Chinese knives….revisited

[brimic]

https://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=53702.msg1095256#msg1095256

I’ve been buying various chinaknives on a whim for years, if only to study their designs (benchmade knockoffs) or have extra beater knives around. The earlier ones were over built and a bit loose, but they seemed to improve with each passing year.
For the last few decades, the Spyderco delica has been my everyday knife due to its quality, utility, and feel, but I think the Chinese have finally caught up.

I’ve been carrying one of these for a couple of weeks now:
https://www.amazon.com/Ganzo-Firebird-Green-60HRC-blade/dp/B07LB1PJS9/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=firebird+flipper&qid=1631766746&sr=8-3

Likes:
1. Easy to open flipper design
2. D2 flat ground blade
3. Came razor sharp right out of the box
4. G10 scales
5. Solid lockup with zero play in any direction
6. $22- for what would be a 75-100 knife if made here

Dislikes:
1. It’s not a delica
2. It’s made in China (Hong Kong according to the packaging)

I just thought I’d pass this along if anyone wanted to bug a really nice knife on a whim for cheap.

[Perd Hapley]

I really liked Ganzos for a while there. Still carry 'em, but since the covid, I've no interest in buying any more.

[gunsmith]

  I finally have three cheap kershaws , now going for better when $ allows ... switchblades legal here in NV so this fiscal yr will try to buy 3 good ones

[Boomhauer]

I’ve found the cheap Chinese knives have gotten a whole lot better these days. The blades are no longer made of cheese that won’t take an edge and the mechanisms feel much better.

I prefer to carry one instead of a more expensive knife because if I do drop a $10-20 knife into a deep dark hole or it falls out of my pocket unnoticed it’s no biggie

[K Frame]

Oh man, when I'm looking at how a knife locks, I'm primarily interested in one that is "unpretentious in care".

This may be the knife for me! 

And I have to admit... I don't much trust any advertisement for Chinese products, especially when they claim to use things like D2 steel.

[MechAg94]

I have gone the other way.  I have been entering the KnifeRights Ultimate Steel raffle every year.  I have been appreciating some of the more expensive and better quality knives.  TOPS Knives, Bradford Knives, WE Knives and a few others.  None are super expensive, but all are more than your typical sporting goods store knife.  I want to get a quality Bowie Knife at some point, but not in a big hurry.  I won an El Chete chopper from TOPS Knives last year.  Really good blade for what it is. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU2RcEsE9ZY
https://kniferights.org/ultimatesteel/2021-ultimate-steel/



That said, I have gotten a couple of the Chinese knives in the past and they did have decent blades if you were careful about what you bought. 

[French G.]

CRKT cheap, good, made in Taiwan, not China.

[brimic]

Oh man, when I'm looking at how a knife locks, I'm primarily interested in one that is "unpretentious in care".

This may be the knife for me! 

And I have to admit... I don't much trust any advertisement for Chinese products, especially when they claim to use things like D2 steel.

I’ve been skeptical about the D2 claim as well, but apparantly someone has these tested, and found that they are indeed D2.

A few months back, I had purchases an ‘Eafengrow’ flipper made of D2. I wasn’t that impressed with that one, and also had to reprofile the edge… which required a diamond stone and a lot of work to get it where I liked it. The knife was overall too thick and had too much play in the blade for me to want to carry it much.  It feels like a$19 knife made from $30 worth of materials. https://www.amazon.com/Eafengrow-Folding-Flipper-Tactical-Multitool/dp/B07RN5KSGQ

[brimic]

CRKT cheap, good, made in Taiwan, not China.

I love CRKT, and have a lot of their knives. They have a lot of novel designs, and would be really great if they just used somewhat better knife steels.
The last ones I bought were a Hisatsu tanto, a Hisatsu folder and an Otanashi No Ken- mainly for collector purposes. The folders are of excellent quality.
Their James Williams line of knives tend to go through the stratosphere in value once they are discontinued. 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224610260959?hash=item344bd097df:g:SIYAAOSwENBhJVJI

[zxcvbob]

I bought a Chinese Kershaw knife a year or two ago and it sucked; I sent it back to Amazon.  I don't remember what was wrong with it other than being really dull out of the package.  Perhaps it was a counterfeit.  I'm tempted to try one of these.

[Perd Hapley]

D2 has become much more affordable in the last few years, so it's not so much of a stretch to see it being used in Chinese budget blades.

[Bogie]

My EDC is a Kershaw 1780cb Rake... Composite blade, USA, D2 for the edge, something else for the rest of the blade. Big and brutish, but hey. Blade is no longer as pointy as it was, because a cow orker lost about 1/16" of the tip while using it as a prybar. I've had it since 2012.
 
