My new collection of 50+ Chinese knives

When first joined the forum I was a bit skeptical of budget Chinese knifes but after reading this thread and a couple of others I decided to give them a shake and ia thoroughly impressed with the quality of them especially the SRMs tight tolerances so I just wanted go ask do you believe the blade material will improve in the near future?

Just a quick update about that Tekut LK5050 I reviewed a while back.

I’ve been carrying this on my key chain for nearly a year now (wow, has it been that long?), and it’s still sharp and pretty and nearly everyone who sees it wants one. Fortunately, I bought a bunch to give as gifts, so when they express an interest I can usually give them one. Color varies from unit to unit though.

The off-center blade is now more off-center, all the way to the side as far as it can go, but that doesn’t seem to affect anything. The blade lock actually works better now than it did when it was new. Most of the corners and edges have lost enough coating to show the bare metal, but the large smooth areas are still quite colorful and the wear isn’t obvious. The knife has microscopic scratches all over, but again, it’s hard to see unless looking for it with a bright light. Fingerprints are still more noticeable than any of the permanent wear. It’s holding up pretty well, overall, especially considering the amount of wear it gets from being on a heavy and scratchy keychain.

I got a second one to use when this one gets too old, but it looks like that won’t happen for at least a few years. I haven’t even needed to sharpen it yet (though, to be fair, I normally use my Enlan EL-01 for heavy-duty tasks and use this item for relatively easy stuff).

Also, FastTech now sells this item and some other Tekut knives. Some of the others are rainbow-finished too.

I have ordered a few SRM and I am looking forward to trying them out.
I have read as much as I can online about them.

My question is what happens after a few years. All the reviews describe their condition when they are received. So it may be wise to have some sort of issues log for the Chinese knives.
Has anyone given these knives a good workout for a few years?
(the previous post reminded me to ask this!)

Hi there Billyo and welcome to the forum.
I’ve been using/collecting Chinese knives for about 3 years and have quite a few. They wear just like anything else that’s used but no more or less than other knives that use the same materials. The G10, Micarta and wood handle scales get a patins on them as do the blades if you don’t clean them.
I strip mine down and give them a good clean, polish and lubricating before re-assembling when I think they need it - it’s not really necessary but it’s all part of the hobby for me. just a few drops of light oil on the pivots and washing the blade then letting it dry would do.
The coatings can wear off the blades if constantly cutting abrasive stuff like cardboard.

I’ve never had one wear out yet, sharpening takes a bit off the blade but it would take a long time to go through a blade to the point that it was unsafe.

Same as anything else, if you look after it then it will last. For the price they are remarkably good tools, when I look at the prices charged by companies like Boker Magnum for the Enlan EL-01 or the A-Stan as they call it you are getting a real bargain.
Some U.K. knife shops are charging £25 for a SanRenMu 710 and £30 for an Enlan EL-01. (AU$ 46 and 55).
Overall they wear very well.

Unless we have a zombie apocalypse or something, the half-dozen knives I have now are probably more than enough to last me for the rest of my life. But the harshest thing I use them for on a regular basis is cutting up cardboard for recycling.



I currently have and use: A Tekut LK5050, Enlan EL-01, SRM 710, SRM 733, Leatherman “Juice” S2, and really cheap CRKT clone which is only good for opening mail.

Thanks - I bought mine from Hong Kong with free delivery. I don’t quite understand how the equivalent knives in USA are almost $100 when they are made by the same factory in China. And if I buy the Chinese Sanrenmu 710 knife from USA they charge $25 USD postage. The HK SRM is costing me $13 AUD. It all seems crazy. For a while the US brands could get away with the quality or untrustworthy argument. But the reviews on Youtube show a good quality knife.
Where will it end?

I am active after dark . I ride my bicycle , run , walk and go fishing at night . I don't buy as many lights as I used to , and most lights that I buy these days are for friends that see my lights and get interested in owning one .

