Does PSRK make Ganzo?

[SmartCastle7]

Which vendor on the supporting vendors list sells Ganzo?


S SmartCastle7 , welcome to Blade Forums and thanks for sharing your question. You picked a very divisive topic to introduce yourself to the community, but I think you deserve the best answers that we can offer.

Every knife in the picture above is a rip-off of another knife...
from left to right...Benchmade Snody H&K 14210, Benchmade 950 Rift, Benchmade 741 Onslaught, Benchmade 860 Bedlam, Lionsteel SR2 for the next two knives, Ontario Rat Model 1 and Spyderco PM2.

It's stuff like this that makes true knife enthusiasts loathe Ganzo. Stolen designs and features hurt the entire knife industry and as knife knuts we hate to see the industry suffer due to these cloner companies. Yes, you have reason to be concerned about getting a "genuine" Ganzo because the cloners are now cloning the cloners. The damage cloners do to legit knife makers is NOT up for debate. The argument about not being able to afford the real thing doesn't hold water either. True, a genuine Benchmade 950 might be out of the price-comfort range for many knife buyers, but there are some great choices available in inexpensive, original knives. Many have been named already in this thread.

For within a few $ of a Ganzo you could get:
Kizer Tangram (the Sante Fe in particular is an awesome knife)
Ontario Rat Model 1 or Model 2 in AUS8 steel
Some of the Chinese produced Kershaws (I'd ask about a particular knife that you may have interest in because these can be hit or miss)
Honey Badger (I don't see much talk of them here but I think they're an incredible knife for the money. They originate out of South Africa but I doubt they're actually made there)

For the price of 2 Ganzos you could get:
WE Civivi
RealSteel (I recommend the H6-S1. Although RS shares a common ancestry with SanRenMu I think enough distance has passed to separate them from SRM's cloner past)
Ruike (As I understand it, not related to SanRenMu but a derivative of the group that made Factor knives...who have a cloner past)
Kizer Vanguard
Bestech budget line
Steel Will
Ontario RATs in D2 steel

There's many more that I can't remember off the top of my head. This is a renaissance time for high quality, high value knives. There are so many great choices, there's no excuse to buy a clone, copy, homage, rip-off when you can support knife design/development/production and buy an original. And get a warranty. And get materials you know to be as advertised. And deal with an authorized reseller who'll stand behind what they sell. Hopefully you get the drift. There's no reason to buy from a cloner and too many reasons to NOT buy from a cloner.

Good luck finding great knives!

Thank you, and you make valid points. Although I may disagree with the opinion of the amount of damage that clones do to legitimate manufacturers/designers, I also understand that it's not open for debate. I have an Esee Avispa (outstanding knife ) and as far as I know it's not stealing from anyone else

Which vendor on the supporting vendors list sells Ganzo?


S SmartCastle7 , welcome to Blade Forums and thanks for sharing your question. You picked a very divisive topic to introduce yourself to the community, but I think you deserve the best answers that we can offer.

Every knife in the picture above is a rip-off of another knife...
from left to right...Benchmade Snody H&K 14210, Benchmade 950 Rift, Benchmade 741 Onslaught, Benchmade 860 Bedlam, Lionsteel SR2 for the next two knives, Ontario Rat Model 1 and Spyderco PM2.

It's stuff like this that makes true knife enthusiasts loathe Ganzo. Stolen designs and features hurt the entire knife industry and as knife knuts we hate to see the industry suffer due to these cloner companies. Yes, you have reason to be concerned about getting a "genuine" Ganzo because the cloners are now cloning the cloners. The damage cloners do to legit knife makers is NOT up for debate. The argument about not being able to afford the real thing doesn't hold water either. True, a genuine Benchmade 950 might be out of the price-comfort range for many knife buyers, but there are some great choices available in inexpensive, original knives. Many have been named already in this thread.

For within a few $ of a Ganzo you could get:
Kizer Tangram (the Sante Fe in particular is an awesome knife)
Ontario Rat Model 1 or Model 2 in AUS8 steel
Some of the Chinese produced Kershaws (I'd ask about a particular knife that you may have interest in because these can be hit or miss)
Honey Badger (I don't see much talk of them here but I think they're an incredible knife for the money. They originate out of South Africa but I doubt they're actually made there)

For the price of 2 Ganzos you could get:
WE Civivi
RealSteel (I recommend the H6-S1. Although RS shares a common ancestry with SanRenMu I think enough distance has passed to separate them from SRM's cloner past)
Ruike (As I understand it, not related to SanRenMu but a derivative of the group that made Factor knives...who have a cloner past)
Kizer Vanguard
Bestech budget line
Steel Will
Ontario RATs in D2 steel

There's many more that I can't remember off the top of my head. This is a renaissance time for high quality, high value knives. There are so many great choices, there's no excuse to buy a clone, copy, homage, rip-off when you can support knife design/development/production and buy an original. And get a warranty. And get materials you know to be as advertised. And deal with an authorized reseller who'll stand behind what they sell. Hopefully you get the drift. There's no reason to buy from a cloner and too many reasons to NOT buy from a cloner.

