Kizer Bolsters Lineup with Fresh New Designs

Kizer is debuting three new models, continuing to maintain an eclectic output and blistering development pace. More will follow, but new designs from Elijah Isham and Ray Laconico should turn the heads of fans of their previous work, and a knife called the Audaz sports an opening mechanism that’s a first for Kizer’s lineup.

Söze
Elijah Isham’s name is on everybody’s lips this year for his artistic, surreal knives. The new Söze takes inspiration from dirks and daggers but spices things up with a futuristic twist. “We like to let our designers make whatever they want stylistically. We don’t direct them in that way,” says Kizer’s David Sun. The Söze’s hollow-ground 3.6-inch blade tapers to a needle point and is made from S35VN. It emulates the blade shape of a dagger but will be available with a single sharpened edge. Kizer may release a limited run with both sides sharpened at some point.

Isham’s work has been popular with collectors for its eye-popping style, but Sun points out that the positive qualities don’t stop at the visuals. “The knives we’ve made with Elijah do have the thrill of the unusual, but the ergonomics and functionality are perfectly comparable to any other knife in our lineup,” he attests. The Söze’s tapered frame and in-line flipper tab make it easy to carry, and the narrow dimensions keep the weight down to 3.6 ounces.

Yorkie
The next Ray Laconico design to roll out from Kizer is the Yorkie, a spare titanium frame lock flipper. “It plays into Ray’s penchant for clean, simple designs,” Sun explains. The only embellishments on this subdued knife are a hole milled into the show side scale and gentle contouring all around. Functionally the Yorkie fills a similar role to the previously released Laconico Gemini as an all-purpose EDC knife. Its spear point blade is slightly smaller than the Gemini’s but can accomplish most of the same tasks and is made from the same S35VN steel.

Sun acknowledges the role the Gemini, another Laconico collaboration, has played in Kizer’s success. Following that bestseller is a tough act for any product, but Sun believes the new Laconic design should appeal to those who have already experienced the Gemini. “If you like the Gemini, I think you’ll like the Yorkie because the aesthetic is the same.”

Audaz
“The Audaz plays into two trends: wharncliffes are still very popular, and everybody likes smaller knives these days,” Sun continues. But what will turn the most heads is the Audaz’s unusual deployment method and lock. Although still in the production prototype phase, the idea is that the handle scale itself is actuated and moved out to deploy the blade.

The Audaz may very well be polarizing, but making waves is a central element to Kizer’s developing strategy, “We’re evolving our design philosophy as we go, and playing with different lock types and sizes,” Sun says. The company saw success with the unusual Feist and will continue to explore outside the titanium frame lock flipper game.

Additionally, plans are in place to make the Kizer brand transition into an umbrella label for several different sub-brands. These brands would include Kizer Cutlery and Tangram Knives, as well as other outdoor gear-related enterprises. The day may come when we see clothing, backpacks, or flashlights from a Kizer-owned subsidiary. “Kizer has a lot of manufacturing possibilities where we are in China, and we want to take advantage of that,” Sun tells us, although he also notes that knives will always be the central element of the Kizer identity. “We’re still young enough to not be stuck in any particular niche of the market.”

Knife featured in image: Kizer Cutlery Söze