I recently had the chance to check out my first Kizer, the Feist, on loan. I liked certain aspects of it but am not a fan of front flippers. I like to be able to open my knives quickly and easily, and front flippers don't allow for either of those in my opinion. Though this is not the knife for me, I am looking forward to trying out more of Kizer's knives. The quality and design of the Feist were very impressive.
I can definitely see why people like Kizer so much. They put out a very high quality and well-designed product. This is a Justin Lundquist design, who also designed the Baby Barlow I talked about a few weeks ago. It's such a classy looking knife with a simple design that'd work well for EDC. If you don't like the reverse tanto blade or the holes in the handle, they've got a regular drop point version for the same price ($168) as well. I like that there's no lanyard hole too. It's a small detail but makes the handle look a lot cleaner. I'd love to see more companies get rid of lanyard holes, at least on these mid-sized or larger knives. I've got no complaints about the quality or design.
Moving onto the blade, this is the perfect length for a mid-sized knife, coming in at 2.8" long. When I first got the knife out of the package, it seemed so much more compact than you'd expect that blade length to suggest. The steel, CPM-S35VN, is great and performed well for my typical EDC tasks. The reverse tanto blade looks awesome too!
The front flipper is the biggest issue about the knife for me. Maybe I just need to get used to them, but as of now, I think they require too much effort to open well. It was awkward for me to open the knife and took more concentration than I'd like to make sure I was hitting the flipper tab right. I wasn't able to open it cleanly 100% of the time which would deter me from carrying it as an EDC knife. To me, it's not natural to reach around the end of the knife to flip it open. It's not one of those flippers you could sit and play with all day, because it's not quick and snappy to open. It would've been a better knife overall if it was a regular ol' flipper.
I've never fully bought into the titanium framelock hype, but knives like this make me start to see the appeal. I love the slimness of the handle and how perfectly rounded the edges are. The holes are more for aesthetic reasons and add some pizzazz to an otherwise bland handle. The framelock itself is solid, and there wasn't a bit of play. The knife feels much more compact than the almost 3" blade would suggest.
The ergos were some of the best I've felt in a while. I could fit a full four-finger grip comfortably. Like I mentioned earlier, the edges of the handles are perfectly rounded which make the knife melt into your hand. If only it wasn't a front flipper, then I'd probably be tempted to pick one up. There's some jimping on the spine of the blade which mostly helps deploying the blade with the front flipper.
The Feist carries extremely well thanks to how slim and thin it is. I've always stayed away from titanium handles since they tend to make knives heavier compared to the FRN I'm used to. Still, this knife is pretty light at 2.62 ounces. The clip is simple and carries pretty deeply. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed carrying it.
I loved the design and compactness, yet the knife was ultimately ruined by the front flipper. To me, front flippers are more of a hassle than any other opening mechanism I've tried. Kizer has definitely caught my attention though, so I'm looking forward to trying more of their knives in the future. This particular one was provided by Valtac Tactical to the passaround group I'm in, so check them out if you need a new place to buy more knives. It was a fun experience overall and is worth the look if you're into front flippers. Otherwise, maybe check out some of Kizer's other knives instead. Thanks for looking!
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