Kershaw Barstow Assisted Opening Knife Black GFN (3" BlackWash) 3960

Kershaw, a great knife maker. Opens very fast. Great steel, locks securely. For the size this knife Is heavy. Locks open securely. Sort of wish it was about an inche or so larger but this is good. Comfortable in the hand. Overall im very pleased.

Some of these reviews are over critical. I was impressed I’m a Kershaw fan and this is some thing different from them it has a classy look. I love the anodized blue and the pattern on the scales really grew on me I’m not in to paying hundreds of dollars for a knife, I like to get a budget friendly knife that feels like a great value and is attractive. The blade shape is great mine was very tight and sturdy with zero play at all the only thing I’m not a fan of is assisted opening I’d rather it just be a flipper but I’m sure most people like the assisted opening so that may be a plus for you. I like the look of the knife even more in person and it feels good in the hand. Very cool knife.

I’m a knife freak I’ve collected knives my entire life, this knife has a nice taper to it what I mean by that is the frame of the knife slowly tappers smaller towards the blade, the blade is very well sucured in the knife and has no wobble, the clip is a deep pocket carry and is nicely secured to the handle of the knife. A nice detail I didn’t notice when ordering is in the thumb studs is little blue circles that add a nice little detail to the knife but still subtle. The blade is made of a qaiilty metal and I love the over all apperance of the blade, it has a nice tapper to the end if you wanted to stab something but has a nice drop for like slicing a box open, the liner lock is also nice it’s firm doesn’t let the blade close under pressure but is easy enough to operate with one hand, also with the thumb studs is it has dual thumb studs so if your hands or knife was wet your fingers won’t slide down onto the knife, it was a little stiff but with some kershaw pivot oil it open and closes like a dream, it is also a very well balanced knife it’s not heavy on the blade side or handle side it fits nicely in your hand and pocket to make the perfect EDC

After browsing Amazon for hours and watching a few YouTube videos about this knife, I decided to pull the trigger on it as a birthday gift for my girlfriend. After receiving the knife I noticed immediately how razor sharp and surprisingly well made this knife looks and feels for the price. The look alone is what really caught my eye in the first place, with its sleek and sexy dagger-styled single edged blade, black stonewashed finish and very tastefully done blue anodized accents on the guard and back spacers that are just the right amount of “bling” without being too gaudy or flashy. (The blue accents would make this a great gift for a cop as well.) Blade centering is basically perfect, (a rarity for knives in this price range) Blade lock up does have the sliiiightest bit of wiggle though, but not enough to cause issues or concern, and is nearly unnoticeable. My girlfriend and I both really liked how the grip fits in hand, albeit a bit on the smaller side. For someone with very large hands, it might be a bit of an issue. (For reference, I wear medium/large gloves depending on brand, and she has very thin, petite hands) The weight for such a small knife is a bit heftier than some may like, but personally I think it gives it a sturdy and rugged feeling. The grip texturing could be a bit more aggressive, as it does feel a bit slick. But I plan to put some rubberized grip tape on it to fix this. The main issue we found was that the spring tension in the “speedsafe” action made deploying the knife a bit difficult at first for my girlfriend to do with consistency and speed. As well as the small, slightly jagged design of the “flipper” on the back of the guard making it a bit uncomfortable for her fingers to deploy repeatedly. I started playing with it myself for awhile, and I will say, it is quite stiff right out of the box, and does wear a bit on your index finger after awhile of flipping it. But after a few hundred deployments or so, it loosened up the spring enough for her to be able to deploy it a bit easier herself without much difficulty. I do wish the flipper was a it more rounded or larger, to prevent hot spots from forming while deploying it. But a dude with man hands shouldn’t find it that big of an issue. Lol Another slight issue I noticed was that since the knife looks so similar on both sides, it can sometimes be confusing as to which side the “flipper” side is actually on. Best solution I’ve found is just to make sure the clip stays facing away from you and toward your palm when pulling it out of the pocket, so that the flipper is always in the correct spot. (For righties anyway) I do think in a stressful life-or-death situation, this could be an issue since good ol’ Murphy tends to show up at the worst times. But with training and practice, it could potentially be mitigated. I don’t know if I’d recommend this blade for self defense for that reason though, even though the spear point/dagger style blade would be ideal for piercing and thrusting. I much prefer a wave feature on my defensive folders though, which seems to me to be the best and most foolproof method of deploying a folding knife in a stressful situation. This knife is much too stiff during deployment to be able to efficiently “wave” it out by using the guard on the pocket unfortunately… My girlfriend has more experience with spring assisted knives though, and has a tough time with waveable knives, especially with the ridiculously tiny pockets on her skinny jeans. Which is why I chose this knife for her instead. The size of this one still doesn’t fit in some of her jeans, but for those pairs she makes due by clipping it inside her waistband instead. (Works for yoga pants as well) all in all, My girlfriend loves it, especially the look and feel of it. She even plans to carry it daily for her EDC since she finds it so comfortable to carry due to its size. So I’m pretty happy with my purchase, despite the few minor things I’d change. 4/5 stars.

It’s a Kershaw, what more really needs to be said? I’ll say it anyway. First off, the spring assist is a must for me due to hand issues. It actually seems a bit stronger than the other ones I have. The handle feels nice in my hand, and it’s very sharp. The clip is on the opposite end of all my other knives, which is changeable from sides, just not the other end. It’s just something I’ll have to get used to, or not. Anyway, the price was right, I received it quickly. I have no regrets or complaints about this purchase. Good knives with a good warranty. I would buy this again.

I've had several Kershaw knives in the past and purchased this to replace my lost Boilermaker. Out of the box the blade was noticeably duller than my previous Kershaw knives. While the plastic handle is lighter weight it also feels a bit cheap, but maybe this just isn't the knife for me. The open assist feels good, the blade shape is nice, and I appreciate the symmetrical notches getting good purchase at multiple cutting angles. The downside due to the symmetry is that it's hard to quickly tell which of the two notches activates the flipper and multiple people I've handed the knife to had to struggle a moment to figure it out. With the blue anodized details maybe a red one would have been nice to show which one's the action from the top view. In summary, it's an okay enough pocket knife for $30 but I'm going back for another Boilermaker and leaving this one in the utility drawer.

Probably the 9 or 10th Kershaw knife I've purchased over the years and probably one of the cheaper models that I've bought. However at less than 30 bucks I am just as impressed with their quality as I am with the $50-$100. Anyone who is willing to spend at least bucks on a knife should put in the little extra cash and go with a Kershaw in this price range. Especially if they want assist opening action. This knife is superb. Razor sharp and smooth action out of the box. And I rarely if ever notice any wobble or looseness with Kershaw knives as they get used over time. I have 5+ year old knives with heavy usage that are as sturdy when locked like as they were brand new. Anyone who knows what I'm talking about will appreciate the lifelong sturdiness with no adjusting needed, especially an assisted opening knife. They tend to loosen over time much easier than locking folder but I have had basically zero complaints with every Kershaw knife I own and so far this is no exception. Again anyone who is willing to spend half this price on a knife should buy one like this and they surely wont be disappointed.

I have an eye for good quality and am very pleased with this one. Lock up and blade are tight and simply just a cool little knife for my collection. Good buy. Update 9/20/2025 - been carrying and using every day in construction work since mid June 2025. Probably the best knife purchase I've made. Worth every penny.

Super Messer