Home / Knives / Kizer Gives the Ray Laconico Gemini a Smaller Follow-Up

Kizer Gives the Ray Laconico Gemini a Smaller Follow-Up

November 19, 2021

Kizer has returned to the famous Ray Laconico-designed Gemini model to create a smaller sequel. The new Mini Gemini (the GeMini?) doesn’t tamper with the iconic look of its predecessor, but simply scales it down for the most EDCable version of this modern classic yet.

If there’s one knife in the Kizer lineup that needs no introduction, the Gemini is that knife. Kizer was already turning heads with high quality, highly affordable in-house work, but the Gemini was one of its first collaborations with a major name in the knife world. A production version of Laconico’s Jasmine custom, it brought so much of what made that knife sought-after to the masses: the minimalist, sleek lines, luxurious materials, and addictive flipping action were all present and accounted for. When it arrived in 2015, the Gemini was instantly recognized as a sea change in what consumers could expect for their money.

The Gemini has remained in Kizer’s lineup ever since, but it hasn’t been the recipient of many notable line extensions other than the Vanguard version and some variants with different handle materials. We’d say the Mini Gemini definitely qualifies as “notable.” It shrinks the blade length down to 2.79 inches, making it legal to carry in more places, and even though that’s a sizeable reduction of .30 inches compared to the original, for many the smaller blade will be an equally capable EDC.

On this first version at least (see more below), Kizer is also pulling out the stops when it comes to the blade/handle materials. The Mini Gemini has 20CV blade steel which, while it doesn’t outpace S35VN (the standard Gemini steel) by all that much, is much more desirable amongst the cognoscenti. Furthermore, gone are the titanium slab scales, replaced by copper-flecked shredded carbon fiber scales; obviously this means that the Mini Gemini is a liner lock rather than a frame lock, but it also (along with the size reduction) means it’s much lighter, just 2.23 oz. compared to the titanium Gemini’s 3.65 oz. And the Mini still has the second generation titanium pocket clip that has been on all the recent runs of the standard Gemini.

Now we have to deliver the bad news: the Mini Gemini is, for now, only available through the Kizer Friday Club. This is a program that periodically gives fans the chance to get their hands on limited run/special batch versions of Kizer knives – so, sadly, the Mini Gemini will only be available in small numbers and is likely to go fast. If you’re interested in getting in on this one, keep your eyes to the skies – and by “the skies,” we mean Kizer’s social media accounts.

Knife in Featured Image: Kizer Mini Gemini

Related Items