Good luck finding great knives!

So to be clear, has Sanrenmu been forgiven or just some of the companies that used to be associated with them? I own two Sanrenmu knives and I can honestly say that they are great knives. Again, I'm not trying to offend anyone, It's just my opinion that they are great knives, especially for the price.

 

[Lapedog]

Apparently someone tested the d2 at 62hrc.a whole mark above what d2s highest hrc is listed. This means they are not properly heat treating in my eyes. Probably not even using cryo or tempering correctly. It's sure to be brittle and chippy

Its also a clone of another Chinese brand knife so it is indeed a clone of a other knife.

Don't support ganzo or other cloners and hell to the no don't support dhgate or other bs sites that just keep cloning.

That’s funny my friend has gotten several Chinese knives that claim to use d2 and on many of them he noted the steel was very chippy. It would chip out when he was sharpening it with diamond stones on his KME.

It has been on several brands of knives that he has tried. All Chinese brands like Bestech. A whole bunch of them had this same issue.

 

[SmartCastle7]

BladeHQ, Blade play aka grindworx now. They still have Ganzo's for sale and still listed as a paid dealer.

I'm not for supporting clones when there is blatant copyright infringement.
My point is to show the irony to the community. The site has no problem taking their money.

If you do business with the devil don't get upset when people post the goods here and want to discuss them here. Their buying them from paid dealers on here.[/QUOTE

It's a deep rabbit hole. I understand not buying a clone, or something that is stated to be something else, or something that is a blatant shameless ripoff. If that company then makes a legitimate original design and markets it are they forgiven? Is it then acceptable?

 

[Lapedog]

Thank you, and you make valid points. Although I may disagree with the opinion of the amount of damage that clones do to legitimate manufacturers/designers, I also understand that it's not open for debate. I have an Esee Avispa (outstanding knife ) and as far as I know it's not stealing from anyone else


So to be clear, has Sanrenmu been forgiven or just some of the companies that used to be associated with them? I own two Sanrenmu knives and I can honestly say that they are great knives. Again, I'm not trying to offend anyone, It's just my opinion that they are great knives, especially for the price.

I think people seem to be ok buying from these companies as long as they’re no not buying clones and ok buying from their sub brands like Real Steel.

Even WE knives is a sub brand of Wa Yeah knives who have clones in their line up.

Some people might believe that buying non-clones shows these companies that original products will be rewarded but in truth these Chinese companies are apparently always putting profit into cloners one way or another.

 

[Mo2]

Please just close this thread. Clones are clones and we don't support them. Nor should the op.

It doesn't matter who makes the clones.

Brand that clones
Vendor that harbors cloners

End discussion. We dont need it here.

 

[Lapedog]

By the way what is PSRK anyway? People’s Socialist Republic Knives?

 

[MolokaiRider]

I tried doing some web searching for about half an hour trying to find information on PSRK.

I did not find much that makes sense in regards to making Ganzo clones. In fact, there is not a lot of helpful information about a large amount of Chinese manufacturing.

 

[stonproject]

Thank you, and you make valid points. Although I may disagree with the opinion of the amount of damage that clones do to legitimate manufacturers/designers, I also understand that it's not open for debate. I have an Esee Avispa (outstanding knife ) and as far as I know it's not stealing from anyone else


So to be clear, has Sanrenmu been forgiven or just some of the companies that used to be associated with them? I own two Sanrenmu knives and I can honestly say that they are great knives. Again, I'm not trying to offend anyone, It's just my opinion that they are great knives, especially for the price.

I dont know that Sanrenmu has blatantly ripped off designs like ganzo. But they have 1 knife thats pretty similar to a CRK sebenza

 

[Mo2]

I dont know that Sanrenmu has blatantly ripped off designs like ganzo. But they have 1 knife thats pretty similar to a CRK sebenza

And several ripping off zt/Kershaw/Ken onion, under the srm brand.

 

[Ajack60]

BladeHQ, Blade play aka grindworx now. They still have Ganzo's for sale and still listed as a paid dealer.

I'm not for supporting clones when there is blatant copyright infringement.
My point is to show the irony to the community. The site has no problem taking their money.

If you do business with the devil don't get upset when people post the goods here and want to discuss them here. Their buying them from paid dealers on here.

BladeHQ also sells Striders, and you know how those threads wind up......locked down
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should............sorry, there is no irony within the community when it comes to clones.
This site also has no problems taking money from members that sell Strider Knives, so there’s that.

 

[SmartCastle7]

Please just close this thread. Clones are clones and we don't support them. Nor should the op.

It doesn't matter who makes the clones.

Brand that clones
Vendor that harbors cloners

End discussion. We dont need it here.

I never intended to offend anyone, but I understand why most of the people in here would see my OP as a BS question given their opinion of the manufacturer(s).

 

[SmartCastle7]

Please just close this thread. Clones are clones and we don't support them. Nor should the op.

