FOG HORN GEAR REVIEW
Kershaw’s Outcast -1079
By: Sal Palma
The concept of survival is quite subjective. If
you ask 100 people for a definition, I am
fairly certain that you would see 100
different answers. My definition of survival,
wether in combat or recreation, is self
preservation. Survival, especially in hostile
environments is not intuitive; it requires
knowledge, acquired through training,
discipline and a cool head.
An innocent looking bush ladden with
berries can kill you, for example our own
Florida native Abrus Precatorius; so, it’s
important to understand what you are
doing and it is equally important to be
prepared.
What drives your choice of survival tools?
Once again, there are many opinions based
on the broad number of paramaters
influenced by your own definition of
survival, but I submit that self preservation
requires three basic things: shelter,
nutrition and defense. Therefore, when we
select a survival knife, we look for a tool
Copyright, 2010, Sal Palma, dba Twobirds-Flying Publication. All rights reserved.
01, March, 2010
that, in the absence of all else, helps us
secure the three basics.
It is very easy, especially with today’s
technologies, to look at survival skills as a
lost or antiquated training doctrine. This
thought process, I think, comes from 8
years of fighting the global war on terror
(GWOT), where the combatant is relatively
unsophisticated and technologically
inferior. We need to break that train of
thought and once again focus on developing
a core set of skills to carry us through if and
when we lose air superiority over an AO, or
if our communications satellites are
destroyed, or if our net centric command
and control is denied through cyber attacks.
In my travels, I am always amazed at the
number of individuals that cannot shoot
bearings with a compass, properly orient a
map, or plot a magnetic course. They rely
soley on their GPS receiver!
Therefore, to me, survival is more aptly
defined as self preservation when all of
your support mechanisms have failed.
Following that logic, a great survival knife is
one that you can dig, chop, cut and kill with;
these functions are fundamental to any
knife calling itself a survival tool. More
specifically, what I look for in a survival
knife is a fixed blade with extraordinary tool
strength, a blade length between 7 to 10
inches, blade thickness of .15 to .25 inches
and a handle that provides a secure grip.
The ideal survival knife should also be
balanced forward of the handle so that
there is heft in the blade for chopping.
These charateristics are essential in my view
and everything else is secondary.
 FOG HORN GEAR REVIEW 01, March, 2010

With this criteria in mind, let’s take a look at For our test sample, we selected a Ken
Kershaw’s Outcast-1079. Onion design, the Outcast -1079.

Review

The Outcast is a fixed blade design made

from D2 tool steel.
When the Sniper Cutlery project was
D2 steel , UNS Number T30402, is a high
conceived, our objective was to present our
carbon and high chromium air cooled steel.
readers with a three part expose’ of tactical
It is used extensively in the manufacture of
folding knives, fighting knives and survival
tool and dies, because of its toughness. D2
knives. We intentionally avoided exotic
steel has excellent rust risistance due to its
designs because we saw them more as
12% chromium content; making it an
collector pieces rather than working tools.
excellent choice for hard outdoor use.
With that in mind, we contacted a group of
The Outcast has a 10 inch flat ground blade
companies who are industry leaders,
that is .18 inches thick giving this knife
Kershaw is such a company.
tremedous heft.
Kershaw was founded in Portland, Oregon,
Although some survival schools prefer
in 1974, by Peter Kershaw. Pete brought to
shorter blades, usually in the range of 6 to 7
Kershaw not only his own designs but a
inches, I like the Outcast’s 10 inch blade
world of experience gain from his work with
because it made batoning through a small
Gerber.
log very easy. If I were in the cockpit of an
In 1977 Kershaw knives became a wholly
aircraft I would probably opt for a shorter
owned subsidiary of KAI.
blade; however, the Outcast can be easily
KAI is a Japanese group that began as a
carried on your belt or attached to your
small pocket-knife company in Seki Japan.
pack.
Today, KAI has a global presence and
The Onion designed blade is finished in a
manufactures, imports and sells more than
black Teflon and has a slight “s” shape,
10,000 pieces of cutlery serving a variety of
producing a very nice belly and a concave
applications and markets.
edge towards the handle. When combined
KAI, USA is responsible for Kershaw Knives,
with how the knife is balanced, about 1.5
SHUN Cutlery and ZT Knives.
inches forward of the handle, all of the heft
is forced on to the blade’s belly making the

Copyright, 2010, Sal Palma, dba Twobirds-Flying Publication. All rights reserved.
 FOG HORN GEAR REVIEW
Outcast as good as any axe for taking on a
log or small tree.
The grip, made from Santropene, has a
curved shape that fits the hand very
comfortably. The designer also included
finger grooves that are simply outstanding
in terms of ensureing a secure grip, and
greatly contributing to comfort. This was
evident when chopping through a small log.
The combination of the grip’s shape and the
use of ribbed Santropene does an excellent
job of insulating the user from hand
fatigueing shock; an extremely important
feature and well worth the emphasis.
A good knife is a system where all of the
components interact, and an excellent knife
without a good sheath is less and not more.
Here, Kershaw, once again, does it right.
The Outcast ships with an excellent Kydex
sheath that is MOLLE compatible. It
Copyright, 2010, Sal Palma, dba Twobirds-Flying Publication. All rights reserved.
01, March, 2010
attaches to your vest, pack or patrol belt so
that it can be carried in a number of
different ways. Kershaw also provides
linend holes along the periphery of the
sheath that will accommodate mil-spec 550
paracord as an alternative fastening
arrangement.
Conclusion
As a survival tool, the Outcast satisfies all of
our basic requirements. Everything about
this knife is down-to-earth and well thought
out. Its D2 steel construction makes it
vitually impervious to breakage, and offers
very good to excellent corrosion resistance.
The flat ground 10 inch blade lends itself to
chopping, cutting and digging; combine that
with a blade thickness of .18 inches and you
have a knife with some serious tool
strength. I cannot forsee a practical use that
would result in breaking the blade or its
edge.
Finally, when you combine all of those
attributes with an excellent Kydex sheath,
at an MSRP of $125, you walk away with a
winner.
It’s not hard to see why Kershaw received
five awards, in 2005, at the Blade Show in
Atlanta.
-SP