Kershaw Select Fire folding knife/multitool
Dec 13, 2015 6:58:09 GMT
Post by Afoo on Dec 13, 2015 6:58:09 GMT
Hello. I usually live in the swords and sabres section. I am not a huge power user of knives, and do not have much experience reviewing them.
That said, I do work in a lab, and having an EDC folder around can be quite convenient. For the past 5 months, I have been using a Kershaw Select Fire as my standard EDC out and about, and I was suitably impressed enough to do a review.
Overview
The Select Fire is what I would call a large compact folder. At 10.5cm (4.1 inches) folded, its discrete enough to use as an EDC, but there is no way you will forget its there. It weighs 141g (~5 Oz), which gives it a nice meaty feel. It has a standard linear lock design with no assist. Its chief selling feature (to me) was that it managed to incorporate a screwdriver within the frame. I know that multi-tools have been around for a long time, but this was the first one I had seen which still preserves the overall form of a folding knife.
I paid $40 Cdn for the knife, which works out to around $30 USD, so its in the entry-level range. Again, I am not a serious power user, so I have no need of fancy high-end stuff. Most of my previous experiences with folding knives were in the $15-20 range, so keep that in mind when reading ahead. That said, the Kershaw delivered beyond its weight. as we will see in a moment.
The Blade
The blade itself is, in my opinion, better than I would have expected. Its made from 8cr13mov stainless steel which, from what I can tell, is a decent stainless steel for sword blades, being similar to Aus-8. The design is a clean and basic drop point with only a few bevels to break up the lines. The blade did not arrive paper-cutting sharp, but it was close. The angle of the edge is a bit shallow compared to what I am used to, though the secondary bevel is very discrete. All in all, a very vanilla blade
Where it does stand out is in terms of durability. I do not exactly abuse the knife, but I don't take much care of it either. While it spend most of its days eating cardboard, the blade has been known to go up against wood and metal. It has also been dropped numerous times onto wood and concrete. I have even committed the unspeakable sin of using it as a pry bar. As a result, the edge does have a few nicks, but has generally held up very well, and the blade remains reasonably sharp despite the lack of touching-up. The blade has also been subjected to some rather unusual stresses such as being immersed in various chemical baths, splashed with acid, set on fire, burried in dry ice, and generally going places where I would rather not stick my actual meat hand. Asides from a few small rust spots, its still all there. Big thumbs up.
On the negative side, there is no gimping on the spine of the blade to give extra traction. However, the traction form the grip more than compensates in my opinion. Also, while I like the plain blade, I know some people prefer serrated edges, or perhaps a tanto blade. If you are one of them, too bad, since the Select Fire only comes with the standard drop point
Locking Mechanism
As mentioned before, this is a standard linear-lock blade. The action is smooth, and you can open it with the force of your thumb alone without having to flick your wrist. The main pivot screw for the blade is very secure - there is no play in the blade, and I have not had to tighten it at all. This is in contrast to my old Smith and Wesson knives, which seemed to loosen up almost every week. There are thumb studs on both sides of the blade, making it lefty-friendly.
The linear lock looks to me to be a bit on the thin side. Additionally, if you do not use enough force to open the blade, the locking mechanism will engage, but only half of the locking surface will actually engage with the blade. Not sure if that is just a manufacturing defect, or if it is an issue inherent to the product design itself. That said, it feels secure - there is no play, and using all my (limited) might I could not get the lock to fail, though people who put it to harder use than mej
The handle
The handle is one of the smartest designs I have seen on a blade. In general, it is well contoured to the hand, and even swells outwards slightly to fit into your palm. Additionally, it has three cut-outs (two near the blade, one near the back) into which your fingers naturally position themselves. The fact that you have so many cut-outs lets you adopt variety of different grips, and gives you great traction. You get the sense that someone really put a lot of thought into designing and sculpting the grips, rather than just slapping it together. The textured ridges also aid in traction and control.
The belt clip is a bit on the small side, and I do struggle sometimes to get it clipped in. Once its there though, it is very secure and can be deployed quite easily. A set of pre-drilled holes allows you to easily move the belt clip to the other side of the frame, depending on your preference. Again, small details, but smart.
The tools!