Billyo, prices from a retailer have to include import duty, local taxes - VAT etc. Overheads like rent if it’s a brick and mortar store lighting heating etc. and of course profit. A lot of stores think 100% is a reasonable profit.

So pick a 10$ knife add shipping then import duty, double that for the profit margin then add local taxes, it soon mounts up.
Buying straight from Chinese vendors has an element of risk, less so with PayPal, and of course you might be inspected by customs who will first see if the knife conforms to the Arsey Customs Officer Test, if not then the knife will be confiscated, total loss on your part. If it passes the A.C.O.T. then look forwards to paying duty on the goods AND the postage, then a re-packing fee from the postal service, the fee for re-packing in the U.K. at the moment is £8.50.
Buying anything from the U.S.A. is killed for me by the shipping costs, it regularly doubles the price of an item. Chinese post is heavily subsidised by the state.

Saying that, two out of four parcels of mine from the U.S.A. have been inspected, one cost £14 in duty and packing fees, one was confiscated - as yet none of the orders from China have been touched but I’m sure that sooner or later they will be.

Chinese knives of the “big” brands, SanRenMu, Enlan/Bee, Ganzo, Navy, Real Steel, are a bargain at the moment, shops are reluctant to sell them for fear of upsetting their mainstream sellers like Boker because the manufacturers buy in Enlans etc. re-badged as Bokers etc. they would lose sales and be most upset with the retailer. Kizer is an exception to this but they are hitting the American market head-on and selling top quality titanium framelocks and linerlocks at a lower price but still in the £100-£200 range.

When I first started buying Chinese knives an Enlan EL-01 was $8 now about double that. SanRenMu 710 about $6, now about $9, a lot depends on where you shop, FastTech stock some bargains still but Exduct’s prices are rising rapidly on some knives - an Enlan EL-01D, the rosewood scaled version is $16.36 at FastTech but has just risen to $28.79 at Exduct. Shopping around to get better prices is the name of the game now, and finding some of the different coloured scale versions is getting more difficult, GreatWall Outdoor sell some and the prices seem low but then there’s an average $5 postage to add on.

Things aren’t helped in the U.K. by Ebay refusing to supply knives to the U.K. market, not just ebay.co.uk but ebay.com as well.
Amazon are the same but sometimes a couple of knives are listed until someone on the staff (or a member of the public) spots them and removes them.
Ebay and Amazon in the U.S.A. are a good source of Chinese knives if you can access them.

Sheesh! You guys sure have it tough across the pond. Are there ways of having friends in other countries ship to you to avoid the rip-off fees and send your package in a friendlier manner so that it wont get tampered with? In this case, you’re definitely not going to save in shipping, but at least you’ll get what you paid for… if you know how to pull it off. Can a folder be disassembled and mailed in separate packages? I assume they xray all of these packages and have a computer attempt to identify the images. That or just open every 2nd or 3rd package… etc. What a pain! How are large butcher knives classified? That would certainly make for a far better weapon.

FlashPilot, have a look at this site - Heinnie Haynes notice the prices for U.S.A. made knives like Spyderco the £=$1.66 / $=£0.60 the prices put me off a lot of the Benchmade, Spyderco, Kershaw, Cold Steel, CRKT etc. even the ones made in China - and Heinnie Haynes is one of the best knife shops in the U.K. they keep the prices as low as they can but the tax, overheads, etc. all play a part.

A folder can be split into several packages and labelled Spare parts, postal charges come into play again. It would be a real pain to have all the parts arrive except the blade or one scale or a pivot pin or stand off get lost in the post.
I usually order separate packages so it comes out below the threshold for import duty and vat, also if one gets stopped while they are dealing with that then other peoples packets get through. Not a good thing but there are sniffer dogs going over the post anyway to catch drugs etc.

