More leetle kneefses.

The Kershaw Cinder is a positively diminutive little liner lock folder. I think it’s the smallest non-novelty folding knife I own. Here it is next to my usual EDC and becoming-oft-compared Kershaw/Emerson CQC-6K, and a US quarter for scale:

It’s 2-11/19" long closed, about 4-1/16" open, and only 25.3 grams (0.89) ounces. That means it’s not much longer than the ISO standard Swiss Army Classic everyone and their dog has hanging from their keys, although it’s wider and weighs a hair more. It also hasn’t got a dinky pair of scissors or a useless nail file, but in exchange it is considerably better at actually being a knife.

The Cinder has this funky asymmetrical design with more of the blade being exposed on one side…

…Versus the other. It opens with a regular thumb stud on the right hand side and can be done one handed (unless you’re a lefty). Meanwhile, I dare you to open a Swiss Classic with one hand. And without resorting to using your teeth, if you think you’re so clever. Yes, you in the back row; I see you.

The tail sports a stout lanyard or keyring hole, and also a hook that makes it usable as a bottle opener. This prompts Kershaw to call the Cinder “multi functional” as many times as possible every time they talk about it, because apparently you just can’t stop the marketing department, even with a baseball bat. There is no pocket clip, although the knife is so small that might be silly. You also get to bring your own keyring if you want to use it that way. If you don’t, I’m not sure there’s a pants pocket on earth this thing wouldn’t fit into. If you wear regular jeans you could probably fit a dozen of 'em in there.

Due to its slightly offset pivot and overall funky design, what makes the Cinder cool is that actually presents its entire blade length as a usable cutting tool for a wide variety of tasks, even cutting down against a flat surface – unlike the Swiss Classic and its myriad clones. The cutting edge is angled up quite noticeably compared to the axis of the knife and is actually subtly curved along its entire length, leading to an edge that’s “all belly” similar to the Boker Gome we looked at the other day. Just even smaller, and as a folder.

That blade is 1-1/2" long from the end of the handle scale overall, and manages a usable cutting edge of 1-1/16". Believe it or not there is a choil at the base which means you really can use all of that edge if you need to. But it’s certainly not very fancy, and is only made of 3cr13. What do want? This thing retails for $10.

For such a tiny knife, the Cinder breaks down into a surprising number of components. The black plastic scales and steel liners are separate, as is the bottle opener heel which is quite a bit thicker, and acts as the spacer between the liners.

The pivot is D shaped with the same flat spot as is common to other Kershaw folders. The whole thing really goes together exactly like one of their larger knives, just really shrunken down. And as you can see, the pivot action is aided only by two cheap black plastic washers which are not terribly fancy nor precise. Not that I was expecting limited run collector’s grade componentry in here or anything, but now we know. On a larger knife the pivot action would be pretty terrible, actually, but on this dinky thing it really doesn’t matter.

The tolerances between the blade, pivot, and washers are just awful. But this isn’t meant to be a Tactical Operator Battlefield Ninja Knife, so who cares.

The Inevitable Conclusion

If you want a tiny knife, and you don’t want it to be any of the tiny Swiss Army models or their clones for any particular reason, the Cinder is in my opinion a much better knife with half decent build quality, cool looking, and it’s not like it’s going to break the bank. It’s compact and light enough to forget it’s there on your keyring until you need it, and in a pinch it’ll open your beers. And it’s just so cute and little. What’s not to love?

I’ll bet it’s so damn small and inoffensive that it’ll be legal pretty much anywhere, too. Unless you live in one of those hellholes where locking knives are illegal. Then I don’t know what to tell you… Or what you’re doing here.

If it’s too small for you, they also make a slightly larger “Ember” now (whose name I kept getting mixed up with this one all throughout writing this) which is about a 2" long blade and a little more traditionally styled.