What are your thoughts on Kizer?

J

JDX

Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Messages
923
I'm not sure if they're worth getting. The materials are good in my opinion. But at such a low price point, something has to be off. G-10 and s35vn for $75? That just doesn't seem right to me. Coming from China I assume the fit and finish is poor. I don't know. Anyone with experience with Kizer care to shed some light ?
 
They're actually very high quality knives, and that is basically what they're known for - very good materials and build quality for an almost questionably low price.

I have handled about a dozen of their folders over the years and have only had one (an early model) that had any sort of flaw - which was just a minor centering issue. The heat treatment seems to be on point, the materials are as advertised, and the assembly and fit / finish are top notch.

They even have a US warranty center, their own forum on this board, and active representatives. Heck, one of them added me on Facebook.
 
Fit and finish are great. The s35v is legit and the one that I had had awesome grinds. Super solid knives.
 
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I have around 20 different Kizers, with a new Kizer / Pinkerton Rogue inbound. They are extremely well made, high value knives. The only complaint I've had with any Kizer to date has been weak detents. I have two that are weaker than I like to carry, although they probably could be fixed.

If you haven't tried a Kizer yet, you owe it to yourself to give them a shot. The new Vanguard series are a great value, with prices starting at around $65 USD.
 
I have one that's great, and am waiting for their new Escort model to become available. I was hesitant to spend $100 or so on a Chinese knife, but have yet to find any flaws during routine EDC usage and even as a camp knife.
 
JDX said:
I'm not sure if they're worth getting. The materials are good in my opinion. But at such a low price point, something has to be off. G-10 and s35vn for $75? That just doesn't seem right to me. Coming from China I assume the fit and finish is poor. I don't know. Anyone with experience with Kizer care to shed some light ?
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These questions come up from time to time, and they always get answered the same way. You'll end up buying one and say to yourself "why didn't I get a Kizer sooner!":D
 
Hackenslash said:
I have around 20 different Kizers, with a new Kizer / Pinkerton Rogue inbound. They are extremely well made, high value knives. The only complaint I've had with any Kizer to date has been weak detents. I have two that are weaker than I like to carry, although they probably could be fixed.

If you haven't tried a Kizer yet, you owe it to yourself to give them a shot. The new Vanguard series are a great value, with prices starting at around $65 USD.
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This is essentially my position on Kizers as well. I have a bunch of them, and outside of weaker detents on some of them than I prefer (particularly on certain earlier models) I haven't had any issues. The detent on the ones I carry most is perfect (e.g. 3404 and Splinter).
 
Going to reiterate the grind on the 34xx series made it an amazing slicer with really good edge stability. I would breakdown cardboard with it and it sliced through like hot butter.
 
Thanks for all the input! I'll check out their knives. Much appreciated !
 
JDX said:
I'm not sure if they're worth getting. The materials are good in my opinion. But at such a low price point, something has to be off. G-10 and s35vn for $75? That just doesn't seem right to me. Coming from China I assume the fit and finish is poor. I don't know. Anyone with experience with Kizer care to shed some light ?
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Assuming things made in China have poor fit & finish is antiquated thinking in 2016.
 
Very good performance for the money. They're not going to give you the pride of ownership you'd get from something else, but as far as cutting performance per dollar, they're right up there with the best.
 
As an owner of a few Kizers, I can only say "ditto" to all of the above positive comments.

Do yourself a researcher's favor and type "Kizer" into the search box on this forum, then spend hours tallying the positive vs. negative comments.
 
Yes you buy a Kizer then find yourself staring at your other more expensive knives made else where like :confused:
 
I purchased the Begleiter Vanguard Series,the detent is right on. I liked the green model so much, I ordered the black one as well.
Great knives for the money.
 
It is very easy to explain the high quality / low prices of Kizers: they are manufactured in China where the labor is much less expensive than in many other countries.
 
kniferbro said:
Yes you buy a Kizer then find yourself staring at your other more expensive knives made else where like :confused:
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Sorry, I had to:D

347CFA97-137B-4949-8059-9DFFAC24AA71_zpsuuwibkr7.jpg
 
I bought a Kizer KI4403 GREEN and it has been a great knife. Heavy and bulky with the titanium compared to some other knives(comparable in size, NOT weight to my PM2) but it has been great for the money
These are the only pictures I have of the Kizer,


 
DFCustomKnives said:
Very good performance for the money. They're not going to give you the pride of ownership you'd get from something else, but as far as cutting performance per dollar, they're right up there with the best.
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After having met David Sun of Kizer at a knife show last weekend, and after having communicated with Joyce Jiang of Kizer extensively by email, and hearing stories from both of them about the company and the people who run it, I can tell you I have a huge amount of pride of ownership when it comes to Kizer. They're great people and they make amazing knives.

And no, I'm not on their payroll, but I would love to be!
 
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