Kizer Cutlery - experiences?

cutter17 said:
You just have to start believing that it is true....a Chinese knife company CAN produce a top notch knife. I've been carrying my Phantom 5401A2 since Thursday and so far it's a winner in my book.


Btw, what is nano oil? I have seen it mentioned several times in different threads.
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An expensive lube that works well.
 
Do any of the BF dealers sell it? If not can someone email me and tell me where I can find it? I've used Miltec for the past 4 or 5 years and it has worked really well, but I am always on the look out for something even slippery!
 
cutter17 said:
Do any of the BF dealers sell it? If not can someone email me and tell me where I can find it? I've used Miltec for the past 4 or 5 years and it has worked really well, but I am always on the look out for something even slippery!
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Knifeworks sells the 10W version, which I believe is the most popular.

Tom
 
I bought mine where the moon shines after the sun goes down on the e-City. And yes, 10W is what you're after.
 
supposedly the nano oil is a rip off product of quicken nano lube. I have seen some data that seems to point to the nano oil you guys are using is inferior. I have both and vastly prefer the the diamond nano lube from quicken.
 
jeffsenpai said:
This particular model has caught my eye:
KI302B.jpg


VG-10 Damscus, Titanium framelock and flipper are good, plus it looks very nice.
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I have that one .
It's ok knife but the blade did not come sharp as VG10 should be . The finish also is just ok.
The blade is also not very well centered. For a short blade, it should be dead on.
The flipping action is ok.
But, I'm not crazy about the knife.
 
Anyone who has bad comments on Chinese manufacturing ability or quality has never brewed beer or have any experience with welding. Just about all commercial brewing equipment is manufactured in China. Even stuff sold by American supply companies. If you were to see the quality of the welds and polishing on this stuff which is all SS you would stop making comments on their abilities.

I'm American I HATE the fact they can do things as good if not better than we can here in the USA. I hate the fact that all our manufacturing jobs are going overseas and that we are becoming a service based economy. But I am also a lower middle class american and I have to get maximum value for my dollars. So yes I shop at Wal-Mart. I have a 1600 lumen flashlight I bought on EBay from China for $18 as opposed to a TAD Lenslight or a Surefire, I drive a KIA Optima instead of a Cadillac CTS. AND I will end up getting a Kizer instead of a Hinderer.

I wish things were different. I wish our government had protected our manufacturing jobs. I live in Maine where we used to make shoes and we had paper mills and most of those jobs have gone overseas. I wish I was in a position where I could afford to buy everything American.

But I'm not.

But saying all Chinese stuff is crap is just stupid and not true. I have yet to read a bad review on a Kizer. Reading this thread has made me really want one. Chinese or not.
 
Somehow I managed to almost read every post from the first one, and I'm more then convinced that I'll get one or two to start my kizer collection. Now the hard part it's picking what to get first, or which two for that matter.
 
zephyr11 said:
Somehow I managed to almost read every post from the first one, and I'm more then convinced that I'll get one or two to start my kizer collection. Now the hard part it's picking what to get first, or which two for that matter.
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get a kizer ki403, S35VN + ti frame lock for about $100? can't beat that price. I'm enjoying mine.
 
I had 3 Kizer's, now I have 2. The Klecker was given away to a young friend of mine. He and his wife came to visit me for a few days, and both are knifeknuts so I didn't mind getting the spare bedroom ready for company!

As always, anytime he comes for a visit so do the knives. As I was showing mine to him he fell in love with the Klecker, just absolutely could not put it down. So what else was I to do? They left on Thursday morning and I enlisted the aid of his wife to send back a surprise with him. About halfway through the ten hour trip I received a phone call from a very happy and surprised friend....actually thought he was going to start crying on me, which would have been 100% ok with me.

So the Klecker has a new home and to a good friend who will actually use the knife and be able to give me updates on how the knife steel is keeping an edge, and how the locking system is holding up. I am currently switching between the Ki5401A2 and the Gingrich GTI as my daily right pocket carry. Today it is the GTI.

It is good to have friends.:thumbup::)
 
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cutter17 said:
I had 3 Kizer's, now I have 2. The Klecker was given away to a young friend of mine. He and his wife came to visit me for a few days, and both are knifeknuts so I didn't mind getting the spare bedroom ready for company!

As always, anytime he comes for a visit so do the knives. As I was showing mine to him he fell in love with the Klecker, just absolutely could not put it down. So what else was I to do? They left on Thursday morning and I enlisted the aid of his wife to send back a surprise with him. About halfway through the ten hour trip I received a phone call from a very happy and surprised friend....actually thought he was going to start crying on me, which would have been 100% ok with me.

So the Klecker has a new home and to a good friend who will actually use the knife and be able to give me updates on how the knife steel is keeping an edge, and how the locking system is holding up. I am currently switching between the Ki5401A2 and the Gingrich GTI as my daily right pocket carry. Today it is the GTI.

It is good to have friends.:thumbup::)
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Sounds like it is really good to have friends like you. I mean that. Not being sarcastic. That was very kind of you to give your friend the knife he was so impressed with.
 
I just received my first Kizer - a KI4401X. S35N stonewashed blade, 6AL4V titanium handle & clip.

[Edit: I was very pleasantly surprised with this knife. I expected a decent knife at best or a cheaply made knife at worst. Instead this knife was impressive and much more knife with better F&F than some knives twice as expensive. A very good value, IMHO.]

