- Joined
- Mar 5, 2011
- Messages
- 546
Acquired recently, here's some fairly nice detail shots and my review of the Kizlyar Supreme knife, the "Biker Z".
It is worth noting that in Russia there are two knife factories with extremely similar names - there is "Kizlyar" from the southern portion of Russia [Dagestan] and then there is "Kizlyar Supreme" from St. Petersburg. While "Kizlyar" of Dagestan makes their knives from Russian or French steel and concentrates on a lot of hand detail, hand assembly and finish, "Kizlyar Supreme" of St. Petersburg makes blades with fine imported steels, and concentrates on more standard production methods using the most modern methods of laser cutting, CNC, and computer controlled manufacturing.
This Kizlyar Supreme model is called the "Biker Z". I'm not sure why its called the "biker" - it certainly doesn't look like something a bicyclist would be associated with, neither does it look like something a Harley Davidson biker would use. The "Z" apparently has to do with which type of lock it has; in this case a simple but sturdy liner lock.
This knife has a lot of great and really well thought out features. Complete overall length is 220mm long [roughly 8.66 inches]. The handle, at just under 5 inches in length, is a very nice done and excellently relieved G10 handle in a solid blue-grey color, with a notch for the index finger to both control the blade and allow excellent access to the liner lock. This is a common feature on Russian knives that you don't see in many other knives. There are also two reliefs on the sides; on one side they allow for your other three fingers to curl into the grip, and on the other side they work to minimize the single right handed pocket clip. Full steel liners are excellently placed so that they are not obnoxiously obvious [in fact you almost have to go looking for them]. upon further inspection you can see that they completely and fully reinforce the entire grip. Finally, there is a hole for attaching a lanyard of your own choosing [or making if you prefer].
The blade is a very practical drop point shape made from an extremely well heat treated piece of D2 tool steel that has an excellent edge out of the box. 30 seconds on a leather strop brought it to a razor hone. The blade is 3mm thick and 94mm long [roughly 3.7 inches long]. There is a flipper feature that doubles as a guard when folded out. It also has two thumb studs if you prefer to open it the old fashioned way. Jimping on the top of the blade starts a hald inch or so before the thumb studs and goes well within the handle - very nice - and was even finished to a nice matte textured in the recess of the jimping for grip and polished to match the blade on the flats. I'm impressed with the quality and attention to detail of this knife! One very unique and interesting feature in this knife is the Titanium coating the blade has been given - I've never seen its like before.
Carrying it felt easy - large enough to hold comfortably for a long time during tedious tasks in a variety of grips, but not so large or bulky as to feel like I had some kind of huge brick in my pocket. The D2 edge held a nice crisp shaving quality edge for a long time, despite cutting paper, cardboard, plastic bubble pack, paper packing tape and whittling pencils to a point. After two days of fairly constant use in these conditions the knife still cut paper, though it did so slightly raggedly and it would not shave hair. 2 minutes with a pair of ceramic rods and 30 seconds on the leather strop put it right back into shaving quality "hair fighting" trim. Proper heat treat, as well as excellent blade geometry helped a lot here. While it didn't have a shape or look that scared anyone regardless of where I pulled it out, it is still large enough to handle any task anyone could ask of it short of extreme survival where a fixed blade might be better [and Kizlyar Supreme makes some fixed blades that I'm looking forward to trying out at some point].
Fit and finish everywhere was excellent and top notch. There were no machining marks evident anywhere, nor sharp corners in any of the machining cuts. The G10 was grippy but smoothly cut. Blade play is nonexistent. The blade is fitted just tight enough that it takes a very slight flick of the wrist to open the blade with the flipper, but I have my suspicions that this is intentional - The designers knowing that knives loosen up as they age and are used, it would be better to have it wear into perfection than start out loose and wear into a sloppy mess. it opens smoothly and operates with ease and once its fully broken in it will be a complete dream. I've nearly got it there now from the two days of use.
...And just how tough is this knife...? well... decide for yourself;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps-O...t=PLmjh50_efvEEqPg2fnlCW28dyzUMVZK1m&index=18
Now on to the pics!
Here is the whole knife
The whole knife as compared to a standard 9.5" envelope
The top of knife - note the length and quality of the jimping
The bottom of the handle - note the notch for both index finger and manipulation of the liner lock, as well as the excellently hidden but very present full steel liners!
The pocket clip and lanyard hole
Blade marking, side a
Blade markings side b
Thanks for looking everyone, and I hoped you enjoyed the review and pictures of this wonderful new addition to my collection!
