Aesthetics & Feel: 91/100

The Kershaw Random Leek gets a 91/100 in aesthetics and feel. Its sleek, slim profile, polished stainless steel build, and reverse tanto blade have made this twist on the Ken Onion classic a favorite among bladesexuals.

The Kershaw Random Leek impresses with its smooth, lightweight design, making it virtually disappear in your pocket or waistband. Despite its minimal weight, the knife feels solid and well-constructed in-hand. This knife is on the smaller side, with a total length of 7” and a handle length of 4”. Kershaw Random Leek holds very nicely – unless you have Hariyama hands.

A notable feature of the Leek is the larger pocket clip, which some might find bulky, if not excessive. I quite like the larger clip. The clip not only gives the handle some much needed texture, but it secures the slip-prone knife nicely. The snappy, satisfying, spring assisted blade deployment on the Leek is a nice compliment to its theme.

A basic but solid frame lock, nonfunctional thumb studs, a blade safety, and visible handle screws round out the rest of the Random Leeks design.

My only gripe is with the pointless thumb studs. As a wise man once said, “The thumb studs on a Leek are akin to nipples on a man”.

Build Quality: 84/100

Build quality gets scored at 84/100 because of its full-metal solid build. The blade is made up of 14C28N steel – a hardy, tough metal that keeps its edge, but also sharpens quite easily. The reverse tanto blade is a great design upgrade compared to the original Leek blade design, which has a notoriously fragile (and scary) tip.

Performance: 78/100

While the Random Leek can be a fully functional EDC pick, I’ve found the best use for the Random Leek is simple slicing and cutting tasks. It just doesn’t stand up to similar blades for grittier tasks.

Value: 76/100

This is where I grade harshly. I could spew about how everything is overpriced, but I will save my tangent for another time.

The main value driver here is the 14C28N steel, which is widely regarded as a top-tier budget steel. Its sleek, easy-to-carry design, and solid build also score the Leek points here. The Kershaw Leek and its variants have been a top seller since its release in 2000 – for a good reason.

Although the Random Leek is (in my opinion) an upgrade from the OG Leek, the Random Leek gets beat out by other knives in the $50-$60 range as far as value goes. It’s less of a knock on the Leek, but more of an observation on how competitive this price range is.

You can’t go wrong with the Random Leek, but you could definitely go more righter (2.4 GPA btw) with a similar option. I will come back and revise this review when I’ve put more knives in the price range to the test, and offer some recommendations.

Overall Score: 82/100 – Highly Recommend