Blown Away By This $30 knife

Got mine about a week ago... It's nice for what it is, but I'm pretty sure it will making friends in the budget knife drawer until I give it away.
If you decide to give it away hit me up, I've got a nin-knife carrying friend who could use an atmos as conversion therapy!
 
I think 8cr is fine but Kerhsaw needs to step up their ht.
I’ve had a couple older knives in 14c28 and they were total crap.
Really even 420hc can be great if the company takes time to treat it correctly.
 
Vendors! BladeHQ, KnifeArt, KnifeCenter, KnivesShipFree etc.
Please do a D2 Exclusive Atmos. You’ll sell lots.

I’m liking my D2 Exclusive Cryos. Got to test one of em out this week pretty extensively.
 
I don't mind 8cr,but they could go to 9cr18mov and not charge more.

And I want a cryo 2 with G10! I love my cryo 2,its a cheap 0566 (which I also have and love) but they only have a G10 of the small cryo!

G10 cryo 2, Atmos xl... I'll buy both no questions.
 
I think we all wish that. Make D2 the standard budget steel or something... The knives still need to be in the same price range or plus 10%, or sales will be impacted and a kershaw will never go for that.

We have been seeing more Chinese companies using D2 at better prices. My only concern about making it the standard is that it isn't stainless. Frankie on BirdshotIV is famous for saying D2 will rust if you look at it wrong. I don't know if it's quite that bad but at least on paper, it's no improvement over 8Cr13Mov. The real benefit with D2 should be superior edge retention but the increased sharpening difficulty may turn people off as well.

I'd be happier with properly treated 9Cr18Mov or 14C28N. With all three of these steels gaining popularity in the under-$50 range, great things are happening in the budget knife market online. We'll just have to see if Kerhsaw, CRKT, Gerber, etc. are willing to bring it to the big box stores.
 
You are right but NY is not NYC. I'm in the western part of what is known as Upstate and we're as much like NYC as Kansas City. Even our knife laws aren't the same and in some regards pretty good such as knife length, which is unlimited. Others not so much, but way better than NYC and I can't figure out what this does to violate laws. I'm wondering if it's just Amazon.

Just amazon, i ended up ordering it from walmart with no issue. Also they ship faster than amazon (non-prime) which can take 2-10 days before they even "pack" the order.

I like the knife, as some others pointed out my only issue is with the flipper. It feels very sharp into my finger and requires a good amount of pressure to activate.
The handle edges also feel a little sharp and the detent on the blade lock drags on the blade requiring a little extra effort in closing the knife.

On the positive side, super light, very tight lock up, very nice blade and overall design, nice deep carry clip that isn't too tight and easily clips to pockets.
 
We have been seeing more Chinese companies using D2 at better prices. My only concern about making it the standard is that it isn't stainless. Frankie on BirdshotIV is famous for saying D2 will rust if you look at it wrong. I don't know if it's quite that bad but at least on paper, it's no improvement over 8Cr13Mov. The real benefit with D2 should be superior edge retention but the increased sharpening difficulty may turn people off as well.

I'd be happier with properly treated 9Cr18Mov or 14C28N. With all three of these steels gaining popularity in the under-$50 range, great things are happening in the budget knife market online. We'll just have to see if Kerhsaw, CRKT, Gerber, etc. are willing to bring it to the big box stores.

You make some good points. While I would prefer D2 over 8cr, D2 is prone to rust as you mentioned. Also, while D2 may have better edge retention (but not as much as many people think), it is somewhat of a pain to sharpen. I have no concerns in using a knife with 8cr13mov until dullness because I can get it sharp again incredibly easily and quickly. With D2, I would not want to let the knife get completely dull because it's relatively a pain in the butt to sharpen. So in the end, from a practical perspective, you may need to sharpen just as often with D2 just to keep it sharp. With a true edge retention beast like ZDP-189, it's different of course. My Dragonfly with ZDP seems to hold its edge forever. But if it does get dull, ZDP-189 is a bitch to sharpen. My favorite steel is something like S30V, even though a lot of people like to rag on it these days. It's such a perfectly balanced steel in terms of rust resistance, edge retention, and ease of sharpening. An Atmos in S30V would be perfect for me. And it shouldn't be too expensive to put S30V in that knife these days.
 
