Disclaimer: I posted my review elsewhere online as well, but I thought that folks on this forum might benefit from it as well.
I've heard many people talk about inexpensive brands like Sanrenmu and Ganzo, so a month ago (to be precise, December 15, 2014) I ordered a few such knives from FastTech to see for myself. After all, they are cheap enough that even if they were all awful, I wouldn't be out a hefty sum.
They arrived yesterday evening (January 13, 2015) via Swiss Post. I paid an extra dollar to ship through their service and get a tracking number in the process. Otherwise shipping was free.
My criteria for choosing the knives that I did was mainly as follows:
* I wanted at least one knife from a few major cheapo brands, just in case one brand was subpar compared to the others.
* I hate knock off products, so the ones I picked shouldn't strike me as identical copies of, say, a Benchmade or Sebenza.
* I would need to like the look of them.
* I'd ignore steel type. They all have fairly entry level steels at the sub-$20 price point.
The knives I ordered were:
1. Enlan EL-01 ($18.56 US)
2. Sanrenmu 7056LUF-GHV-T4 ($13.13 US)
3. GANZO G717-OR ($18.95 US)
4. GANZO G716 ($19.25 US)
Within this post I'll review the knives and link you to detailed, very high definition pictures of each.
For reference, the full album of photos I took is available here: http://imgur.com/a/MQeSD
Enlan EL-01
I had decent hopes for this knife. It's a relatively large, thick flipper with beautiful wooden scales for less than $20. What's not to like?
It came in a sturdy nylon sheath with a belt loop. So far, so good. Once removed from the sheath, and the plastic bag within it, I immediately noticed that the knife was quite good looking (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in person as well.
It felt solid. The fit and finish was very reasonable. The scales were comfortable with no sharp edges. Blade centering was great. The only warning sign was the fact that it arrived a bit dirty. If you look at the stand offs in this picture or the liners, you can kind of see that.
The big surprise came when I tried to deploy it. Sorry, no go. This thing has a flipper that won't flip. And I don't mean "won't flip" a la bad Hinderer specimen, where it mostly flips but sometimes it fails or it takes a bit of extra effort. No. I tried 50 times and I simply cannot manage to deploy the blade through its flipper (I tried various variants, including the light switch and button press methods). The blade will deploy to 90 degrees at best, on average, with the occasional record breaking 120 degrees, or disappointing 45 degrees. 180 degrees is simply not achievable by my medium sized hands.
In short, there's a two-step deployment with this knife: first flip it to let the blade come out somewhat and then flick the knife to actually deploy it. With a bit of practice you can probably do both virtually at the same time, but it's not a smooth deployment on its own by any means. This would of course be a minor issue if the knife had a thumb stud, hole, or disk as an alternative opening method. It does not.
It is possible that adjusting the pivot would make a difference, but doing so requires a specialized tool sold separately often for as much as the price of the knife itself (i.e., a Triangle Pivot screw tool, but some people have found other kinds of workarounds if you're willing to scratch the pivot).
On the plus side the lockup is solid, and there is no blade play. The clip itself has very minimal play, which is more or less in line with more expensive knives by well recognized brands. Not really an issue.
The knife was the least sharp of them all. It struggled to cut paper and would usually get caught on the edge of the page.
I would not recommend this knife to anyone.
Sanrenmu 7056LUF-GHV-T4
This is the smallest of the bunch, as you can see here and here. It's also the only real multitool of the group, since it also includes a seat belt cutter, a bottle opener, and a glass breaker.
It came in the worst packaging of them all, which I can only describe as generic gas station style knife plastic packaging. It's also the only knife whose blade is not perfectly centered. It's slightly on the right side but not enough to impact functionality, and let's be honest here, far more expensive knives are shipped without proper centering on a daily basis.
The fit and finish in general feels a bit rough around the edges. Literally. The scales are aggressively grippy and even a little sharp.
All in all though, this knife is decent looking enough if you like the pattern on the scale (1, 2), 3, 4). (An orange and black version is also available.)
This was the cheapest of the bunch by a fair margin, so my expectations were low. It turns out to be the best knife among these four. It has solid lockup, no blade play, is the smoothest in the group, actually flips open most of the time with a satisfying amount of force, and it was the sharpest of these four (the only knife that arrived in acceptably sharp shape out of the box). The clip has no play whatsoever.
