My first Kizer

Hi, all:

There is currently a pass-around for Kizer (Ki4411, Glenn Klecker large model) in progress (it's already in the hands of the 2nd reviewer I believe). I think it was announced in the other thread. Hopefully our application for a sub-forum will be approved soon so we can post announcements like that in a centralized location.

Depending on how that goes, we may send the knife around for a second pass or use a different knife. With the GTI (Ki4416, from the creator of Ranger Knives) design being reviewed in the upcoming issue of Tactical Knives which goes on sale 3/25, I'm thinking probably starting one with this knife for April.

On the topic of knife with a bearing system, we are currently working on the prototype. We have spoken with IKBS and will send them the prototypes for evaluation when completed. I'm hoping that we will have some for Blade 2014, but don't quote me on that one.

Thanks.

Kizer.
 
Kizer Cutlery said:
Hi, all:

There is currently a pass-around for Kizer (Ki4411, Glenn Klecker large model) in progress (it's already in the hands of the 2nd reviewer I believe). I think it was announced in the other thread. Hopefully our application for a sub-forum will be approved soon so we can post announcements like that in a centralized location.

Depending on how that goes, we may send the knife around for a second pass or use a different knife. With the GTI (Ki4416, from the creator of Ranger Knives) design being reviewed in the upcoming issue of Tactical Knives which goes on sale 3/25, I'm thinking probably starting one with this knife for April.

On the topic of knife with a bearing system, we are currently working on the prototype. We have spoken with IKBS and will send them the prototypes for evaluation when completed. I'm hoping that we will have some for Blade 2014, but don't quote me on that one.

Thanks.

Kizer.
Click to expand...

You beat me to the response. I'm fourth on the pass-around list. :thumbup:

Looking forward to your bearing knives and for the next pass around you should use the Ki412A1!

Thanks!
 
Watching Blade Forum KIZER enthusiasts buying knives from a Chinese Co. well known for design ripoffs from USA makers brings up a question for me. Why aren't these knives marked made in CHINA ? It doesn't bother you that this company knowingly rips off American makers without credit to the designers or maybe even compensation ?? Is price the only issue for you when you are buying a knife ? You could probably buy a stolen automobile cheaper than through a dealer....would you do this ? Long before KIZER aka KISER and aka Toubitou discovered the American market, they were selling design ripoffs via www.alibaba.com, copies of Strider, Hinderer and Chris Reeve. Chris Reeve has an attorney working on this but chasing ripoffs is like chasing smoke rings. Check on markings of their product....selling knives made in China that are NOT marked China is illegal. Violation of copyrights and patents is also illegal, but they obviously perceive themselves to be above the law. Get your Kiser knives before BLADE Show this year. Several of us AGAIN will try to arrange a suitable welcome for them. Appropriate government authorities are aware of their operations. Buy American if you can......
 
blademaker2 said:
Watching Blade Forum KIZER enthusiasts buying knives from a Chinese Co. well known for design ripoffs from USA makers brings up a question for me. Why aren't these knives marked made in CHINA ? It doesn't bother you that this company knowingly rips off American makers without credit to the designers or maybe even compensation ?? Is price the only issue for you when you are buying a knife ? You could probably buy a stolen automobile cheaper than through a dealer....would you do this ? Long before KIZER aka KISER and aka Toubitou discovered the American market, they were selling design ripoffs via www.alibaba.com, copies of Strider, Hinderer and Chris Reeve. Chris Reeve has an attorney working on this but chasing ripoffs is like chasing smoke rings. Check on markings of their product....selling knives made in China that are NOT marked China is illegal. Violation of copyrights and patents is also illegal, but they obviously perceive themselves to be above the law. Get your Kiser knives before BLADE Show this year. Several of us AGAIN will try to arrange a suitable welcome for them. Appropriate government authorities are aware of their operations. Buy American if you can......
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Blademaker2 is Tim Britton and these issues were discussed ad nauseam and ad infinitum in the CHINESE Rip off TANGO Tim Britton.....Beware ! and the New Knife Co. on the Block " Kizer Knives" coming soon threads last Summer and I suggest it be continued there. My two cents.
 
