Which Kizer are you carrying today?

Chronovore said:
Go for it. I'd love to see how it turns out.

In addition to the dye job, I did a little edge rounding on my scales. It wasn't much but it made the difference from good to great. It also goes well with the factory-crowned spine, which is one of my favorite things about the Feist XL. I wish Kizer would do that to more of their knives. It's like the glittery stone-wash they do on this and other blades. It looks good, hides scratches well, and does not promote corrosion like a blasted finish can.

I carried mine yesterday...

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The crowned spine is a killer touch for sure, for the price it's really hard to beat. I've delayed grabbing one due to the front flipper, but after scowering many a similar less is more "symmetrical" models there just isn't anything in the size range I'm after except for the xl feist.

You did a good job blending the radii, but I'm surprised you didn't dye it black ;) I'm real curious to see how the micarta refinement goes as well. The sandblasted style they have it in now is my least favorite.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
The crowned spine is a killer touch for sure, for the price it's really hard to beat. I've delayed grabbing one due to the front flipper, but after scowering many a similar less is more "symmetrical" models there just isn't anything in the size range I'm after except for the xl feist.

You did a good job blending the radii, but I'm surprised you didn't dye it black ;) I'm real curious to see how the micarta refinement goes as well. The sandblasted style they have it in now is my least favorite.
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Thanks. I was doing a run of royal purple and it felt right. 😜

I actually like the fuzzy feel of this finish. The only other knock against the Feist XL is that the clip was giving me a little but of a hot spot, both in the loop and on the unnecessary corner below it. It was minor and I don't want to exagerate. Still, I tried to smooth it out with limited success. I might work more on it in the future. Here is a highlighted stock picture that might show what I mean. I'd have preferred a more generic clip shape...

(My dog ate the picture.)

My Kizer Agressor is less fuzzy but overall, I like it better than the Feist XL. The chunkier handle mates well with my hand and has a specific cut that makes it just as good in pinch grip. The bigger handle to blade ratio might not be for everyone but it's perfect for me. Of course, I did go around and soften all the scale lines... It's like the equivalent of a "melt finish" on guns. At least since modifying it, the Agressor is probably my favorite front flipper.

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Sorry to see it more of a ghost town in this sub-forum. Kizer has been on fire lately.

I've started to explore their Laconic budget line, which seems priced to compete with Sencut. I'm happy to see them using 9Cr18Mov instead of Chinese D2. The real question is what kind of heat treatment they'll give these. WE has really set the standard with an exceptional heat treatment on their 9Cr18Mov.

That's not to say I'm concerned. Kizer has a decent track record and 9Cr18Mov is a decent budget steel in general. Even at bog standard, 9Cr18Mov is a significant step up from the 8Cr13Mov still being used in this price range by Kershaw, CRKT, Spyderco, et al. It's just that WE has been running their 9Cr18Mov closer to 60HRC and doing it right. The Civivi and Sencut knives get notably better edge retention than 9Cr18Mov from other brands, at least so far.

I'm not a heavy user and my EDC rotation has gotten ridiculously large, so I look forward to hearing from the hard users and cut testers out there...

NEQiz9E.jpg
 
Chronovore said:
Sorry to see it more of a ghost town in this sub-forum. Kizer has been on fire lately.

I've started to explore their Laconic budget line, which seems priced to compete with Sencut. I'm happy to see them using 9Cr18Mov instead of Chinese D2. The real question is what kind of heat treatment they'll give these. WE has really set the standard with an exceptional heat treatment on their 9Cr18Mov.

That's not to say I'm concerned. Kizer has a decent track record and 9Cr18Mov is a decent budget steel in general. Even at bog standard, 9Cr18Mov is a significant step up from the 8Cr13Mov still being used in this price range by Kershaw, CRKT, Spyderco, et al. It's just that WE has been running their 9Cr18Mov closer to 60HRC and doing it right. The Civivi and Sencut knives get notably better edge retention than 9Cr18Mov from other brands, at least so far.

I'm not a heavy user and my EDC rotation has gotten ridiculously large, so I look forward to hearing from the hard users and cut testers out there...

NEQiz9E.jpg
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What is this new budget line of which you speak? I know next to nothing about
9Cr18Mov
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Or it's comparison to chinese D2 (which I use a lot of).
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
What is this new budget line of which you speak? I know next to nothing about

Or it's comparison to chinese D2 (which I use a lot of).
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Kizer recently launched their Laconic line. They are a bit more basic in construction and have fewer color or material options. Here is a link to the first batch at Knife Center. I got The Swedge pictured above and also the Seahorse. I really like the Seahorse but unlike The Swedge, the scale edges are fairly crisp. I'm going to round them off before I start carrying it.


I don't recall if you have Instagram but they just announced the second batch of designs in this series over there.


I may start a proper post about this...
 