It doesn't matter who makes the clones.

Brand that clones
Vendor that harbors cloners

End discussion. We dont need it here.

I never intended to offend anyone, but I understand why a lot of people in here would see it as a BS question, considering their opinion on the manufacturer(s).

 

[craytab]

I dont know that Sanrenmu has blatantly ripped off designs like ganzo. But they have 1 knife thats pretty similar to a CRK sebenza

They stole the axis lock for almost a decade. I think they have stopped now (ironically now that the patent is up) but for most in this community it's an unforgivable sin.

 

[danbot]

I never intended to offend anyone,

That's questionable.
The fact is that Ganzo has been stealing from this community and the manufacturers that we support for many years. That is why they and their ilk are not welcome here. We don't want them and we don't need them.
Any rationalization that you can come up with for buying a clone will be seen as BS here. I'm pretty sure you can see that by now. All of the typical rationalizations have been addressed in this thread already.

 

[stonproject]

They stole the axis lock for almost a decade. I think they have stopped now (ironically now that the patent is up) but for most in this community it's an unforgivable sin.

A quick google search shows sanrenmu makes those land knives that were basically ganzos, I didnt realize. They also supposedly make real steel?

 

[Hackenslash]

A quick google search shows sanrenmu makes those land knives that were basically ganzos, I didnt realize. They also supposedly make real steel?

I struggle with SanRenMu and RealSteel as a result of this. According to SRM, RealSteel is an independent company that they spun off to make higher quality, original designs. When they started, RealSteel had one original design (the H6 Blue Sheep) and a few designs ported over from SRM that weren't copies of other knives. I think it's fairly obvious that SRM was trying to get away from their days making Sebenza clones and using stolen Axis locks.

Since the beginning the two companies seem to be going in different directions. RealSteel is pumping out decent original designs but SRM is pushing their LAND knives which still closely copy the Sebenza.

I guess it all depends on what you think a knife company needs to do for redemption. Both Reate and WE have cloner roots but are generally accepted now as quality brands. I don't think RealSteel has tried as hard but that becomes a personal judgement call. I still recommend them as value options but I haven't personally bought a RealSteel for a long time.

 

[Zuluninja]

Just went ahead and ordered one of those honey badgers, dammit! In Spanish, Ganzo means goose but in Puerto Rico it's also slang for sly, shady type of behavior as when someone takes advantage of a situation ("that guy is a ganzo! he took off half an hour earlier when he knew the boss wasn't there!"). Kinda apt for the knife company. As for the companies and their roots... I bet if we dig deep enough, plenty of skeletons would come out and not just in China. I had no clue RS sprung from SRM, but I really like what they create, right now waiting for one of their Poltergeist collabs, and plenty satisfied with a ti megalodon and several others. To the OP, I guess the point is clear, say no to cloners. This place is loaded with info to steer you.

 

[lonestar1979]

Most sanrenmus and real steels are good knives,i hope they start using real d2 with optimal ht.Had few Chinese knives marked d2before but it was some soft crappy steel,but i dulled edges and tips and uset it as practice knives,used them for couple of years untill they broke down,now are in garbage lol.Real steel knives are very good for price.

 

[SmartCastle7]

That's questionable.
The fact is that Ganzo has been stealing from this community and the manufacturers that we support for many years. That is why they and their ilk are not welcome here. We don't want them and we don't need them.
Any rationalization that you can come up with for buying a clone will be seen as BS here. I'm pretty sure you can see that by now. All of the typical rationalizations have been addressed in this thread already.

Your Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator is a copy of the Q-35.

 

[Lee48]

I've used this example before. It probably will PO some but it's not my intention. I consider it one of those "learn from history" lessons. I have a background in photography, having done it as a hobby, as a career and as an obsession--sorta like knives. Considering the history of the photographic industry should be instructive.

Industrialized Asian countries have a long history of copying Western products. Prior to WWII, Japan had a number of camera and optical companies. The more successful ones made copies of German Contax and Leica cameras and lenses that were considered cheap knockoffs in the West. Pros and knowledgeable amateurs in the West wouldn't be caught dead using a cheap Japanese camera. But during the Korean War, photojournalist David Douglas Duncan (who recently died at age 102) tried out some Japanese lenses that fit his Leica cameras and found them to be pretty darn good. In fact they were superior to the German Leica lenses he was using. His colleagues were also impressed and started buying them as well and they introduced quality Japanese optics to the West. Those lenses were made by an optical company called Nippon Kogaku, better known today as Nikon. Nikon also made cameras that were copies of the German Contax. They made lenses for another Japanese camera maker known as Canon. Canon made cameras that were copies of the Leica. Sound familiar?

Today the cameras and lenses from both Canon and Nikon are top of the line professional products. Contax, as a brand name, has disappeared. Leica has become a boutique brand, overpriced and usually serving as jewelry to those who can afford them.

I'm not saying all Chinese brands of knives are excellent examples of fine cutlery. But you learn from history or you're doomed to repeat it.