Camillus Sizzle Inquiry

I

infamous

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Jun 1, 2005
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I am inquiring as to some assisstance for information/reviews on the Camillus Sizzle.

I would be extremely interested in how people rate this little knife, as I have no prior experience with Camillus knives, nor features such as Camillus's "Robo-Power".

It is a small knife, and the aesthetics are appealing to me, with the Robo-Power assissting opening of the knife, being a bonus, not to mention being a Darrell Ralph design.

So what is the overall view of this particular item ?
Any feedback is most appreciated. :)
 
It's a very solid small knife with great blade steel (AUS-8a) The FRN handle has a nice feel to it. Robo assist works fast and strong and seems to be ultra durrable. This knife (as well as the entire line) uses a spring bar that may one day wear out but I don't see it breaking ever. (as opposed to other assisted mech.s) The liner-locks on these knives are strong with perfect blade play. (i.e. zero) The Sizzle was a bit small for me, but a good little knife just the same. I prefer the Blaze. **Go for it!**
 
It is an excellent, excellent knife!!!! I highly recommend it. It is a nice sheeple friendly size. Get one!!!
 
It's a great little knife and a LOT of fun to play with. But it's also very effective for small cutting tasks. I used it for a lot of little stuff, some of it tough cardboard and wood, and never dulled the edge. It was great for cleaning off threads and smoothing chipped fingernails.

I may get it back someday but I passed it on to my brother-in-law to play with! :D
 
If it's as solid as it's big brothers, it'll be a wonderful knife. The Heat is one of my favorites.

It's fast and kicks a little (something none of the AO Kershaws seem to do) and locks up solidly every time. The folded over liner lock is probably the best liner lock design I've seen and very comfortably to disengage, with little chance of accidental disengagement.

The blade steel is excellent and the zytel handle is very durable. I was using it at work once on a ladder and dropped it eight or ten feet onto the tile floor. It didn't phase the handle, but chipped the blade a little (in the upper inch and a half or so) and actually did more damage to the tile than the blade. AUS-8 is pretty forgiving and the chip sharpened out with ease and is still razor sharp.

I've had mine six months or so and it's as fast and solid today as it was when I got it. Don't let the Taiwan stamp deter you, it's an excellent little knife and worth much more than the asking price.

There are a few things I don't like about the Heat. The pocket clip seems a little short and I've always been afraid I was going to lose the knife. I haven't so far, but it's always a concern when I carry it. Second, the knife is a little bulky if you keep anything important in the same pocket that it's clipped on. Finally, the top of the handle (that acts as the blade stop) has some sharp edges. I actually scratched my hand bad enough to draw blood on the edges once while reaching into my pocket for something. After that little incident, the Dremel came out and smoothed that down.

Get the knife and enjoy... when I carry my Heat I can't help but flick it open over and over.
 
I had a HEAT which gave away (sniff..) as a gift but not before throughly examining it. Like said above, it opens strong with some felt torque. Locks very positive w/o blade play and comes VERY sharp from factory. SHEATH included!!! Good value overall. The heat is very comfortable in the hand but is somewhat larger and may be less inocuous to carry.
 
The metal liners in the polymer handle are a good idea, I think, because it greatly increases the stiffness overall. That makes it feel more "solid" during use, and probably helps minimize the chance of the liner lock failing if there is some torsion/twisting on the blade during cutting. That's true for the Heat, anyway. I assume the li'l version is the same.
 
Infamous,
I agree with everyones opinion of this knife. I have all three sizes and carry the HEAT as my EDC. The SIZZLE is a tad small for my large hands but it is a real knife not a toy. The one thing I did want to mention is the whole line were the sharpest knives out of the box that I have ever owned.

Good Collecting !
JOCKO
 
I handled the Sizzle at a store today.

Openning the blade with the flipper on the back worked well.

Openning the blade with the thumb stud did not work at all, for me at least. The clerk (a lady with small hands) had no trouble using the thumb stud, but even she had to first get the stud out a bit with the back of her thumbnail, before a final push with her thumb. If I owned the knife, I would carve out the handle notch more, to get better thumb access to the stud. I wouldn't want to be limited to just the back flipper, to open the blade.

The blade had no play when openned and locked, and had a very sharp edge.

Releasing the liner lock took quite a push, for a tiny knife like this. In fact, the whole mechanism was very tight....which is good, I guess.

I did not like the pointy bits of handle material at the hinge end of the handle. I realize they are what the thumb studs rest against, as a blade stop, but I would sand them down as far as possible, if I owned this knife.

Overall, I found it much too small to feel that I could safely open and close it using it's assisted openning mechanism. And I don't have large hands....medium. But, I would like to check out its bigger brothers; the Blaze especially....hopefully its handle is more suited to my hand size, and its 3" blade, I feel, is just right for my needs.

On a side note, the store clerk had no clue whatsoever about blade steel. I asked her what steel it was, and had to prompt her with terms like 440C, etc. She looked around for specs on the knife, and couldn't find any...then said it was probably 420! How to turn off a customer, eh? (I have since found out, on Camillus' webpage, that it is AUS-8 steel....a far cry from 420!)
 
Pocketknife said:
Openning the blade with the thumb stud did not work at all, for me at least. The clerk (a lady with small hands) had no trouble using the thumb stud, but even she had to first get the stud out a bit with the back of her thumbnail, before a final push with her thumb. If I owned the knife, I would carve out the handle notch more, to get better thumb access to the stud. I wouldn't want to be limited to just the back flipper, to open the blade.
Click to expand...

Those aren't thumbstuds, they're blade stops. They're not intended to be thumbstuds. Use the flipper, that's what it's there for.
 
Psycho, I guess that's why only that store clerk, with her tiny fingers, could open the blade well with the thumbstud.

But you've given me another question: Since the blade opens forcefully with the assist mechanism, and bangs those thumbstuds against the plastic handle scales, has anyone experienced the plastic wearing down at that impact point?

I'm more interested in this concern with the Blaze, since that's the size I'm possibly going to buy, and it has the same design.
 
I recently picked up the Blaze and it has all the good things that the Sizzle has. For me it's the perfect size for EDC. The only bad thing about it is now I want a Heat and the Dominator. Out of all the assisted opening knives I have handled the Blaze is my favorite.
 
Pocketknife, if you look at the knife (Heat, Blaze, Sizzle) the blade stops contact the exposed liners and not the FRN handle materal.
These are great knives!
 
Thanks very much, Wwells20. I will definitely have another look at it.
I will also look at it in terms of how much of that pointy end of handle material could be filed off, (if possible), so it doesn't catch on the edge of a pocket... or do you find that's not a problem?
 
Pocketknife said:
Thanks very much, Wwells20. I will definitely have another look at it.
I will also look at it in terms of how much of that pointy end of handle material could be filed off, (if possible), so it doesn't catch on the edge of a pocket... or do you find that's not a problem?
Click to expand...

Yes, that was a problem for me and I just took some 1000 grit sand paper and "eased" those sharp pionts off. This took very little work ~1 minute!
 
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