This Cult-Classic Knife Is Back After 14 Years and Better Than Ever

Kershaw released its first knife back in 1974, which means this year marks 50 years in business for the Oregon-based brand.

Over the years, the brand has gained a reputation as a value proposition, and is often a first “serious” pocket knife for those first dipping a toe into EDC. My own first pocket knife, in fact, was a Ken Onion-designed Kershaw Leek.

But Kershaw doesn’t just operate on the budget end of the pocket knife spectrum. On occasion, the brand has shown the ability to produce high-end knives, too, with impressive results.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Kershaw has launched a new version of a cult-favorite knife from 2010, and it’s one of the coolest and most covetable Kershaws ever.

Kershaw

Kershaw Tilt 50th Anniversary

• $500 at Kershaw

Going Full Tilt

14 years ago, Kershaw released the Tilt. At the time, it looked like nothing else. That remains true today, with its extreme, angular design looking more like a Cybertruck than any other pocket knife I can think of.

But the Tilt wasn’t just an extreme design for design’s sake. Nor was it all style and no substance. The knife was large but extremely lightweight, thanks to a mix of titanium and carbon fiber in the handle, and its funky shape was said to be extremely comfortable in hand by those who had the good fortune of handling a Tilt.

It was also noted for its incredibly smooth action and many innovations. It was one of the first EDC knives to boast features like a caged ball bearing deployment and a 3D machined pocket clip.

The original Tilt is now considered a cult classic, and and one that’s very hard for collectors to get their hands on. Fewer than 500 are estimated to have been made, and while they were priced at $500 at launch — making it one of the priciest Kershaw knives ever — the knives have been known to fetch nearly double that on the secondary market on the rare occasions when one comes up for sale.

The Comeback Kershaw

As you have no doubt guessed by now, Kershaw’s 50th anniversary knife I teased in the intro of this article is indeed a reissue of the Tilt. But this isn’t the same knife Kershaw released a decade-and-a-half ago. The brand has tweaked the design and used some materials, making the new Tilt better than ever before.

The handle on the Tilt 50th Anniversary is more uniform, with bead-blasted titanium accented by a black carbon fiber insert running through the center on both sides. On the previous version, the front side of the handle had carbon scales, while the clip-side was bare titanium. The new look is more cohesive.

Kershaw

Speaking of cohesion, that black strip of carbon fiber continues visually through the blade in black steel, creating an unbroken line that looks incredible when the blade is opened.

Like the original Tilt, the 50th Anniversary version utilizes a composite steel blade, but it’s made some material changes. The spine is now made from 14C28N steel instead of 420 stainless steel, while Kershaw went with extremely hard-wearing CPM CruWear for the cutting edge in place of the original’s Vanax 75.

For the lightning-fast deployment, caged ball bearings are once again in use here, now less of a novelty since Kershaw is using the KVT bearings from its more premium sister brand Zero Tolerance. An angled sub-frame lock machined into the titanium handle is once again employed, while the titanium pocket clip gets a sleeker, more angled look to better match the overall look of the knife.

Kershaw

Pricing and Availability

If you missed out on buying the original Tilt, you’ll have a chance of picking up the 50th-Anniversary version — albeit a slim one.

Kershaw is once again limiting production of the Tilt to very small numbers (rumored to be just 500 examples), and like the original, the geometric knife is made in the USA and priced at a hefty $500. The blade comes with its own special deluxe anniversary box and includes a serialized certificate of authenticity.

There’s no exact release date yet — Kershaw’s online store lists the knife as “coming soon” — so I recommend checking the sale page frequently and keeping an eye on Kershaw’s social media channels, as the new Tilt is all but certain to sell out as soon as it goes on sale.

Kershaw

Kershaw Tilt 50th Anniversary

A 50th-anniversary limited edition of one of the greatest knives ever made by Kershaw, the updated Tilt features a titanium and carbon fiber handle, a composite Wharncliffe blade with a CPM CruWear edge, and super quick and smooth deployment via manual KVT caged ball bearings.

Specs

Blade Length	3.65 inches
Blade Material	CPM CruWear and 14C28N composite
Handle Material	Titanium and carbon fiber
Locking Mechanism	Sub-frame lock
Weight	5.7 oz.

• $500 at Kershaw

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