It is worth noting that in Russia there are two knife factories with extremely similar names - there is "Kizlyar" from the southern portion of Russia [Dagestan] and then there is "Kizlyar Supreme" from St. Petersburg. While "Kizlyar" of Dagestan makes their knives from Russian or French steel and concentrates on a lot of hand detail, hand assembly and finish, "Kizlyar Supreme" of St. Petersburg makes blades with fine imported steels, and concentrates on more standard production methods using the most modern methods of laser cutting, CNC, and computer controlled manufacturing.
This Kizlyar Supreme model is called the "Biker Z". I'm not sure why its called the "biker" - it certainly doesn't look like something a bicyclist would be associated with, neither does it look like something a Harley Davidson biker would use. The "Z" apparently has to do with which type of lock it has; in this case a simple but sturdy liner lock.
This knife has a lot of great and really well thought out features. Complete overall length is 220mm long [roughly 8.66 inches]. The handle, at just under 5 inches in length, is a very nice done and excellently relieved G10 handle in a solid blue-grey color, with a notch for the index finger to both control the blade and allow excellent access to the liner lock. This is a common feature on Russian knives that you don't see in many other knives. There are also two reliefs on the sides; on one side they allow for your other three fingers to curl into the grip, and on the other side they work to minimize the single right handed pocket clip. Full steel liners are excellently placed so that they are not obnoxiously obvious [in fact you almost have to go looking for them]. upon further inspection you can see that they completely and fully reinforce the entire grip. Finally, there is a hole for attaching a lanyard of your own choosing [or making if you prefer].
The blade is a very practical drop point shape made from an extremely well heat treated piece of D2 tool steel that has an excellent edge out of the box. 30 seconds on a leather strop brought it to a razor hone. The blade is 3mm thick and 94mm long [roughly 3.7 inches long]. There is a flipper feature that doubles as a guard when folded out. It also has two thumb studs if you prefer to open it the old fashioned way. Jimping on the top of the blade starts a hald inch or so before the thumb studs and goes well within the handle - very nice - and was even finished to a nice matte textured in the recess of the jimping for grip and polished to match the blade on the flats. I'm impressed with the quality and attention to detail of this knife! One very unique and interesting feature in this knife is the Titanium coating the blade has been given - I've never seen its like before.
Carrying it felt easy - large enough to hold comfortably for a long time during tedious tasks in a variety of grips, but not so large or bulky as to feel like I had some kind of huge brick in my pocket. The D2 edge held a nice crisp shaving quality edge for a long time, despite cutting paper, cardboard, plastic bubble pack, paper packing tape and whittling pencils to a point. After two days of fairly constant use in these conditions the knife still cut paper, though it did so slightly raggedly and it would not shave hair. 2 minutes with a pair of ceramic rods and 30 seconds on the leather strop put it right back into shaving quality "hair fighting" trim. Proper heat treat, as well as excellent blade geometry helped a lot here. While it didn't have a shape or look that scared anyone regardless of where I pulled it out, it is still large enough to handle any task anyone could ask of it short of extreme survival where a fixed blade might be better [and Kizlyar Supreme makes some fixed blades that I'm looking forward to trying out at some point].
Fit and finish everywhere was excellent and top notch. There were no machining marks evident anywhere, nor sharp corners in any of the machining cuts. The G10 was grippy but smoothly cut. Blade play is nonexistent. The blade is fitted just tight enough that it takes a very slight flick of the wrist to open the blade with the flipper, but I have my suspicions that this is intentional - The designers knowing that knives loosen up as they age and are used, it would be better to have it wear into perfection than start out loose and wear into a sloppy mess. it opens smoothly and operates with ease and once its fully broken in it will be a complete dream. I've nearly got it there now from the two days of use.
...And just how tough is this knife...? well... decide for yourself;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps-O...t=PLmjh50_efvEEqPg2fnlCW28dyzUMVZK1m&index=18
Now on to the pics!
Here is the whole knife
The whole knife as compared to a standard 9.5" envelope
The top of knife - note the length and quality of the jimping
The bottom of the handle - note the notch for both index finger and manipulation of the liner lock, as well as the excellently hidden but very present full steel liners!
The pocket clip and lanyard hole
Blade marking, side a
Blade markings side b
Thanks for looking everyone, and I hoped you enjoyed the review and pictures of this wonderful new addition to my collection!
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