Home / Knives / Carlos Elstner Follows up 2020 Kizer Trio with New Release

Carlos Elstner Follows up 2020 Kizer Trio with New Release

November 2, 2021

Right after the announcement of the Azo Mai-designed Towser K., Kizer revealed another new model from collaborator Carlos Elstner. This one is called the Rapids, and it breaks away from Elstner’s three preceding Kizer models in many ways.

None of Elstner’s previous Kizer pieces have been small knives, but the drop point Rapids is bigger than any of them. It has a blade length 3.47 inches – topping the Clutch by about a tenth of an inch. That being said, the additional length doesn’t shake up the use category much here: like Elstner’s other Kizer releases, the Rapids seems like it would make an excellent EDC; that extra bit of cutting edge is just enough blade length to expand its capabilities without meaningful impact on its carryability. The blade steel is 154CM, just like we saw on the Towser K., but whereas that knife opened with a thumb stud only, the Rapids has both a flipper and a thumb stud.

The Rapids can be opened in two different ways

In fact, if there’s one Kizer knife the Rapids reminds us of, it’s another Mai design: the Begleiter. There’s a definite similarity between the Rapids and that Kizer favorite in both the blade and handle departments. On the Rapids we see the handle profile softened a bit all around. This rounded quality, along with the big forward finger groove, makes a handle that should be both comfortable and secure. The primary scale is made from G-10, but a secondary, letterboxed layer on top can be made from either brown/black Micarta, or blue G-10. There’s a reversible deep carry pocket clip included; in total, the Rapids weighs 3.46 oz.

It looks like Kizer may be picking things up for fall after a lowkey beginning to the season. Prior to this week, we last touched bases with them in August to take a look at the Baby, a fixed blade from Azo Mai’s daughter. This is the first Elstner design for 2021. He made his debut in the Kizer lineup with a trio of 2020 releases: the Clutch, Junges, and Assassin.

No release date has been given for the Rapids at this time.

Knife in Featured Image: Kizer Rapids

Related Items