This small-EDC knife is definitely worth what I paid for it. It might even be worth two or three times that. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this knife to someone who can't afford or doesn't want to invest in a more expensive, better knife. Even so, I do feel that equally cheap Kershaw knives have the edge in terms of fit and finish. My Kershaw Half-Ton, for which I paid $9.95 on sale, arrived in virtually perfect shape and it too was made in China.
GANZO G717-OR and GANZO G716
I'll review these two together, because much of what I have to say apply to both models. They arrived in their respective boxes which were plenty decent. The boxes had a sleeve, and within each box there was even a cheap GANZO branded pouches. Truth be told, their presentation, while not spectacular, was on par with much more expensive brands.
The knives themselves are on the beefy side and look fairly good (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
The orange one came with very good fit and finish, albeit quite oily. The blade centering was perfect. Lockup was solid with zero blade play. No clip play either. The handle is not as comfortable as the Enlan one, but it's good enough and doesn't have too many sharp edges. The rounded spine is a nice touch, too.
The black one also had decent fit and finish with perfect blade centering good lockup and all that jazz. However, the deep carry clip has remarkable side to side play. The scales are insanely sharp and will literally feel painful in your hand if you hold the knife tight or when releasing the lock. I'm afraid this is from poor design (rather than me obtaining a defective one).
Speaking of design, the Emerson disc is actually quite nice and makes the deployment slightly easier than with the thumb stud installed on its orange sister. Despite this, among the two, I clearly find the orange one to be the better knife thanks to its more comfortable grip (despite a few slightly sharp edges where the liners meet the scales).
The action is decently smooth in the G717-OR and pretty bad in the G716. Both knives arrived in not-very-sharp shape, struggling a bit to cut paper out of the box. Better than the Enlan, but still disappointedly so.
My main issue which affects both of these knives stems from the Axis, hem, "inspired" lock called Shaft Lock. They might as well call it Shafted Lock. It only looks like a Benchmade's Axis lock. In practice, the pin is hollow and feels fragile as in, I'm a little uneasy trusting it. Furthermore, disengaging the darn lock is essentially an exercise in poking your finger. The operation is slightly painful, and it takes a moment to get a hold of the stiff stud/pin to release the lock, something that I haven't experienced with any of my Benchmades.
From afar (truly far away), you might even think that you are looking at a Benchmade with custom scales. The moment you hold it however, you realize the difference. It's hard to describe unless you've held one, but it's like everything is a little worse than an entry level Benchmade or Spyderco at every corner right down to the last detail - not just the steel used. Obviously I'm not expecting Benchmade quality from an $18 knife, but comparing the two next to each other really shows why one would pay for the premium knife.
Are these knives worth the $18? For many, yes. Even the black G716, which is my second least favorite knife of the lot, is probably worth its price tag. They might be unpolished, they might break sooner, they might use lesser quality steels, and they might not be as smooth, but for such a small amount of money, you still get a beater knife that can be sharpened and used for many common tasks.
Final considerations
In conclusion, these were some pretty crappy knives but I did get my money's worth (Enlan excluded). I went in expecting as much and was not disappointed.
I also don't regret buying them for a few other reasons:
1. I now have first hand experience with these knives and can confidently discuss their pros and cons.
2. It really made me appreciate why we spend so much money on amazing, but expensive knives. The difference is night and day.
3. I'll probably keep some in my collection so that the next time someone asks me why I spent $200 on a knife, I can hand them both knives and answer the question on the spot.
Still, I won't be buying any cheap Chinese knives again. (Higher-end Chinese ones like Kizer and mid-tech Reate on the other hand, are definitely in my future.)
Should you buy some of these cheapo knives? In general, I wouldn't recommend that you do, particularly if you already have experience with high quality knives or are a knife enthusiast. On the other hand if you can't afford anything more expensive than $20, including shipping, then the Sanrenmu or the G717 are decent value.
They might also have some value in terms of learning to customize knives, disassembling them, sharpening, etc, without being afraid of screwing up a knife that costs ten times more.
Still, I do wonder if you're not better off buying a cheap Kershaw. Especially because in doing so, you know that you're not supporting a company that has no problem ripping off bigger brands with some of their knock-off designs.
