KizerAmicus Small Pocket Knife, 2.95 Inches 9Cr18MoV Steel Blade, Black G10 Handle Folding EDC Knife L3002A1

I’ve been looking for an affordable knife for EDC for over a year. I’ve had some really nice knives over the years, Boker, Benchmade and WESN to name a few. I’ve owned some other less expensive brands, Civivi in particular.I can be tough on knives and lose them more often than I care to admit so I am tired of $150 knives that I misplace over time.This knife feels great in the palm. I really like the G10. Based on reviews I wanted to try the Nitro V. I have been very disappointed in the steel on my Civivi. You just can’t get it as sharp as I’d like and even hard to get a less than impressive edge on it. Bad steel.This blade came reasonably sharp but I ran it for 20 strokes on my fine diamond sharpener and 20 strokes on my Arkansas stone. Hit it on my strop and this thing sharpened up very quickly and it’s extremely sharp. 4 minutes or less to shaving hair easily on my initial sharpening session. This Kizer Amicus runs circles around many of its price point competitors.Flipper is super smooth and the button release is also smooth. Exceptionally easy one handed opening and closing. I am suitably impressed and would highly recommend. Will report back in a few weeks but I have a hard time believing this knife will disappoint. I sharpen my knives multiple times a week so putting on a quick edge is more important to me than retention. Good knife, good steel. Don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And if you lose it, you don’t need to feel guilty about replacing it. This is the answer to my search for the right, affordable EDC knife.

NOTE: This review has been cross-posted to some of the knives mentioned below.NOTE 2: All of the knives I bought were because I found an online review outside of Amazon that gave the knife high marks. Based on the video, each of these looked great and were worthy of a purchase. For some people, any one of these options could be their ideal knife. For me, there are one or two small quirks that keep me from calling it my ideal everyday carry (EDC) knife.For over two months I have been buying and testing knives in search of one that I consider my ideal EDC. I have not found the _ideal_ knife, but there are some that have come close.To start, I bought a couple of "flipper" knives (i.e., ones where you flip a small lever on the bottom to extend the blade) that were either a frame or liner lock. This type of lock means that to retract the blade a small metal plate needs to be moved out of the way before the blade will fold back into the knife handle. These systems are OK and have been around for a very long time.The first few knives I bought were from Kershaw with their SpeedSafe opening mechanism (not pictured). I really like their assisted-opening mechanism, but the pocket-carry on the knives I bought were rather high, which meant a half inch or more of the knife extended out of my pocket when clipped. These knives were also a frame-lock. I kept looking.The first knife I bought on Amazon was the Civivi Mini Praxis (~$30, photo: top, #1, green). Wonderfully smooth action on the flip, with a very easy-to-retract blade. It has a nice deep-carry clip so the knife does not stick out of my pocket. Unfortunately, it is not a button lock. Even so, it is really, really nice and I have kept it in my collection. There are Civivi knives with button locks that I am interested in, but they are a bit more expensive than the $50 ceiling I was trying to stay under.After buying the Mini Praxis I learned about the "button lock" mechanism. In this kind of knife, there is a button on the side of the knife that is pushed to unlock the blade, and then with a flick of the wrist, or just gravity, it falls back into the knife body. Easy close mechanism without having to put your finger in the blade's path to move the frame or liner lock in order to allow the blade to retract.That was when I decided my ideal knife would have a flipper to open, a button lock to close, and a blade approximately 3'' long. For the record, 99% of what I use an EDC for is cutting open or breaking down boxes, or maybe trimming a stray thread off clothing. Therefore, I am not overly concerned with some of the factors online reviewers spend a lot of time discussing (e.g., the type of steel, its corrosion resistance factor, how long it holds an edge, the choil, and amount and size of the jimping).The first button lock I bought was the Flissa button lock (~$25, not pictured). Immediately after opening it, I thought the knife was too big and the action was not nearly as smooth as the Civivi Mini Praxis so it was quickly returned.Next up was the Sencut ArcBlast (~$50, photo: #2, black). Sencut is the more affordable version of the Civivi, which is the more affordable version of We Knives. Think of what Toyota is to Lexus. Phenomenal knife, almost ideal. The one knock I have on this knife is the "bounce." That is, when flipping the blade back into the frame, there is the occasional bounce where the blade does not fully seat. Maybe with more practice this gets better, but it was enough that I kept looking.The Kizer Amicus came next (~$40, photo: #3, white). Another one that is almost ideal. Perfect flipping action with no bounce. Really, really nice action both in and out. The one detractor with this knife is the handle. It is so light and has a rather "plasticky" feel that it almost feels like a toy.Finally, I tried the CJRB Lago (~$50, photo: #4, bottom, black). In comparison to the ArcBlast and the Amicus, this knife is huge. It is about 3/4'' longer (when closed) and heavier. It feels even larger and heavier than the specs imply, especially when flipping open the blade. My initial reaction to this knife was that there was a slight bounce on closing, and that the pivot is not nearly as smooth as the Mini Praxis, ArcBlast, or Amicus. Conversely, the reviewer in the online video I watched said the CJRB Lago was likely going to be one of the, if not the top, knife for his best-of list for flippers / button locks in 2024.So where did I end up? Still looking for that perfect combination of features and price! But for now, I am keeping the non-button lock Civivi, the button lock Sencut ArcBlast, and the button lock Kizer Amicus. I am getting much less bounce on the ArcBlast but still the occasional extra pop on close. I returned the CJRB Lago. I carry the Sencut and Kizer about equally. Both are great knives even though I have one small quibble on each. My search continues.Good luck in finding your ideal EDC! Hope this was helpful.

The blade is chunky and thin with a very big belly towards the front for great slicing. The flipper and button lock are awesome and very flickable. I like how lightweight it is and the clip is decent also. The only thing that I would like would be just a slightly thicker handle like 1mm on each would be perfect. Otherwise it is my new. EDC right now. I really like this Nitro V its great for heavy hard use and takes a polished edge really well and pretty easy too. Not Magna cut but its 50 bucks. I definitely recommend this knife. FYI i am licensed electrician and use this every day.

So far, this is a pretty nice knife. Really light love the white scales with black blade. Unsure of blade material. Says prototype where blade steel is designated. Although it is kind of a novelty item for me. As I’ve never had a blade that said prototype. But I don’t think I’ll actually ever use it, not knowing what the steel composition is. All in all cool knife for the collection.

I’m a knife guy. Not a hunter, not a heavy backwoods guy. I just like knives.In the last ten years the quality of imported knives has improved considerably and this is a good example.Excellent steel. Easy to sharpen and edge retention. Cheaper ones use d2 which I find too brittle. Prone to chipping and hard to sharpen.Anyway, this guy has both a button lock which allows easy wrist flipping and one hand closing AND a flipper. Ingenious.Thick g10 handles which eliminate need for steel structure. Nice size blade with good jimping. Blade is centered perfectly.The color is great. Medium clear green.Clip is sort of meh but works and seems sturdy.All in all this is a superior product both in design and manufacture.Yes, you can buy cheaper knives that are ok—but not as good as this one.

So I love that they used a thinner than average blade in Nitro-V. It really slices through material quite nicely. Nitro-V is a good steel and easy to maintain. The knife is also very light. It's cool to see a higher-quality Chinese manufacturer explore FRN but it does create more flex than I'd like. Somewhere between that and the button lock, there is blade play that I can't eliminate. The detent is a little mushy too and the button lock rattles. So there are pros and cons but for the low price, more good than bad.UPDATE: Kizer sent me a replacement. The replacement does not have blade play and the button lock does not rattle.