Kizer Knives Sheepdog XL

[ricklee4570]

Kizer Vanguard Sheepdog XL Knife | Black G-10 | Blade HQ

The Kizer Sheepdog XL Vanguard knife has a refined, stylish appearance. This one has a black G-10 handle! Get your Sheepdog from Blade HQ!

www.bladehq.com

I got this knife a week ago, and have had time to use it. I am super impressed.

The quality is on par with any Spyderco I have owned (and I have a huge collection of Spydercos). For a big blade, they really ground the edge thin (hollow ground). The action is butter smooth, blade centered perfect and the handle (G10) is nice. All the sharp edges are rounded nicely. And lastly, the 154CM holds an edge reasonably well. It is RC at 60, plus or minus 2. That does seem like a large range (58RC to 62RC), but mine holds an edge very well as compared to my Spyderco Military in S30V.

 

[Chronovore]

Kizer Vanguard Sheepdog XL Knife | Black G-10 | Blade HQ

The Kizer Sheepdog XL Vanguard knife has a refined, stylish appearance. This one has a black G-10 handle! Get your Sheepdog from Blade HQ!

www.bladehq.com

I got this knife a week ago, and have had time to use it. I am super impressed.

The quality is on par with any Spyderco I have owned (and I have a huge collection of Spydercos). For a big blade, they really ground the edge thin (hollow ground). The action is butter smooth, blade centered perfect and the handle (G10) is nice. All the sharp edges are rounded nicely. And lastly, the 154CM holds an edge reasonably well. It is RC at 60, plus or minus 2. That does seem like a large range (58RC to 62RC), but mine holds an edge very well as compared to my Spyderco Military in S30V.

I used to think that cleaver-style EDC folders were silly. Then I got the Halloween special edition because it was what they did last year. I figured it would be silly fun once a year. Well, it ended up being awesome. The feeling of using a flipper tab to throw out that big rectangle of steel is just plain satisfying. I didn't put a lot of use on mine though. (It was too far past Halloween, so it is on ice until October rolls around again.)

If it's hanging with Spyderco's S30V and you're still close to the factory edge, that's impressive. As other reviewers have run into, factory edges are often at least a little fatigued from hot factory grinding. Edge retention will tend to pick up with subsequent edges. The question is by how much and how quickly you get down into fresh steel.