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 Custom Maker Ken Onion of 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 Black Titanium Coating

Handle – G-10

Blade – 3-1/8″

Closed – 4-1/2″

Weight: 4.5 oz.

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 rough-textured G-10 handles that have a phenomenal grip, but also grip very tightly to pants when snagged, to the point that if you wear it daily for a month or two, you’ll have the ripped pockets! I know from experience, yes! I fixed this by sanding down the part of the G-10 lugs 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″. newer Kershaws have a “trigger” which protrudes from the back of the knife and is part of the blade…provides for easier use of the Speed ​​Safe technology.However, this knife, being more old one doesn’t have that, and you have to use the thumb studs That’s unfortunate as This is a great simple design that could benefit a lot from the “trigger” Newer knives like the Kershaw Bump are very expensive ($180 US +) and command a premium when new…whereas older knives like this Avalanche can be had for as little as $60 US.

The quality of the knife is excellent. There are some blemishes, such as machining marks on the edges of the titanium liners, but the liner lock positively fits the blade tang 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.