Note: If you have not yet entered our 100 Knives in 100 Days giveaway (here) please do so. All you have to do is register for the site and leave a comment on the 100 Knives post.
When we went soliciting donations from the various production companies and custom makers we offered them the following deal: Send us some knives to help with our website launch promotion, and we will run a spotlight post on each one. We gave away a Condor Kephart on Day 1, but since we have 12 of them to give away, I will run a feature piece on that knife at a later date.
Today I want to focus on the Kershaw Concierge, which we gave away on Sunday, Day 2 of our contest. It is designed by Dmitry Sinkevich, one of the hottest designers of today.
Kershaw describes the Concierge thusly:
Like its namesake, known for discreetly and efficiently taking care of tasks for hotel guests, the new Kershaw Concierge will take care of all your pocketknife needs—discreetly and efficiently.
Designed by Dmitry Sinkevich, the Concierge has a clean, refined look. The modified drop-point blade of 8Cr13MoV opens with a flipper and Kershaw’s manual KVT ball-bearing system, providing fast and easy one-handed opening. A custom pivot adds interest without detracting from the knife’s clean lines.
Yet it’s the handle that really takes this exciting knife out of the ordinary. Built of machined G10, it offers a substantial grip and fills even larger hands comfortably. Yet thanks to the crowned finish on the G10 scales, the Concierge still feels slim enough to be an easy everyday carry. For secure grip, we added a black, glass-filled nylon backspacer with raised jimping.
Turn the knife over and you’ll see Dmitry’s unique inset pocketclip. The custom clip rests in a machined-out hollow in the handle—so that it’s flush with the handle scale. This pocketclip treatment also contributes to the knife’s slimmer feel and easy carry. The blade, liners, and hardware are titanium carbo-nitride coated for a sophisticated look—and is just one more reason why the Concierge will be at home no matter where your tasks may take you.
You can see what they mean by the recessed pocket clip. There is just enough lift on the tip to catch the pocket edge and efficiently stow the knife. Any less, and it would not clip well, but I can appreciate the slim and out of the way nature of the clip when gripping the knife.
Which leads me to my own…
Personal Observations:
I can’t do a formal review since I don’t want to scratch the winner’s new knife, but I was able to play with the Concierge some.
I like it. It has a great ergonomics for my medium sized paw. The scales are rounded and fill the hand, with just a little pommel protrusion past my pinkie finger. The geometry looks good and the blade feels sharp.
The construction seems like what one would expect from Kershaw, reasonably solid, good centering, negligible blade-play, and the manual flipping action I found to be very crisp. The outside review said he encountered some lock-stick issues, though I did not. The detent is fairly firm however.
Outside Review:
Turns out Blade Reviews has covered the Concierge. We frequently include their reviews on the Neverending Newsfeed because I know the professionalism of a couple of their writers and nothing I have read from them has clashed with my own observations. They are a solid, reputable review site. Writer Josh Wussow seems to think it is a solid effort, but a few minor details like the sticky lock make it his second choice to the Kershaw Atmos, which is another recent release.
Stats (as reported by Kershaw):
- KVT ball-bearing opening
- Flipper
- Liner lock
- Single-position recessed pocketclip (right, tip-up)
- Lanyard hole
- Steel: 8Cr13MoV, titanium carbo-nitride coating
- Handle: G10
- Blade Length: 3.25 in. (8.3 cm)
- Closed Length: 4.25 in. (10.8 cm)
- Overall Length: 7.25 in. (18.4 cm)
- Weight: 4Â oz. (113.4 g)
We would like to thank KAI (parent company of Kershaw, Zero Tolerance, and Shun) for contributing to our giveaway. On a personal note, I have heard nothing but great things about Kershaw customer service, and my experience has confirmed this as well on two separate occasions. Thought I would toss that out there. They deserve the kudos on that as well.