This week, Kershaw released their 2021 lineup and it looks just about awesome! There are so many knives and EDC tools this year, we’re going to have to break this one down into several articles.
Kershaw Capsule
Once again, Jens Anso knocks it out of the park with the Kershaw Capsule. This pocketknife is a stylish, manual OTF slider with a button lock. Here’s how it works. When you apply pressure and slide up the blue PVD-coated button, the 1.9” 8Cr13MoV spear point blade slides out of the black GFN handle and locks in place. To retract it, simply push the button and pull the blade back. We think the overall look of this knife is pretty stinking cool. The stonewash finished blade has that classic, heavily swedged dagger look with a false secondary edge. They’ve also done a ton of CNC machining on the handle to give that futuristic almost Megatron appearance. Between a slim 0.42” handle thickness, a closed length of 3.25”, and a light carry weight of only 2 ounces, the Capsule also looks to be a super easy carry. The pocket clip is a wide, tip-down, deep carry pocket clip, and it has a generous lanyard slot for accessories.
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Kershaw Strata and Strata XL
The Kershaw Strata and the Strata XL are modern takes on the Spanish Navaja. These are ones we love the looks of and can’t wait to get in hand. The beastly bad boy and the beastlier beast are manual flippers with 4.5” (or a giant 5.4” in the case of the XL version) bead blasted D2 clip point blade that rides on a KVT ball bearing pivot. They’re a framelock with a black G-10 front handle and a bead blasted stainless steel back handle. We absolutely love the use of copper anodized tube spacers and pivot collar on them, and think it gives them a serious touch of stylish flair.
Despite its 5.4” closed length (or 6.6” on the XL version), these big EDCs should be a fairly pocket friendly pocketknife because they’re surprisingly slim. The regular model weighs a mere 3.7 ounces, and the XL version has a carry weight of 5.8 ounces. They both have an extra deep, right carry only tip-down pocket clip.
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Kershaw Inverse
The Kershaw Inverse is an exciting new budget friendly offering from Kershaw that we can’t wait to get in hand. Kershaw tells us this is, “…an entry in the experimental Project ATOM series” that “…has a blunt edge and no blade steel. It’s made with a strong polyphenylene sulfide plastic (PPS) and glass fiber combo material.” This thing looks just fun as heck. This smallish fixed blade has a 2.6” unsharpened dagger with a blade thickness of 0.197” and a steel overall on the PPS/glass fiber handle. It’s 5.25” overall and weighs a mere 0.4 ounces.
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Kershaw Analyst
The Kershaw Analyst is a tough, budget friendly do-it-all knife with tons of utility that’s meant to be used. This SpeedSafe assisted opening flipper has a partially serrated 3.25” 8Cr13MoV Tanto blade with a BlackWash finish and a 0.108” blade thickness. It’s a linerlock with textured GFN handles that’s 0.51” thick. It has a four-position, deep carry pocket clip and lanyard hole. It’s 4.25” closed and weighs about 3.5 ounces.
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Kershaw Cannonball
The new Kershaw Cannonball is a SpeedSafe assisted opening flipper with a 3.5” black-oxide, BlackWash coated D2 drop point blade. This framelock has a gray PVD coated stainless steel handle has a decorative pivot and backspacer and a handle thickness of 0.112”. It’s a full-sized EDC with a closed length of 4.5”, it weighs 5.4 ounces. It has an ambidextrous, deep carry, tip-up pocket clip and a generous lanyard hole.
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Kershaw Endgame
The Kershaw Endgame is a manual flipper with a KVT ball bearing pivot and a layered, multifaceted look. Kershaw tells us, “Unique design elements help the Endgame stand out, including a series of overlays. Some are made of glass filled nylon and others coated with bronze PVD. This creates an interesting, multi-layered appearance.” The Endgame has a 3.25” D2 drop point blade with a stonewash finish and a blade thickness of 0.108”. There’s a bit of a mohawk spine to it which reinforces the edge, as well as some nice jimping along the thumb ramp. This framelock has a stainless-steel handle with bronze-PVD coated and GFN overlays. It has an ambidextrous tip-up pocket clip, and a handle thickness is about 0.41”. This knife is 4.25” closed and weighs 3.9 ounces.
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Kershaw Arise
Another steel-less knife in the experimental Project ATOM series is the Kershaw Arise which combines traditional knife design with innovative steel-less materials. Kershaw tells us the Arise has “…a blunt edge and no blade steel” and “…is inspired by traditional boot knives. Its distinct blade comes to a fine tip, and the handle’s cross-guard helps provide exceptional grip during use. In an emergency situation, the Arise’s blade tip serves as an effective self-defense tool.” The 4.2” PPS and glass fiber spear point style blade has a blade thickness of 0.236” and a handle thickness of 0.73”. It’s 8.4” overall and weighs a mere 1.8 ounces.
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Kershaw Collateral
Kershaw tells us the Kershaw Collateral has an innovative tech with a “…flipper [that] stays hidden in the open position, creating a sleek, uninterrupted profile. This flipper takes advantage of both SpeedSafe assisted opening and KVT ball bearing washers, resulting in an extra-smooth deployment.” This framelock has a stainless-steel handle with a carbon fiber insert on the front handle and a custom backspacer. The 3.4” D2 drop point blade is dual finished with satin finished grinds and sanded flats. It’s a full-sized EDC that’s 4.6” closed, 8” overall, and it weighs about 4.3 ounces.
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