Kizer, Artisan, Bestech, and Civivi are overall good knife value brands. Their steel seems trustworthy. But as you head up to WE, Realte, etc., there’s a notable leap up in price.
I’m leery of buying from AliExpress, unless the store is brand aligned. You just don’t know what you end up getting. The feedback system there isn’t all that thorough.
How good is the customer service of brands like Kizer? And when you’re dealing with a company based out of China, it can be costly to send back a knife for servicing.
Aside from this specific folder sometimes it’s quite amusing to see the double standard about budget folders while watching reviews on Youtube. What is unforgivable sin at a budget knife it’s only a minor detail at a much more expensive one and it could be easily fixed.
I wrote Land 910 plus.
I mentioned the Kizer Fire Ant because of the similar price (it is $94 with free international shipping on Aliexpress at the moment) and the much more premium handle setup.
Kizer, Artisan, Bestech, and Civivi are definitely trustworthy.
You’re right about Ali Express. It all depends on the individual sellers over there. The Kizer Knife Store and Kizer Cutlery Store are both authorized dealers. Generally, I’ve had good experiences with the “dispute” system when problems arise on Ali Express.
Kizer maintains a presence on Blade Forums and I’ve had some nice interactions with them over there. I’ve never needed to contact their warranty department. Bestech and Civivi both maintain a US representative for customer service and warranty stuff.
@xevious
As mentioned above, the 2 Kizer stores on AE are Kizer themselves so you shouldn’t have a problem (I just ordered 2 Kizer knives from there myself that I should have in a few weeks).
I have had many Kizers and never had to use their warranty or ship to China, so I cannot attest for their customer service.
Still, you wanted S35VN, light weight and cheap, so I think the KI4419 at $62 can hardly be bit.
If you’re uncomfortable with AE, it can be bought on BladeHQ for $80. I would still pick that over The Asher. At least, Kizer is a tried and true company.
Also, if you don’t mind skulls, the CH3504 can be had on AE for around $90 (I think Fasttech had it cheaper but it seems they’re currently not shipping to the US). I think it’s a heck of a deal for this knife, steel has been tested to be true but it’s heavier than what you would like.
Sorry, I had several Sanrenmu Land tabs open at once & mixed up the 910 vs. 912. The 910 scales are similar, but not quite the same.
My Asher knives just arrived today. They seem to be on par with the impressions given in the details & photos. Fit & finish is superb. No hot spots. G-10 edges are nicely chamfered. Steel liners are slightly rounded off so no hot spots. Everything is flush. Nothing uneven. Action is firm & predictable. Total blade lock. Steel finish is excellent. I just checked their website and the Nomad is now sold out.
Screws don’t bother met in the least. And actually I don’t mind a little extra depth for the screw sockets to mitigate stripping.
I do like the Kizer Fire Ant, and I was very close to picking up the one with gold accents… but I just wasn’t warming up to the blade shape. I have a sheep’s foot blade right now and it’s fine, but for a higher price point, I want something more like a drop point or a tanto. I was also looking for high quality G-10 or Micarta scales (titanium looks nice but shows scratches easily).
Yes, the Kizer KI4419 looks like a decent knife and ticks off a lot of the right boxes. But one of my criteria was to have an axis lock. Also a more traditional textured G-10 scale finish. Anodized aluminum is prone to scratching off. Price wise, for delivery to USA these are coming up as $80 on AE.
Yep, but if you add it to your cart, there is an instant $18 price drop but it doesn’t matter if you were looking for an axis lock anyway.
I’m glad the fit and finish on the Asher is good (and it should be for an $80 G10/steel liners), what I was more worried about is the S35VN steel blade itself and the heat treat on it. Kizer has proven itself, for Asher, time will tell.
I remember another S35VN knife from some other company that was selling for $50 (LA police gear if memory serves me well), everybody was talking about it a couple of years back, but then when used and tested, it actually performed poorly (even though it was real S35VN).
If you’re happy with you’re knife, in the end it’s all that matters
For the heck of it, I added one to my cart and then proceeded to checkout. No price adjustment. Maybe it’s not happening for USA customers.
