Kershaw Iridium Reverse Tanto Folding Pocket Knife, Sleek 3.4 inch D2 Steel Blade, DuraLock Locking Mechanism, Aluminum Handle, Designed in the USA

I picked up the Kershaw Iridium Reverse Tanto on 4/13/24, and it’s been in my pocket every day since. The 3.4" D2 steel blade has held its edge through all the usual EDC tasks—opening packages, cutting rope, and the occasional food prep—without a single touch-up.Opening is smooth and consistent thanks to the ball-bearing pivot, and the DuraLock keeps it rock-solid with no blade play. The aluminum handle feels great in hand—light but sturdy—and still looks almost new after months of carry.It’s not just a good-looking knife; it’s a dependable tool. After this much daily use, I can say it’s worth every penny.

The media could not be loaded. Love this knife! I started purchasing several different knives to start a collection, and this is my favorite so far. The aluminum handle is amazing. Feels good in the hand. Blade length is great and the sharpness straight out of the box is insane. Opening the blade is buttery smooth compared to the other knives I bought. For the $55 I spent on it, I feel this knife is top notch. I don't write many reviews, however with how pleased I am with this knife, I felt I should let others know it was absolutely worth the purchase. I carry it in my pocket everyday.

This knife is awesome. Honestly purchased because i liked the blade style. This knife has quickly become one of my favorites. it feels great in the hand, quick to deploy and easy to close. Blade is extremely sharp right out of the box, may need to start trying more Kershaw knives.

Everything about this knife is better than I thought it would be. The quality, the machining, the materials, everything. The action is butter smooth, the blade is perfectly centered and tight no play in any direction. In the past ( 25 + years ago ) I was less than impressed with Kershaw products, this knife has changed my mind

ProsDecent price point.Sharp blade with even grinds.This reverse tanto version has a mild continuous belly and useful tip.Great size for EDC.Very smooth blade deployment.Pocket clip positions the knife fairly low in the pocket, screws are recessed so they don't snag.Jimping on the top of the spine, albeit only 3 machined grooves.MehThe Duralock is easy to use (could be about .25-.50mm wider at the thumb studs ), fairly solid (very tiny bit of up/down play), but unlocks very early (as in minimal movement of the bar).D2 blade steel is decent enough for most uses, keeps the cost down, not the best for rust resistance.ConsThe handles are too slick and have an almost waxy feeling...why Kersahw?!?Such an easy fix with a different coating, machined pattern, or textured treatment of some type.Spyderco Endela (about $40 more) is roughly the same size and shown for comparison.The Kersahw Iridium is slightly heavier at about 3.4 oz vs the Spyderco Endela at about 3.1 oz.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received this knife. Kersha has really stepped up their game with this offering. The drop point version seems to one getting more attention, but I prefer the reverse tanto blade shape. It looks better and it’s way more versatile.Construction on is top notch, it feels incredibly solid in hand and weights only 3.4 OZ, making it lighter than the CJRB Pyrate (with SS handles). Kersha’s version of the crossbar lock is flawless, I actually prefer it over Benchmade’s.The only thing I would change about this knife is the type of steel. Although D2 is tough and holds an edge for quite a while, it is a pain to sharpen. Also, since it’s not stainless, you need to be careful and wipe it/clean it when used in wet environments or when cutting stuff like fruit, for example.

This is a fantastic knife! Stays sharp for a long time with many uses. It's now my favorite knife. Especially, for the price!

The media could not be loaded. Edit knife has lock rock and that will cause lock failure as seen in video. Some times it fails very easy and some times it takes slightly harder spine hits to fail if but some times it will fail with very little.Great knife models BUT they have a little lock rock (up and down movement, maybe 1/16th or so of an inch) that is annoying to me. They lock good and your not gonna have the lock fail but that little up and down play is annoying to me. I've had 4 iridiums and everyone of them have it, even my carbon and m390 version that was 200 dollars. I like the model enough that I deal with it and keep buying them hoping that Kershaw is gonna fix the blade tang geometry issue that causes that little up and down play. That's the bad but now for the good.The iridium is a fantastic design and one of Kershaw best crossbar lock models todate, it's perfect in hand and very comfortable and the blade shapes are great as is the cutting geometry, coming down to about 15thou behind the edge so it's going to be a very nice slicer for you. Personally I like the reverse tanto blade shape best as it's the best for my Edc type cutting tasks. I'm a user of my knives, while I'm a huge collector I'm also a user that really puts my knives to work so it's all about cutting performance first and sharpening experience second to me. The D2 on these knives is done fairly well, not the best but not bad. Whoever is doing the heat treating is doing a decent job, again not the best but certainly not bad and out of the 2 D2 models I have I have tested both on my Hrc poker and both tested in the high 59.x rc. I would love to see it at 61-62 but that's not gonna happen so with them being right at 60 you can expect decent edge retention from the D2 and there is little retained austinite so the steel isn't gummy when sharpening and it deburrs nicely. The two m390 models I have are also not done the best but not bad with both testing in the mid 60.x (imo m390 is only a great performing steel if it's 62+). I really wish they would bring the production of this knife over to the USA, yes the price would go up maybe 30% but I would happily pay 30% more for this knife if it was US made and they simply ran the D2 at 61-63 rc. It's such a great model so I hate seeing it being just another 50-60 dollar China D2 budget knife when this model could easily sell well as a premium model. Even with it being China made the carbon and m390 limited runs of the iridium sold out nearly instantly at 200 bucks, if it was USA made it would have sold out even quicker at 300. Again it's to good of a design to be what is basically just another China D2 budget knife.Kershaw needs to bring the iridium and the heist production to the US because those two designs are absolutely bangers and people would go crazy buying them if they was US made, I mean just look how well the magnacut Belair is selling at 140-150 bucks, if they brought the iridium here and did it in magnacut 175 it would sell like hotcakes.They listened to the knife Community some because they did the automatic Launch series of the iridium and it's US made of course and it's selling very well and for good reason. I'm not someone that likes auto knives at all, be it out the front or out the sides I just don't like them but the iridium is such a great knife I went ahead and grabbed one.As is if you want a great Edc knife in the 50-65 range the iridium is right up your ally. If you are someone that does a lot of utility cutting and push cutting card board take my word and get the reverse tanto version and if most of your cutting is precision cuts with the tip you would probably like the normal blade shape better me personally almost only carry the reverse tanto version as it's far and away the more useful of the two for the type cutting I'm typically doing at work and when I'm out on the homestead taking care of my property. The edge retention of the D2 is decent but it's very edge finish dependent, if you want it to perform do not take it anywhere near a polish. Finish the edge at a max of 600 grit and better yet more like 320-400 grit and that's where you are gonna get the best cutting performance with the slightly soft D2. Overall it's a great budget knife but I just wish it was made in the US and they made more premium runs of it. Man what I would do for a US made reverse tanto carbon handle iridium in CPM M4 steel (or cpm s90v at 62rc if they wanted to go with a stainless) at 64-65rc ide buy two on the spot at 300ea and wouldn't bat an eye becaue the design is just that good.Minus one star for the lock rock and minus one star because it should be a US made knife.