****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This knife absolutely knocks it out of the park for $30-40. Kershaw has been on a bit of a roll lately, and this continues the trend. I honestly can't name a better flipperThe good:1. Fitment: It's extremely well-assembled. Lockup is extremely solid with no blade play in any direction. Blade was perfectly centered, and there's no rattle from the ball bearings.2. Action: Runs on the time-tested KVT bearings. Extremely smooth, no grittiness or hitch points out of the box. Lockbar is easy to access and is easily moved to close it. Just as smooth as any ball-bearing Zero Tolerance knife I've used.3. Ergonomics: Quite comfortable in the hand. I have large hands and it would be slightly more comfortable with a larger hump on the back for me, but I can still easily get a full grip. I might have to try out the Natrix XL next to see if that fits my hands better. The G10 feels very high quality for the price, and the carbon fiber provides a surprising amount of grip for being a smooth finish. It's extremely lightweight and thin, and the deep carry pocket clip works very well - it holds securely without being overly loose or tight.4. Design: Based on the ZT-0777, it's an extremely good-looking knife. The two-tone handle with CF is very fetching, and the gray blade finish suits it well. I love wharncliffe variant blade shapes like this - they look great and are extremely functional for everyday usage.5. Out of box sharpness: Good, as always for Kershaws in this price range. Not the sharpest knife in the world, but more than ready to start using right away.Neutral:1. Blade steel: It's 8Cr13MoV. Nothing wrong with this steel - it's cheap, corrosion-resistant, and easy to sharpen, but it won't hold an edge as long as modern powder or tool steels. Kershaw's heat treat and QC on their steel is better than any of their competitors at equivalent prices, but I would have gladly paid $20-30 extra to have the exact same knife with D2, S30V, or even 154CM. I hope they bring out blade steel variants on this KVT version of the standard Natrix in the future.The bad:1. Finish: While still very good for the money, it's not perfect. The grind lines on the blade are not perfectly symmetrical - the thick bit near the tip was about 1 mm further up on one side. While the blade spine and outside edges of the G10 handle are nicely chamfered, the inside edges are quite sharp if you dig in with your thumb while using the knife. This could easily be fixed by taking the knife apart and lightly sanding down the inside edges, and though they will likely wear in a bit over time.There were also a couple of dents/imperfections in the carbon fiber out of the box, and some small spots on the edges where the CF had obviously chipped during machining. Nothing that you would notice unless you really inspect it closely, but it's worth noting that it's not quite up to the standards of higher-priced options like a Zero Tolerance.All in all, an incredible value. It makes a great lightweight EDC, and it's cheap enough that you really don't have to worry about it getting dirty or damaged. The combination of its light weight, great flipping action, and low cost have had it in my pocket every day for the last few weeks, despite my collection including knives that cost more than 10x as much.
