The Kershaw Thermite is an affordable pocket knife that boasts some features usually only found on a knife two or three times as expensive as this one.

Construction & Materials
The Kershaw Thermite features three things I love: G10 Handle Scales, a stonewashed treatment, and a hollow-ground blade. The G10 scales could survive an apocalypse while the stonewashing of the handle hides any dents, dings, scratches, etc. that do develop on the knife. The hollow-ground blade allows for the blade to travel through materials smoothly.

Additionally, the Thermite features a Lock Bar Stabilizer, which eliminates the possibility of bending the lock bar when releasing the blade–bending which would render the locking feature useless.

Ease of Use 
I let a few friends play around with the Thermite and we all agree that the handle is just a little bit too long for a pocket knife. You eventually get used to it but it’s a bigger knife than some testers were comfortable with. The assisted flipper opening feature, however, is a dream.

Steel Quality & Edge Retention
The Kershaw Thermite features 8Cr13MoV steel–an affordable steel that performs well. It holds a decent edge and sharpening the steel is a breeze. The Spanto tip combined with the hollow ground design should preserve the edge for some time, provided it is not used to cut through spools of rope without a sharpening stone nearby.

Durability
I’ve used this knife for over a month without any complaints (I even wore it to a wedding). I ran it through all of the standard tests, and then some and it looks brand new. Stonewashing the blade was a great choice. I’m still swooning over the stylized G10 handle scales.

Value 
You would be hard-pressed to find a knife that looks and functions as well as this one–at this price. With the bells and whistles built into this pig, I expected the price to be north of $100.