I Hope I've been Unlucky with My Recent Kizer Purchases, but...
Published: 2 years ago
So, I threw this video together out of a little bit of concern. I bought these knives within a few days of each other, one from Blade HQ (Towser K) and White Mountain Knives (Rapids).
The Rapids is the more minor of the two, but still something that isn't great. The pocket clip is loose, and the screws turn without tightening (the bottom threads are stripped). It seemed to be less pronounced on the left side, but still way too much play.
(Update) I fixed this by swapping the pocket clip and screws with another Kizer knife... that being the Oknife Beagle. The clips are now sturdy on both knives. It was definitely the screws that were stripped, and since the handles were thicker on the Rapids, they only had one or so threads that were anchoring them to the liner.
The Towser K is... bad. The knife will barely lock up at all, and when it does, it locks up to around 5-10% and has minor lock stick. Most of the time, it just comes open and drops to where the detent engages with the liner.
I had thought at first that I would try to fix it myself, since I've sharpened the blade, so I can't really return it to Blade HQ in that state, but I've decided to hit up Kizer. I haven't got a response back just yet, but especially during the holidays they say they have a 3-5 day turnaround for customer support.
The Oknife Beagle (which is manufactured by Kizer, but not featured in this video) did arrive today. Outside of a bit of a stiff detent for thumbstud deployment, it's rock solid. It's not quite as smooth as Kizer's more recent offerings due to the older nylon-caged bearings they're using, but it's good.
The Rapids is the more minor of the two, but still something that isn't great. The pocket clip is loose, and the screws turn without tightening (the bottom threads are stripped). It seemed to be less pronounced on the left side, but still way too much play.
(Update) I fixed this by swapping the pocket clip and screws with another Kizer knife... that being the Oknife Beagle. The clips are now sturdy on both knives. It was definitely the screws that were stripped, and since the handles were thicker on the Rapids, they only had one or so threads that were anchoring them to the liner.
The Towser K is... bad. The knife will barely lock up at all, and when it does, it locks up to around 5-10% and has minor lock stick. Most of the time, it just comes open and drops to where the detent engages with the liner.
I had thought at first that I would try to fix it myself, since I've sharpened the blade, so I can't really return it to Blade HQ in that state, but I've decided to hit up Kizer. I haven't got a response back just yet, but especially during the holidays they say they have a 3-5 day turnaround for customer support.
The Oknife Beagle (which is manufactured by Kizer, but not featured in this video) did arrive today. Outside of a bit of a stiff detent for thumbstud deployment, it's rock solid. It's not quite as smooth as Kizer's more recent offerings due to the older nylon-caged bearings they're using, but it's good.