scallion 2.4 in → Leek 3 in → Blur 3.4 in.

A note on Kershaw’s own blade-length figures. The description on some Scallion pages says a “2.25-inch blade” while every Scallion specification table Kershaw publishes says 2.4 in. We have used the spec-table figure. If the exact length matters for where you live, that 0.15 in of manufacturer disagreement is worth knowing about.

⚠️ Do not confuse this with the aluminum Scallions. The ones sold as “Scallion Aluminum” are machined 6061-T6 at a higher price. This one is the polymer-handled version. Both are good; they are not the same knife.

About the steel

420HC is a high-carbon stainless that sharpens very easily and resists corrosion well. It gives up some edge retention to do it — the trade that makes a small knife pleasant to own rather than a chore.

Where these numbers come from

Kershaw publishes no dimensions for this model. The figures above are from knivesandtools, 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.