Kershaw 1550 Blackout Folding Knife with SpeedSafe

REPEAT CUSTOMER!! That there should about sum up this review.My husband owned this knife for years! Wore it on his pocket and used it multiple times every single day.Other than sharpening the knife, it was maintenance free!! Until he left it on the hood of his car one day to never be found again. After about 2-3 days he HAD to buy another one!!Why does my hubby love it?The spring always worked.Very strong and quality knife.A brand you can't go wrong with.Pocket clip strong and holds well without being too strong and damaging your clothing.Liner lock to prevent knife from closing accidentallyMade in the USAHight qualityBlade is stainless steelHandle is glass infused nylon. NEVER broke, cracked or scratched!Blade Length: 3 1/4-Inch, Closed Length: 4 1/2-Inch, Overall Length: 7 3/4-Inch, Weight: 3.5-Ounce

I really like my Blur but the ultrasharp thumb studs makes it a literal pain to carry if I'm not careful when I need to reach into my pocket, not to mention the pocket clip is very tight. I started looking for a new EDC after it cut my palm a second time.I found the Blackout to be the perfect blend of lightweight, good blade steel, and having an assisted deployment mechanism for EDC.Priced just right so you won't hate yourself if you loose it (or if someone steals it). Handle is comfortable and grippy. Blade is made from a high quality steel. The pocket clip is a bit on the large side but it holds securely without being too stiff. The SpeedSafe mechanism is great; it's very easy to open one-handed.In a lot of ways, the Blackout reminds me of my SOG Flash II, which was also a great EDC knife, with it's light weight and slightly thick but grippy GRP handle.

I have had several of the Kershaw 1550 folding knives with speed assist blade deployment. Super smooth and intuitive in action and use. Good steel on these blades. Take a beating and easily bring the blades back to shaving sharo with dry little effort. The particular handle on this Blur was not my favorite. Simply to hard of material and handle was rough on hands due to edges that needed to be more refined and finished. The SV30 blade/version of this knife is one of my all time favorites. Super edge qualities. Unfortunately I have had two and lost both of them. Not due to faulty clip or fault of knife design rather due to simply misplacing it after using it for some job that calls for the 1550 to solve all problems one could encounter.

This knife is similar to many other Kershaws with speedsafe. The flip action on the speedsafe feels much more powerful on this knife, primarily because of how light weight the knife is. It's almost the same size as a Blur. The handle is a little over sized IMO...they could have trimmed it down a bit to make it not quite so bulky in your pocket. There is no flipper on the back side of the blade...only a thumb stud. I am attaching a pic of this knife with a Blur and Leek for comparison.

One of my favorite edc knives. Very sharp out of the box, and holds an edge throughout the day fairly well. Took a little bit of time to get used to the opening mechanism on the blackout, since I was used to a flipper design from my Kershaw leek/CRKT....but once I got the hang of it the knife seems to be my overall favorite. I think the reason I like this knife the most is due to its thickness, which many tend to not like in a edc knife. But I feel it adds to its "grip ability", letting me grab the knife, open it, and use it with a firm grip. A lot of knives im finding are to slim to grasp securly (at least for me), which tends to lead me not wanting to take them out or use them as often. The blackout has a fast and smooth opening mechanism with a strong lock, and the more and more I use it the more and more I'm​ falling in love with it!

Amazing is the best way to describe this knife. The steel used to make the blade is capable of obtaining and retaining a razor sharp edge. When mine starts to dull a little, I run it through a crock stick sharpened about 5 times on both the coarse and fine sides, and it's back to the ultra sharp edge I got right out of the box.The spring lever assist is my absolute favorite version of all opening techniques. I've owned some CRKT knives (the M16 is my favorite) that have teflon bearings, and those work great; I've owned the other version of Kershaw knives with the button on the back; this thumbstud spring lever assist is the safest, fastest, and easiest of all of them.I carry this knife every day, never leave home without it, and have used it almost every single day with no complaints. The handle's texture helps me keep a good grip, even when my hands are covered in blood, guts, or fish slime. The black powder coat (if it's powder coat), keeps the blade from oxidizing.This is the second one of these knives I've owned. The first one has the serrated edge. I prefer the straight edge, and recommend it as well. I'll buy another one of these if I lose this one.Oh, and Kershaw offers free sharpening for the life of the knife, which is amazing as well!