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Kizer Shard Resurfaces in New Budget-Friendly Trim

July 6, 2020

After a long dormant period, the Dirk Pinkerton-designed Shard has reappeared on Kizer‘s Instagram account – albeit with some tweaks to the materials.

We first saw the Shard at SHOT Show 2019, where it was one knife among a characteristically varied slew of designs. It brought Pinkerton’s distinct eye for blade shapes into an smaller size class compared to the Kizer Fire Ant. In fact, with a blade length of 2.28 inches, the Shard was (and is) one of the smallest folders in the Kizer lineup, full stop. EDC is the name of the game for the Shard, which appears ready to slice and snip its way through small-to-medium chores.

The 2019 Shard was a Bladesmith model, and while things in that series still vary from product to product, the designation indicates higher-end materials. That Shard had titanium handle scales and a blade made from S35VN. This new Shard makes changes across the board, balancing performance with price.

The blade steel has been shifted from S35VN to N690Co, a Bohler-Uddeholm steel that admirably blends the holy trinity of steel characteristics – edge retention, corrosion resistance, and toughness – even if it doesn’t attain the heights of more modern powder metallurgy steels. N690Co should more than hold up for the tasks that a knife of this size and scope are intended to handle.

Kizer appears to have made little, if any, changes to the handle profile itself: the Shard’s handle is lightly curved, with a functional finger guard being the only ergonomic detail of note. A lanyard oval has been cute into the scales, situated along the spine rather than at the butt end itself. The titanium and frame lock have been exchanged for milled G-10 scales – in multiple colors on these prototypes – and a liner lock mechanism.

Pinkerton is another one of those designers whose work is becoming increasingly visible in the production field. We’ve seen stuff in previous years, but just recently there has been the release of the Tacit from Artisan and, back in the Kizer corral, the Inversion, which debuted at SHOT Show 2020.

Kizer has stated that the G-10 Shard is still in the prototype phase. It remains to be decided when this or the Bladesmith version will see the light of the day.

Knife in Featured Image: Kizer Shard

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