I've recently started getting back into knives after a couple decades. I think the last time I got any knife that didn't come as a freebie or bundled with a multitool was more like 15 years ago (it may have been a SOG). Living in the Portland, OR area, I've mostly been picking up stuff from ZT and Benchmade, though I also bought a couple of newer Gerbers and CRKTs.
After going down the YouTube rabbit hole, I decided I wanted a front flipper for the novelty of it. I came across the Kizer Apus and it checked off a lot of the boxes I wanted in terms of size, aesthetics, materials, and features. Bearings obviously weren't common back in the late 90s and early 2000s. As good as a couple of the ZTs I bought are, the bearings in this Kizer are kind of insane. I find myself opening it with two hands a lot just cause I want to unfold it slowly and see if I can feel any sign of grittiness. It's kind of like gliding an ice cube across a glass table that's been covered with cooking spray.
For those who have more experience with this brand, is this smoothness common? Or did I just manage to get an unusually good sample with regard to action? There's a few minor build quality things that aren't so good, but they're mostly nit picks. But if this is what I should expect from them, I might want to pick up a couple more.
After going down the YouTube rabbit hole, I decided I wanted a front flipper for the novelty of it. I came across the Kizer Apus and it checked off a lot of the boxes I wanted in terms of size, aesthetics, materials, and features. Bearings obviously weren't common back in the late 90s and early 2000s. As good as a couple of the ZTs I bought are, the bearings in this Kizer are kind of insane. I find myself opening it with two hands a lot just cause I want to unfold it slowly and see if I can feel any sign of grittiness. It's kind of like gliding an ice cube across a glass table that's been covered with cooking spray.
For those who have more experience with this brand, is this smoothness common? Or did I just manage to get an unusually good sample with regard to action? There's a few minor build quality things that aren't so good, but they're mostly nit picks. But if this is what I should expect from them, I might want to pick up a couple more.
