Dagger: A dagger is a knife with a very sharp point and one or more sharp edges. Typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon. Daggers have been used throughout human experience for close-combat confrontations, and many cultures have used adorned daggers in ritual and ceremonial contexts. The distinctive shape and historic usage of the dagger have made it iconic and symbolic. A dagger in the modern sense is a weapon designed for close-proximity combat or self-defense… [Wikipedia]
Any knife — folding or fixed — can be used as a weapon. In our terrorist-ridden 21st century, kitchen knives are perhaps the ultimate example of “utility blades turned weapons” when in the hands of radicals. In case you missed it, on August 10th of this year, a terrorist in Vasteras, Sweden, took a kitchen knife from a display in an Ikea store and stabbed two people to death, leaving another seriously injured. The response? Ikea stopped selling kitchen knives in Sweden. (Yeah, that should solve the terrorism problem!)
Most modern tactical knives are dual-purpose. They are able to tackle mundane daily chores or serve as last-ditch defensive weapons. Of course, utility chores occupy the vast majority of any blade’s time, just as one’s handgun does. In 37 years, I have never fired my handgun, on duty or off, at another human being. However, I have used the very same handgun in a utility mode to dispatch a score or more of deer injured by motor vehicles to that happy salt lick in the sky.
Some knives, like handguns, tend to be more purposed toward either defense or utility. The Kershaw Barstow — which is new for 2017 — is a folding knife that is geared toward defensive use because its blade is dagger-shaped.
When the Barstow’s blade is locked open, it has the appearance of a fully automatic knife whose dagger blade pops straight out from the end of the handle when the sliding button is pushed. The fact is that the Barstow is a folder utilizing the Kershaw SpeedSafe assisted-opening system. A liner lock holds it open. The Barstow is the only folding dagger in Kershaw’s new 2017 lineup.
The Barstow’s 3-inch, spear-point dagger blade is 8Cr13MoV steel, with a non-reflective black-oxide BlackWash protective finish. Overall length when open is 7 inches. Not only does the BlackWash protect from corrosion, it helps to hide any scratches that occur through use. The “top” of the blade is unsharpened, but don’t consider sharpening that portion until you read the rest of this review. It might not be a good idea.
The sharpened edge is not serrated. Blade serrations would destroy the look that Kershaw is seeking. There is a so-called “blood groove” in the center of the blade. A blood groove is not really for the purpose of helping blood to drain out when inserted into live tissue. Rather, it serves to lighten the blade a bit. The blood grooves on the Barstow also give it a “serious business” look.
The handle has glass-filled nylon scales with an arrow pattern texture to enhance grip. The tube spacers are anodized blue for a distinctive appearance. The blade is opened via finger flipper. There is one on each side, which serve as finger and thumb guards when the blade is locked open. There is a reversible pocket clip, which, as it turned out, came in very handy for me even though I didn’t use it to clip the Barstow to my pocket.
Unlike the standard tactical/utility folder, the grip is straight, tapering out slightly to the base on both sides. Most tactical/utility knives are curved on the bottom side of the grip, which lets you know instantly which way the blade will open. (You almost can’t grip them the wrong way prior to opening, even in darkness.) This is not the case with the Barstow.
In order to keep true to form as a folding dagger — which means that it is used as a thrusting weapon rather than a slashing weapon — the grip has to be straight. There is a very — and I mean very — slight indentation where the index finger rests on the grip once the blade is open. In an emergency, I doubt you would be able to find it as a reference point. This is where the pocket clip comes in handy.
The position of the pocket clip helped to guide me to make sure I was not opening the blade against my hand. As it comes out of the box, the position of the clip rests in the palm of my right hand, telling me instantly by feel which way the blade is coming out. If you switch that clip because you are left-handed, you lose that orientation point. Of course, you can always just carry the Barstow loose in the pocket without clipping it so that the orientation of the pocket clip remains the same.
I mentioned earlier that I think it would be a bad idea to sharpen the dull or false edge of the blade. That is because if you switch from a thrusting grip to an “icepick”-type grip, the protective finger and thumb guards are not large enough to serve as a true hilt, being that the Barstow is a folding adaptation of a fixed-blade dagger. Depending on which way it is held in the icepick position, you stand an additional chance of the newly sharpened dull edge cutting the fleshy bottom of your hand. If you must sharpen the dull edge, only sharpen half from the tip down. Don’t do the entire length.
The Kershaw Barstow is an interesting adaptation of on age-old fighting knife. The SpeedSafe assisted opening removes it from the realm of fully automatic “switchblade” knives, thus overcoming potential legal hurdles for possession. While not technically a utility blade, the Barstow certainly performed well enough in mundane daily chores such as box opening.
If you are looking for a folding blade that stands out in a crowded field, consider the Kershaw Barstow. It’s USA-made and retails for only $39.99.
More info at: www.kershaw.kaiusaltd.com