Buying from the U.S.A. can be a nightmare, guaranteed an inspection and if they can they will confiscate and destroy your knife that you’ve paid for and are entitled to own, there’s not a lot that are on the banned list but the catch-all is the “gravity knife”. If the inspecting officer can shake the blade free at all then that’s a gravity knife and that’s destroyed. There is no definition of the amount of force needed to shake the blade free, centripetal force can generate more than the force of gravity but some arsey officer can jump up and down flailing his arms about and if the blade drops out then it’s off to be destroyed, makes you wonder how the shops can import knives but average man or woman can’t.

It is really any wonder that I collect Chinese made knives, they usually manage to get through, I suppose because of the volume of mail from China, they are excellent quality and they are inexpensive enough to collect and even double up on some to have a spare to re-scale or re-shape the blade.

We’re not allowed to carry a locking or fixed blade without good reason, a Chef for instance needs his tools to do his job anyone can go camping or bushcrafting and that’s a good enough reason. Balisongs and automatic knives are a big no no but nothing is wrong with an assisted opener, apart from it locking. The law states that a flick or automatic knife is one where the blade is deployed by a button or lever on the handle, nothing there about flippers or speed assist type opening where the blade is operated by initiating the opening with a thumb stud or flipper on the blade.

So it’s down to 3” or less cutting edge and non locking. You are allowed a good variety in your own home or your own property.
Another bugger problem is that the average policeman doesn’t have time in between all the paperwork to actually learn the law so situations occur leading to arrests that are rubbish and as soon as a solicitor comes on the scene the case is thrown out, but the person still has an arrest for an offensive weapon on his or her record, not good for your CV.

The annoying thing is that 99.99% of “knife crime” is committed by people brandishing a kitchen knife or a Stanley knife (boxcutter) , hardly ever a “collectable”.
Its a stupid situation brought about by a knee jerk reaction of the politicians driven by drivel published in newspapers because they never let the truth get in the way of a good story, or headline.

Huh?

I wondered where that went !

This was supposed to be posted in the ' What is it about Flashlights ? ' thread .

I will not drink and post

I will not drink and post

I will not drink and post

I will not drink and post

I will not drink and post

I will not drink and post

I will not drink and post ...

8steve88m thanks for your informative post. I hadnt checked Heinnie Haynes. Upon opening, I did notice an advert for a “UK friendly custom folder”… where I found the terminology to be most offensive for its insinuation, and the reasons why it was worded as such. Its just another reminder of an irresponsible gov gone wrong. As a sportsman, I find that many of firearms make for a decent legal EDC when the situation calls for it. When a government becomes so over bloated that officials have to find ways of justifying their jobs by driving so many frivolous laws, you’d think there’d be a process to remove them from office, imprison them for several decades and kill the laws they imposed. The system is so heavily flawed, and in so many ways. I have relatives in the UK. When I visit, Im often unaware of the myriad of over control the government places on its peoples. When they visit the US, they are always dumbfounded by the freedoms we enjoy here, and then the conversations and comparisons begin. Its almost mind numbing when I consider how the Brits havent retaliated yet. That being said, the US if fast becoming a socialist/liberal state being driven by an irresponsible media feeding a population of ignorant reactionary people incapable of thinking for themselves or making intelligent decisions at the polls. In a recent poll conducted in the LA area, a large percentage of the population didnt know where the equator is, who Saddam Hussein was or where the Gulf War took place. I read recently that in 3 separate polls, greater than 99.5% of black people voted for obama because of his dark complexion, and then voted for him again, despite his proven lousy first term record.

Our government has been trying to disarm its citizens for many years, with the current administration taking the largest strides while enraging millions of Americans. At some point, there will be a very high price to be paid when the government bares arms against its own peoples… something that millions of Americans foresee as an eventuality. Luckily, the majority of those who are willing to lay down their lives to defend the Second Amendment holds the peace…at least for now. Its been said that in the Midwest alone, there are more privately owned firearms held by its citizens than are owned by the entire combined US military. Then there’s the fact that the collective US gov has recently purchased tens of millions of rounds of ammo in an attempt to make it extremely difficult for its citizens to acquire or afford ammo at the stores. Justice to the gross incompetence of a self-serving system whos political leaders are never punished for their heinous deeds.

