The first person to point out the Kershaw Faultline told me she’s irrationally in love with the knife. I took one look and agree completely. But is it really an irrational love? Or is it just a great design?
Cons
- No major drawbacks, though the design is good enough that you can make an argument to move up in material quality and price
The Bottom Line
It’s hard to find much fault with the Kershaw Faultline given its price point and utilitarian design. You can certainly make the argument for better material choices, but you won’t find them in a $25 knife.
Blade Design
The Kershaw Faultline starts with the brand’s popular 8Cr13MoV blade steel. It’s a good balance of sharpening ease that takes a fine edge. Its biggest drawback is that it won’t hold an edge terribly long, but that’s offset by a price that’s easy on your wallet.
The blade takes on a long clip point across the top that adds a decent piercing tip to go along with its broad slicing belly. A combination of two jimping styles covers the majority of the blade’s top, giving you some extra grip security when you shift your thumb forward on the blade.
Finally, Kershaw gives the blade a black oxide coating that offers a tactical look with some improvement in corrosion resistance.
Handle Design
A glass-filled nylon handle takes on an olive drab color that balances well with the blade finish. It gets a rubber overmold that’s soft enough to feel good in your hand and aid in securing your grip.
Inside, a liner lock slides over well into the blade base where there’s no chance of failure. Okay, so our legal department doesn’t like me saying “no chance of failure,” but it’s a more solid lock than some of the knives that have come through our office.
Considering the handle on its own, I’d really like it to extend out another inch. But the combination of blade and handle is so perfectly balanced on this design that I don’t want to mess with the knife’s characteristics as a whole.
Deployment
The Kershaw Faultline takes advantage of the KVT ball bearing system and a finger flipper. It’s not as fast as a spring assist, but it’s very quick and smooth. I prefer the finger flipper over thumb studs on most of my knives, but it’s more critical to me on a bearing knife like this one.
Clip
The deep carry clip has just one position – right side, tip up. That makes deployment easy for us righties, but might be an obstacle for you Southpaws.
Despite the relatively small size, the clip is stronger than it looks. It’s so strong that I had a hard time clipping it to my pocket until I gave it a slight bend out.
Price and Value
With a $39.99 MSRP and online prices running just over $25, this might be one of the best values running around. There are other options with similar material selections, it’s just that the Kershaw Faultline is such an all-around functional design that it’s at home in a variety of settings.
The Bottom Line
It’s hard to find much fault with the Kershaw Faultline given its price point and utilitarian design. You can certainly make the argument for better material choices, but you won’t find them in a $25 knife.
Kershaw Faultline Folding Knife Specifications
- Model: Kershaw 8760
- Blade Length: 3″
- Open Length: 7″
- Closed Length: 4″
- Balde Material: 8Cr13MoV with black oxide coating
- Handle Material: Glass-filled nylon with rubber overmold
- Deployment Mechanism: KVT ball bearing with flipper
- Carry Positions: Right side, tip up only
- Weight: 3.4 oz.
- MSRP: $39.99
- Online Price: $25.40 (Amazon)
