Presented by
Unlike its more premium sister brand Zero Tolerance, Kershaw typically trades in capable yet affordably priced knives and tools that offer solid performance and exceptional bang for your buck. And one of the Kai-owned company’s latest releases — the Kershaw Iridium — perfectly demonstrates its penchant for delivering value-laden built-to-last blades, as this built-to-last workhorse of an everyday carry folder features premium materials and a sub-$100 price tag.
The Kershaw Iridium is a full-sized folding knife that spans just under 8” overall (7.9” to be exact) while tipping the scales at a svelte 3.3oz. The knife is constructed around a 6061-T6 aluminum handle set with a gray-anodized finish and an ultra-sturdy and fully-ambidextrous DuraLock mechanism. Cloaking an inset steel liner setup, the aerospace-grade aluminum handle also features an integrated lanyard hole and a contrasting bronze-anodized aluminum backspacer adding a dash of color, as well as a reversible bead-blasted pressed steel deep-carry pocket clip. The entire thing is also pieced together using black-oxide-finished hardware throughout (aside from the pocket clip’s matching bead-blasted screws). At 4.5” closed, the knife is plenty pocketable and no doubt highly conducive to everyday carry, while its approximately 8” overall length gives it the size and utility needed to handle a wide variety of both EDC and outdoor tasks.
While the Iridium’s ultra-sturdy lockup and natural ergonomics are owed to its stellar handle design, the folder’s immense utility stem from its blade. Measuring 3.40” in length, the blade is forged in D2 high-carbon tool steel that clocks in at between 59 and 60 HRC on the Rockwell hardness scale. Equipped with jimping at the base of its spine in order to bolster grip for both fine-use and hard-cutting tasks, the blade also of this workhorse sports a 0.107-inch thickness and a utilitarian and versatile drop-point profile. Using a dual thumb-stud setup — or the DuraLock mechanism and a flick of the wrist — the blade’s deployment is as impressive as its lockup, with a buttery-smooth action afforded via the folder’s manual KVT ball bearing pivot. The entire knife also comes backed by a generous lifetime warranty, quite literally guaranteeing a lifetime of use.
The Kershaw Iridium is available now, with pricing set at just $80. The Iridium is also offered in a fully-blacked-out version, as well as in a variant with a reverse tanto blade.