From another thread:

SaintlyBrees said:
Well, I got my Kizer in and plan to do a full review in the review sub forum after I get some pictures taken. But here are a few comments...:

  1. Oddly, I did not get the knife that I ordered. I ordered a KI401X and received a KI4401X. The box was improperly labeled to indicate that it contained the KI401X, but it did not. In this case, it is not a big deal because the KI4401X is actually a slightly bigger and slightly more expensive knife and, as it turns out, I like it better. But I'm left with a non-matching box & knife which could be a resale issue. In this case, no big deal as I plan to make this a user and no plans to resell. If I were to guess, I would expect that it came from the factory like this as the knife's plastic bag was still sealed inside the box. The model number is marked on the blade, so if anyone buys a Kizer, double check that you actually get what you paid for.
  2. The F&F is outstanding as is the balance and feel. Blade is perfectly centered. No side-to-side or up-and-down blade play. Solid as a rock.
  3. I was surprised with how thin the knife was for its size. The fairly tight tolerances allow for a handle that barely contains the blade without any rubbing - nicely done. Hefty (mostly due to the substantial blade), but comfortable in-hand and pocket friendly.
  4. I don't like it when the clip is opposite the lanyard hole as is the case with this knife. I like using the lanyard to remove the knife from my pocket and that doesn't work if the clip is on the other side of the knife. Clip is not adjustable.
  5. Nice, clean grind and reasonably sharp out of the box.
  6. Flips nicely with little effort and no wrist action needed.
  7. Overall, a very nice knife for the price. I'm impressed.
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Pic borrowed from KW:

mgviPDG.jpg
 
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cutter17 said:
I had 3 Kizer's, now I have 2. The Klecker was given away to a young friend of mine. He and his wife came to visit me for a few days, and both are knifeknuts so I didn't mind getting the spare bedroom ready for company!

As always, anytime he comes for a visit so do the knives. As I was showing mine to him he fell in love with the Klecker, just absolutely could not put it down. So what else was I to do? They left on Thursday morning and I enlisted the aid of his wife to send back a surprise with him. About halfway through the ten hour trip I received a phone call from a very happy and surprised friend....actually thought he was going to start crying on me, which would have been 100% ok with me.

So the Klecker has a new home and to a good friend who will actually use the knife and be able to give me updates on how the knife steel is keeping an edge, and how the locking system is holding up. I am currently switching between the Ki5401A2 and the Gingrich GTI as my daily right pocket carry. Today it is the GTI.

It is good to have friends.:thumbup::)
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Yes, it is -- and what a great post! :)
 
My Kizer 3404 has developed rather noticeable side-to-side blade play.

I tightened the proprietary pivot as much as I could but it is still noticeable and seems to be getting worse.
 
What is the performance difference between the s35vn vs vg-10? A bit torn between the 3404 and the 304... Never really used a super steel like s35vn so I have no clue if there exists a vast difference or not.
 
Got me a Ki34043 for $115. Had it in my pocket a week. So far I like it.

The blade centering is slightly off, haven't tried to center it yet.
Tip down right side only, right is good for me, tip down, well, I can roll with that, although I find the flipper sometimes catching the corner of my right front pants pocket and partially deploying the blade when pulling the knife out. The clip is usable, but I really think tip up would go better with the flipper this thing has.

Very small amount of side to side play, will wait and see if it worsens with use before I try adjusting it, since it deploys quite smoothly as it is. Flipper action is working smoothly after a few dozen openings and a wee spot of lube, although I tend to use the thumbstuds out of habit. Detent is perhaps a bit less than I would like.

Cutting edge length is excellent, within maybe 2 millimetres of my Para 2's. Overall length its about 1.25 inch shorter than the Para 2, and a bit over 1/2 an ounce lighter.

Came reasonably sharp, hasn't had it's first visit to Wicked Edge Land yet. I have one other S35VN blade (Para 2) so will be interested to see how it sharpens, touches up, and holds an edge compared to that.

Overall I like it though, compact, light, certainly functional. And, to me, aesthetically appealing. For the price I paid, the Ti and the S35VN, yeah, so far I'm happy with it.
 
Kizer Knives Ki401B1

this is what i got in the end, VERY IMPRESSED, is all i can say, truly well made, and i'm checking here and there, and everywhere...

nothing out of place, though there is a very slight ding on the blade, it's noticeable because of the almost mirror finish.

also a very important note:

it is available with a TIP UP CARRY.

this was the first thing i noticed, a spare screw came out of the box in a ziplock, then i was wondering what was it for.

then i took out the blade, and realized that they have options for tip up / tip down carry. so the spare screw was for the extra hole on the knife, now i'm thinking they should have thrown in a spare piece to cover up the gap, coz it is weird that there's a spare bolt but nothing to cover the gap. i'll try to get some pics up later, to explain what i mean.

but i think this was one of the reasons a lot of people are not getting them yet, so go grab yours now!
 
PURPLEDC said:
supposedly the nano oil is a rip off product of quicken nano lube. I have seen some data that seems to point to the nano oil you guys are using is inferior. I have both and vastly prefer the the diamond nano lube from quicken.
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I'll try that next time . . . assuming I live long enough to run out of the Nano Oil I've got which, by the way, works just fine for me.
 
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