Chronovore said:
Kizer recently launched their Laconic line. They are a bit more basic in construction and have fewer color or material options. Here is a link to the first batch at Knife Center. I got The Swedge pictured above and also the Seahorse. I really like the Seahorse but unlike The Swedge, the scale edges are fairly crisp. I'm going to round them off before I start carrying it.


I don't recall if you have Instagram but they just announced the second batch of designs in this series over there.


I may start a proper post about this...
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Looks like you grabbed the best design out of the first offerings ;) I don't have instagram but thank you for the link. I'll check back to see what the new release is doing.

You are certainly racking up one hell of a collection!
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Looks like you grabbed the best design out of the first offerings ;) I don't have instagram but thank you for the link. I'll check back to see what the new release is doing.

You are certainly racking up one hell of a collection!
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Thanks! Yeah, it's not just having knives. My EDC rotation has gotten a little silly and I've got a lot of minor modding projects just waiting in the wings. I'll be putting a few things up for sale in the near future. 😅

I started a separate thread for the Laconic series.
 
NG VI said:
Looks extremely competitive with the Tenacious/Resilience family
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Differences in blade shape aside, the better materials in this $44 knife are a slam dunk. Even with a mediocre heat treatment, 9Cr18Mov is a noticeable step up from the best 8Cr13Mov I've had (including on my Tenacious). I don't use the Spyderco forum much anymore but I remember Sal talking about possible future updates to their base steel. He said that they had previously considered 9Cr18Mov years back but their Chinese maker was having trouble with heat treatment. I don't know who they use for the Tenacious but I'd hope that wouldn't be an issue today.
 
Chronovore said:
Differences in blade shape aside, the better materials in this $44 knife are a slam dunk. Even with a mediocre heat treatment, 9Cr18Mov is a noticeable step up from the best 8Cr13Mov I've had (including on my Tenacious). I don't use the Spyderco forum much anymore but I remember Sal talking about possible future updates to their base steel. He said that they had previously considered 9Cr18Mov years back but their Chinese maker was having trouble with heat treatment. I don't know who they use for the Tenacious but I'd hope that wouldn't be an issue today.
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8Cr13Mov (if that's what they used in the tenacious) was probably one of the poorest performing steels I've owned. Granted, I never changed the factory grind or properly thinned and convexed the edge (just used the sharpmaker). It would go from hair shaving sharp to relatively dull after a few swipes through cardboard :(

Chinese D2 is a nice step but the heat treat seems hit or miss on it. some are run incredibly hard and tend get micro chips. I'm getting tired of it too. How do you find Kizer's 9Cr18Mov against the average chinese d2?
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
8Cr13Mov (if that's what they used in the tenacious) was probably one of the poorest performing steels I've owned. Granted, I never changed the factory grind or properly thinned and convexed the edge (just used the sharpmaker). It would go from hair shaving sharp to relatively dull after a few swipes through cardboard :(

Chinese D2 is a nice step but the heat treat seems hit or miss on it. some are run incredibly hard and tend get micro chips. I'm getting tired of it too. How do you find Kizer's 9Cr18Mov against the average chinese d2?
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While 8Cr13Mov can hold a ho-hum working edge for an okay-ish amount of time, the initial sharpness fades fast.

I've only had a few days with Kizer's 9Cr18Mov and haven't done any serious cutting with it. An unfortunate consequence of my EDC rotation exploding and carrying a different knife everyday is that I rarely have to sharpen now. I know. First world problems. 😜

I'm guessing LTK will get some of these punched for hardness soon. I'm hoping cut testers or at least harder dedicated users will be able to give us reports.
 
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Chronovore said:
While 8Cr13Mov can hold a ho-hum working edge for an okay amount of time, the initial sharpness fades fast.

I've only had a few days with Kizer's 9Cr18Mov and haven't done any serious cutting with it. An unfortunate consequence of my EDC rotation and exploding and carrying a different knife everyday is that I rarely have to sharpen now. I know. First world problems. 😜

I'm guessing LTK will get some of these punched for hardness soon. I'm hoping cut testers or at least harder dedicated users will be able to give us reports.
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I've noticed your collection getting pretty thick ;) I tend to use just one folder for about 6 months to give myself a chance to properly judge it's utility (design, steel/heat treat). Helps to be weirdly picky about the type of designs I like since there are so few to "test' lol.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
I've noticed your collection getting pretty thick ;) I tend to use just one folder for about 6 months to give myself a chance to properly judge it's utility (design, steel/heat treat). Helps to be weirdly picky about the type of designs I like since there are so few to "test' lol.
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Between Instagram, theme carry days here, and more hobby time going into minor modifications; my carry life has changed significantly over the last year or two. It's a lot of fun and I'm very happy to experience what I've been experiencing but there is a trade-off in terms of both quality time per knife and stone time with a given steel.
 
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