Two Sun knives, affordable EDC?

What do you think of these Two Sun knives?

  • Total voters
    29
  • Poll closed .
T

Taxmantoo

Joined
Jun 9, 2017
Messages
22
As those who saw my introductory post may remember, I was in the market for a sub-$50 EDC flipper when I first stumbled upon this site a couple of weeks ago.
My first thought was a Ruike P108, or the similarly styled TwoSun TS-21, if I could get the Two Sun for about the cost of the Ruike. I was also interested in the TS-16, but figured I wouldn't find one for under $50.

I decided I liked the plainer looks and better materials of the TwoSun and decided against Ruike. I didn't know what a Sebenza was at the time, I just found myself drawn towards the more "Chi-benza" looking of the two.

After two weeks of shopping the "e on the bay" (search terms TwoSun D2), I ended up spending my $40 on the following (well, make that $200, so much for the old budget):

TS-31


TS-34


TS-16B


TS-21 (the one I was supposed to be bidding on in the first place was the 4th one I actually bought, pictured here are a 21 and a 34 that have apparently been 'flame colorized')


TS-39


And, last but definitely least, the miniature TS-81, a millimeter under 2" and a couple grams under 2 oz.


All are ball bearing flippers, D2 steel, or "Chinese D2", with TC4 titanium (similar to 6V4Al) frames, all except the TS-81 are 3 3/8-3 7/8" and 4-5oz with steel lock inserts.

It looks like the owner of TwoSun was probably registered here a few years ago as TwoSun. 3 of my purchases appear to be his designs, the TS-16 and TS-39 appear to have been penned by somebody going by the name Night Mourning Design, and I don't know what to say about the TS-81, other than CH Knives seems to have a model exactly identical to it, and Ping (owner of CH) is supposed to be friends with Mr "TwoSun".

I'll post personal pics in this thread when I have knives to take pics of.
Don't expect photography of the quality already shown here.
 
I don't know a lot about Two Suns but have been given the impression they are not exactly legit so at the moment I would steer clear of them myself.
 
Some of these designs can be found under other branding and I think I've seen the TwoSun logo on clone knives. I'd guess that TwoSun is more of a marketing brand than a manufacturing brand.

I have a couple of TwoSun knives that I picked up kind of accidentally. One is the little TS-81 you've pictured. Such a horrible, ill fitting, poorly finished knife. I think the grooves on the Ti handle may be sharper than the blade!

I have another TwoSun that you don't have pictured here and it's made a little better than the TS-81. The problem with it is the blade certainly didn't wear like I'd expect from D2 and after some moderate to light use it started to get some rust spots forming on the blade.

Some TwoSuns may be decent, but my limited experience is that the knives are variable from model to model and may be made anywhere with a wide range of materials. I think you'd be better off spending a little more money and getting a Kizer Vanguard or a WE budget line knife.
 
Love the poll options. :)

That is one advantage of $40 knives. You can buy lots.
 
Pass. Especially since one can get a great $40 knife from a legit maker, or a greater $200 knife from a legit maker, or 5 great $40 knives from legit makers quite easily.

Who needs mystery steels, gouged up fasteners (get a load of that tanto), no names, customer service, etc etc etc.

Ptui. For 200 bucks one could get a Spyderco Delica, a Vic Super Tinker, a Becker fixed blade, and a meatball parm sub.
 
Hackenslash said:
I have a couple of TwoSun knives that I picked up kind of accidentally. One is the little TS-81 you've pictured. Such a horrible, ill fitting, poorly finished knife. I think the grooves on the Ti handle may be sharper than the blade!
Click to expand...
Rats, I bought that on a whim for $17 this morning, and now you've got me thinking it's the one I overpaid for.
I have another TwoSun that you don't have pictured here and it's made a little better than the TS-81. The problem with it is the blade certainly didn't wear like I'd expect from D2 and after some moderate to light use it started to get some rust spots forming on the blade.

Some TwoSuns may be decent, but my limited experience is that the knives are variable from model to model and may be made anywhere with a wide range of materials. I think you'd be better off spending a little more money and getting a Kizer Vanguard or a WE budget line knife.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the appraisal, especially of the "D2".
Does the rust imply that it's not the usual 9cr18mov masquerading as D2?

Maybe it's really D2 but not properly heat treated? I assume D2 die steel is pretty cheap, but not easy/cheap to grind into a finished blade after it's been HT.

Having an edge that wears faster than 14c28n would make me put the whole lot of them up on Amazon and order a Ruike/Fenix or maybe Kershaw. All but my favorite one or two were going to Amazon anyway, assuming there can be a 'favorite'. And I had such high hopes for the longest one of the bunch, the TS-16.
 
marcinek said:
Who needs mystery steels, gouged up fasteners (get a load of that tanto), no names, customer service, etc etc etc.
Click to expand...

To be fair, you can't blame a manufacturer if a DIY modder buggers up the screws. Or, can you, if the manufacturer provides proprietary screws but no proprietary tools?
 
