Leo Greer
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2021
- Messages
- 871
Folks, after about two weeks of owning this knife, here is my basic review. I don't plan on detailing every spec, or listing every single thing about this knife that a full review would. Instead, I'm just going to discuss my experience with it, what I like and what I don't.
Pictures will be posted in a later post.
So here we go.
MSRP: $110
eBay/current retail: $40-$70
First off, the Sovereign is a knife that, in some ways, feels more expensive than it is. It's a heavy bugger, and the weight of the blade, liner, and machined G10 combine to make it feel really solid in a way that I appreciate. It probably won't pull your pants down. The nice stonewash, and the relatively simple styling combine to give the vibe of a gentleman's folder that's also tough enough for real tasks, which I think Kizer does well.
For the make and quality, I think it both feels, and is, a really well put together knife. Everything locks in well, no sharp edges or loose parts, and everything is aligned well. The detent is smooth.
I am a fan of the modified sheeps foot blade design. The flat grind isn't super thin, but the blade can still handle some real cutting. It isn't a razor though. Made of N690, which, although I'm a fan of the steel in general, I fear wasn't the right choice. More on that later.
Pocketclip is nothing special, but comfortable. It is reversible, which didn't matter to me, but I know can make it or break it for lefties.
Can't speak to the heat treat.
The handle is made out of nicely machined G10 (looks and feels way more solid than the same stuff on my Civivi Wyvern Flipper) and really can only be held one way. The finger grooves are deep enough that if your hand isn't the right shape, you'll probably have trouble with knife. But, if your hand does fit, it's really truly comfortable, with enough height and width to the handle to allow larger hands plenty of room.
The action is dual--thumb-stud and flipper--and runs on washers, which I found slightly odd for a knife of this caliber. The flipper is large, smooth, and feels good on my finger. No jimping--a decision I agree with. The flipper action can definitely be failed intentionally, but after getting used to it, it rarely to ever fails. Does require a bit more power than something on bearings or with a lighter blade would.
The thumb-stud is much easier to fail than the flipper (when flicking out), but when used correctly can deploy the knife faster than the flipper...
Here's my main gripe with this knife. Really the only. The Sovereign is built like it's meant to be a tank knife, but the choice of steel really doesn't reflect that. It has washers on a $110 knife (which are used either for cheap knives, or for ones meant to get dirty...) when it could easily have bearings. The handle is large, and extremely grippy. The blade shape is beefy (3.6") with tons of cutting edge, and a fair thickness.
But, they used N690. N690 is super corrosion resistant, holds a decent edge, and isn't all that tough. Really, the corrosion resistance is its best attribute. Not the steel you really want on your tank knife. And it does sharpen up easily.
Now, heat treat and blade geometry could definitely affect this (correct me if I'm wrong about this particular example), but N690 should really not be the steel for what the rest of the knife seems to suggest. I'm not afraid to cut lemons with it, but I'd be hesitant before attempting to clean an animal or cut up twigs with it, even though that's what the blade shape and handle make me want to do...
That's really my only gripe. Everything else is nice, I think. Especially for the prices you can find.
Y'all's thoughts?
Pictures will be posted in a later post.
So here we go.
MSRP: $110
eBay/current retail: $40-$70
First off, the Sovereign is a knife that, in some ways, feels more expensive than it is. It's a heavy bugger, and the weight of the blade, liner, and machined G10 combine to make it feel really solid in a way that I appreciate. It probably won't pull your pants down. The nice stonewash, and the relatively simple styling combine to give the vibe of a gentleman's folder that's also tough enough for real tasks, which I think Kizer does well.
For the make and quality, I think it both feels, and is, a really well put together knife. Everything locks in well, no sharp edges or loose parts, and everything is aligned well. The detent is smooth.
I am a fan of the modified sheeps foot blade design. The flat grind isn't super thin, but the blade can still handle some real cutting. It isn't a razor though. Made of N690, which, although I'm a fan of the steel in general, I fear wasn't the right choice. More on that later.
Pocketclip is nothing special, but comfortable. It is reversible, which didn't matter to me, but I know can make it or break it for lefties.
Can't speak to the heat treat.
The handle is made out of nicely machined G10 (looks and feels way more solid than the same stuff on my Civivi Wyvern Flipper) and really can only be held one way. The finger grooves are deep enough that if your hand isn't the right shape, you'll probably have trouble with knife. But, if your hand does fit, it's really truly comfortable, with enough height and width to the handle to allow larger hands plenty of room.
The action is dual--thumb-stud and flipper--and runs on washers, which I found slightly odd for a knife of this caliber. The flipper is large, smooth, and feels good on my finger. No jimping--a decision I agree with. The flipper action can definitely be failed intentionally, but after getting used to it, it rarely to ever fails. Does require a bit more power than something on bearings or with a lighter blade would.
The thumb-stud is much easier to fail than the flipper (when flicking out), but when used correctly can deploy the knife faster than the flipper...
Here's my main gripe with this knife. Really the only. The Sovereign is built like it's meant to be a tank knife, but the choice of steel really doesn't reflect that. It has washers on a $110 knife (which are used either for cheap knives, or for ones meant to get dirty...) when it could easily have bearings. The handle is large, and extremely grippy. The blade shape is beefy (3.6") with tons of cutting edge, and a fair thickness.
But, they used N690. N690 is super corrosion resistant, holds a decent edge, and isn't all that tough. Really, the corrosion resistance is its best attribute. Not the steel you really want on your tank knife. And it does sharpen up easily.
Now, heat treat and blade geometry could definitely affect this (correct me if I'm wrong about this particular example), but N690 should really not be the steel for what the rest of the knife seems to suggest. I'm not afraid to cut lemons with it, but I'd be hesitant before attempting to clean an animal or cut up twigs with it, even though that's what the blade shape and handle make me want to do...
That's really my only gripe. Everything else is nice, I think. Especially for the prices you can find.
Y'all's thoughts?