While everything so far has been pretty good, the main selling point of this knife is its multi-tool capability, though "multi-tool" is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, technically it has a small ruler and a bottle opener, but the main player here is the screwdriver. The screwdriver folds out of the back, and the bits fold out of the handle. I am a huge fan of this design; its very slim and easy to carry, but yet everything is within easy access. The driver attachment locks at 0, 90 and 180 degrees, and is very secure in all positions, while the holders for the driver bits are spring loaded to automatically retract, reducing the risk of loosing things. The knife comes with two flatheads and two phillips bits (two on either side), but both the holder and the driver will accept standard bits from your toolbox, making it very easy to customize your load out depending on what screw heads you encounter regularly. As with the blade, there is very little play in the whole system, and the bit holder is well integrated in the handle and does not interfere with normal function.
I actually use the screwdriver attachment on a regular basis, since one of my experiments requires I adjust a bunch of screws. It does the job well enough. Its not as comfortable as a regular full-sized screwdriver, but its really not bad, especially given how convenient it is.
The screwdriver attachment is solid enough that you could even use it as an extension of the grip when fully deployed, in case you need some extra reach of have to poke around in tight places. It may look silly, but it works.
Durability
Most of my previous EDC folders have been cheap Smith and Wesson blades. Those needed a lot of maintenance - the screws for the blade and the belt clip would come loose on a regular basis. The blade pivot would degrade after a year and would start grinding and scratching, etc. This on the other hand has had no issues. Everything is silky smooth, and there is no play in any of the components. As I said before, this is regularly dropped, soaked, subject to extreme temperatures, and generally treated in manner befitting an absent minded scientist...all without a single complaint.
Value
This knife is more expensive than my previous EDC's, but at $30 USD its still well within the entry level. Given what you pay and what you get, I would say its good value for money.
Pros:
- Good built quality
- Inclusion of screwdriver functionality without adding extra bulk
- Ease of use for said screwdriver (its an actual tool, not a gimmick)
- Accepts standard-sized screwdriver bits
- Ergonomics (also ambidexterity)
- General value for money
Cons:
- Lock-up could be more secure
- Blade did not come paper-cutting sharp
- Belt clip small, hard to secure to belt
- Lack of gimping on blade
- Lack of options for serrated blade, tanto-style blades
- The name. Select Fire? What kind of name is that?
That said, I do work in a lab, and having an EDC folder around can be quite convenient. For the past 5 months, I have been using a Kershaw Select Fire as my standard EDC out and about, and I was suitably impressed enough to do a review.
Overview
The Select Fire is what I would call a large compact folder. At 10.5cm (4.1 inches) folded, its discrete enough to use as an EDC, but there is no way you will forget its there. It weighs 141g (~5 Oz), which gives it a nice meaty feel. It has a standard linear lock design with no assist. Its chief selling feature (to me) was that it managed to incorporate a screwdriver within the frame. I know that multi-tools have been around for a long time, but this was the first one I had seen which still preserves the overall form of a folding knife.
I paid $40 Cdn for the knife, which works out to around $30 USD, so its in the entry-level range. Again, I am not a serious power user, so I have no need of fancy high-end stuff. Most of my previous experiences with folding knives were in the $15-20 range, so keep that in mind when reading ahead. That said, the Kershaw delivered beyond its weight. as we will see in a moment.
The Blade
The blade itself is, in my opinion, better than I would have expected. Its made from 8cr13mov stainless steel which, from what I can tell, is a decent stainless steel for sword blades, being similar to Aus-8. The design is a clean and basic drop point with only a few bevels to break up the lines. The blade did not arrive paper-cutting sharp, but it was close. The angle of the edge is a bit shallow compared to what I am used to, though the secondary bevel is very discrete. All in all, a very vanilla blade
Where it does stand out is in terms of durability. I do not exactly abuse the knife, but I don't take much care of it either. While it spend most of its days eating cardboard, the blade has been known to go up against wood and metal. It has also been dropped numerous times onto wood and concrete. I have even committed the unspeakable sin of using it as a pry bar. As a result, the edge does have a few nicks, but has generally held up very well, and the blade remains reasonably sharp despite the lack of touching-up. The blade has also been subjected to some rather unusual stresses such as being immersed in various chemical baths, splashed with acid, set on fire, burried in dry ice, and generally going places where I would rather not stick my actual meat hand. Asides from a few small rust spots, its still all there. Big thumbs up.
