Kizer's Astur ZeroS Hides a Button Liner Lock

The Astur is Kizer's gentleman's folder, and the ZeroS version is the one where the company finally stopped showing its work. The handle is a minimalist, screwless-look aluminum shell with no fastener clutter on the show side, and the whole knife reads as one piece until you look for the lock.

That lock is the interesting part. Kizer calls it a Button Liner Lock: a liner lock released with a button instead of a thumb push, which keeps the blade side of the handle uninterrupted. It pairs with a thumb stud, so the Astur opens one way and closes another, and the geometry stays free of the cutout that usually gives a liner lock away. Blade steel is CPM MagnaCut with a high hollow grind, and the clip is machined titanium.

Design credit goes to Brian Brown, whose customs are known for exactly this kind of quiet, tapered line work. MagnaCut at a high hollow grind is a reasonable pairing for a knife like this: the steel is stainless enough to ignore pocket sweat and tough enough that a thin grind will not chip out on tape and cardboard, and a hollow grind off a thin edge is still the best geometry going for pure slicing feel.

There are six colorways, including a dedicated left-handed model (3818ZBD4) and two direct-to-consumer limited editions (3818ZBDK1 and K2) with crystallized titanium handles at $199. The standard satin-and-light-gray-aluminum model is $149, which puts it above the $89.40 Huldra and below the company's titanium frame locks. Against a Bugout or a Civivi Elementum the Astur is the dressier, less fidgety choice, and against Kizer's own Cormorant it trades deployment options for a slimmer profile.

Verdict: a sensible $149 for anyone who wants a MagnaCut folder that looks like jewelry and cuts like a knife, with the caveat that a button-released liner lock is a two-handed habit for some and a one-handed revelation for others. Lefties should note that this is one of the few sub-$200 knives that actually ships a mirror-image version.

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