I've had a few people ask why I don't do a review on the Kershaw Oso Sweet. It's an inexpensive folder, made by as good company, so why not? Well, to be quite honest, I just plain didn't have one. The Oso Sweet that I have now was purchased a few months ago, and the one shown in this review belongs to Mrs. JNieporte (who doesn't carry a knife).
The Oso Sweet was Kershaw's first SpeedSafe model to be made in China, and it carries the low price tag of $20-$25. Model number is 1830, and the Oso Sweet weighs in at 3.9 ounces (website descriptions say 4.2 ounces).
The Handle: The Oso Sweet is 4-3/8" long when closed and is 7/16" thick without the pocket clip. It's constructed of nested 410-series stainless steel liners, one skeletonized, and black Zytel scales. The scales have a fish-scale pattern to them, and I like them. Torx (T-6) screws hold the handle together, while a T-8 screw acts as the blade pivot pin screw.
The pocket clip is stainless steel and is polished; it carries the Kershaw logo stamped in. It's positionable for tip up or tip down carry, right-handed only. Retention in the pocket is great, although tip-down rides lower than tip-up. The clip is held on with two T-6 screws.
Showing the butt end, including pocket clip placement, lanyard hole, and the bolts that the handle screws go into...
The back of the handle is a black Zytel backspacer, and it's not an open build. The backspacer is ridged nicely; however there is no jimping on the thumb ramp.
The Oso Sweet is a liner lock, and at first I thought mine was a defect; it just looked too bent.
After looking at all of the samples at my local knife store, I noticed they all look like this and it's normal. Lock-up is solid, with a nice steel blade stop pin in the back. The liner is jimped too, which helps. Unlocking the knife is easy due to the liner sticking out just far enough; this is what you call a nicely-executed linerlock.
In use, the Oso Sweet is very comfortable. It rides low enough in your hand that controlled cuts are easy.
Usually, this means a bulky knife. With the Oso Sweet, you get a smaller package with a full-size blade.
Continued below...
The Oso Sweet was Kershaw's first SpeedSafe model to be made in China, and it carries the low price tag of $20-$25. Model number is 1830, and the Oso Sweet weighs in at 3.9 ounces (website descriptions say 4.2 ounces).
The Handle: The Oso Sweet is 4-3/8" long when closed and is 7/16" thick without the pocket clip. It's constructed of nested 410-series stainless steel liners, one skeletonized, and black Zytel scales. The scales have a fish-scale pattern to them, and I like them. Torx (T-6) screws hold the handle together, while a T-8 screw acts as the blade pivot pin screw.
The pocket clip is stainless steel and is polished; it carries the Kershaw logo stamped in. It's positionable for tip up or tip down carry, right-handed only. Retention in the pocket is great, although tip-down rides lower than tip-up. The clip is held on with two T-6 screws.
Showing the butt end, including pocket clip placement, lanyard hole, and the bolts that the handle screws go into...
The back of the handle is a black Zytel backspacer, and it's not an open build. The backspacer is ridged nicely; however there is no jimping on the thumb ramp.
The Oso Sweet is a liner lock, and at first I thought mine was a defect; it just looked too bent.
After looking at all of the samples at my local knife store, I noticed they all look like this and it's normal. Lock-up is solid, with a nice steel blade stop pin in the back. The liner is jimped too, which helps. Unlocking the knife is easy due to the liner sticking out just far enough; this is what you call a nicely-executed linerlock.
In use, the Oso Sweet is very comfortable. It rides low enough in your hand that controlled cuts are easy.
Usually, this means a bulky knife. With the Oso Sweet, you get a smaller package with a full-size blade.
Continued below...