On the negative side, there is no gimping on the spine of the blade to give extra traction. However, the traction form the grip more than compensates in my opinion. Also, while I like the plain blade, I know some people prefer serrated edges, or perhaps a tanto blade. If you are one of them, too bad, since the Select Fire only comes with the standard drop point
Locking Mechanism
As mentioned before, this is a standard linear-lock blade. The action is smooth, and you can open it with the force of your thumb alone without having to flick your wrist. The main pivot screw for the blade is very secure - there is no play in the blade, and I have not had to tighten it at all. This is in contrast to my old Smith and Wesson knives, which seemed to loosen up almost every week. There are thumb studs on both sides of the blade, making it lefty-friendly.
The linear lock looks to me to be a bit on the thin side. Additionally, if you do not use enough force to open the blade, the locking mechanism will engage, but only half of the locking surface will actually engage with the blade. Not sure if that is just a manufacturing defect, or if it is an issue inherent to the product design itself. That said, it feels secure - there is no play, and using all my (limited) might I could not get the lock to fail, though people who put it to harder use than mej
The handle
The handle is one of the smartest designs I have seen on a blade. In general, it is well contoured to the hand, and even swells outwards slightly to fit into your palm. Additionally, it has three cut-outs (two near the blade, one near the back) into which your fingers naturally position themselves. The fact that you have so many cut-outs lets you adopt variety of different grips, and gives you great traction. You get the sense that someone really put a lot of thought into designing and sculpting the grips, rather than just slapping it together. The textured ridges also aid in traction and control.
The belt clip is a bit on the small side, and I do struggle sometimes to get it clipped in. Once its there though, it is very secure and can be deployed quite easily. A set of pre-drilled holes allows you to easily move the belt clip to the other side of the frame, depending on your preference. Again, small details, but smart.
The tools!
While everything so far has been pretty good, the main selling point of this knife is its multi-tool capability, though "multi-tool" is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, technically it has a small ruler and a bottle opener, but the main player here is the screwdriver. The screwdriver folds out of the back, and the bits fold out of the handle. I am a huge fan of this design; its very slim and easy to carry, but yet everything is within easy access. The driver attachment locks at 0, 90 and 180 degrees, and is very secure in all positions, while the holders for the driver bits are spring loaded to automatically retract, reducing the risk of loosing things. The knife comes with two flatheads and two phillips bits (two on either side), but both the holder and the driver will accept standard bits from your toolbox, making it very easy to customize your load out depending on what screw heads you encounter regularly. As with the blade, there is very little play in the whole system, and the bit holder is well integrated in the handle and does not interfere with normal function.
I actually use the screwdriver attachment on a regular basis, since one of my experiments requires I adjust a bunch of screws. It does the job well enough. Its not as comfortable as a regular full-sized screwdriver, but its really not bad, especially given how convenient it is.
The screwdriver attachment is solid enough that you could even use it as an extension of the grip when fully deployed, in case you need some extra reach of have to poke around in tight places. It may look silly, but it works.
Durability
Most of my previous EDC folders have been cheap Smith and Wesson blades. Those needed a lot of maintenance - the screws for the blade and the belt clip would come loose on a regular basis. The blade pivot would degrade after a year and would start grinding and scratching, etc. This on the other hand has had no issues. Everything is silky smooth, and there is no play in any of the components. As I said before, this is regularly dropped, soaked, subject to extreme temperatures, and generally treated in manner befitting an absent minded scientist...all without a single complaint.
Value
This knife is more expensive than my previous EDC's, but at $30 USD its still well within the entry level. Given what you pay and what you get, I would say its good value for money.
Pros:
- Good built quality
- Inclusion of screwdriver functionality without adding extra bulk
- Ease of use for said screwdriver (its an actual tool, not a gimmick)
- Accepts standard-sized screwdriver bits
- Ergonomics (also ambidexterity)
- General value for money
Cons:
- Lock-up could be more secure
- Blade did not come paper-cutting sharp
- Belt clip small, hard to secure to belt
- Lack of gimping on blade
- Lack of options for serrated blade, tanto-style blades
- The name. Select Fire? What kind of name is that?