I've heard many people talk about inexpensive brands like Sanrenmu and Ganzo, so a month ago (to be precise, December 15, 2014) I ordered a few such knives from FastTech to see for myself. After all, they are cheap enough that even if they were all awful, I wouldn't be out a hefty sum.
They arrived yesterday evening (January 13, 2015) via Swiss Post. I paid an extra dollar to ship through their service and get a tracking number in the process. Otherwise shipping was free.
My criteria for choosing the knives that I did was mainly as follows:
* I wanted at least one knife from a few major cheapo brands, just in case one brand was subpar compared to the others.
* I hate knock off products, so the ones I picked shouldn't strike me as identical copies of, say, a Benchmade or Sebenza.
* I would need to like the look of them.
* I'd ignore steel type. They all have fairly entry level steels at the sub-$20 price point.
The knives I ordered were:
1. Enlan EL-01 ($18.56 US)
2. Sanrenmu 7056LUF-GHV-T4 ($13.13 US)
3. GANZO G717-OR ($18.95 US)
4. GANZO G716 ($19.25 US)
Within this post I'll review the knives and link you to detailed, very high definition pictures of each.
For reference, the full album of photos I took is available here: http://imgur.com/a/MQeSD
Enlan EL-01
I had decent hopes for this knife. It's a relatively large, thick flipper with beautiful wooden scales for less than $20. What's not to like?
It came in a sturdy nylon sheath with a belt loop. So far, so good. Once removed from the sheath, and the plastic bag within it, I immediately noticed that the knife was quite good looking (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in person as well.
It felt solid. The fit and finish was very reasonable. The scales were comfortable with no sharp edges. Blade centering was great. The only warning sign was the fact that it arrived a bit dirty. If you look at the stand offs in this picture or the liners, you can kind of see that.
The big surprise came when I tried to deploy it. Sorry, no go. This thing has a flipper that won't flip. And I don't mean "won't flip" a la bad Hinderer specimen, where it mostly flips but sometimes it fails or it takes a bit of extra effort. No. I tried 50 times and I simply cannot manage to deploy the blade through its flipper (I tried various variants, including the light switch and button press methods). The blade will deploy to 90 degrees at best, on average, with the occasional record breaking 120 degrees, or disappointing 45 degrees. 180 degrees is simply not achievable by my medium sized hands.
In short, there's a two-step deployment with this knife: first flip it to let the blade come out somewhat and then flick the knife to actually deploy it. With a bit of practice you can probably do both virtually at the same time, but it's not a smooth deployment on its own by any means. This would of course be a minor issue if the knife had a thumb stud, hole, or disk as an alternative opening method. It does not.
It is possible that adjusting the pivot would make a difference, but doing so requires a specialized tool sold separately often for as much as the price of the knife itself (i.e., a Triangle Pivot screw tool, but some people have found other kinds of workarounds if you're willing to scratch the pivot).
On the plus side the lockup is solid, and there is no blade play. The clip itself has very minimal play, which is more or less in line with more expensive knives by well recognized brands. Not really an issue.
The knife was the least sharp of them all. It struggled to cut paper and would usually get caught on the edge of the page.
I would not recommend this knife to anyone.
Sanrenmu 7056LUF-GHV-T4
This is the smallest of the bunch, as you can see here and here. It's also the only real multitool of the group, since it also includes a seat belt cutter, a bottle opener, and a glass breaker.
It came in the worst packaging of them all, which I can only describe as generic gas station style knife plastic packaging. It's also the only knife whose blade is not perfectly centered. It's slightly on the right side but not enough to impact functionality, and let's be honest here, far more expensive knives are shipped without proper centering on a daily basis.
The fit and finish in general feels a bit rough around the edges. Literally. The scales are aggressively grippy and even a little sharp.
All in all though, this knife is decent looking enough if you like the pattern on the scale (1, 2), 3, 4). (An orange and black version is also available.)
This was the cheapest of the bunch by a fair margin, so my expectations were low. It turns out to be the best knife among these four. It has solid lockup, no blade play, is the smoothest in the group, actually flips open most of the time with a satisfying amount of force, and it was the sharpest of these four (the only knife that arrived in acceptably sharp shape out of the box). The clip has no play whatsoever.
