A few guys asked for details about my every day carry (EDC) knife. It’s a basic Kershaw Compound but what makes it special is that my youngest daughter bought it for me as a birthday gift when we visited Smoky Mountain Knife Works a few years ago. It is trades off size and weight such that it fits great in my pocket. It uses their SpeedSafe assisted opening mechanism, which is fast, reliable and does not open in your pocket. I had a Gerber FAST years ago that I eventually gave away because the stupid thing would open in my pocket all the time. Kershaw’s design is simple and has never opened accidentally on me.
At any rate rate, the blade is 3.5″ long and I opted for a plain edge so it would be easy to maintain – I sharpen it both on my Spyderco SharpMaker and my Work Sharp Ken Onion sharpening system. I can’t even guess how many boxes I have opened, plastic containers I have cut open, etc. Despite being used an absolute ton, look how it has held up:
I figure the pretty good edge retention, strength and corrosion resistance can be attributed to the 8CR13MOV alloy they used. With the heavy use I touch the blade’s edge up maybe weekly or every other week – it’s more “as needed” than scheduled depending on how much I have used it and how it feels while cutting.
The handle is in great shape and the liner lock is just fine as well. It’s overall length when closed is 4-5/8″
In general, Kershaw is my favorite folding knife maker and am also a fan of their high-end Zero Tolerance folders (the parent company, KAI, owns both groups). You get a great blade at a great price from either brand – Kershaw or ZT, and I definitely like my Compound – not to mention my little girl bought it for me!
If you are interested in getting one, the bad news is that they have been discontinued but they are still available from a number of sellers on Amazon:
[amazonjs asin=”B004SGXARW” locale=”US” title=”Kershaw Compound Folding Lock Back Knife”]
Post Edit: This was back in 2014. I really liked the Compound but use a ZT 350 now as it has much better edge retention but I did have to explain the change to my daughter 🙂 I’ll write about the ZT 350 at some point.