I think 8cr is fine but Kerhsaw needs to step up their ht.
I’ve had a couple older knives in 14c28 and they were total crap.
Really even 420hc can be great if the company takes time to treat it correctly.

I vaguely recall someone saying that they spoke to a Kershaw rep who had stated that they don't feel the need to move away from 8cr because they've mastered heat treating the steel after using it in so many of their knives.

Curious, what makes you say that they need to step up their heat treating game? There are a couple videos on YT that show the Atmos being a really good slicer and retaining it's edge for a more than reasonable number of cuts on rope after a sharpening.

Honestly I don't have a problem with 8cr like a lot of people do. Most of my knives are used for cutting tape to open packages, cutting paper to open envelopes, or the occasional cardboard cutting if I need a section of cardboard for something. I've got a Kershaw Cryo II in 8CR that I've used heavily and that hasn't been sharpened once beyond the factory belt grinder, and it still suffices for 100% of my daily cutting needs.

So personally, if they're masters at heat treating 8cr like they claim and they can use it to keep the costs down on a lot of their neat designs, I'm OK with it.
 
I don't really have a problem either with the 8CR stuff. But I can trash a blade pretty quick with one long box-cutting-down session.
The D2 is noticably tougher stuff, at least in the case of Cryo 8CR vs. Cryo D2.
 
Need the tan one..
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How does the Atmos compare to others like Civivi Backlash and Artisan Tradition?
Thanks
Rich
 
How does the Atmos compare to others like Civivi Backlash and Artisan Tradition?
Thanks
Rich

The Civivi Baklash is decent and lots of people like it. The steel is marginally better (9cr18Mov). But it's a much larger knife, in almost every way. If you like larger knives, that could be a plus, but personally I love the size of the Atmos, which is right around the size of the Spyderco Delica. Also, the Baklash weighs a lot more than the Atmos. The Baklash I believe is almost 4 ounces, and is even heavier than the PM2. The Atmos is just 2 ounces, which is even lighter than the Delica. For me, the biggest difference is the design. You get a really amazing and beautiful design with the Atmos, as it is designed by Dmitry Sinkevich, who has designed several ZT knives, including the very similar ZT 0470. The design of the Baklash is just very ordinary and there is nothing special or particularly pleasing about it. I also like the blade shape and geometry on the Atmos better.
 
I can speak to the Artisan. Artisan's definitely beefier. More solid feel, thicker blade, thicker handle, longer overall. Liner lock feels beefier/more solid. Flips a bit more solid with the heavier blade.

Doesn't quite have that "Amazing knife for $30" thing going for it like the Atmos. It's D2 and ~$55 and feels like a higher quality piece overall, at the price of entry and a larger, heavier EDC.

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How does the Atmos compare to others like Civivi Backlash and Artisan Tradition?

The Civivi Baklash is decent and lots of people like it. The steel is marginally better (9cr18Mov). But it's a much larger knife, in almost every way... The design of the Baklash is just very ordinary and there is nothing special or particularly pleasing about it. I also like the blade shape and geometry on the Atmos better.

The Baklash is one of Civivi's smaller knives but it is bigger than the Atmos. If you are looking for small and light, the Atmos definitely has that going for it. As far as the Baklash being "ordinary" or "nothing special", I heartily disagree. The overall design may look more basic than the Atmos because it is contoured G10 with no overlays. The Baklash does have colored liners but I personally don't care for that. As far as actual handle shape and blade shape, I think the Baklash has good ergonomics. I know online shopping is a visual experience, but imagine that shape in your hand. If it fits you well, that can make the extra size a good thing too.

Is the blade geometry really better? I don't have either knife in front of me but I hope someone that does can answer that. I own two larger Civivi knives and I've been blown away by the quality and performance thus far.
 
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