Taxmantoo said:
To be fair, you can't blame a manufacturer if a DIY modder buggers up the screws. Or, can you, if the manufacturer provides proprietary screws but no proprietary tools?
Click to expand...

I have no reason to believe it was the modder who buggered the screws.

But either way, I guess you can just contact Two Sun CS and get some new ones.

BLAHAHAHAHA...no, you really can't.

That was a good one. Zing!
 
The Official Knife of planet Tatooine.

iFCs8cf.jpg
 
marcinek said:
I have no reason to believe it was the modder who buggered the screws.
Click to expand...

I grabbed instagram pics of seven knives in the hands of end users so we'd have pics of the knives that were actually shipping instead of promo shots from Two Sun.

Two of the seven were modded to the extent that I noticed it. Maybe I shouldn't have used that pic. You pointed out that one of those two had a buggered screw head. I might hope that the guy who took a torch to the frames of those two knives took them apart first, so I don't think it's unreasonable to think he was the one who buggered it.
 
I voted for meh because I don't like flippers or care about fancier steels, meaning I don't have to look for less expensive Chinese alternatives in order to afford a knife with " certain features ".
I can get a great knife I like for under 40$, and it won't be a budget knife ( a knife that's specifically made to cost less ) but rather something that just happens to be inexpensive by nature.
 
I hope they work out well for you, but I'd have rather had one Spyderco or Benchmade than the lot of those.

I tanto-esque thing is funky, in a good way. Can't say I care for the fasteners though.
 
marcinek said:
Pass. Especially since one can get a great $40 knife from a legit maker, or a greater $200 knife from a legit maker, or 5 great $40 knives from legit makers quite easily.

Who needs mystery steels, gouged up fasteners (get a load of that tanto), no names, customer service, etc etc etc.

Ptui. For 200 bucks one could get a Spyderco Delica, a Vic Super Tinker, a Becker fixed blade, and a meatball parm sub.
Click to expand...

I won't accept that meatball sub in anything less than Aus8.
 
T.L.E. Sharp said:
tanto-esque thing is funky, in a good way. Can't say I care for the fasteners though.
Click to expand...

Want me to send it to you for evaluation?
I'm sure you know far more about the qualities of blade steel than I do.

It's one of the two that are already in the mail, but it hasn't left Hong Kong yet. (funny, ebay says the seller is in China, but they were mailed in HK. Maybe that's why he only mails stuff once or twice a week)
 
Taxmantoo said:
Want me to send it to you for evaluation?
I'm sure you know far more about the qualities of blade steel than I do.

It's one of the two that are already in the mail, but it hasn't left Hong Kong yet. (funny, ebay says the seller is in China, but they were mailed in HK. Maybe that's why he only mails stuff once or twice a week)
Click to expand...
Sure. I'll sharpen it up for you and post a review. Email me for shipping info.
 
Taxmantoo said:
Rats, I bought that on a whim for $17 this morning, and now you've got me thinking it's the one I overpaid for.


Thanks for the appraisal, especially of the "D2".
Does the rust imply that it's not the usual 9cr18mov masquerading as D2?

Maybe it's really D2 but not properly heat treated? I assume D2 die steel is pretty cheap, but not easy/cheap to grind into a finished blade after it's been HT.

Having an edge that wears faster than 14c28n would make me put the whole lot of them up on Amazon and order a Ruike/Fenix or maybe Kershaw. All but my favorite one or two were going to Amazon anyway, assuming there can be a 'favorite'. And I had such high hopes for the longest one of the bunch, the TS-16.
Click to expand...

Some people here may tell you they can tell 8% Cr from 9% Cr but I don't have that gift. The "D2" seemed a little soft and rusty to me. I wouldn't know how to begin to determine if that was due to HT or molecular structure.

At $17 for the TS-81 you should probably be fine with that little knife, but I have a feeling you'll never want to carry it. Also, it's just too small to be a flipper. You can't really deploy the blade without slingshotting it out of your hand.

I've tried lots to find an original design knife from a no-name company that blew my socks off and have mostly been disappointed. There are a few exceptions; Reate from several years ago when they were an incredible value, Kizer, and currently WE, but all those are at a higher price point. I've had good luck with a little company called TwoJ...that may be somewhat related to TwoSun.

With what you've spent so far, I'd be inclined to cut your losses and google Ferrum Forge Crux. For $125 it'll probably blow away knives costing twice as much, but you'll need to hurry. The Drop ends in a few days.
 
Looking at the TS-81 pic I posted, it looks every bit as unfinished and sharp cornered as you describe yours.

So the Crux is like a WE with torx pivot screw?
Looks like it's just too late to be one of the first 500.
 
CH knives have made clones, in fact the most recent one is the zeiba front flipper clone. i wont support a company that does that.

as for the Chinese copying Chinese, ask them if they care if one copies the other. they probably dont care. they just want to make money.
 
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