Kershaw Ken Onion Avalanche Pocket Knife Review
Those of you who have read my reviews may realize that I am a bit of a knife nut. Am. And this knife is one of the best users to come out of the Kershaw factory in recent years.
Another design from Hawaiian Custom Maker Ken Onion, 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 Black Titanium Coating
Handle – G-10
Blade – 3-1/8″
Closed – 4-1/2″
Weight: 4.5 ounces.
CPM-440V (now renamed CPM-S60V) was a hot steel at the time, and has now lost popularity to CPM-S30V, which was developed by Crucible Steel as a cutlery steel. It is the first steel manufactured 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 crinkle-textured G-10 handles that have phenomenal grip, but also grip your pants really hard when they snag, to the point that if you carry it daily for a month or two, you’ll have the ripped pockets! I know from experience, yes! I fixed it by sanding down the part of the G-10 handles that is under 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 the newer Kershaws have a “trigger” that sticks out of the back of the knife and is part of the blade…makes it easier to use the Speed Safe technology, however this knife, being more old, doesn’t have that, and thumb studs must be used.That’s unfortunate as This is a great simple design that could really benefit from the “trigger” newer knives like the Kershaw Bump are very expensive ($180 US +) and command a premium when new… while older knives like this Avalanche can be purchased for as little as $60 US.
The quality of the knife is excellent. There are a few blemishes, such as machining marks on the edges of the titanium liners, but the liner lock positively fits into the tang of the blade and the blade does not wobble.
Overall I would say this knife is excellent value for money and with a bit of sanding it can be made into a great everyday carry tool.