Six inches overall. That is the whole argument for the Kizer Microlith, and it is a harder number to hit than it sounds. A 2.375-inch blade plus a 3.5-inch handle leaves no room for the usual slabs of steel, and Kizer's answer is a stainless liner on the lock side only, carbon fiber on the show side, and a 2.73-ounce total.
The spec sheet: Ki2533A2, CPM-S35VN drop point at 0.12 inch stock, bead blast finish, flipper tab and thumb hole on a caged bearing pivot, tip-up clip that sits high on the handle instead of at the tail. Designer credit goes to Nick Swan. At $104.30 it is the cheaper of the two Microlith variants on Kizer's own shelf โ the titanium Ki2533A1 runs $147 for the same 2.375 inches of S35VN and the same 2.73 ounces.
That weight parity is the interesting part. Titanium is lighter than steel per cubic inch, so a titanium-handled knife usually wins the scale, but here the titanium version drops the non-locking liner entirely while the carbon fiber version keeps one. Two different structural solutions to the same problem, and the scale ends up level. What you are actually choosing between at that point is feel: carbon fiber is warm, slightly grippy and absorbs the click of the flip, titanium is cold, slicker and rings.
Compare it with the other compact S35VN option on the same site, the Mini Sheepdog C01C at $169. That knife gives you 2.625 inches of blade in a 5.77-inch frame, but it is 3.17 ounces and it is a cleaver. The Microlith is the more conventional tool: a drop point with a usable tip, a narrower handle, and a clip you can actually reach when the knife is in a pocket seam.
Verdict: the Microlith is a five-pocket or shirt-pocket knife for people who refuse to carry 14C28N in a small package. If you want the cheapest good small S35VN folder, take the carbon fiber one and skip the titanium tax; if you want the metal feel, the $147 is not unreasonable. Either way, understand that a 2.375-inch blade with 0.12 inch stock is a slicer and a package opener, not a pry bar.
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