2 Budget Friendly EDC Knife Offerings From Kershaw!

If you have been searching for a new knife (or two) that would work well for carrying everyday but do not want to shell out upwards of $100, $200, even upwards of $300 for a Spyderco, Zero Tolerance, Benchmade, etc. then I have two great options for you courtesy of Kershaw; enter the 3410ST Chill (Bottom) and the 1555TI Cryo (Top)!

Lets start with the 3410 / 3410ST (Serrated) Chill. This is a very budget friendly sub $30 ($18 on Amazon) knife that is very compact for its blade length and very light weight. It has a strong 2 way positionable pocket clip (tip up or tip down) which is perfect for right handed individuals but I (being a lefty) cannot carry this knife exactly like I want to as both of the clip points are on the right side of the blade as pictured below.

The Chill is a liner-locking blade with a 50% lockup (pictured below) with no play in my example. The liner is skeletonized which reduces the weight of the liner by about a third. Overall weight on this knife is a paltry 2 oz! You might not even notice this blade in your pocket! Side scales are a medium traction G-10.

The Chill is a flipper deployed blade. The finger guard you see in the above pictures protrudes out the back of the handle while closed, pushing on this swings the blade open and the liner lock pops down locking the blade into the open position.

Overall sizes of this knife are as follows;
Blade length: 3 1/8 inches
Closed length: 3 7/8 inches
Open length 7 inches
Weight 2 oz.

Blade steel is 8Cr13MoV which closely resembles AUS-8 in terms of material makeup (more on that topic later). This knife came razor sharp right out of the box and that 8Cr13MoV takes and holds an edge very well!

As you can see from the above picture, yes it is made in China. But being China produced for an American company with a limited lifetime warranty and excellent quality control and customer support you do not need to worry about the reliability of this knife!


Moving on to the 1555TI Cryo. This has to be one of the best looking knives I own! At a sub $50 (sub $30 on Amazon) price point, this assisted opener is tough to beat! I like to call this knife the "Baby Zero Tolerance" as it shares striking similarities to the ZT0560 and it should as both knives were designed by Rick Hinderer. It is covered in a titanium carbo-nitride coating which gives it a slick, gunmetal color that contrasts beautifully against the blackened hardware.

The Cryo is a super strong all steel constructed frame lock with a 60% lockup and no play while opened. It is an assisted opener with more than adequate speed and force while opening and it is deployable via thumb studs on both sides of the blade or a flipper mechanism (preferred). Unlike the Chill, the Cryo has a 4 way positionable pocket clip that is left handed friendly! The clip itself is of the deep carry variety and just as stout as the clip on the Chill. Here is a picture of that lockup for you;

The size of this knife is as follows;
Blade length: 2 3/4 inches
Closed length: 3 3/4 inches
Overall length: 6 1/2 inches
Weight 4.1 oz!

Yeah this knife is a tad on the portly side for being so small, but being all steel constructed and practically bullet proof the weight can be easily overlooked!

As a nice added bonus there is a frame lock retainer that Rick puts on his other designs that keeps the lock bar from being overextended and bent (compromising the safety of the frame lock).

Blade steel on the Cryo is also the same 8Cr13MoV found on the Chill and once again, the Cryo came razor sharp out of the box. With its good looks, reliability, and assisted opening, this is a fun knife to show off and play with!