Blade Show is right around the corner and the excitement is palpable. Companies are starting to tease or outright reveal the cool new stuff they’ll be bringing to Atlanta next month; Kershaw is the latest big name to do so with the 2024 Product Release #2, dropped just earlier today.
Launch 20
Kershaw has arrived at their 20th model in the Launch series, their line of US-made automatic knives, and to celebrate, they cooked up this EDC-spec’d single action user. The Launch 20’s modified wharnie blade runs to 3 inches and is made from MagnaCut steel, making this one an obviously capable user. The slim and trim handle is made from aluminum, mainly, albeit with marbled carbon fiber inserts on both front and back scales. These weight-saving materials give the Launch 20 an admirable low weight of just 2.3 oz.
Mini Iridium
This one is self-explanatory: a smaller version of the Iridium, just in time for that model’s first birthday. The Iridium introduced us to Kershaw’s Axislike DuraLock mechanism, and of course that has been carried forward on the Mini – in fact, other than the smaller dimensions and ice blue coloration, this one is the spitting image of its big brother. And “smaller” is a relative term, as the Mini Iridium’s D2 blade is a still very capable 3 inches long.
Steppe
Step this way and you’ll see Kershaw’s latest fixed blade offering, the Steppe. A compact, full-tang fixed blade, the Steppe’s 3.5-inch drop point is made, like the Mini Iridium’s blade, from D2. Evidently the cutout on the guard is designed to be a pinch point, where a user can move up for even more control over that already-nimble edge.
Craze
A compact DuraLock offering, the Craze is the latest “small knife with multifunctional capability” genre that Kershaw dips into from time to time; this one’s secondary feature is the spine side bottle opener. The 2.35-inch blade is made from 8Cr13MoV, and the scales are GFN; the pocket clip can be swapped to either side, too.
Cybernet
As befits the name, the Cybernet is the ‘techiest’ of this batch of releases. It’s the rare, manual OTF knife, with a blade that is deployed by moving the button slide forward in its groove – this also locks it into place when the knife is fully open. With a 2.4-inch D2 blade, the Cybernet is quite compact, and its wide pocket clip looks like it could be used as a money clip if you’d like.
Kitchen Knives
Here we see the first entries in a segment of the market completely new to Kershaw (although not to parent company KAI): kitchen cutlery. It’s a full suite of budget-oriented kitchen knife models, which can be purchased separately or as a set with a knife block included. You’ve got the usual suspects: an 8-inch Western chef’s knife, an 8-inch bread knife, a 6.5-inch santoku, a 6-inch utility knife, and a 3.5-inch paring knife. A set of steak knives are also being offered, although these have to be purchased separately and are not part of the knife block.
All of these models are available right now.
Knife in Featured Image: Kershaw Launch 20
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