corporation industry manufacturing founded portland oregon 1974 ; 42 years ago 1974 headquarters tualatin oregon key people jack igarashi chief of north american operations kai usa ltd. pete kershaw founder products knives number of employees 250 website http www.kaiusaltd.com kershaw knives designs and manufactures a wide range of knives including pocketknives sporting knives and kitchen cutlery . kershaw is a brand of kai usa ltd. a member of the kai group headquartered in tualatin oregon united states . 1 contents 1 history 2 products 3 entertainment 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit kershaw knives was started in portland oregon in 1974 when knife salesman pete kershaw left gerber legendary blades to form his own cutlery company based on his own designs . 2 3 4 early manufacturing was primarily done in japan . in 1977 kershaw became a wholly owned subsidiary of the kai group . 2 4 5 in 1997 the u.s. production facility was opened in wilsonville oregon . due to an expanding market the facilities were moved to a larger production site in 2003 . currently kai usa manufacturing facilities are located in tualatin oregon with some goods coming from their japanese and chinese factories . 4 kai usa ltd. has three lines of products ; kershaw knives brand of sporting and pocketknives shun cutlery handcrafted japanese kitchen cutlery 4 and zero tolerance a line of premium and professional knives . kershaw has collaborated with a number of custom knife makers over the years to produce ground breaking knives . collaborations include working with hall of fame knife maker ken onion on kershaw s speedsafe knives 6 7 ernest emerson grant and gavin hawk frank centofante rick hinderer rj martin and more . 8 in 2002 kershaw released a steven seagal model featuring stingray leather on the handle . 9 10 in 2004 kershaw developed a multi tool for the national geographic society with national geographic filmmaker bryan harvey . kershaw has also released models in collaboration with jeep orange county choppers the american professional rodeo association and the rocky mountain elk foundation . a kershaw leek assisted opening knife in action . kai usa ltd. and its kershaw zero tolerance and shun brands have a history of garnering industry awards . in may 2005 kai usa ltd. won four of the top awards at the blade show in atlanta georgia . 11 this was the first time in the show s history that one company won this number of awards in one year 2005 overall knife of the year 2005 most innovative american design 2005 kitchen knife of the year and 2005 knife collaboration of the year . 11 in june 2007 kai usa won the blade show s overall knife of the year award with the kershaw tyrade model 1850 in which the company s patent pending composite blade technology using two different steels in the same blade was introduced . 12 the blade steels were d2 tool steel at the cutting edge and a spine of 154cm stainless steel . 2009 brought a kershaw win for the speedform model 3500 . in 2010 kershaw won american made knife of the year for the tilt model 4001 and shun won kitchen knife of the year for the shun premier line . 13 zero tolerance s 0777 won overall knife of the year the zt rick hinderer 0560 0561 won collaboration of the year and the shun fuji line won kitchen knife of the year in the 2011 blade show . 14 then in 2012 kai usa ltd. repeated its four win sweep of the blade show awards . the zero tolerance 0888 won overall knife of the year while the 0600 won for collaboration of the year . the kershaw cryo won 2012 s best buy of the year and the shun taiyo was the 2012 kitchen knife of the year . 15 products edit kershaw knives pocketknives and sporting knives designed for every day use camping hunting and fishing zero tolerance knives premium knives developed in loose collaboration with custom knife makers for the law enforcement and military markets . 8 shun cutlery handcrafted kitchen cutlery kai housewares kitchen cutlery and household products entertainment edit in the television show ncis special agent leroy jethro gibbs played by mark harmon is seen using a zero tolerance 0302 knife . steven seagal and his kershaw collaboration knife appear in the movie driven to kill . kershaw knives have appeared in numerous other television shows and movies including lost and supernatural . shun cutlery has appeared in two and a half men modern family how i met your mother hannibal tv series desperate housewives and chef film . in the television show person of interest the character john reece played by jim caviezel is frequently seen using a kershaw blur . 16 see also edit list of companies based in oregon references edit voyles j. bruce 1985 . knives in the northwest . blade magazine . 