Kershaw Leek, BlackWash Pocket Knife (1660BLKW); 3 Sandvik 14C28N Steel Blade, 410 Stainless Steel Handle, BlackWash Finish, SpeedSafe Assisted Open, Frame and Tip Locks, Reversible Pocketclip; 3 OZ

The good: It's almost all good honestly. Let me start by saying Kershaw is a household brand to me. I love these little knives. They are hands down the best folding knives I've ever used. Incredibly solid feeling, extremely easily serviceable to the user, incredibly simple and easy to use and handle. Fits incredibly well in the hand, even with big hands, and they always come sharper than most knives I have ever owned. The tip of the blade is the finest useable point in my opinion possible, but this is not a pry bar kind of blade like a cheap walmart tool.The bad: I should just say "the disappointing" really, because the blade is perfect, functionally. The bad is that the advertisement makes it look like it has an almost orange/bronze bright outline to the graphic on the blade which, to me, was a big unique aesthetic to a blade I would have honestly just bought the most standard brushed finish possible to be practical. I pulled the trigger on this fancier looking design and it honestly just looks like a stain on the blade. It is not as flashy or contrasted as the images in the ad look, so I included pictures of the real thing in my review.Don't get me wrong, I love this knife and I won't be returning it unless something cracks or breaks on it. I just would have purchased a "less pretty" color choice if I knew the pretty color choice was such a let down! Still gets 5 stars from me though, the look isn't enough to make me dislike it.

This is a great knife! After using it for a couple months now, I understand why it was so much more than the standard Leek. If I was using the standard Leek with the stainless steel blade, I definitely would have had to sharpen it by know. My knife is still very sharp and has incredible edge retention! The D2 edge is absolutely amazing! I've been cutting some pretty thick stuff (Lots of thick plastic strapping). The only thing I would watch out for is the tip. It's very fine and could potentially break off with sufficient side-to-side force. You don't have to worry about piercing things, only prying. I've also noticed that the rust resistance has been way better than I expected, probably because of the Blackwash finish. I've cut several oranges with it, wiped it off, and I don't see a speck of rust anywhere. The Speedsafe assisted opening mechanism work wonderfully. Flicks out at the speed of light and takes little effort. The flipper isn't sticking way out, so you shouldn't have to worry about unwanted deployment. The knife comes with a sliding lock, but I've never had to use it. I always leave it unlocked and it will not deploy unless you are doing something truly ridiculous haha. This truly is worth every penny in my book, and it is worth paying the extra ~$30 for this model, as it will serve as a better knife (and it looks awesome!). If you are looking for a great-performing, great-looking knife that will serve you everyday and that you can depend on, do yourself a favor and pick this up!

This is the 4th Leek I’ve purchased and used for every day carry. The first 2 I eventually lost and the 3rd I abused and broke the blade tip, but it wasn’t the knife’s fault. I love them for the slim profile while in the pocket and also the thin fine pointed blade for small detail work. This latest one with the D2 composite blade has a superior cutting edge, and better edge retention compared to the standard blade models. The San Mai look is really cool too! I believe the composite blade is stronger than the regular blade also, but I still wouldn’t recommend using it to pry very hard on anything. If you need a knife for that purpose I’d probably find a different model. Next time I need to pry that hard on something I’ll get the appropriate tool! But for me and my use at work and in general it’s perfect, and it carries great in the pocket!

I really like the Leek. I own 3 versions: a standard, an all-black serrated, and a blackwash composite blade. I won't repeat all the nice features of this knife that are underscored in other reviews. It really is the perfect EDC for my needs. Two things to keep in mind. It's not a rugged knife. Light weight and slim fit in pocket keep it from being appropriate for really heavy duty jobs or misuse. I did miss my pocket returning the standard version and it fell (closed) onto a concrete floor. Speed safe assisted opening did not work well after that. I had to take the knife apart and readjust fit and screw tension (youtube available for that) and it is working fine now. For the composite blade blackwash model, I like the finish which makes it less noticeable in the pocket. The D2 will hold an edge better. The photo on the website has the copper braze line enhanced. You can actually see it's been photoshopped if you enlarge the image and see in a few places the line deviates slightly from the joint between the two steels. The actual appearance of the braze is shown in the attached photo. I like the more subtle line better, just don't expect it to be as easy to see as in the photo on the Amazon web site. The only other reservation is that the appearance would be improved if the pocket clip was also in blackwash instead of painted solid black.

After using larger edc folders that tend to be too bulky, this little blade was a pleasure to carry. Light and slim enough to dissappear in a pocket, yet sturdy enough to be a great performer. I've carried this knife for about 3 months now and am now considering selling off my other edc type blades as they just occupy a drawer now. The fit and finish is flawless and the hybrid blade makes for a very handsome gentleman's knife. D2 is a harder steel than what I'm used to, but found it was a great performer that required less maintenance than usual, less sharpening required. That being said, do not use as a prybar or screwdriver. May be easy to snap the tip if abused.