There’s a lot to love about the Kershaw Oblivion. The half bead blasted, stonewash finished stainless steel and half textured, grippy GFN jump out at you immediately. The blade profile resembles an Old-World style dagger, but with a longer slicing edge, and don’t forget to toss in the fact that it’s a SpeedSafe assisted opener. Oh, it’s only $40. Yeah, there’s a lot to love.
The squared, slightly boxy, two-piece handles are the real show stopper on this knife. Not only do they look great, they subtly serve a purpose unseen by the naked eye.
Kershaw explains it like this, “…since the Oblivion opens with SpeedSafe assisted opening, there has to be a place for the SpeedSafe mechanism to go. Usually, it’s positioned in a small, internal hollow in the handle. But to date, we had only placed that mechanism in single-material handle scales. With the Oblivion, for the first time, we integrated SpeedSafe into a two-piece front scale. The result is a unique ‘split profile’ look, plus smooth, one-handed SpeedSafe opening.”
The Oblivion also features a 3.5” 8Cr13MoV stainless steel blade that’s somewhere between a spear point and a drop point. You get both excellent piercing ability and a long slicing edge. There’s also a deep swedge along the spine which not only gives it a sweet look, it decreases the bulk of the blade near the tip.
This framelock flips open as quickly and smoothly as all Kershaw SpeedSafe assisted openers, and the handle features an ambidextrous, tip-up pocket clip and a large trapezoid-shaped lanyard hole for attachments.
Kershaw Oblivion Details
- 8Cr13MoV Stainless Steel, Bead-Blasted & Stonewashed Finish
- 3.5” Drop Point Blade
- Flipper Opener
- Framelock
- Two-Piece Stainless Steel/GFN Handle
- Reversible Tip-Up Pocket Clip
- Trapezoid Lanyard Hole
- 5.1 oz.
- 4.6” Closed
- 8.1” Overall
At only $40, the Kershaw Oblivion makes an excellent and interesting addition to any knife collection. To get this knife, click any link in the article or simply click the button below.
All images courtesy of Smoky Mountain Knife Works – smkw.com.