Sanrenmu was forced by political pressure to abandon the larger 900 series for the Chinese market, because there were reports about knife fights with them. I only own 1 700 Series SRM since I find them to similar to SAK in size, but I own 7 of the now discontinued 900 Series knives. A suitable substitute would be the L-series from BEE/Enlan... I personally think that the EL-series is too bulky for a pocket knife. Myself and gimepepe seem to like the Bee L05 and Bee L05-1 very much. L05-1 for looks and FFG and the L05 as a everyday workhorse with hollow grind. Both are available at Exduct.
I've this, and I think it would be just perfect if its total length were 9 or 10 inches instead of 7. I havent seen any Enlan, Navy or other from Exduct with some other tools like this one: bottle opener, screwdriver, gut hook.
I also have this other one, very nice too, but I also would prefer it was slightly bigger
Oh, and the problem with exduct (for me), is that I must pay something like 5 to 8 dollars per knife for shipping.. I hope Manafont, Lightake or Kaidomain get some Enlans and Navys
It is really cheap and good quality! Friends said that do not buy chinese knockoff, but i think it is ok for me if i know it is not original before order.
Just some more detail to add: I read that it was a local police ordinance that ordered SRM to haul production of their larger 9 series knives due to at least two murders involving a 9 series SRM. Thats why I keep telling people to buy them up when they turn up from time to time. They boast the same legendary quality of all other SRM knives but in the larger size. Its sad that such gross incompetence in the local police jurisdiction of SRM halted production. I can only imagine what new ingenious creations might have been available today, had SRM been allowed to continue producing larger folding knives.
While researching the Browning 863 before purchasing it, someone compared it to a very high quality steak knife. I would second that motion, as it lives up to culinary carving duties far better than most knives of its size. Of course, it also works well for utility purposes. Its a real beauty, with a polished steel finish and buffed burly maple handle. The blade, grind and steel quality is on par with SRM, as are all the Brownings in my collection so far, but the fit & finish is above anything else in my budget collection... that's Browing in general.
I used it at a friends BBQ tonight and let others use it to carve their steaks. Well, I actually insisted that they try it. LOL! Now I need to order 3 more. Its to bad that Browning doesnt make a matching fork and spoon to go along with it. I almost didnt buy this knife and now Im more than happy that I did.
Check out the other Brownings in the first post. IMO, they are great buys for what I paid for them.
I know the feeling. I also wasted far to many greenbacks on pocket knives from DX, MF and several others, etc... but we all have to start somewhere. If you havent owned an SRM or Enlan, then you probably dont have anything of high quality in your budget collection to compare it with. And once you do have an SRM or Enlan, then nearly everything else in the price range seems like pure junk. I hung onto only a few of those "DX" knives and gave the rest away as gifts. Of those gifted, I dont think any of them survived a year before they were worn out, broken, lost or thrown away. Pure rubbish!
Only one of those knives made it to my list as "recommended": Dealextreme sku19366
It retains an edge quite well for the harsh box cutting duties Ive used it for, but I have yet to abuse it to find its true muster. I found another similar Kershaw knife for +$50 in a local store. The sales person agreed that the DX was of higher quality. He never asked me what I paid or where I got it, and I didnt have the heart to volunteer the information and embarrass him in from of several other customers in his store. Its roughly a $5 knife.
I've been avoiding the link in your sig like the plague...have always been a knife hoarder, but have tried to avoid the Chinese market as much as possible. I guess just because of "knife snobbery" and general reputation of Chinese produced garbage. LOL
CRKT has been my personal fave and EDC for years now, but their quality has been going to crap. Have retired my beast M16-14ZSF that I carried horizontally at my back simply for the need of a multi-tool more often. That rarely saw use anyway and I used my M16-13Z that's clipped in my front pocket for almost everything.
Have recently been eyeing Böker's Magnum line and have to admit that the quality is amazing! And now I have broken down and clicked your links...I'm screwed... Will probably have at the least an EL01 ordered by the end of the day. (have just gotten so used to that flipper that I'd be lost without it)
I've got a black Sanrenmu 939 on order from this excellent ebay seller, doingoutdoor. Paid $13.50 shipped. I wanted one in silver but no one had any. How does the black hold up?