Rendering of the Nomad Flipper and info on release date

Thomas Carey said:
Love the shape of the blade and handle on this one. Has pricing been released?
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Thank you! I don't have the price sheet in front of me but MSRP is $255-$260. So, we will see where it actually falls with some on line dealers.

I did find out that the first prototypes of my knives were accidentally taken to SHOT. So, the Nomad with flipper isn't there. It was decided not to display the non flipper version. I agree with that. The Escort and Rogue models were displayed because the changes I made from the original prototypes weren't that dramatic. So, they are on display and the Rogue was in the knifenews video from the show.
 
The picture in the 2016 catalogue shows the Nomad with a thumstud. Is that the final version? I'd prefer without, but I can live with it, if it's easily removable.
 
The photos shown in the catalog is still the "pre-final approval" stage which was all that was available at the time of setting up the catalog. Once we are past the New Year phase, I'll see if I can chase down some more photos.

Thank you.

Kizer
 
Dirk said:
So, you would like the thumbstud left on with the flipper?
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My preference for opening mechanism is a round hole. Works reliably and fast under all conditions, including gloved hands. I know that is a spyderco trademark so may not be an option. A thumb disc works better than a stud, again, easier to get purchase on it than a stud. After that a good thumbstud is sufficient for me and I do not need a flipper at all. Having said that, it seems the market is in love with flippers and understand that that may drive decisions like this, so I was thinking retention of the thumbstud while keeping the flipper was an acceptable compromise. But no, I would prefer flipperless entirely. Whatever the decision is, it is a very nice looking blade!
 
dogrunner said:
My preference for opening mechanism is a round hole. Works reliably and fast under all conditions, including gloved hands. I know that is a spyderco trademark so may not be an option. A thumb disc works better than a stud, again, easier to get purchase on it than a stud. After that a good thumbstud is sufficient for me and I do not need a flipper at all. Having said that, it seems the market is in love with flippers and understand that that may drive decisions like this, so I was thinking retention of the thumbstud while keeping the flipper was an acceptable compromise. But no, I would prefer flipperless entirely. Whatever the decision is, it is a very nice looking blade!
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Thank you, very much for that. While giving customers what they want is a very important, it isn't always the driving factor. There was a huge call to make the Nomad a flipper after the I started showing photos of the prototype. After I had a chance to work with the prototype for a while I realized a change was needed. The primary reasons for going to a flipper on this particular design was the overall geometry of the knife and where the thumbstud ended up when closed. The knife is narrow enough and the thumstuds location when closed makes it a little more challenging to open than it should be. I played with changing the blade a little to be able to relocate the thumb stud. However, I wasn't happy with the look. It just completely changed the knife. So, going with a flipper made more sense and I believe added to the look. I do have some other "persian" style folders that work well with thumbstuds. I believe they are sufficiently different enough that Kizer just might be interested in them.

Oh, I do have a design or two that would work with an opening hole in the blade. Personally, I am not a huge fan of just adding a little more material to the blade to make room for an opening hole. I find the results generally change the look of the knife for the worse.

An opening disc might work. I will ask if Kizer if they are willing to prototype it. Who knows, maybe they might do that and do a "pass around" and get feedback.
 
First time i noticed Nomad I wasn't impressed because it wasn't flipper.But now I can't wait to get it!!!For me it is always much better to see clean blade without thumb stud.And I love flippers..not the bad ones...Only high quality..and this is reason why I love so much Kizer flippers.

Mr. Dirk and Mr. Kizer do you maybe have release date for the Nomad?
 
Dirk,
Thanks for the insights. It is great to get the inside scoop / reasoning directly from the designer. I think it is great that you and Kizer are going forward with your designs. They won't all appeal to everyone, and that is ok. I have too many knives anyway :) I like a nice clean Persian design and agree that contriving a "feature" can detract from the design. I'll be interested to see what you come up with. And then, there are always some of your other projects to anticipate.
 
Apolon_CRO said:
First time i noticed Nomad I wasn't impressed because it wasn't flipper.But now I can't wait to get it!!!For me it is always much better to see clean blade without thumb stud.And I love flippers..not the bad ones...Only high quality..and this is reason why I love so much Kizer flippers.

Mr. Dirk and Mr. Kizer do you maybe have release date for the Nomad?
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Thank you! Nothing solid at this point. We should have some more information very soon.
 
I'm not a big fan of thumbstuds (or thumbdisks) in general, because they get it in way of deep cuts and in some cases you can't even sharpen a folder properly because of oversized, immovable thumbstuds. Thumbstuds on flippers seem to be particularly pointless, and frankly that's the reason why I haven't bought many of Kizer's designs to date.

So you know my vote. You could make a flipper version with no thumbstud, and a thumbstud version with no flipper. I'd be willing to bet which sold better (hint: the Gemini seems pretty popular!).

In any event, I'm happy to see you do a quality production collaboration, Dirk. I've always liked your custom small SD fixed blades, and I have one of them.
 
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Brummie said:
I'm not a big fan of thumbstuds (or thumbdisks) in general, because they get it in way of deep cuts and in some cases you can't even sharpen a folder properly because of oversized, immovable thumbstuds. Thumbstuds on flippers seem to be particularly pointless, and frankly that's the reason why I haven't bought many of Kizer's designs to date.

So you know my vote. You could make a flipper version with no thumbstud, and a thumbstud version with no flipper. I'd be willing to bet which sold better (hint: the Gemini seems pretty popular!).

In any event, I'm happy to see you do a quality production collaboration, Dirk. I've always liked your custom small SD fixed blades, and I have one of them.
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Thank you for the good words. It is very much appreciated. More than likely, the Nomad will stay as the rendering depicts, flipper with no thumb stud. I am working on a similar (persian style) blade for the Vanguard line. That design would be the one to possible see either be a thumb stud/disc or thumb stud/disc with flipper.
 
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