1) What sort of titanium? Pure or alloy? There's a bunch of different grades and when people just say 'titanium' I assume it's one of the cheaper, heavier alloys.
2) I'm not sure how to break this to you but no serious knife person I know thinks S35VN is the best steel, 'arguably' or no. It's mid tier, as super steel goes. Don't get me wrong -- S35VN 'arguably' offers a better value at its price than the true premium stuff does, but that's where the 'argument' ends. I'll happily buy knives made with it, but it's dead in the middle of the pack of 'super steels' in terms of measurable performance, and will be outperformed by the top tier of steels widely available in the market. Do a real industry test of the blades, not a casual subjective test but a rigorous one, and pit it against M390, 20CV, CTS-204P and it'll lose out; test it against M4 and it'll do better resisting corrosion and will sharpen a bit easier, but lose on every other count; test it against S90V or even S110V and it will be more resistant to chipping and easier to sharpen, but it'll lose on all other counts.
S35VN is a Honda Civic. A good choice for commuting. Not the strongest, not the gutsiest, but extremely reliable and will do yeoman's work all day long, certainly nothing to be ashamed of owning. Lots of stuff you can say about a Honda Civic, including that you'd rather own one than a more expensive car, all things considered. But no one serious will say that a Civic is a better performing car than, say, a BMW 3 series, let alone a customized Porsche 911.... let alone the hypercars that cost over half a million apiece and see more personal attention while being assembled than most people will ever dole out in their lives. So you might wanna stick to saying S35VN is, say, in the sweet spot for all around performance vs price, because when you try to suggest it's the best all around steel, it makes me question the validity of every other assertion you make in your pitch. :)
Food for thought.
Just joined so I guess I'll find out for myself how thick it is behind the edge. Couldnt pass this drop up for only about half the price what it normally retails at and I have not been disappointed with Kizer products in the past. if the blade is too thick for my liking I don't see any problem recouping the funds at this low price anyway.
CdoyleIt's not bad at all, definitely not the thickest edge on the Kizers I have handled. The grind is really well done too, Kizer destroyed my hostility towards hollow grinds.
From what I've researched this does have the lock bar insert now and is riding on bearings. Anyone have any idea how thick it is behind the edge with the rather thick .160 blade stock? It is hollow ground so hoping it does get thin enough to be a decent slicer. Any one know?
Another Kizer titanium frame lock in my collection has a similar blade (3.5") with thick stock, hollow ground, and comes down thin enough at the edge to work so I was hoping the river cat would be similar. thanks for confirming my thought. I appreciate the feedback!
Kizer offers a lot of knife for the money with very good value. This is no exception at $100 for a titanium frame lock with S35vn its a steal! I own several high end Kizers and I have not been disappointed with any of them including their budget vanguard g10/vg10 line . The matanzas, feist, gemini, and many other models i own, probably ten easy . Their fit and finish is very good, they do probably one of the best stonewashes in the industry, and they have premium materials for a very competitive price. In fact they even do OEM work. The MBK eze Laconico knife is one example and OEM for others companies as well which should tell you something about their high-quality products. If this design speaks to you snatch it up you won't be disappointed. I'm considering adding this drop to my collection as well. Just imagine the sweet multicolor anodize job you could do with this milled design on the handle scales.
Might want to spend a bit more effort photoshopping the BladeHQ logo out of the pictures you use...
Considering the changes that have been made to this knife over the history of Kizer producing it I'm holding off on this drop unless MD get photos of the actual model they're trying to sell instead of years old photos from another company.
OmniseedAwesome news! Hope it's a great knife for you. I did end up canceling my order and picked up a Dogtooth instead. Should be arriving this coming week right after Christmas.
My father ordered this knife here on Massdrop, and we have been extremely impressed with its beauty and overal functionality. its amazing what you can get for less than $150 in a knife today, let alone what $50 can get you nowadays in a knife. This knife came super sharp, it has a great strong detent, is smooth as glass and is extra beautiful. This knife has one of the most unique looking handles. We have 50 or so knives (90% of which have been purchased within the last year or so) and Pops says this knife (Kizer River Cat) is in his top 3 favorite knives. to me that says it all
How well built and durable are these Kizers? I was not super impressed by my We Knives / Ferrum Forge Falcon. I had to loctite the main pivot to keep the blade from loosening within less than a dozen flips and saw the pivot bolt looked a bit on the wimpy side.
Joe88Nothing wrong with a nicely made framelock that needs threadlocking shortly after you get it. Usually they ship fairly clean so that people who want to modify theirs can do it easily and don't need to worry about stripping any screws held by fresh loctite.
With knives like these, people anodize or carve the scales, refinish the blade, even just take the pivot apart and really swab out any manufacturing detritus when they first get their knife. It is part of this style of knife, whereas a more workmanlike knife will often come with threadlocker applied or even longer lasting grease, because a knife like that doesn't make sense to strip immediately. There's just no reason to go ham on a knife like my Kizer GTi, it's entirely tungsten DLC coated with heavily milled G10 scales and a Ti deep carry clip. I did open the pivot and cleaned off a bit of G10 scraps that were caught between the scale and the pivot screw, threadlocked it, and now it is perfect for the kind of knife it is.
With a knife like the Falcon or this River Cat, you will want to threadlock it and set the pivot to your own preference, so the lack of threadlocker from the factory is a positive aspect and a sign that they are well aware that the people buying their knives are mostly full-on enthusiasts, and they are catering to us.