Those of you who have read my reviews may realize that I am a bit crazy. I am. And this knife is one of the best users to come out of the Kershaw factory in recent years.
Another Custom Maker Ken Onion design from Hawaii, this is the Avalanche and it was released around the same time as the Boa. The general pattern of this knife is similar to that of the Blackout and Whirlwind knives, which are lower-end models with cheaper materials and steel.
Statistics:
Steel blade: CPM-440V with black titanium coating
Handle – G-10
Sheet: 3-1 / 8 ”
Closed – 4-1 / 2 ”
Weight – 4.5 oz.
The CPM-440V (now renamed CPM-S60V) was a hot steel at the time, and has now lost popularity to the CPM-S30V, which was developed by Crucible Steel as a cutlery steel. It is the first steel made exclusively for cutlery. CPM440V is still a wonderful steel and has a very high level of wear resistance, but it takes forever to sharpen and with a manual sharpener that means tight fingers if you wait too long between sessions.
The Avalanche features rough textured G-10 handles that have phenomenal grip, but also stick very tightly to your pants when buckled, to the point that if worn daily for a month or 2, you will have shattered pockets. ! I know from experience, yes! I solved this by sanding the part of the G-10 handles that is below the pocket clip area.
This knife, like most Kershaw and Ken Onion these days, also has the Speed Safe assisted opening mechanism, which fires the blade automatically once you open it about 1/8 “. Most newer Kershaws They have a “trigger” that protrudes from the back of the knife and is part of the blade. It facilitates the use of Speed Safe technology. However, this knife, being older, does not have that, and is they must use the thumb tips. That’s unfortunate as This is such a simple design that it could benefit a lot from the “trigger.” New knives like the Kershaw Bump are very expensive ($ 180US +) and demand a premium when new. .. while older knives like this Avalanche can be purchased for only $ 60US.
The quality of the knife is excellent. There are some imperfections such as machining marks on the edges of the titanium liners, but the liner lock fits positively on the tang of the blade and there is no wobble of the blade.
Overall, I would say this knife is excellent value for money, and with a little sanding it can become a great everyday carry tool.
