Kershaw shaw shaw shaw...

Flip Flip Away! Thats what I love about this knife.

I had searched for a knife for my Appalachian Trail hike, and did some searching and went into my local outdoors store to see what they had thought. The sales associate pointed out a few knives, but the Kershaw RAM stuck out.

I was very cautious when picking out my knife. In my mind, it was the single tool that I would rely on if I had gotten caught by a rope dangling upside down by my foot on the side of a mountain. I think the most intense thing I did with it was cut a chewy steak in a hostel, but needless to say I still enjoyed picking it.

What stood out most to me about the knife are: the lock, the finger flip, and the steel. The lock is called a "Hawk-Lock" and is on the side of the knife rather than where the blade folds. It made it easy to close with gloves on and numb fingers.

The second reason I liked it was because it opened in a flash. You pull the flipper towards you and out comes the knife. Its not spring loaded, so technically legal here in NYC, but it made for a smooth quick open if I ever needed it in a jiffy.

Lastly, in terms of construction, the steel makes a difference. It has folded steel so that some layers are softer than others, allowing for easy sharpening, but a resilient edge.

Besides looking awesome, the half serration allows for easy cutting of rope and anything else that needs a little love to get through. It's been a habit of mine to carry my Kershaw on me all the time, and I've never left home without it in the past two years I've had it. Plus... it's a badass looking knife.

- Ian