Kershaw discontinued the Knockout? Why?

T

Tajbral

Joined
Mar 1, 2024
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At first, I thought Kershaw had handed me the wrong knife list. I couldn't believe that Kershaw would discontinue this knife. Made in the USA, upgraded awesome top notch14C28N high-performance stainless steel blade, stonewashed or cerakote blade for additional blade protection, Lightweight aluminum handle anodized in black or olive green, three-position pocketclip, carries (right/left tip-up; right tip-down), fast, easy opening with SpeedSafe® assisted opening, sub-Frame Lock, wide bellied blade, sharp as a razor blade, about a thousand decorations, etc., etc. I wrote Kershaw an email complaining about this and was informed that the disposition of my inquiry was restricted. Seems they didn't dig what I had to tell them. All Kershaw said was that they had discontinued the knife in 2019 evidently for reasons unknown... The Knockout had only been released a few years prior. Why would they do that? Two weeks later, I received a letter in the mail thanking me for my interest enclosing their new catalogue.
 
Kershaw produces a lot of models & quickly discontinues any model that they don't think is selling well enough or that doesn't fit well enough in its marketing plans

The reason Kershaw probably discontinued the Knockout was that it was too similar to the Blur which is a more popular & profitable model & where Kershaw felt their manufacturing & marketing expenses were better spent.

KAI owns Kershaw & ZT they do the same thing with ZT; create many new models that quickly disappear & supplant older popular models with new models that then also disappear.

So, if there's a Kershaw or ZT model or variation of a model that you like, buy it quick or you may never see it again in the primary market and, depending on how many were produced & how collectible it is, may also seldom see on them on the secondary market. 🤷
 
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sgt1372 said:
Kershaw produces a lot of models & quickly discontinues any model that they don't think is selling well enough or that doesn't fit well enough in its marketing plans

The reason Kershaw probably discontinued the Knockout was that it was too similar to the Blur which is a more popular & profitable model & where Kershaw felt their manufacturing & marketing expenses were better spent.

KAI owns Kershaw & ZT they do the same thing happens with ZT: many new models are created that quickly disappear & older popular models are supplanted by new model that then also disappear.

So, if there's a Kershaw or ZT model or variation of a model that you like, buy it quick or you may never see it again in the primary market and, depending on how many were produced & how collectible it is, may also seldom see it on the secondary market. 🤷
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Yeah, I guess you're right. This was a knife that I owned some years ago that I really liked and had to sell it during tough times, and I always thought I would circle back around and pick another one up, but that's not happening. They have been discontinued and are way too expensive for that reason now. This knife had a lot of things to like about it, and it's a real shame to see Kershaw discontinue this model while producing some of the trash it's been coming out with lately.
 
If anyone here is familiar with Pokemon or similar I think I've been missing out a lot of marketing of products has become a "Pokemon, Gotta Catch'em All" type of business. Introduce a product, make several versions of it, drop it but also introduce a very similar but just different enough for a new name, offer several variations of that new one as well, lather, rinse, repeat.

And I'm not on my high horse, this is more since I recently started to question why I'm trying to buy each variation of the Benchmade 940. Other than because I can and I want to. Gotta Catch'em All....
 
Yeah I have noticed and I don’t bite, I typically go for the standard model and don’t bother with limited editions, alternate color ways, ect. You search for a specific model from a certain brand and it loads an entire page of variants.
I don’t need my knife to match my outfit for the day, but I also wear the same jeans and shirt every day for at least a decade, I just have multiple pairs of the exact same thing, simplifies life.
 
sgt1372 said:
Kershaw produces a lot of models & quickly discontinues any model that they don't think is selling well enough or that doesn't fit well enough in its marketing plans

The reason Kershaw probably discontinued the Knockout was that it was too similar to the Blur which is a more popular & profitable model & where Kershaw felt their manufacturing & marketing expenses were better spent.

KAI owns Kershaw & ZT they do the same thing with ZT; create many new models that quickly disappear & supplant older popular models with new models that then also disappear.

So, if there's a Kershaw or ZT model or variation of a model that you like, buy it quick or you may never see it again in the primary market and, depending on how many were produced & how collectible it is, may also seldom see on them on the secondary market. 🤷
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Kershaw is not exactly the most helpful company I've dealt with... I think a lot of people have started to notice that from their dealings with them over the years...and not all of them was good.
 
