Kershaw Cryo Knife Review
The Kershaw 1555TI Cryo SpeedSafe Knife is a Rick Hinderer designed knife. Hinderer, a Firefighter and Art knife maker, is known for making CNC precision, real world, quality rescue and tactical knives that look great.
First Impression:
The Cryo folding knife is a great looking knife. I was immediately attracted to the Cryos small, compact size and finish. It has a titanium carbo-nitride coating on both blade and handle and is a great looking knife.
The drop point blade with a hollow grind is both strong, functional and good looking as is the machining and jimping [notches] on the blade spine and body handle.
When I first picked up the Cry I felt that it was too heavy for its size, it weighs 4.1 ounces. I also felt that the pocket clip seemed small.
Using The Cryo 1555TI:
I carried the Cryo as an EDC knife and used it on the job-site as well. I was impressed at how fast it opens and sharp it was out of the box. It grips well, cuts well and has a great blade surface for slicing and cutting. It’s design also allows for easy cleaning.
There are several features both positive and negative worth noting and detailing:
Blade Deployment:
The Cryo has a speedsafe assisted opening system and a Hinder lockbar stabilizer.
I found that the Cryo opened super fast and smooth. Once open the blade is securely held in place with by the frame lock with zero wobble or slop. It is also easy to disengage the lock and close the blade. Something you do not often see in a $30.00 knife.
I especially liked and preferred to use the flipper to open the knife. The flipper is a protrusion on the back of the blade that is pulled back with your index finger to deploy the blade fast. A spring assist opens this blade with a click.
Bronze phosphor washers sandwich the blade resulting in a swift blade deployment and when closed the blade centers perfectly.
The thumbs studs were difficult to use and I often failed to get the blade open on the first, second and sometimes third attempt.
I also found it extremely difficult to open the blade with my non-dominant hand. In my opinion the thumb studs are useless and it may be due to the fact that the knife body is so short [3.8 inches] that its difficult to hold the knife and get leverage on the thumb stud.
Knife Blade:
The blade has a nice looking shape and plenty of cutting surface with it’s drop point and hollow grind edge.
The knife is made in China and Kershaw chose to use 8cr13Mov steel for the blade. I’m not an expert on steel quality but my experience is that this grade steel is adequate for a knife in this price range. 8cr13Mov steel gives a nice edge, more than reasonable sharpness and its not hard to maintain which is a plus to a guy like me that has been know to beat up his tools a bit.
Pocket Clip:
The pocket clip is ambidextrous with a quad positioning. The user may position the pocket clip for tip-up or tip-down, left- or right-handed carry, a real nice personalization touch.
I really liked the clip position closest to the blades pivot that allows the knife to sit deep in the pocket [low profile carry] at the same height / location as the clip stop.
The clip does have strong tension and holds well, in fact it was difficult at first to get the knife to clip into my pocket one-handed. It has since loosened a bit but a bigger “end-curve bend” on the clip may facilitate a better one-hand knife holstering.
I also feel that the clip could be longer for better retention and holding. I will note that even with the short clip the knife has never fallen out of a clipped pocket position.
Specifications:
- SpeedSafe assisted opening
- Frame lock
- Flipper and thumbstud
- Quad-carry (tip-up/tip-down; left/right) pocketclip; deep-carry
- Steel: 8Cr13MoV, titanium carbo-nitride coating
- Handle: Stainless steel 410, titanium carbo-nitride coating
- Blade length: 2 3/4 in. (7 cm)
- Closed length: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
- Overall length: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)
- Weight: 4.1 oz.
Overall Impression:
At $30.00 The Kershaw 1555TI Cryo SpeedSafe Knife is an affordable, solid EDC knife. The flipper, blade shape and overall design stand out as the best features. It is also a great size and like I said earlier I was immediately attracted to its small size.
I was hoping for an EDC knife that worked well in uniform pants or dress pants alike. Unfortunately the Cryo too heavy for it’s size and I feel Kershaw should revisit this solid knife design and consider aluminum or titanium for the body. I realize that this knife’s price will increase but man or man would it be worth it.
I’m still searching for that gentleman’s knife that is tough enough to be used on the job-site but small enough to wear in a pair or khakis or suit pants. the Cryo comes close but not complete.
How Much and Where to Buy?
The Kershaw 1555TI Cryo SpeedSafe Knife sells online for approximately $30.00 here:
Kershaw-1555TI-SpeedSafe-Folding-Knife
