Mini-Kwaiken

Redwood25

Redwood25

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2015
Messages
1,277
I ordered one of BladHQ's Mini-Kwaiken smoke wash knives last week totally on a whim. I always thought the Kwaiken looked interesting, but had wished it was a bit smaller. I got an email from BladeHQ, and said "ok, I'll bite".

Well, I can not believe how much I love this little knife. What a solid little performer. Is it perfect? No. There are a few smallish flaws in this thing, but they seem to be purely cosmetic, and the won't bother me at this price.

Anyway, good job on this one! This will go along with a couple of others into the group of knives that totally surprised me. Love it!
 
Redwood25 said:
I ordered one of BladHQ's Mini-Kwaiken smoke wash knives last week totally on a whim. I always thought the Kwaiken looked interesting, but had wished it was a bit smaller. I got an email from BladeHQ, and said "ok, I'll bite".

Well, I can not believe how much I love this little knife. What a solid little performer. Is it perfect? No. There are a few smallish flaws in this thing, but they seem to be purely cosmetic, and the won't bother me at this price.

Anyway, good job on this one! This will go along with a couple of others into the group of knives that totally surprised me. Love it!
Click to expand...

I have the Boker Mini Kwaiken in titanium but it's a tad heavy so the CF one should go better plus it's blackwashed. I like how slim it is.

What consmetic blemishes are on yours?

Is the balde centered and solid lockup?
 
One of the liners appears to not be 100% true. It's minor, but I notice. It doesn't affect function at all. Lockup, centering etc, is great. Yes, even with the CF, it feels a tad heavy for its size, but it fires well, feels rock solid, and is just a great little knife. Again, a keeper, for sure!
 
Redwood25 said:
One of the liners appears to not be 100% true. It's minor, but I notice. It doesn't affect function at all. Lockup, centering etc, is great. Yes, even with the CF, it feels a tad heavy for its size, but it fires well, feels rock solid, and is just a great little knife. Again, a keeper, for sure!
Click to expand...

All the Boker Kwaikens are on the heavy side due to the thick steel liners. I wish they'd drill some holes in the liners to lighten them up. The CF is lighter than my TI which is another reason I ordered a CF smokewashed today.
 
Redwood25 said:
One of the liners appears to not be 100% true. It's minor, but I notice. It doesn't affect function at all. Lockup, centering etc, is great. Yes, even with the CF, it feels a tad heavy for its size, but it fires well, feels rock solid, and is just a great little knife. Again, a keeper, for sure!
Click to expand...

NIce one. Wish I can pick out mine in person.
 
My Kwaiken and Mini Kwaiken collection in TI & Smokewashed CF.

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425KRS said:
New exclusive out for the mini, called tuxedo with both ti and carbon: http://www.bladehq.com/item--Boker-Mini-Kwaiken-Tuxedo-Flipper--36330

What do you guys think?
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Like it very much but waiting for the 3.5" version to be restocked. Graceful and practical blade shape. VG-10 is good steel, nothing exotic, but holds an edge well and easy to maintain. Overall package is lighter than the standard production models which is a good improvement. Beautiful gents knife. Don't care much for the standard Boker clip as I think the Kwaiken design screams for a deep pocket carry clip.

Currently rocking the standard 3.5" CF model. Love it but will be replacing the clip with a deep carry clip. Hoping to add the 3.5" Tuxedo version to my collection soon.
 
Man, I just acquired the tuxedo version of the mini-Kwaiken, and I'm in love. Selling my G10 mini immediately - the ti/cf combo is so nice, plus I'm liking the grind lines WAY more on the tuxedo. One aesthetic difference that is major (imho) is the plunge line/ricasso (a little unclear on my knife anatomy, so go easy) is now parallel to the handle edge - on previous kwaikens it was at an odd angle that intersects the handle edge. Being parallel really cleans up the lines of the knife in a beautiful way.
***note: Looks like the new smokewash mini is also sporting the new grind lines too!
 
Hello All. This is my first post and question here. I purchased a new CF mini kwaiken, and found it does not flip
completely open. I tried some benchmade lubricant but only helped a little. Is there anything you can suggest
short of taking the knife apart and applying fresh grease? I saw something about giving the locking portion of the
liner a careful bend to relieve some of the pressure. I watched a couple U-tube videos on disassembly.
Have any of you had this issue out of the box? Mine is number 89. Thank you for your replies.
 
Illiya K. said:
Hello All. This is my first post and question here. I purchased a new CF mini kwaiken, and found it does not flip
completely open. I tried some benchmade lubricant but only helped a little. Is there anything you can suggest
short of taking the knife apart and applying fresh grease? I saw something about giving the locking portion of the
liner a careful bend to relieve some of the pressure. I watched a couple U-tube videos on disassembly.
Have any of you had this issue out of the box? Mine is number 89. Thank you for your replies.
Click to expand...

Flippers often require a "wear-in" period before they start to really move freely. Unless there is some sort of mechanical defect right out of the gate, bending the liner lock is not a good idea; if it's that bad, the knife should be returned anyways. Instead of disassembling and tinkering, try opening and closing it a couple of hundred times while watching television one night. It will probably free up quite nicely after that. If you do want to try modding the innards, get a cheap beater flipper to practice on first.
 
Thank you for your reply, BitingSarcasm. I will take your advise about opening and closing it repeatedly. The blade flips open to the point where the locking portion of the liner makes contact. If repeated use does not solve the problem, I am sure a light "Polishing" of both surfaces would help too. Has anyone else experienced this with new kwaikens out of the box? Regards, Illiya.
 
So, I just got my second mini in today. I now have the CF smoke wash and the tuxedo. I am really digging the mini's.

Boker, when can we expect to see the tactical version (all black with G10 scales)? The full size is my most carried kwaiken.

JonesE
 
Does anyone have experience with the new Kwaiken fixed? I am thinking about if it would be a good EDC and alternative to an Izula2.
 
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