I have the lefty gold anodized version and am happy with the knife overall, however there is a glaring safety design error overlooked on the lock bar and flipper tab. The part of the lock bar thats milled out for your thumb to land on is too far away from the pivot, so the flipper tab does not make contact with your thumb when breaking past the detent. I've closed the blade on my thumb knuckle above my thumbnail multiple times because the edge swings closed on it, instead of the tab (or tang) first making contact with thumb. So i have to make sure my thumb is closer to the pivot instead of it being where the milling is. The design fix for future runs is to: 1) change the way the milling is on the lockbar, or 2) make the flipper tab longer.
One more gripe about the flipper tab. It's the same flipper tab on the Gent. And like the gent, it's easy for my finger tip to slip off the tab because of how round it is.
Everything else about the knife is very good. I am waffling between 3 and 4 stars so i would rate it a 3.5, but the primary grind on the blade is ground so very thin behind the edge i bumped it up to a 4.
jhonisI thought the left handed version was going to be a true lefty. That's pretty weak that they just put the clip on the opposite side and didn't put the lock on the opposite side as well
IanEDCMD clearly indicated it was just a clip flip, so we knew before joining the drop. TBH it doesn't bother me too much that it wasn't a full lockbar lefty flip since, and i think i can speak for most south paws about this, we're all very used to the standard righty lock bars. I appreciate very much that MD included the lefty clip option in the drop.
jhonisYou flex your thumb almost completely in those photos and point it down while opening the lock bar. I’m not sure how common that is, but I keep my thumb much straighter than that, putting its belly on the indent, and so have no problems engaging the tab to keep it from closing. Different hands create different issues (e.g. the clip on this knife creates hot spots for me, but it doesn’t seem to bother other reviewers).
Sorry you didn’t like the mechanism, but for sure small smooth flipper tabs can create some deployment issues.
jhonisI tend to open knives with frame or liner locks as close to the blade as possible. Not sure why, just always have. That puts the thumb far enough forward to not get nicked by the blade.
I compared this to some of my other frame locks, and it's true, most you never even get close to having it miss the thumb, the Keen is definitely one to be mindful of.
Harper89Same. I am getting more acquainted with moving my thumb closer on the keen and there's no concern when doing so, but the design error is where the milling is located on the inside of the lock bar and opposite side scale. The spot where the gap is the widest is the register for your finger to manipulate the lock just like how keyboards have dots on the F and J keys so your fingers can find and register the home row by feel. Nobody would put the dots on the E and O keys. That would be bad design.
I like this knife very much and I feel like I can point out something to improve. So there ya have it. Change where the milling is for the lock bar.
jhonisWHOA! THAT'S A BIG NO-GO, KEMO SABE! The tactile "index" of the flipper tab touching my thumbnail is how I know when to get my thumb out of the way and close the blade with my forefinger!
GOOD CATCH! BAD DESIGN FEATURE!
Kenkaniffmy thumb is dead center on the relief cut for the lock bar. That's where your thumb is intended to be. Also, please keep in mind, i am left handed, and the pictures show left handed operation. Bye troll.
jhonisur Acting like the relief cut is the only spot you can put ur thumb/finger tho disengage the lock though. Which is far from true and most ppl aren’t gonna be doing it like that. They’re gonna be putting their thumb at the top of the frame lock so the flipper will land on their thumb. ur misleading ppl about the knife. Also just cuz ur left handed that is irrelevant u could do it right but ur a what? Troll