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RamZar, I certainly agree with you, and the reason I started this thread was not at all to rehash issues once discussed, and IMO put to bed. I feel that Kizer has done all they need to do to vindicate themselves and this from a person who disagrees with their stance on his personal knife. As I stated before, and another poster previously touched on, I have been upfront with Kizer and everyone else about this knife, and as also stated before, David, from Kizer has been as helpful as he could be given Kizers policies and stance on my knife, very much appreciated. These are nice knives, made with good materials, and like all knives they can have minor issues, as can any assembled product, but in the big picture, I still feel Kizer Knives are worth a try, they offer some unique design options that aren't commonly available, and are put together well.
 
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I agree that David from Kizer has been very helpful.

Question for David and the mods: What's taking so long to set up the Kizer subforum?
Are there credit and SAT tests involved? :confused:
 
RamZar said:
Blademaker2 is Tim Britton and these issues were discussed ad nauseam and ad infinitum in the CHINESE Rip off TANGO Tim Britton.....Beware ! and the New Knife Co. on the Block " Kizer Knives" coming soon threads last Summer and I suggest it be continued there. My two cents.
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I didn't know who blademaker2 was so thanks RamZar for pointing that out. And I agree about this thread NOT being the place for tim britton to bring up the topics that have been addressed over and over and over and over:rolleyes:. Fish asked, in the original post, not to discuss country of origin, just to discuss the merits, or qualities, of the knives alone.

The Ki5401A2 has been in my pocket for the past week and I love it so far. I am just amazed at how smoothly it flips open, and how solid the lockup is. Lockup still occurs in the same spot of the blade tang as it did the day it arrived, and I think I am safe to say that it has been flipped open over 500 times in the past week. Since I am permanently disabled and have no job to go to, I sit around at my house, and/or my cousin's house, and flip this knife open and closed over and over. The pivot screw has not loosened since it was tightened the first day, but it has gotten smoother as the washer's have gotten broken in.

I think it would be a great idea to do the GTi pass around since it is such a great design, and so well executed.:thumbup::)
 
Hi, All:

Thank you very much for your support! I'm going to ignore the trolling post as best as I can and do my best to enhance your experience with Kizer.

As for the sub-forum, we are just in the waiting part of it. As soon as I know, I promise to spread the word.

Thank you.

Kizer
 
blademaker2 said:
Watching Blade Forum KIZER enthusiasts buying knives from a Chinese Co. well known for design ripoffs from USA makers brings up a question for me. Why aren't these knives marked made in CHINA ? It doesn't bother you that this company knowingly rips off American makers without credit to the designers or maybe even compensation ?? Is price the only issue for you when you are buying a knife ? You could probably buy a stolen automobile cheaper than through a dealer....would you do this ? Long before KIZER aka KISER and aka Toubitou discovered the American market, they were selling design ripoffs via www.alibaba.com, copies of Strider, Hinderer and Chris Reeve. Chris Reeve has an attorney working on this but chasing ripoffs is like chasing smoke rings. Check on markings of their product....selling knives made in China that are NOT marked China is illegal. Violation of copyrights and patents is also illegal, but they obviously perceive themselves to be above the law. Get your Kiser knives before BLADE Show this year. Several of us AGAIN will try to arrange a suitable welcome for them. Appropriate government authorities are aware of their operations. Buy American if you can......
Click to expand...

For shame...
 
If we have any more attempts to drive this thread off-topic, I will remove the off-topic posts, at least, and may have to take action against anyone doing so.

Thanks to all of you speaking up for open discussion, and against beating a dead horse, and throwing threats around.
 
I received my first Kizer - a KI4401X - last week. S35N stonewashed blade, 6AL4V titanium handle & clip.

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. And mine was marked "Made in China". :thumbup:


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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I do need to get the full review done. Just haven't had time to take the pics yet.

