Recommendation? Kershaw Ferrite or Shield?

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grimmwolf

Joined
Jun 26, 2017
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Proud new owner of a 0392 here, I need a cheaper backup/secondary EDC knife and I am rather a fan of Hinderer's ergonomics. Been looking at these two, amongst others, to pick up and convert to a manual action with caged bearings. Does anyone have any experience with both of these? Help would be much appreciated.
 
I don't have a lot of experience with either knife you're considering, although I have handled a Shield and was unimpressed. I think you might have a hard time converting any of these Hinderer design Kershaws to manual without drilling a detent hole and adding a detent ball. I know the Cryo has had mixed success being de-assisted. If you remove the torsion bar to make it manual, there's no force holding the blade in the handle when closed.

You could probably search this forum for more info.

If I had to pick a Hinderer Kershaw, I'd probably get a G10 Cryo.

Honestly, if you're looking for a good, manual bearing flipper that won't cost a bunch, your best bet would be some of the knives from Kizer Vanguard or RealSteel. If you can stretch the budget up to $100, you can get into one of the budget line WE knives which are excellent for the price.
 
Thanks for the tip. Never considered Real Steel or Kizer. I know converting either of the Kershaws would be a pain but I was hoping for a smaller companion to my 0392 that has similar ergos, without hunting down a 3" XM (that'll come later)
 
Hackenslash said:
I don't have a lot of experience with either knife you're considering, although I have handled a Shield and was unimpressed. I think you might have a hard time converting any of these Hinderer design Kershaws to manual without drilling a detent hole and adding a detent ball. I know the Cryo has had mixed success being de-assisted. If you remove the torsion bar to make it manual, there's no force holding the blade in the handle when closed.

You could probably search this forum for more info.

If I had to pick a Hinderer Kershaw, I'd probably get a G10 Cryo.

Honestly, if you're looking for a good, manual bearing flipper that won't cost a bunch, your best bet would be some of the knives from Kizer Vanguard or RealSteel. If you can stretch the budget up to $100, you can get into one of the budget line WE knives which are excellent for the price.
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I have a Cryo II that does have detent I learned when my torsion bar broke within 6 months of owning it. I prefer a manual but the action was so far from smooth and I didn't want to put in the work to smooth it out and make it manual I just got a replacement torsion bar from Kershaw. I almost never carry this knife I would rather buy a knife how I need it than buy and modify it. I wouldn't mind modifying as a fun project though which my Opinel is tempting me to do.
 
I picked up the Shield as a poor man's 0392. Hackenslash is correct. My Shield does not have the detent hole, so mine is still assisted. Same as the Thermite, which I like quite a bit more. That said, the ergos may feel ok, but it's slippery and narrow so I don't use it much and you might be disappointed since you have the 0392. Good luck.
 
ZT 0566 is the knife you're looking for, although it's 3-4x your budget the money is well spent. I had success removing the torsion bar from mine but results vary.
 
Had one once, 0566 got knocked out of the running from the start. Has to weigh less than the 0392, preferably 4.5 oz or under.
 
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