P.S. And what's up with Zero Tolerance? I'm presuming you know that Kershaw owns ZT, which is a line of superior knives that are very expensive. It's funny, though, because the models that were part of the ZT line years ago were the ones that I really liked, but their recent models do nothing for me at all... not that I could afford them anyway. Still, quality seems to have gone down too while prices have increased... I don't know, maybe it's that way with everything these days. It seems like quality and quality control, competition amongst companies for consumer sales, and customer service are things of the past.
 
I too was/am a fan of the Knockout. When I heard it was being discontinued I bought 3 of the M390 limited editions and two 14C’s. The limited editions they released seemingly sold out immediately and, it seemed to me, the 14C’s were successful sales-wise as well. (There is a site with 2 NIB limited editions for sale if you search.)
 
elde66 said:
I too was/am a fan of the Knockout. When I heard it was being discontinued I bought 3 of the M390 limited editions and two 14C’s. The limited editions they released seemingly sold out immediately and, it seemed to me, the 14C’s were successful sales-wise as well. (There is a site with 2 NIB limited editions for sale if you search.)
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Thanks, I'll check it out! I really appreciate it!!
 
elde66 said:
I too was/am a fan of the Knockout. When I heard it was being discontinued I bought 3 of the M390 limited editions and two 14C’s. The limited editions they released seemingly sold out immediately and, it seemed to me, the 14C’s were successful sales-wise as well. (There is a site with 2 NIB limited editions for sale if you search.)
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The only place online I found it was a scam site where they lifted images of the knife from another company and have the knife available for prices that are lower than the original model's $75 price. I won't name the name of the company, but it's fraud. Thanks anyway.
 
I appreciate everyone's help, I think I'm going to just try and pick one up off the bay that is used and hope for the best.
 
Tajbral said:
P.S. And what's up with Zero Tolerance? I'm presuming you know that Kershaw owns ZT, which is a line of superior knives that are very expensive. It's funny, though, because the models that were part of the ZT line years ago were the ones that I really liked, but their recent models do nothing for me at all... not that I could afford them anyway. Still, quality seems to have gone down too while prices have increased... I don't know, maybe it's that way with everything these days. It seems like quality and quality control, competition amongst companies for consumer sales, and customer service are things of the past.
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I feel the same way.

While there are still a few 'newer" models in my collection, I only collect "vintage" (at least 10 yrs or older) Kershaws & ZTs that are no longer made.

At last count, I owned 68 Kershaws & 48 ZTs but I have 1 ZT (a 0560CBCF incoming) so that'll make that 49 ZTs shortly.

The oldest Kershaws go back 50 years & the oldest ZTs around 20.

They were all "better" back then. ;)
 
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sgt1372 said:
I feel the same way.

While there are still a few 'newer" models in my collection, I only collect "vintage" (at least 10 yrs or older) Kershaws & ZTs.

At last count, I owned 68 Kershaws & 48 ZTs but I have 1 ZT (a 0560CBCF incoming) so that'll make that 49 ZTs shortly. The oldest Kershaws go back 50 years & the oldest ZTs around 20.

They were all "better" back then. ;)
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Absolutely 100% agreed!!! Btw, I love the way the 0560s look, and 0560CBCF is super nice and one of my personal favorites!!! My other personal favorite was the ZT0561, which I thought looked super nice with the G10 dark earth brown handle.
 
Tajbral said:
P.S. And what's up with Zero Tolerance? I'm presuming you know that Kershaw owns ZT, which is a line of superior knives that are very expensive. It's funny, though, because the models that were part of the ZT line years ago were the ones that I really liked, but their recent models do nothing for me at all...
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thats How most people feel, myself included. I started really getting into pocket knives when ZT was at their prime, about 10 years ago.
I hope they can get back on their feet and be relevant again in this terrible economy
 
Tajbral said:
P.S. And what's up with Zero Tolerance? I'm presuming you know that Kershaw owns ZT, which is a line of superior knives that are very expensive. It's funny, though, because the models that were part of the ZT line years ago were the ones that I really liked, but their recent models do nothing for me at all... not that I could afford them anyway. Still, quality seems to have gone down too while prices have increased... I don't know, maybe it's that way with everything these days. It seems like quality and quality control, competition amongst companies for consumer sales, and customer service are things of the past.
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You just described every knife company. Kershaw still has the best warranty/CS in the business though.
 
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