Kershaw Knives

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Kershaw Knives is a multinational corporation that designs and manufactures a range of knives, including kitchen cutlery, pocket knives, and outdoor knives. Currently owned by the Japanese KAI Group, Kershaw is headquartered in Tualatin, Oregon, United States.

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[edit] History

Kershaw Knives was founded by Pete Kershaw, formerly of Gerber Legendary Blades, in Portland, Oregon in 1974. Early manufacturing was primarily done in Japan; in 1977, Kershaw became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese KAI Group. In 1998 the main production facility was opened in Wilsonville, Oregon; due to growth, the facilities were moved to a larger production site in 2003. Current manufacturing facilities are located in Tualatin (main factory) and Kuangtung, China (secondary plant).

The current company is named KAI USA, and has three lines of products; the original Kershaw Knives name, Shun Cutlery, which sells kitchen cutlery, and Zero Tolerance, a new line of combat knives. Ken Onion is Kershaw's best-known designer, who has won numerous awards for his designs. Shun Cutlery offers knives designed by both Ken Onion and Food Network personality Alton Brown.

[edit] Kershaw in popular culture

  • The Kershaw "Chive" is seen on LOST as Juliet Burke's knife in "Left Behind". Because it has a SpeedSafe assisted opening system and a safety lock system, Kate is shown to open it when the blade is already opened at a 90 degree angle.[citation needed]
  • The brand is mentioned in the song "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" by Good Charlotte when Joel Madden says "I got a kershaw neatly tucked inside of my waist."
  • The Kershaw Whirlwind is seen in the film The Departed as Colin Sullivan's knife. He uses this knife in an attempt to stab Billy Costigan, who is following him, but instead stabs a store worker.
  • The Kershaw Boa is seen in the TV series Supernatural in the episode "Fresh Blood." A vampire uses the knife to "turn" a prisoner by cutting the prisoner's arm and mixing in vampire blood, which supposedly contains the vampire virus.

[edit] References

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[edit] External links