[First Impressions] Kershaw Barge

[Etherealicer]

Technical Data
From the Kershaw Website:

- Manual opening with thumbstud
- Frame lock
- Reversible pocketclip (left/right, tip-down)
- Steel: 8Cr13MoV, stonewashed finish
- Handle: Glass-filled nylon, steel back
- Blade length: 2.6 in. (6.6 cm)
- Closed length: 4.7 in. (11.9 cm)
- Open length: 7.3 in. (18.5 cm)
- Weight: 5.4 oz. (153.1 g)



Size comparison to a Soldier. You can see that it is not a huge knife and it has a comfortable thickness to be easy on your hands yet ride nice and flat in your pockets



Construction




Clip Probably the part I dislike the most, is the position of the clip. When on the backside it is in the way while using the knife. When on the front it is in the way when using the pry-end. I feel they should have put the clip on the other end and made it tip-up carry. Personally, this is a knife that will ride in a pack, not my pockets, so I will remove the clip altogether once I have carried it for a while.

Blade The blade is 3mm tick. I like the shape with and think it is a good working blade for slicing, cutting.




Prybar The prying wedge is firmly screwed into the frame and extends about 45mm into the steel frame. The frame seems solid, so it should hold up fine.
The tip is blunt enough to not wreck your pants. Personally, I feel the prybar is well suited for opening paint-cans and the like but a bit to thick for other jobs. However due to the small "lip" at the tip you can change the shape without having to grind off too much material.
That screwd in construction is actually quite neat and you could easily personalize it by designing your own prytool / small-hammer / nail-puller and 3D print it (although cost would probably be higher than the actual knife).

Who is it for? Anyone who uses his knife for prying, maybe even has broken off a blade-tip or two.



Conclusion
After carrying the knife for a few day (3 I think), I can say that I like this knife. Thanks to the fact that they added only a prybar, and not a dozend other functions, there is no compromize in using the knife, also the prybar should work well. Apart from the pocket clip it is quite comfortable in my medium-sized hands.
There are some imperfections, like you can see that the cut made for the frame-lock is not nicely cleaned. Usually, that would bother me a lot, but I feel that these short-cuts keep the cost down and for a knife like this I find that desirable. This is a knife you should abuse, use as a hammer and such.

PROS
- Price
- Solid construction
- No Compromize

CONS
- Pocket Clip on the wrong end of the knife. Unless you are a lefty, there is no good placement for the clip.
- Prybar could be formed better
- Thumbstuds

[zoidberg]

Interesting, I hadn't seen that one yet.