KERSHAW NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CARABINER Knife TOOL 1004X

[AJ]

Here is the link to the factory site.

http://www.kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=365

I don't have any photos to post of it because I only had the thing for about 20 minutes.


We were two hours away from home today doing some shopping.
I had looked at getting one of these many times. The sportsmans warehouse in Sioux Falls South Dakota is the only place I have seen them for sale other then online.

They have a display one that I play with everytime I am there. It's a demo that is tied to a cable and has a "not sharp" blade in it.

Playing with the demo it seemed very well built. On the weekends I alway's have a carabiner on my belt with the car key's and what ever else on it. I don't like to carry keys in my pocket and a carabiner works great for me.

So decide today is the day to get one. Being in a retail store I knew the price would be higher then if I got it online, but I was there and it was there and I wanted it NOW.

Paid almost $40 with the tax and headed back out to the car with it.
I drove over to another store that my wife was shopping at and and got it out of the package to play with while I waited for her.

It was nothing like the display one. The spring loaded part was very week. Half the screw heads that held it together were stripped out. It had a much lighter feel to it then the demo one did.

Right away I was ver disappointed with it.

My old $1.99 carabiner that I have had for about 3 years now hand a much stronger spring and snap to the part that moves then the Kershaw one.

I will say that the knive was razor sharp and I could shave the hair on my arm with it. The blade was also very smooth to open.

Any little flick of the carabiner would open up the blade. It seem as if it would open way to easy and was not something I wanted to have clipped to my pants.

I could see it opening and cutting my leg or something else.

So after the wife come out of the store I went back to return it.

They were really good about returning it. I have bought many things from the sportsman warehouse, but that is the first time I ever returned anything.

One other little thing was the back of the package said USA and when I got it out and seen the other side of the blade it said china, lol...

Not that big of a deal, if it would have been better made I would not have carred were it was made.
Being it just over all sucked seeing china on the blade after I was thinking it was made in the USA made it suck even more.

Not much of a first review, but just wanted to share....

Even if I seen one for $5 and free shipping on ebay I would not buy one because of the safty problems.

Will see if I can include photos and more detail on the other little toy I bought for my second review.

[Spoonrobot]

One other little thing was the back of the package said USA and when I got it out and seen the other side of the blade it said china, lol...

How odd. Kershaw is a really good company who has an excellent presence over at Bladeforums. I find it odd behavior that they would not label where their products are made, especially since the country of origin of their knives carried by Wal-mart are clearly identified on the box.

It is also odd that the blade is spec'd as AUS6 but almost every Chinese knife I have seen from a major manufacturer outsourcing has a Chinese-specific metal code (e.g. 8Cr14MoV, 3cr13).

I have been looking hard at this tool and assumed it was made in the US or Japan based on the steel but may drop it from my list if it is a Chinese tool. 40$ is too much if thats the case.

It may be entirely possible that you got a switched out tool. That is, someone took out the Kershaw and returned a poorer quality clone instead. Do you remember what the sample tool was stamped? From the differing impressions of the two tools it really sounds like you got scammed by another shoppers switched out return item.

I posted a question in the Kershaw forum over at Bladeforums, I am intrigued.

[AJ]

The demo one just had on the blade "Not Sharp" or something like that. The blade on the demo just had a flat square edge on it.

I had to cut the package open on the one I bought as it was in a clam shell type thing.

Is Kershaw located in the US?
I can't say it really said made in USA anyplace. I just remember seeing a USA address on the back of the package and the back side of the blade said china. It did not say Made in China or anything other then the word China on it.

Maybe I just got a bad one or something.

It was just one of them day's. No one had the SOG's I was looking for and the one thing I did buy and put in my pocket so the wife would not see it set the store alarms off as we left, lol...

So I had to take it out of my pocket to show the nice lady at the door what I had and that is was paid for, all in front of my wife.   

[J-sews]

It was just one of them day's. No one had the SOG's I was looking for and the one thing I did buy and put in my pocket so the wife would not see it set the store alarms off as we left, lol...

So I had to take it out of my pocket to show the nice lady at the door what I had and that is was paid for, all in front of my wife.   

Oh man, that is just too funny! No offense, I'm laughing more out of sympathy than anything else. I've had WAY too many of those days myself lately! 

I don't have a Kershaw Carabiner knife, but I know that at least two other MTorg members own one. Hopefully they will jump in here with their opinions soon.

[Spoonrobot]

Here's the response from Kershaw's forum:

The 1004 is made in China, although it was initially produced in Japan.

I thought this may also be the case as I am pretty sure they were Japanese when I first saw them several years ago. You may be able to ask around at online dealers or some eBay sellers and see if the old stock in still there. I suspect a Japanese model may be superior to the Chinese model.

I am somewhat suprised to hear this as Kershaw has been trying to make less and less tools overseas and is always trying to bring production back to the states.

From what I understand Kershaw is based near Portlan, Oregon and has a very long history of knife production dating from the early 1900's. Over the years they have changed location and name several times but Kershaw proper opened at it's the Oregon location in 1974.

[parnass]

I saw the carabiner tool at an REI store last year, but I don't know if REI still sells them.

The word "China" on a knife or tool is akin to a "Stop" sign for me.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Stuff made in China isn't all bad, but we do get to see the dregs.  The thing is, Chinese manufacturers will make anything that people are willing to pay for, and many US marketers are driven by bottom lines.  They can make much more by selling a 50 cent knife with a 30 cent logo for $25-35 than they can if they sold a $20 for $40.  That's why China gets the credit for all the crap out there- there's no such thing as a 50 cent tool in the US, and the cheap stuff is being bought up by the thousands.  Why?  Because it's selling by the thousands to cheap people that want multitools, SAKs etc for as little money as possible.

Kershaw is a US company that is wholly owned by Kai Cutlery of Japan. 

Def

[I'm Still Bison]

 I hope Dakota's example was just a fluke. I'd looked at the carabiner tool for some time,as something I could carry inconspicously when I hike.

In time,I'm sure the Chinese will get a handle on QC,and marketing,especially when they start doing their own market analyses.There was a time when Europeans looked down on American made goods,followed by Westerners looking down on Japaneseand Taiwanese made goods.The cycle goes on,the wheel keeeps turning.

[CQC-7]

I have a Caribiner tool.  I will have to say that it is not of the utmost quality.  I do like it though.  It does not raise eyebrows when carried on the belt loop with keys hanging from it.  With the caribiner locked it makes a good set of brass knuckles.   

[AJ]

I have a Caribiner tool.  I will have to say that it is not of the utmost quality.  I do like it though.  It does not raise eyebrows when carried on the belt loop with keys hanging from it.  With the caribiner locked it makes a good set of brass knuckles.   

Does yours say china on it too?