13 4 38 . a b pacella gerard 2002 100 legendary knives iola usa krause publications 145 . isbn 0 87349 417 2 inman naomi 2002 birds and bees how businesses are really born business is blooming oregon s outdoor retail industry leads the world . brainstorm northwest magazine october 2002 a b c d kershaw knives american handgunner may june 2005 kai acquires the balance of universal chain drug review january 2007 cascio pat 2007 . kershaw s latest tactical folders knives illustrated february 2007 gardner jim 2004 sweet onions guns magazine june 2004 a b ewing dexter 2013 . factories drink from the custom maker well . in joe kertzman . knives 2014 the world s greatest knife book 34 ed . . iola wisconsin f w media . pp. 42 46 . isbn 978 1 4402 3700 3 . cascio pat . 2003 . steven seagal s knife tactical knives magazine november 2003 campbell robert k. 13 march 2009 . the gun digest book of personal protection & home defense . iola wisconsin krause publications . p. 118 . isbn 1 4402 2443 9 . a b kershaw knives . american handgunner . may june 2006 . findarticles.com . 15 jul. 2008 . http findarticles.com p articles mi m0btt is 181 30 ai n26806136 shackleford steve 2007 . hand salute the blade magazine knives of the year . blade magazine . november 2007 http www.knifeblog.com 2010 blade magazine award winners http www.eiseverywhere.com ehome 21409 30567 kai s the limit . blade magazine . november 2012 . https kershaw.kaiusaltd.com blog any person of interest fans out there external links edit kershaw knives official site v t e knives and daggers list of daggers list of blade materials types of knives aircrew survival egress knife athame balisong butterfly ballistic ballpoint pen knife bayonet boline bolo boning boot knife bowie bread knife cane knife cheese knife chef s knife cleaver clip point combat knife commander corvo cqc 6 deba b ch diving knife drop point electric knife fairbairn sykes fighting knife gerber mark ii ginsu grapefruit knife gravity knife gunong hunting knife jacob s ladder karambit k la kirpan kitchen knife kukri laguiole knife machete mandau mezzaluna misericorde mora knife multi tool nakiri b ch navaja neck knife nontron knife opinel knife palette knife pantographic knife parang penknife penny knife pocket knife putty knife puukko rampuri resolza sabatier sami knife santoku sark scalpel seax sgian dubh sharpfinger shiv sliding knife smatchet sog knife straight razor strider smf survival knife swiss army knife switchblade taping knife throwing knife tomato knife trench knife tumi ulu utility knife warrior knife x acto yanagi ba yatagan types of daggers anelace applegate fairbairn fighting knife arkansas toothpick bc 41 bagh naka baselard bichuwa bollock dagger cinquedea dirk ear dagger emeici fac n french nail hachiwara hunting dagger janbiya kaiken kalis kard katar khanjali khanjar kris mark i trench knife ocean edge knife parrying dagger poignard push dagger rondel dagger seme shobo sica stiletto tant marine raider stiletto v 42 stiletto yarar parachute knife yoroid shi knife manufacturers aitor al mar knives american tomahawk company bear mcg benchmade b ker buck knives caber camillus cutlery company cattaraugus cutlery company chris reeve knives cold steel columbia river knife & tool cuisinart cutco cutlery dovo solingen dexter russell dirte knives eikhorn ek commando knife co. emerson knives erizo f. dick f llkniven famae fiskars f ritechnics gerber legendary blades global golok hanwei imperial schrade j. a. henckels ka bar kershaw knives kitchenaid korin japanese trading company kyocera leatherman mad dog knives mercworx microtech knives morseth murphy knives ontario knife company opinel pro tech knives randall made knives ranz rigid knives r sle sog specialty knives sabatier a n & perrier spyderco strider knives survival aids tekna thiers issard tramontina victorinox vox knives w. r. case & sons cutlery co. walther arms wenger western knife company wilkinson sword windlass steelcrafts w sthof yarara ltd knifemakers a.g. russell american bladesmith society rex applegate james black blackie collins john nelson cooper ernest emerson jerry fisk phill hartsfield bill harsey jr. gil hibben knifemakers guild zanjan knifemakers jimmy lile bob loveless bob lum william f. moran ken onion ralph osterhout bo randall chris reeve jody samson william scagel mike snody robert terzuola michael walker buster warenski daniel winkler book knives and daggers category knives daggers retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kershaw knives & oldid 743983495 categories knife manufacturing companiessporting knife brandskitchen knife brandscompanies based in tualatin oregoncompanies established in 19741974 establishments in oregonamerican brands navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload 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