Kizer Aesthetics, a Breath of Fresh Air

Insipid Moniker

Insipid Moniker

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Feb 28, 2011
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From the slightly goofy, but charming footprints of the Walkabout to the almost jagged designs on the Shoal and the bubbling menace of the Zimba, is it just me or are these guys killing it? I don't like metal handles, I don't like framelocks and titanium doesn't matter to me at all, but it's nice to see a company making large modern knives that don't lean so darn heavily on a tactical motif.

I'm all about function over form, but I get a little tired of black G10 handles dominating the modern knife world. The anodizing and splashes of color Kizer often includes are another nice touch. I didn't realize that, given the choice between plain gray titanium and a rainbow of anodized colors I'd take the rainbow, but it turns out I will, even if just to break up the visual monotony.

Anyone else feeling me on this? I really think these guys, both in house and collaboration, are making the most visually interesting production knives on the market.
 
Yes - I agree. I only just purchased a Kizer, but their designs, particularly the recent designer variety, is wide-ranging and creative, while still being functional looking knives. I was looking for a 3" safe-for-work, non-tac folder and just picked up the walkabout specifically because I liked the canine motif :)
 
While I appreciate variety and original design, quite s bit of Kizers catalog looks simply ridiculous to me. I dig the Splinter and Kane and a few others, but the goofy handle designs and recurved blades ruin many of the designs for me.
 
They're definitely going in the right direction lately with their in-house designs; the Quicksilver, Mistral, and IFT-L are all very attractive to me, although there are a few aesthetic choices I could do without. Hopefully collaborating with noted makers will inspire their in-house people to try some cleaner designs.
 
I too dislike metal handles, though not enough to make me sell my most excellent Ki423. As much as I like the brand, most of their offerings are Ti. Then they come out with the Tomcat in colorful G-10. My wallet is burning with want.
 
I definitely agree that not all their attempts are hits, but I also think that's a somewhat inevitable side effect of having a bit more artistic approach.

I'm hoping they keep it up and start offering a broader variety of colorful G10 models. I'd absolutely love to see them license a proprietary lock as I think it would honestly push them over the top for me.
 
brancron said:
Cue the thread meltdown...
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LOL. Hopefully it will take more than what I posted to kill this thread, but time will tell . . .

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum sizewise (<4 oz.) and Kizer is knocking it out of the park for me. I've got a 3404A3, a Splinter, a Gemini, and there are more models coming all the time. As it stands now, Kizer seems slotted to take all of my knife budget for the foreseeable future.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I'd absolutely love to see them license a proprietary lock as I think it would honestly push them over the top for me.
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What would push them over the top for me is a Stateside service department. There's no way I'm going to pay $200+ for a knife I might have to send offshore to get serviced.
 
I think the fact that all of the people here have at least said they like one of the models in and of itself is enough to say that they are doing something right.

Trying to appeal to a group as widely diverse as the knife community as a whole is never going to be easy, and the fact that they seem to be able to at least get out one design for most of everyone is by itself impressive to me.
And, by the definition of that attempt, they are going to have some designs that just don't do it for some people at all, while they really sing to others. I don't think that's really a bad thing, and as long as they have the production capabilities to keep it up and keep as many customers happy as possible, it seems like a great business model for our extremely diverse tastes in knives.
 
I still absolutely love my Flashbang. The knife could honestly not be improved. The smoothness, the centering, the deployment, the lockup, the grinds, the feel in the hand, the total lack of any sharp edges (except the edge of course)--it just doesn't get any better in a production knife. Derk Razor Sharp did a rock pattern on mine but it was still great before that:

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I feel the same way about my Gemini. IMO, Kizer couldn't have done a better job on that knife. :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
Don't care for most of their designs myself. I prefer a very simple look, and don't care for most of their handles(shape or texture), or blade shapes.

I do think their plain Flashbang looks pretty good, and I think the Laconico Gemini looks great.
I don't buy China(but please don't flame me for it), but if I did the Gemini would be one that I would own. That's the style I like, and its a great looking knife, IMO.
 
I've bought a couple of Kizer's and ended up selling both. I think they're headed the right direction but at the most basic level I think there is a cultural difference in what they want to produce and market over here vs. what those of us in the states really look for. I've noticed that they tend to lean toward a more artistic design vs a fully functioning design. The metal handle that you guys mention comes to mind. In the review I did here it was pretty much the reason I sold it. It tended to lay some where between a tactical folder and a gentleman's folder but did neither justice. It just didn't fit a need that I needed and the F&F was off a bit. If you look at some of their designs vs. say what ZT has to offer, they rely more on aesthetics (Asian) than actual function. I think American makers do the reverse; we value a knife that just works; grippy, solid lock-up, good steel, easy deployment, and aesthetic art last. If we can manage both in a knife, they sell great. I could be wrong, but that's what I see...
 
Here's a picture of the new Mistral, which is an in-house design. I think it's absolutely gorgeous, unfortunately this model without the anodizing is an exclusive to an Italian retailer and thus is way too expensive for the American market:

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brancron said:
I still absolutely love my Flashbang. The knife could honestly not be improved. The smoothness, the centering, the deployment, the lockup, the grinds, the feel in the hand, the total lack of any sharp edges (except the edge of course)--it just doesn't get any better in a production knife. Derk Razor Sharp did a rock pattern on mine but it was still great before that:

xXS0ALh.jpg
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I don't need to say anything about the brand (we've all been down that road), but I will say that that is a gorgeous knife. Is that scale a custom? All the ones I've seen have a plain stonewash scale.
 
Misanthropia said:
Here's a picture of the new Mistral, which is an in-house design. I think it's absolutely gorgeous, unfortunately this model without the anodizing is an exclusive to an Italian retailer and thus is way too expensive for the American market:

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That's a beauty, all right. The Kizer part number for the anodized version is 3310A1. And it looks like another Kizer model that's right up my alley. :thumbup:

The hits just keep on coming . . . :D
 
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