Having existed for almost fifteen years now, the Kershaw Leek is frankly one of the best knives on the market, with a very high cost to quality and function ratio.

Firstly, the Leek by Ken Onion uses pretty decent materials. While it does utilize the standard 440A stainless steel in its blade, the Kershaw Leek has been heat-treated in order to maintain the stability and overall hardness of the blade without sacrificing tensile strength and prying strength. The Kershaw Leek is in no way brittle, however, and does retain some amount of flexibility, as is standard with 440A steel.

The most noteworthy function of Ken Onion's Kershaw Leek is its patented Speed-Safe torsion bar deployment system. What this system is equates to a pressure-tension system that can deploy the blade in the blink of an eye. The Leek utilizes this system perfectly, having a small lever on the spine to activate the system. The blade is deployed in between a third and a half of a second, depending on how tightly your pivot pin has been adjusted. Basically, the Speed-Safe opening system allows for both a legal and a very effective way to deploy your Leek in the blink of an eye.

The Leek is also a decent size for what it's designed to do. The overall design is decent, too, with it being a standard curved handle. What's a little different about the Leek is also the blade, though; it's got a mostly straight underside, with an ever-so-slight curve, and the top of the blade has a rather heavy curve. This results in a rather fine-point, gently curved knife. Most of the curve of the Kershaw Leek is in the last quarter of the blade, slightly resembling a tanto-style blade.

The Kershaw Leek's handle is made from standard 410 stainless steel, giving it a decent strength for the money. Since the Leek costs only about $30 on average, and can be found almost anywhere (including Wal-Mart), it's a wonderful little tool for the expense. With its good balance, its decent materials, its good treating, an awesome warranty, and the backing of a long-known great knife company, the Kershaw Leek is one of the best automatic folders out there for the money.

Joshua is an advocate and avid collector of the Kershaw Ken Onion line of knives. Why not check out his latest website? It's over at [http://kershawchive.com/], and offers reviews and information about the Ken Onion Kershaw Chive [http://kershawchive.com/].