Amicus EDC Knife, 2.95 Inches Satin 9Cr18MoV Steel Blade Knife, G10 Handle Pocket Knife with Reversible Deep Carry Clip L3002A2, Natural

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.

Kizer is known for bringing some high quality budget knives to the market. Their newest Laconic line is aiming to bring no nonsense models to the market at under $50. Nothing fancy, just functional designs with good build and decent budget friendly materials. I own dozens of Kizer knives. This was my first purchase from the Laconic line and i think it hits the mark. The Amicus was a real surprise to me. Super lightweight G-10 construction, snappy flipper, responsive button lock. They are all spot on. Fidget friendly, but very usable with a wide drop point blade. It's just big enough for my XL hands to get a nice grip on and the handle is neutral enough for it to work for a lot of hand sizes. Nice jimping on the blade. I liked this knife enough to buy both colors. This is a great summer carry when you have lighter shorts on, but it is just as good any day of the year. Highly recommended EDC.

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.

I got the Nitro-V blade with the Micarta scales or whatever they're called. Overall great, well built and pretty simple knife. Rock solid lock when open with absolutely ZERO play out of the box. I was planning on returning it to look for something better at the same price point, or at least very similar but cheaper. Alas I ended up keeping this one because of the form factor, blade shape, flip open option and price at $50. I was considering some knives from Civivi and NedFoss but they were either too big, too pricy, or missing a key feature like my desired blade shape, or the flip to open. At first I didn't like the texture of the micarta, but it turns into a comfortable and grippy texture after handling it for a bit and I ended up liking it more than the G10 material on a couple other knives I ordered at the same time.

I'm impressed! I received a knife with a perfectly centered blade, no noticeable defects, strong enough detent without being difficult to open. Nice, deep pocket clip. The knife is light due to the G-10 scales making up most of the knife's structure - the only metal inside is a small base for the blade pivot and the button lock as well as a couple of spacers and screws. No idea how well this will hold up, but it is significantly lighter and thinner than my Griptilian. Despite the lack of metal liner the knife is pretty well balanced and there was no play in the blade or lock. 4 stars because it showed up about as sharp as a butter knife! This is my first 9Cr18MoV steel knife, so we'll see how well she takes an edge.

Fantastic knife. The blade is durable, and the action is smooth and user-friendly. I like this knife a lot, and with the micarta scales, this blade disappears in the pocket and is oh-so light. I highly recommend the Amicus and actually ANY Kizer knife for EDC use.

If there were 10 stars I would give this a ten star rating! It’s got a lever to open the blade, it’s got a button to deploy the blade and with a quick flick you can also release the blade. Speaking of the blade, it’s very very sharp and still holds up after opening up dozens of boxes . I like this better than my Benchmade

Amazing knife I have a few of these now. Light weight, good quality, holds an edge, fits nice in the pocket.