Kershaw Echo

I knew before I bought my new Kershaw Echo that I'd be pleased with it.  Every kershaw I've ever owned has been that way, kershaw makes some great knives.  The Echo is a Ken Onion design, most of his designs are well thought out, and this one is no exception.  If you're looking for a good solid survival knife, and dont want to shell out a lot of money, take a look at the Kershaw echo.  You can normally find this knife for under $25 online.

As with just about everything kershaw puts out, the echo is shaving sharp right out of the box.  The full tang AUS8A blade should provide good edge retention, however that has not been put to the test yet.  The blade is 4 inches long, and the overall length of the knife is 8 5/8 inches...  Blade thickness is a stout 1/8th inch.  As you might have guessed by the price, the kershaw echo is manufactured in China, but this is a quality made knife.  As with all Kershaw knives, the echo comes with Kershaw's lifetime warranty to be free from defects.   Kershaw will also sharpen the blade for you as often as you like, you just have to pay to ship it to Oregon, they will pay the return postage.

The handle scales are a tough all weather polyimide material patterned with realtree(tm) hardwoods design.  There is a lanyard hole drilled through at the back of the handle.  The handle is very comfortable in the hand, the ridges on the spine where the blade meets the handle provide a good thumb grip.  The overall feel of this knife in my opinion is one of the best features of the kershaw echo.  There is enough grip without a lot of deep contuours and grooves found on some knife handles, which can sometimes be uncomfortable during prolonged usage.

The echo's sheath is a cordura type material, covering a leather sheath, with a cut resistant liner.  It is also patterened with the realtree hardwoods pattern.  The belt loop will accomodate up to a 3 inch thick belt.  The knife is held in place basically with a jam fit..  you jam the handle in nice and snug and it stays in place quite well.  There are no snaps or closures to actually secure the knife to the sheath.  If you were going to wear this knife climbing or in some sort of marine environment, a one dollar investment in a piece of velcro to sew to the belt loop and secure the knife would probably be a good idea.  You can find short pieces of velro designed for wrapping wire at your local hardware store, Lowes, Home Depot etc..  See below before and after.  This ensures that you wont feel an empty sheath when you need to reach for your knife  

Shown below, the Kershaw Echo and my EDC knife, kershaw scallion w/ speedsafe.  I've been carrying this little blade for a couple of years and it has been an excellent tool.  Once I got spoiled by the ease with which this knife is deployed with one hand, I just had a hard time putting anything else in my pocket.  It also sharpens to a great edge and holds its edge really well.  I was not in love with the looks of it at first, but since looks dont count for crap anyway, I gave it a shot, and it has been in my pocket ever since.     

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