New studies are beginning to emerge that prove conclusively that gun ownership saves far more lives in the US than they take. It’ll be interesting to watch the resulting media hypocrisy roll over and change its opinions as momentum is gained with new found support.

Knives… buy them, sell them, give them away to anyone responsible who wants one, and assure that they always have a means of acquisition without severe penalty if caught traveling through a totalitarian monitored supply chain.

Given a choice between two weapons for hand to hand combat, mono e mono and only one walks away.

  • 22 oz framing hammer

or

  • Elan El-01.

I’d grab the hammer ever time.

:smiley: Drinking and posting do go well together! :smiley:

Nice!

I agree 100%, and Heinnie Haynes just stopped putting U.K. Legal on their knives (that are) and changed it to U.K. Friendly because they might be held responsible if someone was to be prosecuted for carrying a knife bought from them in an “inappropriate situation”.
I have no problem with prosecuting anyone who attacks someone with a knife but if you were to defend yourself then you would be the one being prosecuted, in fact if you are found to be in possession of a legal to carry knife and asked why you are carrying it then if you answer “self defence” you will be prosecuted.
If someone is attacking you you are expected to wait for the police to turn up and take charge.
The United Kingdom is not what it once was by a long way but I’d still take it over many other countries.

I regret not emigrating to Canada, the U.S.A., Australia or New Zealand when I had the chance, I’m a bit to old now.

Clearly, there is something greatly wrong with the system when a person is penalize for being prepared to defend themselves without the use of excessive force. When Im asked why I carry a concealed large caliber high capacity handgun, I tell people its because its my legal right as an American and Ive earned a concealed weapons permit to do so. Its comical in all the different reactions I get. Most native people in my state could care a less and know it to be a normal accessory for the masses, just as sure as wearing a pair of shoes. Liberals always seem to wallow in extreme ignorance, sighting highly emotional misconceptions based on false assumption and gross incompetence… which always gives me a chance to properly educate them. :smiley:

It might be interesting if you posted a thread to let the rest of us know what it is to be a small knives connoisseur in the UK, and the strategies used to get around EDC and import while remaining legal.

Do you watch Top Gear? I love it when Jeremy sights first and last names of government officials and their ridiculous solutions to problems. All for the whole world to see. Incidentally, Top Gear earned a spot in the top 10 lineup for the most watched internationally syndicated TV shows on the entire planet. And that was years before they created separate programs in different countries. Jeremy for Prime Minister and Stig in charge of traffic efficiency, speed limits and roadway signage. :bigsmile:

I might just do that, it would take a while to organize my thoughts but I’ll have a go.
I do watch Top Gear and would give Jeremy Clarkson and The Stig top spots in government, they would never get elected because they make too much sense to be in parliament.
And you are right the U.K. has got problems and I can’t see it getting any better anytime soon.
I’ve just broken one of the rules, mine, of never mentioning politics or religion on the internet or in a pub, you will get nowhere and not change anybody’s opinion nso it it a waste of good drinking time! :bigsmile:
I am just happy that we are , mostly, aligned with the U.S.A.

Politics… there is discussion, debate and opinion, and then there is the defining of incontrovertible fact. I’ll just leave it at that. :bigsmile:

Guinness, Heineken or Soddingtons? Cheers! I think now we can move onto religion… NOT! I miss all the pubs in the UK, but Ive heard that as many as 40 in London alone, have been closing on a daily basis. How sad that the times are changing.

I think a lot of people will benefit from your UK EDC knife discussion thread. Im looking forward to your post if you decide to have a go at it. With the fight to save the UK during WWII and all the technical innovation that came from your country, Im surprised that every citizen doesnt wear a cutlas and PPK as a decloration of national pride. Hmm… that gives me an idea.