Kizer Spitfire Family Guide: Every Variant From the $70 G10 Edition to the $219 Titanium Flagship (2026)

The Kizer Spitfire is one of those designs that looks like it should be expensive and then turns out to have eight different versions spread across two price tiers. Same silhouette, same 3.13-inch drop point, same thumb-stud action — but a $70 G10 knife at one end and a $219 polished-DLC titanium folder at the other.

That spread is the whole story here. Chris Conaway's design borrows its lines from the Supermarine Spitfire's fuselage, and Kizer builds it in two distinct lines: the value-focused KizerV series in 14C28N and Damascus, and the premium KizerB series in S35VN with titanium handles. Picking between them is mostly a question of what you want the handle to be made of and how much edge retention matters to you.

Here is every configuration currently in the catalog, with the actual spec differences that separate them.

What every Spitfire shares

Before the variants, the common ground, because it is more than you would expect across an eight-model family:

• Blade: 3.13 in / 79.6 mm drop point, flat grind, 0.118–0.12 in (3.0 mm) thick
• Designer: Chris Conaway
• Opener: thumb stud only — no flipper tab anywhere in the line
• Handle length: 4.41 in / 112 mm, with finger grooves formed by the aircraft-inspired body contours
• Overall length: 7.54 in / 191.6 mm on most variants
• Hardness: 58–59 HRC on the 14C28N versions, 60–62 HRC on the Damascus and S35VN versions

That last line is the first thing worth internalizing. Kizer runs the budget steel softer than the premium steel — not as a shortcut, but because 14C28N trades edge retention for toughness, and a lower hardness is where that trade pays off. The nitrogen-alloyed stainless family that 14C28N belongs to is designed to stay stable and resist chipping at exactly this kind of hardness.

Knife Steel Nerds' own budget-steel testing put 14C28N at the top of its class, with high toughness, above-average corrosion resistance and moderate edge retention. If you only remember one thing about the cheap Spitfires, remember that.

The KizerV line: 14C28N and Damascus, $70 to $89.90

Four of the five KizerV Spitfires are aluminum-bodied knives with a liner lock, distinguished almost entirely by the blade steel and the material in the handle inlay.

V3690A1 — 14C28N, aluminum and Micarta — $84.90

The reference model. Satin-finished 14C28N at 58–59 HRC, an aluminum bolster with Micarta inlays, aluminum backspacer and thumb stud, deep-carry clip, 3.41 oz / 96.7 g. Micarta is the pick here if you want a handle that gets grippier as it wears and shows its age well rather than staying showroom-fresh.

V3690A2 — 14C28N, aluminum and Richlite Blue Canyon — $84.90

Identical steel, finish, lock and weight class (3.38 oz / 95.7 g), but the inlay switches to Richlite in a blue-black colorway. Richlite is a paper-composite material — a phenolic resin laminate that behaves like a dense, moisture-resistant Micarta relative — and it is what gives this variant its dark, marbled look. Buy this one on aesthetics; there is no performance argument between it and the A1.

V3690A3 and V3690A4 — acid-washed Damascus, aluminum and Mkuruti wood — $89.90

Two Damascus variants, both at 60–62 HRC with a feathered-pattern acid-washed blade and an aluminum-and-Mkuruti-wood handle. This is where the family starts to look like a collector piece rather than a work knife.

The difference between the two is size on paper: the A3 runs the standard 7.54 in overall length and 94.4 g, while the A4 measures 7.58 in / 192.6 mm and 94.3 g. In the hand they are the same knife. The A4's listed blade length is fractionally longer at 3.13 in / 80.6 mm versus 79.6 mm on the A3 — a rounding-level difference, not a design change.

Worth being honest about Damascus: it is a pattern-welded steel chosen for how it looks, and the acid-washed etch that makes the pattern pop is also a surface that will show every scuff. If you want a knife that looks right in photos and opens boxes at your desk, the A3 or A4 is the most interesting $90 in this lineup. If you want to sharpen it quickly on any stone, you want 14C28N.

V3690A5 — Supermarine Edition, 14C28N, G10, black PVD — $70

The newest and cheapest Spitfire, and the one with the best story. Kizer's Supermarine Edition wears the shark-mouth nose art and aviator camouflage associated with the Supermarine Spitfire squadrons, rendered here as textured G10 rather than aluminum.

Spec-wise it is a straightforward trade: high-strength G10 instead of aluminum and wood, so a slightly heavier 3.35 oz / 95 g, black PVD coating over 14C28N at 58–59 HRC, deep-carry non-reversible clip, liner lock, same 3.13 in drop point. The PVD finish adds scratch and corrosion resistance on top of the steel's own corrosion resistance.