This small-EDC knife is definitely worth what I paid for it. It might even be worth two or three times that. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this knife to someone who can't afford or doesn't want to invest in a more expensive, better knife. Even so, I do feel that equally cheap Kershaw knives have the edge in terms of fit and finish. My Kershaw Half-Ton, for which I paid $9.95 on sale, arrived in virtually perfect shape and it too was made in China.
GANZO G717-OR and GANZO G716
I'll review these two together, because much of what I have to say apply to both models. They arrived in their respective boxes which were plenty decent. The boxes had a sleeve, and within each box there was even a cheap GANZO branded pouches. Truth be told, their presentation, while not spectacular, was on par with much more expensive brands.
The knives themselves are on the beefy side and look fairly good (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
The orange one came with very good fit and finish, albeit quite oily. The blade centering was perfect. Lockup was solid with zero blade play. No clip play either. The handle is not as comfortable as the Enlan one, but it's good enough and doesn't have too many sharp edges. The rounded spine is a nice touch, too.
The black one also had decent fit and finish with perfect blade centering good lockup and all that jazz. However, the deep carry clip has remarkable side to side play. The scales are insanely sharp and will literally feel painful in your hand if you hold the knife tight or when releasing the lock. I'm afraid this is from poor design (rather than me obtaining a defective one).
Speaking of design, the Emerson disc is actually quite nice and makes the deployment slightly easier than with the thumb stud installed on its orange sister. Despite this, among the two, I clearly find the orange one to be the better knife thanks to its more comfortable grip (despite a few slightly sharp edges where the liners meet the scales).
The action is decently smooth in the G717-OR and pretty bad in the G716. Both knives arrived in not-very-sharp shape, struggling a bit to cut paper out of the box. Better than the Enlan, but still disappointedly so.
My main issue which affects both of these knives stems from the Axis, hem, "inspired" lock called Shaft Lock. They might as well call it Shafted Lock. It only looks like a Benchmade's Axis lock. In practice, the pin is hollow and feels fragile as in, I'm a little uneasy trusting it. Furthermore, disengaging the darn lock is essentially an exercise in poking your finger. The operation is slightly painful, and it takes a moment to get a hold of the stiff stud/pin to release the lock, something that I haven't experienced with any of my Benchmades.
From afar (truly far away), you might even think that you are looking at a Benchmade with custom scales. The moment you hold it however, you realize the difference. It's hard to describe unless you've held one, but it's like everything is a little worse than an entry level Benchmade or Spyderco at every corner right down to the last detail - not just the steel used. Obviously I'm not expecting Benchmade quality from an $18 knife, but comparing the two next to each other really shows why one would pay for the premium knife.
Are these knives worth the $18? For many, yes. Even the black G716, which is my second least favorite knife of the lot, is probably worth its price tag. They might be unpolished, they might break sooner, they might use lesser quality steels, and they might not be as smooth, but for such a small amount of money, you still get a beater knife that can be sharpened and used for many common tasks.
Final considerations
In conclusion, these were some pretty crappy knives but I did get my money's worth (Enlan excluded). I went in expecting as much and was not disappointed.
I also don't regret buying them for a few other reasons:
1. I now have first hand experience with these knives and can confidently discuss their pros and cons.
2. It really made me appreciate why we spend so much money on amazing, but expensive knives. The difference is night and day.
3. I'll probably keep some in my collection so that the next time someone asks me why I spent $200 on a knife, I can hand them both knives and answer the question on the spot.
Still, I won't be buying any cheap Chinese knives again. (Higher-end Chinese ones like Kizer and mid-tech Reate on the other hand, are definitely in my future.)
Should you buy some of these cheapo knives? In general, I wouldn't recommend that you do, particularly if you already have experience with high quality knives or are a knife enthusiast. On the other hand if you can't afford anything more expensive than $20, including shipping, then the Sanrenmu or the G717 are decent value.
They might also have some value in terms of learning to customize knives, disassembling them, sharpening, etc, without being afraid of screwing up a knife that costs ten times more.
Still, I do wonder if you're not better off buying a cheap Kershaw. Especially because in doing so, you know that you're not supporting a company that has no problem ripping off bigger brands with some of their knock-off designs.
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