I was going to update
this thread, but decided to give it a fresh start. The Chinese cutlery scene seems to be really taking off, but still making a really good product for a low price. Anyone else buying in?
Ganzo are the ones I have experience with. They've been using 440C steel, and impressing a lot of YouTube knife geeks with the quality, fit, finish, and performance of the knives (given the price range). Most of them seem to have G10 handle scales, but they've come out with some aluminum and carbon fiber models now. For most models, they copy the Axis lock, but they've got a few frame-locks, too. And automatics. Ganzo knives have tended to be a tad heavy, which is partly because other makers skeletonize the liners, and Ganzo usually skips that step.
Enlan, and Sanrenmu are some other brands in the < $30 category, and Real Steel knives are a little pricier. Kizer is a Chinese brand that sells knives in the >$200 range, and some people think they're a real bargain. Not really my thing, though.
I was suckered into all of this by dasmi (or whatever he now calls himself), who wickedly sold me a Ganzo 727. It is a good knife, although the lock was very stiff (which is common for Ganzos). I had to adjust the springs. But it was too small, and the action wasn't quite smooth enough, and it has an ugly orange handle, so I just had to go to Amazon, and get this thing:
https://www.amazon.com/Ganzo-G740-GR-Green-Folding-Handle/dp/B01AJNSRJS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484540475&sr=8-1&keywords=ganzo+g740It's the right size, right color, and this one's lock was not as stiff as other Ganzos. This model also has some nice, big holes drilled out of the liners. I'm quite happy with it. The G10 could be a little more grippy, but...
These guys look pretty nice.
http://www.gearbest.com/pocket-knives-and-folding-knives/pp_603461.htmlhttp://www.gearbest.com/pocket-knives-and-folding-knives/pp_458188.html?wid=21There are gobs of videos on Chinese knives. These folks do a bunch of them:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1pFO7PUNjrgcUcrMF4p1zg