At $70 it undercuts the aluminum-and-Micarta A1 by nearly fifteen dollars while adding a coating and a grip that handles wet hands better. If you are buying a Spitfire to use hard rather than admire, start here.

The KizerB line: S35VN and titanium, $180 to $219

Three models, all frame locks, all in titanium, all with S35VN at 60–62 HRC. This is a different knife with the same outline.

Ki3690A1 — S35VN, titanium and carbon fiber — $189

Satin-brushed S35VN, a titanium handle with carbon fiber inlays, a blue-purple Timascus backspacer, silver thumb stud, 3D pocket clip, and a frame lock. Weight drops to 2.96 oz / 84 g — nearly half an ounce lighter than the aluminum versions despite the titanium, because the titanium frame replaces the steel liners entirely.

S35VN is the reason a lot of buyers step up here. It is a powder-metallurgy stainless developed as a tougher, more machinable S30V, with 3% vanadium and a 0.5% niobium addition; the niobium refines the carbide structure, which is what buys the extra toughness without losing much wear resistance.

Ki3690A2 — polished DLC S35VN, titanium and camo carbon — $219

The flagship. Same S35VN blade, but with a polished DLC-Ultra coating rated 2200–2500 HV — a mirror-finish coating that Kizer describes as military-grade wear resistance with a look closer to polished steel than to a typical matte black blade.

The handle is titanium with Camo Carbon 80's inlays that are UV-reactive, so they glow under black light, plus a DLC-Ultra titanium backspacer and a blue thumb stud. It carries a 3D machined titanium pocket clip that is exclusive to this variant and deliberately non-reversible, and it weighs 3.01 oz / 85.3 g.

This is the variant people buy as a collection piece. The functional argument for it over the Ki3690A1 is the coating and the clip; the rest is finish work. Both run the same blade steel at the same hardness.

Ki3690A3 — Supermarine Edition, S35VN, G10 — $180

The premium Supermarine: the same 3.13 in S35VN drop point and G10 handle treatment as the $70 G10 version, but with the better steel and a roughly hundred-dollar premium over its 14C28N sibling. If the shark-mouth styling appeals to you and you want the S35VN blade, this is the only way to get both.

14C28N, Damascus or S35VN: the honest comparison

Two of those rows drive most purchase decisions. 14C28N wins on toughness and ease of maintenance; S35VN wins on how long the edge lasts between sharpenings. Damascus is a stylistic choice first and a performance choice second, which is not a criticism — it is just what pattern-welded steel is.

One caveat that applies to any of these: hardness numbers describe the steel, not the knife's finished edge. Heat treatment decides how much of a steel's potential you actually get, which is why a big-brand 14C28N at 58 HRC can outperform an unknown maker's exotic steel.

Liner lock vs frame lock in the Spitfire family

Every KizerV Spitfire is a liner lock; every KizerB Spitfire is a frame lock. It splits exactly along the price tiers, so the choice is made for you by whichever body material you pick.

Functionally, the difference is where the lock bar lives. A liner lock hides the bar inside the handle, which keeps the outside surfaces smooth and lets the handle be built from two different materials — aluminum plus Micarta, for instance. A frame lock uses the handle slab itself as the lock bar, which is why the titanium Spitfires have no visible lock hardware. If you want the longer version of that comparison, we walked through both designs in frame lock vs liner lock.

The KizerB titanium frame locks also share DNA with the rest of Kizer's premium line — the same split naming logic that shows up across Kizer's KizerV and KizerB families, where a lower-case "V" or "B" prefix tells you which materials and price tier you are looking at.

Which Spitfire should you buy?

• Best value: the Spitfire Supermarine Edition in 14C28N at $70. PVD coating, G10 handle, the same blade geometry as the $219 model.
• Best all-rounder: the Spitfire V3690A1 at $84.90. 14C28N with an aluminum and Micarta handle is the most livable combination in the family.
• Best-looking under $100: either Damascus variant — the V3690A3 or the V3690A4 at $89.90 each.
• Best premium pick: the Spitfire Ki3690A1 at $189. S35VN, titanium, carbon fiber, a Timascus backspacer and the lightest weight in the lineup.
• The collector's choice: the Spitfire Ki3690A2 at $219, with the polished DLC-Ultra blade and 3D titanium clip.
• S35VN with the G10 body: the Spitfire Supermarine Ki3690A3 at $180.

The Spitfire family is unusual in that the cheapest model is not the compromise model. If you came here expecting to be talked into the $219 knife, the specs do not make that argument — they make the $70 one, and let you spend the difference on a second knife. For more context on how this design fits into the rest of the brand, our Kizer buying guide covers the wider catalog, and the Kizer Madrac guide shows the same KizerV-versus-KizerB logic applied to a lock-focused model.