I had a different one, similar quality, forget the name, back before I fell in love, but it went missing around the house one day, so I figure the boy swiped it, probably left it outside somewhere.
 
I might try one of the amazon knives, but this thing has been great, everything from opening pallets and boxes to prying open key fobs...

[Regolith]

My one major rule about any knife I buy is that it not be made in China. Between covid, the outright slavery/genocide they're currently engaged in, and their usual bullshit, I try to buy things made elsewhere whenever possible.

Knives are great in that you can buy a good knife at just about any price point without having to stoop to buying from China. Lots of really good cheap knives made in Taiwan, Sweden (Morakniv), Switzerland (Victorinox), France (Opinel), etc. Hell, Kershaw has some sub-$50 models made in the US. I got my Leek on sale for $31 a couple years ago, and it was made about ~20 miles away from me.

[Bogie]

When I win the lottery (gotta be positive...), I'm gonna get a Randall Bowie...
 
Until then, my "wear at the BBQ knife" is my uncle's Puma White Hunter, in the original leather.
 
Is anyone doing a good, yet reasonably priced, Bowie?

[Pb]

If I carry something nice, I lose it... 

[gunsmith]

If I carry something nice, I lose it... 

that's why I now have three cheapo kershaws - i would have had 4 but gave one to a girl. the last one i bought was at a pawn shop for 10 bucks - its really nice for a cheap chinese kershaw ( 40 bucks brand new ).

I plan on getting a nice switchblade for special events and date nights - my current fave open carry knife is a mora kniv that Frenchy gave me its always easy to sharpen, opens everything - I use it at work and even to eat with sometimes

[Bogie]

fwiw... I still have the swiss army knife that I bought the day after I went to the trouble of sneaking in a sixer of Molson to a campus movie - and I didn't realize that they weren't twist-offs... It is pretty warn, my friend Wilson "sharpened" the blades (on a grinder/buffer...), and the inlay of the logo has come out and gone somewhere. But it still works.

[Perd Hapley]

I plan on getting a nice switchblade for special events and date nights...

This guy knows how to party. 

[zxcvbob]

I’ve been carrying one of these for a couple of weeks now:
https://www.amazon.com/Ganzo-Firebird-Green-60HRC-blade/dp/B07LB1PJS9/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=firebird+flipper&qid=1631766746&sr=8-3

Likes:
1. Easy to open flipper design
2. D2 flat ground blade
3. Came razor sharp right out of the box
4. G10 scales
5. Solid lockup with zero play in any direction
6. $22- for what would be a 75-100 knife if made here

Dislikes:
1. It’s not a delica
2. It’s made in China (Hong Kong according to the packaging)

I just thought I’d pass this along if anyone wanted to bug a really nice knife on a whim for cheap.

I bought one to check it out, and it just got here.  My EDC knife is an Opinel that my dog chewed up the handle when I flew to Texas for a few weeks. (glad the blade was locked closed, she didn't quite chew all the way to the blade)

Initial impression is the the Firebird is heavy. , it's really not, just the Opinel is unusually light.  Fit and finish is good, everything is tight, and it opens easily.  And it closes easily enough even tho' I am left handed (some of the reviews said that would be a problem)  It's not quite as sharp out of the box as an Opinel but close.  It's also a much thicker blade so it's probably not reasonable to expect it to be as sharp unless it was hollow ground.

I like it.  I need to carry it a few days to make sure, but I can't imagine not liking it.  The clip is in the wrong place for a lefty, but I doubt that I will use the clip anyway, and I might even remove it to make the knife a little thinner in my pocket.

I bought a snap ring pliers yesterday at HF to take the Opinel apart.  I'm going to try to make a new handle for it out of a scrap of black walnut sapling (which is light colored) or a piece of Texas yaupon I brought back.

[brimic]

It’s really tough to beat opinels in the light weight category. I have a few, the one that gets the most use is the one I keep in my desk drawer at work.”

[gunsmith]

My one major rule about any knife I buy is that it not be made in China. Between covid, the outright slavery/genocide they're currently engaged in, and their usual bullshit, I try to buy things made elsewhere whenever possible.

Knives are great in that you can buy a good knife at just about any price point without having to stoop to buying from China. Lots of really good cheap knives made in Taiwan, Sweden (Morakniv), Switzerland (Victorinox), France (Opinel), etc. Hell, Kershaw has some sub-$50 models made in the US. I got my Leek on sale for $31 a couple years ago, and it was made about ~20 miles away from me.

you know, you are one hundred percent correct.
it was really easy for me to be vocal about this last yr when my rent was cheaper and I was making more money, but I've been cutting corners this yr.
They're genocidal monsters and I need to put my money where my outrage is. thank you for pointing it out