Asher Knives is a small company that started in 2018… but they seem legitimate. The owner is accessible and I was able to ask him a number of questions—very knowledgeable & responsive. I asked him about heat treating & this was something very important to him. He and a metallurgist visited a number of suppliers and had samples tested. And of course production steel was also tested to verify. You can see there was a lot of attention to detail in forging the steel. No burrs or flash at all anywhere. The blade’s satin finish is excellent.
The Nomad is very “German.” Minimalist & functional, while also showing nice attention to detail. I didn’t want anything really all that “edgy”. These days so many daring & unusual designs are coming out of Chinese companies, but I see that more as hobbyist play than practicality. Don’t get me wrong, I find many of those designs very attractive. But the Nomad is just about perfect for an EDC with a 3.2” blade, considering profile & weight. Btw, original price was $79.95, but I got it for 20% off. I’d also bought their Tracker, which is a 4” fixed blade in DC53. It’s a really serious knife. Fit & finish are top notch. The tang & scales are so perfectly flush, you can’t feel the seam, all around the handle. No hot spots. Well sized finger choil, and it has a decent sharpening choil. It was $36 (after 20% off), comes with a high quality sheath with locking clamp, and uses a friction fit system specific to the handle grooves.
Yeah, LA Police Gear has had a few low cost S35VN knives there. One is the Atom. Really small. For $27, seems like a real steal. I don’t expect it’s high grade S35VN.
Thanks. Yeah, I see the standard production is all weathered titanium. I really like this modification. I think the Green Thorn Mouse 3 would also do nicely in that motif.
Order link (sorry, I’m having difficulties adding a regular picture for some reason)
The $18 over $80 discount highlighted works fine for me with a US shipping address and brings the price down to $62.
Like I said, if you’re happy with it, that’s all that matters.
I feel like your posts are meant to convince either us or yourself.
I personally am not interested in this knife, but if you’re happy and believe it’s a bargain, then good!
So I went to my colleague to his workshop and he laminated me the tartan fabric.
Turned out pretty nice I’d say.
With the light shining through it gives me hope that there’s no voids or anything, but that’s why I went to a pro and didn’t try it at our company.
I should’ve take pictures of the process though, to get it flat after vaccuumizing it and pouring in the epoxy he used a kitchen roll to, well, roll over it and then layed a steel plate on it.
Simple, yet effective.
It should be set already but it has 2 more weeks to dry, will it fit (aesteticely) the UT if I cut it on the long side?
I’m not even sure if I’ll anodize the Mouse3 first or if I’ll do thise scales.
I think it would look good with a slight bronze fine tumbling, not sure if I want to turn it into a dress knife.
It’s a real user after all, but we’ll see.
The Mouse3 also has a big flat area, unlike the TS164, and the huge lockbar relief on the back s not making things easier.
I’d still like the entropic finish but for that I would need much more practice.
I just got in a micarta handle knife yesterday.
This micarta absorbed sweat from my hand and then slowly evaporated.
Is this normal?
A couple other micarta knives I have don’t do this.
I had initially posted about it. Then came critique posts inferring I made a wrong choice and that I should’ve gone with Kizer or Land. I was simply responding to that. I’m not trying to convince anyone to buy this knife. I just wanted to be clear about its good qualities, to be fair to the maker. That’s all. I won’t say any more about it. Cheers.
I’m pretty sure you are misunderstanding the post either made by Isti on the Land, or mine on the Kizer.
But like you, I won’t say anymore about it, no point about arguing about different choices. Cheers.
Got a Real Steel Flying Shark today. Perhaps named after the Chinese fighter plane…? It’s a big beauty.
Has a 4.05” black stonewashed 14C28N blade, black stonewashed stainless steel handles with an orange G-10 insert on the show side. Has a great pivot action for having such a big chunk of Sandvik steel to deal with. Feels great in hand, the knife is long, but has a rather slim profile. Really nice job by Real Steel, again. This is my first knife that has a G-10 pocket clip.
I’m contemplating dying the orange G-10 insert, and orange G-10 pocket clip a crimson red.
