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Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight
Cons: None
Holy smokes
Normally, I'm not prone to hyperbolic declarations nor rushed conclusions. I leave that nonsense to the professional reviewers and infuencers. They all raved about the Bel Air last year, calling it things like Bugout killer and best US-made value folder, etc. I don't buy hype, can't afford FOMO, but call me Magnacut curious. I said, "that's all fine, but I won't bother unless they make a combo blade. I love me some partial serrations." Well, they did, and I bothered. Look, I've never actually said this before, but I will: this is my favorite folding knife I've ever owned. I've had plenty of factory edges good enough to shave, but this is the first time I ever got bit right out of the box. I've got an old Utica lockback that closes like an alligator that cut me once after a good hone. This Kershaw closes like butterfly wings and nearly took the tip of my pinky off. I learnt. I now know the serrations are unnecessary (not useless - they're convex instead of the typical grind - but the teeth are overkill to the sharpness of this steel). They'll cut quantum strings, I bet. I went ahead and bought a second, plain edge version, anyway. But I love this one. I guess if I have to list a con, it might be the finish. The texture on the aluminum grips is nice, it's just this trend now that if there are serrations it must be "tactical," and tactical must be black. I could've done with a satin or stonewashed finish for the blade. If the wild hair troubles me enough, I might switch out the scales for the lighter original ones. It's certainly not enough of a complaint about this knife to take anything away from my review. Five whole stars.