One fateful day last year, I was meandering around Smoky Mountain Knife Works (a 55,000 square foot cutlery store in Sevierville, Tennessee; an impressive place which I do recommend visiting) and found in one of the display cases the Kershaw Tactical Blur. I requested to handle it and, after answering that I was indeed over 18 (do I really look that young? Oh right, I do.) it was in my hand. I had only ever owned or even handled one other Kershaw knife, the Chive, and with its small stature it was only ever a “nifty trinket” to me, so I never carried and used it. The difference between a small assisted opening knife like the Chive and a larger one like the Blur is considerable. I was really impressed by the knife, and though I didn’t have the cash on me at the time, I did end up ordering one off of the internet about a week later.

About the Knife

The Kershaw Tactical Blur (model 1670TBLKST) is a variant of the standard Blur, one of Kershaw’s “SpeedSafe” line of assisted opening folding knives. The Tactical version substitutes the “recurve” blade profile for a tanto profile, which has its pros and cons; the more angular appearance of the blade is less consistent to the styling of the handle, but it should prove to be quicker to sharpen thanks to its straight lines, and I found the aggressive styling more visually appealing. (Not that I’m an aggressive kind of person!) The Tactical model is only available with a combo edge: partially serrated at the base and partially plain edge.

The knife is pretty well constructed; its black anodized aluminum handle with partial stainless steel liners (for reinforcement and to facilitate the liner lock) add a bit of heft that contributes to a feeling of sturdiness. After about a year of use, the knife is still tight and I’ve yet to develop any noticeable blade play. The aluminum does seem to scratch pretty easily, especially on the pocket clip, which is the one part of any knife which will receive the most abuse, even such that brand new out of the box there were a number of scratches on the clip. Since this is only a cosmetic problem, and this isn’t exactly a collector’s knife, I wouldn’t call it a big deal.

The pocket clip is held securely with two Torx screws. I’m accustomed to three, so my first impression was that it would be weaker than others, but I’ve yet to have a problem with it. I would have liked a longer “lip” on it, since not only is the clip rather tight to begin with, but the grip inserts in the handle catch the pocket pretty hard and make it difficult to slip on. I’ve found it almost impossible in most cases to clip the knife with one hand; I need one hand to hold the pocket steady and the other to slip the knife on.

The rubbery “Trac-Tec” inlays in the handle give a solid grip, almost uncomfortably rough when it’s new out of the box, but it wears down over time to reach a comfortable balance between grip and comfort. Unfortunately, that feeling like you’re tearing up your pocket every time you clip it never really goes away. The edges of the handle itself are nice and smooth, never digging into the hand. The handle is pretty “meaty”, substantial enough to get a solid grip on, though it never really seems to sink into the hand like some of my Spyderco knives.

The blade’s thumb stud and assisted opening action can take some getting used to. Once you find the right way to hold it and press against the stud, it becomes effortless, but it’s a little tough before you get the hang of it.

I won’t bother commenting heavily on the blade steel or the sharpness of the knife, since I pretty much use my knife like a city boy and, as more of a collector than a user, I make a point of not abusing my knives.

The one major functional concern about the knife is the torsion bar used to assist the opening of the knife. Admittedly, I would sit absent-mindedly flipping the knife open and closed throughout the day, but after what I would guess was about six months (an estimation since I don’t actually remember now when I bought it), one afternoon I flicked open the Blur, thumbed off the liner lock, pushed the blade closed, and heard a quite noticeable “pop“. I stared inquisitively for a moment, pushed the thumb stud, and found myself slowly rotating the blade into the open position. My Kershaw assisted opening knife wasn’t assisting its opening! My immediate reaction was anger. “I’ll never buy another Kershaw again!” I said immediately about my broken knife.

A Positive Customer Service Tale?

Once I stopped and thought about it though, I realized this wasn’t really a big deal. It’s just a spring, and even though it probably shouldn’t have broken so soon, I would give Kershaw a chance before swearing them off forever. That afternoon, I sent them an email to find out what my options were, and got a reply an hour or two later. They told me that I could send the knife to them and they’d fix it for free (with complimentary sharpening), or they could just mail me a replacement for the broken part, also for free. I emailed them back that I only wanted the part, and about an hour later I received another email informing me that the part should be sent out the next day.

The postal service took their time, as they generally do, but about a week later I received a padded envelope marked from Kershaw, and found inside a packet of not only the replacement torsion bar, but a new pocket clip and a full set of handle screws – in case I lost any when I disassembled the knife to fix it. It may be a small gesture, but a meaningful one.

It took me longer to find the correct size Torx screwdrivers than it did to take the knife apart, replace the torsion bar (which had sheared in half), and reassemble it. Even after removing the blade and having to fiddle with the pivot screw to make sure it wasn’t too tight, the reassembled knife hasn’t been loose at all, and it is once again “assisted opening”!

Bottom Line – 4 out of 5

Despite its temporary down time and some cons, I like the Kershaw Tactical Blur a lot and it’s still my go-to knife every day. I can’t say that’s because it’s necessarily better than any of my other knives, but it does its job, and it’s, well, fun to play with. It also helps to have excellent customer service!

From base to end, the blade is pushing 2 inches, but the cutting edge, measured straight from end to end, is just a little over 1 ⅝ inches. This is useful for places with a 2-inch legal limit, and, to its credit, the curving “reverse-S” blade profile gives it more functional edge, and the hooked shape is very useful for pull cuts. The blade came shaving sharp out of the box, as I’ve come to expect from Spyderco, and is made of high-end VG-10 steel, so the edge will last you a while and sharpen fairly easily when the time comes. The opening hole is only 11 millimeters in diameter, making it rather difficult for gloved thumbs to handle, but shouldn’t be a problem otherwise.

The Cricket isn’t for people with big hands or who commonly use their knives while wearing gloves. It’s certainly small and kind of cute, so don’t worry about scaring passersby while you use it. For office use and general utility use, the Cricket is an excellent tool, and because of its small size, can even double as a money clip. Mine earned a five star rating.

The spear-like blade shape is visually appealing, with its false-edge grind on the spine. The blade is hollow ground and about 2.5 millimeters thick, made of CPM S30V, one of the higher-end steels on the market, and comes shaving-sharp out of the box. You almost can’t beat the price, considering the blade steel, as other knives of comparable materials are often priced near the $100 mark, while the Native can now commonly be found around $40.

However, it’s not perfect. The knife has several sharp edges in various places, which can sometimes be uncomfortable; for example, the inner edges of the handle where it meets the blade when the knife is closed, the edges of the blade’s spine, and the edge of the trademark Spyderco opening hole are all fairly sharp. Also, the opening hole is a bit small and partially submerged in the handle when the knife is closed, making it difficult to access if you have big thumbs or if you’re wearing gloves. Similarly, the forward finger groove is a bit small. I have fairly small fingers and mine fit snugly, so bigger or gloved fingers might not work so well.

My Native is still nearly shaving-sharp without ever being sharpened, and despite its flaws, it’s a pretty tough knife for general purpose use, and an excellent value. I highly recommend it.