Kershaw 1556Ti Cryo II Assisted Blade

My first pocket knife. Was surprised by its weight, but was the right size. Broke the torsion bar which helps it flip open, and waiting for free bar replacement in mail. Sharpens easily but dulls easily too (cutting cardboard boxes). Opening action is not the smoothest (tried different oils and greases), probably due to pressure of locking mechanism on side of blade, and small blade hinge washers digging into the metal casing (too little surface area for the bronze washers to distribute the force of the main hinge screw). Has some side to side play (due to shortcoming for locking mechanism) unless hinge screw is too tight, which will make it very hard to open! A small drop of Loctite threadlock will help the hinge screw stay in place with consistent pressure (otherwise it tends to loosen with time). Rides very low in the pocket, which is very nice indeed. My next knife will be a Spyderco Para 2 with some exotic metal to maintain edge (CPM S30 or S110).

The four star rating is not for knives in general, but for knives in this price range. The knife is almost perfect, the flipper action is very quick for a blade this heavy. The thumb studs are useless, much to hard to operate. I have found this to be true on most Kershaw assisted open knives. They should just eliminate them and cut down on some weight and bulk. The only other flaw, also on most Kershaw knives is the very shallow cutout for access to the frame lock, (this also goes for their liner lock designs). This could easily be remedied by kershaw. There are so many knives on the market that have very generous cutouts on the opposing side to give easy access to either liner or frame locks.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm no a Kershaw hater, I own at least 15 Kershaw knives both manual and assisted open flippers. I do like flipper knives but, Kershaw needs to listen to its loyal customers and start designing knives with better access to the blade locking mechanism. I certainly would feel the love if they did.
As far as strong, tuff, well built knives with good blades that come sharp out of the box and hold their edge very well, you won't find a better knife for the money. A little heavy but if you want a little lighter knife, buy the Cryo ll with the G-10 scale, the G-10 actually gives you a little better grip for one handed open/close.
I've found that as much as I like the ease and speed of assisted open knives, closing is more difficult because you are fighting the spring on the last half of closing and this can leave you with cut digits if the knife is slippery which most solid stainless assisted knives are.
All-in-all this is a solid knife that will probably last you a lifetime, hard to beat a Kershaw knife. I would have no problem recommending this knife to anyone.