Matt Cucchiara's Guru has been in Kizer's catalogue long enough to have gone through several lives, and the KI3504A2 is the version most people should look at: a 2.97-inch sheepsfoot in CPM-S35VN, a milled titanium handle, and $91.
Specifications: 7.43 inches overall, 2.97-inch sheepsfoot blade in S35VN, 4.46-inch titanium handle, frame lock, flipper and thumb stud both present, tip-up clip. The design descends from Cucchiara's custom MC pattern, which is why the blade is a low, flat-bellied sheepsfoot rather than a drop point — it is built to cut forward and flat, not to stab.
The milled hole pattern in the handle is doing two jobs: it takes weight out of what would otherwise be a fairly dense slab of titanium, and it gives the fingers something to register against. Milled titanium handles can be slick when wet, and the holes break up the surface enough to help. The frame lock means the lock bar is the handle, so the relief cut and the lock face are the two places to inspect on arrival — a sticky or late-engaging lock is the usual defect in this construction.
Inside Kizer's own lineup the GPB1 Ki4473 at $110 is the same idea at a bigger scale: 3.50 inches and 7.05 ounces against the Guru's 2.97 inches and much lighter frame. The Mini Sheepdog at $169 asks $78 more for carbon fiber and a cleaver profile; the Guru is the more versatile knife for less. The Begleiter at $41.30 remains the budget answer, but it is VG-10 and it is not a frame lock.
Verdict: at $91 this is one of the better-value titanium frame locks you can buy, provided you like a sheepsfoot and you do not need a piercing tip. It carries like a much cheaper knife, cuts like a much more expensive one, and asks nothing of you but occasional pivot maintenance.
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