Ladies and Gents,
This is a quick review of a knife I personally have been waiting for going on 10 months now. The Kershaw Amplitude 2.5. Mind you I'm not a writer, won't be winning any awards or getting published, but this is my initial views upon receiving this knife.
Announced at at the beginning of the year, I first saw this knife in videos outlining new products seen at Shot Show for 2014. Kershaw did not reveal a release date, but when I saw the clean look, I figured it might be a nice cheap edc knife with a little class to its look. Something I wouldn't be worried about losing as it wouldn't break the bank. Kershaw priced it at $39.99.
Here's the picture released on Kershaws site so you can take a look at what I saw.
Extremely clean, no major flash, looked to be a nice slicer with it's small, thin blade.
Their specs were:
Flipper
SpeedSafe® assisted opening
Frame lock
Reversible pocketclip (tip-up/tip-down)
Designed by Todd Rexford
Blade: Stainless steel, machine satin finish
Handle: 410, titanium carbo-nitride coating
Blade length: 2.5 in. (6.4 cm)
Closed length: 3.5 in. (8.9 cm)
Weight: 2.6 oz. (73.7 g)
As you can see it's very light weight which was to be expected of a small knife like this. I was willing to take a leap of faith, as most knives Kershaw releases are quite nice despite their low cost and in this ones case, production being outside the US. China in the case of the Amplitude 2.5.
I pre-ordered this on January 24, 2014 from BladeHQ with no telling of when I would receive it. The price was $5 to pre-order, plus $5.99 for shipping. I checked back every month, hoping it was finally time. My carry rotation isn't huge, but this one I felt really had a place. It's refined. It reminds me of a Sebenza in some ways. (Though I haven't owned one... I know, stupid me.) Finally on Monday, November 10, 2014 I received the e-mail from BladeHQ that they were in stock. The remaining balance of $19.95 was due, and with my ok, it would be charged and shipped that day. An overall price once all said and done of $30.94. Not too shabby I gave them the yes and away it went!
Today, November 13, 2014 there it was in my mail box. (Tuesday being Veterans day accounted for the extra shipping time.) I opened it with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. Almost a year waiting for this. It's cheap, yes, but that's what I wanted. A cheap knife that didn't look too cheap. While sitting at my mail box with the car running, I gave the knife a once over. The handle looked good. The flipper, well the flipper sucked. The knife wouldn't fully open.
Feeling a little saddened by the less than spectacular opening performance of the knife, I put it in my pocket (Noting the extremely tight pocket clip actually being difficult to slip over the pocket of my Carhartts.) and went to pull in the garage.
Once I was inside and the dog was greeted and the girlfriend given a hello, I went back to the knife. I tried the flipper about 15 more times and it's locking open approximately 90% of the time. I'm hoping it just needs some break in? Or perhaps I'll break it down and give it a cleaning and see where it goes from there. After messing with the flipper I inspected it more closely under direct light. I took note of the clean scales, and the nice back spacer, which is black in color. Also of the textured "notches" on the pocket clip. The appearance was spot on. The frame lock is quite strong as well. Perhaps now that I think about it, that's why there's the delay in lock up.
Next up I started looking at the blade. It's your typical Kershaw offering. 8Cr13MoV with a satin finish. 2.5" in length with a hollow grind. I noticed the tip, well, maybe about the first half inch from the tip was very sharp. The rest of the blade however? Not. You can feel a significant difference in sharpening angle comparing the tip to the rest. The problem here is it just wasn't sharpened correctly. That half inch from the tip is shaving sharp from the box and the rest just so poorly sharpened that it is, dare I say, dull. I can slide it across my arm effortlessly. It doesn't catch on anything nor cut. Other than that, lock-up is SOLID. No movement at all. When closed, the blade isn't centered, but there's no rubbing. visible space on both sides, but in a knife this cheap, I personally don't feel like it's a big deal.
I touched base a bit on the size of this knife being very small. It's overall length is 6". Blade length as stated is 2.5" and the handle is 3.5". My currently EDC is a Benchmade/Ritter Mini with M390, Wilkins Titanium grips, and rounded out with a Benchmade Deep carry stonewashed pocket clip. Side by side the blade is very close in length. 2.5" vs 2.88" on the Ritter. The handle though is MUCH smaller. My pinky finger slides off the Amplitude, where-as I get a full grip and am very confident with the Mini-Ritter. I feel the Amplitude does exactly what it should in this case. A smaller knife, easily carried, and I'm sure for your daily carry needs, envelope and box opening, and other basic needs, it's just fine. You won't be batoning with this or using it for anything heavy duty obviously. In my pictures section below, I'll include a side by side of the Amplitude and my Mini-ritter so you can see the size difference.
Next up I grabbed a piece of paper, because, well, a knife review or test isn't done with at least some sort of baseline, right? The tip easily cut through the paper in small amounts. The rest, I'm sure you can guess. Not a chance. As soon as I'm done writing this I'm going to try sharpening it on my Sharpmaker. It's going to take a quick minute though since once sides angle is way off. I almost thought of using my Ken Onion Work Sharp, but I don't think I want the convex edge on it. It's just so thin, that I think it'll be a sweet little slicer with a good sharpened edge.
This review really didn't go the way I wanted it to. It sounds mostly like complaining. I think part of the problem is Kershaw just had so many offerings this year, as well as their typical stuff, that this was probably more of a back burner knife and not a major contender in their line-up. The knife has character thanks to Todd Rexford. It's a real looker and the groundwork is there for it to become an excellent light weight, classy looking knife that comes at a very low price point. Something I really think is needed in the knife market. With a little fine tuning this knife has some great potential. If you don't mind having to put a little work into the knife from the start, this might be for you.
And finally, some pictures. (Taken with an iPhone... Sorry!)
