Kizlyar Knives

Kizlyar is a town in the Southern Russian province of Dagestan. Dagestan has a long history of warfare and weapon craft and a prestigious weapon manufacturing history that dates back to the 14th century.

Some areas were dedicated to the production of swords and daggers (sashka and kinjhal) while others focused on firearms and the decoration of both previous types, but all had characteristics unique to Dagestan.

I. E. Kizlyar Ltd. has the responsibility of upholding the traditions and crafts of those by-gone days by continuing the ancient trade of weapon manufacturing, whether it is the production of traditional Cossack sashka (sabre), kinjhal (dagger) or finely crafted hunting or decorated knives forged in Damascus steel, adorned with precious stones and metals.

In 1992, IE Kizlyar Ltd. produced it’s first run of knives for special orders. The knives were of such high quality that many more orders were soon to follow, and thus the excellent reputation of Kizlyar Knives was forged.

April 1995 was a milestone in the companies history. It was the first company in Dagestan to receive a licence for permission to manufacture hunting and military knives. Under Russian law authorisation is required to produce them. This was the motivation for the introduction of the highly popular knife models-Scorpion, Taiga and Berkut. These found favour almost immediately with Special Forces and Police due to their aggressive design, nature and ultimate reliability.

The success of this venture brought about a wave of popularity, inundating the company with orders for more products, prompting a second company to be created in order to cope with ever growing demand. That was Kizlyar Knives.

This joint company was named in honour of the town where it is currently situated, Kizlyar, Dagestan. In keeping with tradition and authenticity, local craftsmen, armourers, jewelers and other masters in their craft, all with skills inherited from their family trades were invited to join the company..

The company's success is due to the combination of centuries old traditions coupled with the application of modern manufacturing technology to produce authentic, high quality knives with supreme fit, finish and performance.

Kizlyar Knives is now considered to be the most successful Russian knife manufacturing company not only in Russia, but in the world. With a dealer network of over 600 store locations. Knives are shipped to all four corners of the globe - throughout Russia, to the Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, United Kingdom, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Australia and the United States.

Materials currently used in the creation of Kizlyar Knives are as follows:

Blades:

• Russian 65×13 steel.
• French z60 steel.
• Damascus (Kizlyar type, forged in-house).

Handles:

• Resin impregnated Caucasian Walnut.
• Rubber.
• Elastron-G.
• Kapron cord.
• Various Bone and Horn types.
• Ebony.
• Compressed leather washers.

Sheaths / Scabbards:

• Treated leather
• ABS polymer