Pic borrowed from KW:

mgviPDG.jpg
 
To any that may wonder about the disposition of my original knife, and the beginning of this thread, I am happy to report that David from Kizer has been as helpful as possible, and he has gotten me the parts promised for my knife. At this point I have to do a little tinkering, but suffice it to say my knife will be OK once the parts are installed. David has been up front at all times with me, and it is a bit of a PITA to get parts from China when needed, but David did go the extra mile IMO and pushed until I got the parts I needed. So my conclusion remains the same, Kizer's are nice knives made with good quality materials with design options I like--Hooray for matching scales. I HATE asymmetrical scales on knives! Go Kizer!
 
Hi, Fish30114:

Thanks for the update. I hope the parts will work out for you. I would still drop by our booth and bring the parts you were having problems with so we can take a look at it after the show.

See you at Blade!

Thanks.

Kizer.
 
Just got my Kizer KI3404-3.

First off I was buying this knife for pure skepticism. I've bought Chinese titanium folders in this price point ($100-$200) and found them to be of the worst craftsmanship. I went in at $100, figured if anything I could try to resell it for some of my money back.
Boy was I wrong to have speculations that it would be a low quality knife.

Observations:
Titanium handles, pocket clip Based on hardness it's titanium otherwise it's a an unknown steel alloy that is as light as titanium, and harder than aluminum. Maybe beryllium ;O only $45 ounce ;) or about $700 per pound.
Aluminum screws, Aluminum Stand offs, Aluminum LBS based on hardness
Steel Blade stop, Steel pivot/screw, and steel thumbstuds. Apart from blade that's all the steel there is making this a very lightweight knife.
High degree of Fit and Finish. Stand offs/blade stops are fitted, and do not come out from handles w/ out screws. It's a very tight fit. I could not find a single blemish on the knife that I did not put there (taking it apart).
Solid: No wobble, no side to side play up and down, flicks out well (understand few flippers will be rougher in the beginning however after lubing/cleaning it is SMOOTH).
* Ceramic Ball, and Carbidized Lockbar face. I don't think anyone had reported this but it is in fact carbidized.
Titanium pocket clip that is sunk in with good tolerances.
Edit: Mine was marked Made in China with a translucent sticker with "Made in China" markings. I do appreciate a sticker over an engraving or laser or painted on so I think that's cool you can just remove it.

I've cleaned the knife, and lubed it using M-Pro 7, and it is very smooth. They were wise in choosing a ceramic detent ball, it's part of the secret to a sebenza's smoothness (that plus it's insane tolerances).

They claim it's S35VN but I have some thick rope (same that Ankerson uses) to do some edge retention tests on I will post back results/pictures in a new thread.
Since I currently don't have S35VN I will go with a 2nd alternative: S30V from Paul BOS via Buck Vantage Pro (best edge retention I've tested in S30V). He's the production knife standard everyone should be measured to when it comes to HTing S30V.

If this knife was made in USA, and it infact is using S35VN I wouldn't be surprised to see a price tag of $420 retail from a known maker. Maybe $350 after discounts. From a lesser known but USA made I would see a $260-$300 price tag after discounts with a retail of $350~.
2 slabs of titanium
 
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I agree with you, Luis. The 3404 is a helluva knife for the money. I didn't even bother to take mine apart and clean it. I just put a couple of drops of Nano-Oil in the pivot and it's smooth as silk. Thanks for confirming that 3404 has a ceramic ball and a carbidized lockbar face. Those are very nice features for a knife in its price range. I look forward to hearing the results of your edge retention tests.
 
bld522 said:
I agree with you, Luis. The 3404 is a helluva knife for the money. I didn't even bother to take mine apart and clean it. I just put a couple of drops of Nano-Oil in the pivot and it's smooth as silk. Thanks for confirming that 3404 has a ceramic ball and a carbidized lockbar face. Those are very nice features for a knife in its price range. I look forward to hearing the results of your edge retention tests.
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Didn't Crucible confirm that Kizer is buying S35VN from them or something along those lines? That, combined with, I believe, a couple of people stating that it's similar to S35VN, or not worse, and the lack of complaints (Lots of people would probably be all over this if it didn't perform as well as S35VN.), and it seems very likely that they are indeed using the advertised steels for these knives.
 
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