Budget Kershaw, help me choose

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I’ve been carrying a pocket knife every day since I was about 16, starting with a cheap basic folder, then moving on to Swiss Army knife. My swiss army obsession grew to the point that I was carrying a swiss champ XLT everyday for a few years.

About 6 months ago, I picked up a Leatherman Skeletool and have been carrying a combo of that and a victorinox Huntsman. The Skeletool is my go-to pocket knife, and I’m very pleased with it. It was my first knife with a pocket clip and that can be operated with one hand. It is pretty sharp and I like the bonus of having lightweight pliers and basic screwdrivers.

That being said, I wish it didn’t have a half serrated blade, and I also EDC a Surge, so I’m looking for something different. (The Skeletool CX is a little more than I want to spend)

I recently picked up a two pack of Kershaw knives at Walmart for $20. I wasn’t expecting much for that price, but they aren’t bad. They don’t even list model names on the package.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kershaw-2-Piece-Knife-Set/54320555

Both are speedsafe opening.

One is a 3.4 inch half serrated blade, plastic handles, liner lock. I like this one, the size is nice, but I don’t want a serrated blade.

The smaller one has a metal handle with frame lock, plain 2.75 inch blade. I like the size and feel of this one, but the flipper is the really stiff, and I just don’t like the frame lock as much.

I like the assisted open feature, I just want a little better knife than these really cheap ones.

So, sorry for the long into, I just wanted you to know where I’m coming from.

I’m looking for a Kershaw folding knife with a plain edged blade. Must have speedsafe open, preferably with a flipper instead of thumb stud. Blade size isn’t a huge deal, anything from 2.5 to 3.5 inches would be OK. I prefer the plastic handles and liner locks.

I was all set to order a cryo or cryo 2, but I handled an amplitude the other day at Walmart, I just didn’t care for the slippery handles. I also looked at the leek, but I just don’t like the look of it.

The problem is, there are quit a few good looking options in the under $40 range.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to the following choices.

Clash
Link
Oso sweet
Entropy
Grinder
Volt II

Every time I think I know which one to get, a different one takes the lead for one reason or another. I’m in the IT field, not the wilderness type. I mostly use my knife for opening packaging and just playing with.

From the video reviews I’ve watched, it seems as if I’ll be pretty happy no matter which one I chose, and I’m sure I’ll end up getting several of them eventually.

I was just about decided on the grinder, something about that unusual blade shape is appealing to me, and it has a deep carry pocket clip, which is awesome. But I saw a review where they said it uses an inferior steel compared to a lot of the other ones.

The local tractor supply store has a clash, link and cryo in the display case, but I went there twice today and couldn’t find any employees to help me. I thought of I held them it would help me decide. I won’t buy from there because the prices are way too high and their service sucks. And the clash they have is half serrated

So, what do you guys think? Where should I start?

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