This is a quick review of a knife I personally have been waiting for going on 10 months now. The Kershaw Amplitude 2.5. Mind you I'm not a writer, won't be winning any awards or getting published, but this is my initial views upon receiving this knife.
Announced at at the beginning of the year, I first saw this knife in videos outlining new products seen at Shot Show for 2014. Kershaw did not reveal a release date, but when I saw the clean look, I figured it might be a nice cheap edc knife with a little class to its look. Something I wouldn't be worried about losing as it wouldn't break the bank. Kershaw priced it at $39.99.
Here's the picture released on Kershaws site so you can take a look at what I saw.
Extremely clean, no major flash, looked to be a nice slicer with it's small, thin blade.
Their specs were:
Flipper
SpeedSafe® assisted opening
Frame lock
Reversible pocketclip (tip-up/tip-down)
Designed by Todd Rexford
Blade: Stainless steel, machine satin finish
Handle: 410, titanium carbo-nitride coating
Blade length: 2.5 in. (6.4 cm)
Closed length: 3.5 in. (8.9 cm)
Weight: 2.6 oz. (73.7 g)
As you can see it's very light weight which was to be expected of a small knife like this. I was willing to take a leap of faith, as most knives Kershaw releases are quite nice despite their low cost and in this ones case, production being outside the US. China in the case of the Amplitude 2.5.
I pre-ordered this on January 24, 2014 from BladeHQ with no telling of when I would receive it. The price was $5 to pre-order, plus $5.99 for shipping. I checked back every month, hoping it was finally time. My carry rotation isn't huge, but this one I felt really had a place. It's refined. It reminds me of a Sebenza in some ways. (Though I haven't owned one... I know, stupid me.) Finally on Monday, November 10, 2014 I received the e-mail from BladeHQ that they were in stock. The remaining balance of $19.95 was due, and with my ok, it would be charged and shipped that day. An overall price once all said and done of $30.94. Not too shabby I gave them the yes and away it went!
Today, November 13, 2014 there it was in my mail box. (Tuesday being Veterans day accounted for the extra shipping time.) I opened it with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. Almost a year waiting for this. It's cheap, yes, but that's what I wanted. A cheap knife that didn't look too cheap. While sitting at my mail box with the car running, I gave the knife a once over. The handle looked good. The flipper, well the flipper sucked. The knife wouldn't fully open.
Feeling a little saddened by the less than spectacular opening performance of the knife, I put it in my pocket (Noting the extremely tight pocket clip actually being difficult to slip over the pocket of my Carhartts.) and went to pull in the garage.Once I was inside and the dog was greeted and the girlfriend given a hello, I went back to the knife. I tried the flipper about 15 more times and it's locking open approximately 90% of the time. I'm hoping it just needs some break in? Or perhaps I'll break it down and give it a cleaning and see where it goes from there. After messing with the flipper I inspected it more closely under direct light. I took note of the clean scales, and the nice back spacer, which is black in color. Also of the textured "notches" on the pocket clip. The appearance was spot on. The frame lock is quite strong as well. Perhaps now that I think about it, that's why there's the delay in lock up.
Next up I started looking at the blade. It's your typical Kershaw offering. 8Cr13MoV with a satin finish. 2.5" in length with a hollow grind. I noticed the tip, well, maybe about the first half inch from the tip was very sharp. The rest of the blade however? Not. You can feel a significant difference in sharpening angle comparing the tip to the rest. The problem here is it just wasn't sharpened correctly. That half inch from the tip is shaving sharp from the box and the rest just so poorly sharpened that it is, dare I say, dull. I can slide it across my arm effortlessly. It doesn't catch on anything nor cut. Other than that, lock-up is SOLID. No movement at all. When closed, the blade isn't centered, but there's no rubbing. visible space on both sides, but in a knife this cheap, I personally don't feel like it's a big deal.
I touched base a bit on the size of this knife being very small. It's overall length is 6". Blade length as stated is 2.5" and the handle is 3.5". My currently EDC is a Benchmade/Ritter Mini with M390, Wilkins Titanium grips, and rounded out with a Benchmade Deep carry stonewashed pocket clip. Side by side the blade is very close in length. 2.5" vs 2.88" on the Ritter. The handle though is MUCH smaller. My pinky finger slides off the Amplitude, where-as I get a full grip and am very confident with the Mini-Ritter. I feel the Amplitude does exactly what it should in this case. A smaller knife, easily carried, and I'm sure for your daily carry needs, envelope and box opening, and other basic needs, it's just fine. You won't be batoning with this or using it for anything heavy duty obviously. In my pictures section below, I'll include a side by side of the Amplitude and my Mini-ritter so you can see the size difference.
Next up I grabbed a piece of paper, because, well, a knife review or test isn't done with at least some sort of baseline, right? The tip easily cut through the paper in small amounts. The rest, I'm sure you can guess. Not a chance. As soon as I'm done writing this I'm going to try sharpening it on my Sharpmaker. It's going to take a quick minute though since once sides angle is way off. I almost thought of using my Ken Onion Work Sharp, but I don't think I want the convex edge on it. It's just so thin, that I think it'll be a sweet little slicer with a good sharpened edge.
This review really didn't go the way I wanted it to. It sounds mostly like complaining. I think part of the problem is Kershaw just had so many offerings this year, as well as their typical stuff, that this was probably more of a back burner knife and not a major contender in their line-up. The knife has character thanks to Todd Rexford. It's a real looker and the groundwork is there for it to become an excellent light weight, classy looking knife that comes at a very low price point. Something I really think is needed in the knife market. With a little fine tuning this knife has some great potential. If you don't mind having to put a little work into the knife from the start, this might be for you.
And finally, some pictures. (Taken with an iPhone... Sorry!)
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