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Kizer doesn’t put out a lot of fixed blades, but when they do it’s usually something pretty cool. The Smolt is a little EDC-sized drop point designed by Jonathan Styles of Styles Design. He’s done a fair bit of work with Kizer in the past, especially in the fixed blade category, but the Smolt is the smallest so far.
The Smolt has some nice materials with a 3V blade, and MIcarta inserts in G10 scales.
The design intent seems to be light outdoors with some everyday carry vibes. We mostly just packed it in the woods where it played backup whittler to our bigger, more dedicated outdoor knives. But the Smolt actually held its own for carving and general hard-use tasks.
It would be hard to get more minimal than this. It doesn’t look like there’s much to the Smolt, but there’s still somehow a lot to like about the look.The handle is about as grip neutral as any knife could hope to be.It has a lanyard hole that might actually be worth using just to add something to make the Smolt more visible in case you drop it in the wild. Speaking from personal experience. Gray and black is more camo than you realize.In a vertical position, the Smolt rides pretty high. That’s not our ideal, but at least rides tight to the belt.The sheath retention is good. It holds but doesn’t take too much force to draw.Horizontal carry positions end up unbalanced since the screws have to go high up on the sheath, but the knife is light enough to prop against a loop or tighten the belt to keep it riding straight.The clip on the sheath pops open with a simple button release, so it’s easy to take off and move around. It also has spacers inside so it can adapt to different belt widths.The flat grind is pretty dang smooth. And the coating is a good addition since 3V can be prone to spotting.The edge has no problem working into tough materials. Working rubber took a little but of hard pushing at first, but it was smooth cutting once it broke into the surface.It’s not quite a laser out of the box, but the edge has a nice semi-polished finish that makes most cuts easy.Wood responds well to the edge. The blade tends to shave easier than it takes out large chunks of material, though.One downside is the handle bites into the hand. Any prolonged cut that needs a bit of force doesn’t stay comfortable for long.Not too bad for a little knife in a cheaper price range.
Ben started a twenty year commercial photography career after a blurry stint in the navy. He spent a lot of time losing and breaking knives and other EDC gear on location shoots before starting Nothing But Knives. He has reviewed and tested hundreds of both outdoor and kitchen knives over the course of the last six years, and he was mostly sober while testing and reviewing.
