Knife Talk :)

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
1

I’ve bought a lot of knives lately. I’ve learned a few things about the SRM/Enlan/Bee knives. Maybe this helps someone new trying to figure out which models to try first.

Much of it comes down to personal preference I suppose as well. I’d be interested to hear about the models that others have tried and particularly like and why and which models you didn’t like as well and why.

For a small knife that I can carry everyday loose in my pocket I love the SRM 604 and 605 models. The 605 has the drop point blade that I prefer but the green G10 handle of the 604 is much better looking IMO.

I have both models so I just switched blades between the 604 and 605 so now I have a drop point blade with green G10 handles.

This is a very comfortable small knife due to the choil that allows for all 4 fingers to grip such a small knife.

The SRM F1-723 is just a beautiful knife with the patterns handles, frame lock, and black blade. It has the little cut out at the end of the blade where it comes into the handle that I prefer so that when the blade closes the part of the blade that could hit your finger isn’t sharpened. I wish all blades were like that (most but not all are).

The SRM 710 SS is a nice frame lock knife as well with most of the attributes of the F1-723 as well.

The most comfortable in the hand knife that I have is the larger Enlan/Bee E05-1 which has rosewood handles. It opens easily, has a liner lock that is easy on the fingers and due to the size and weight just feels good in the hand.

It looks good as well and it’s nice to have some variety in the handles so they aren’t all black G10.

One knife that is popular and somewhat nice but doesn’t rise to the level of those mentioned above IMO are the SRM 707 varieties. The liner lock is a bit thin and rough and does operate quite as well as the others mentioned and is a little tougher on the fingers. For some reason the blade feels a little cheap (light weight?) and the blade is sharp all the way into the handle.

This means you really have to watch your fingers when you close the knife. It’s still a knife worth getting however.

The SRM 6261 is in this same category IMO. It’s worth getting but has a few issues. It’s an axis lock and when I first got it the pivot needed to be adjusted before you could “wave” it open or closed using the axis lock. The lock button is a bit rough and the spring is a bit too stiff IMO.

When closed you are looking at the end of the exposed blade rather than having the handle cover this so aesthetically in the closed position it doesn’t look as good as some of the other knives mentioned.

The wood (fake wood?) handle looks nice and the knife itself looks nice in the open position. It would fit the hand a little better if it has some jimping on top of the blade and a choil underneath for a more secure grip. As with the 707 it is still worth getting.

For just a beautiful looking all around knife I would recommend the SRM F1-723.

I should mention that none of the knives I’ve mentioned have those funky 5 point screws. All are either hex or torx so adjusting the pivot screw isn’t difficult. Most do benefit from slightly loosening them but no so much that any blade play is introduced. A drop of oil on the blades and locks is generally a good idea as well.

What are some of the “gems” that you have found and what are some of the slight negative characteristics that you have found among the more commonly recommended knives?

In other words some tips that may cause someone to either buy or not buy one of the popular knives commonly discussed here?

2

I have one question for some of you as well. It’s regarding the SRM F9-707. This is a frame lock rather than liner lock and it’s the one with the camouflaged handle (and blade).

By the way if anyone has a well lit photo of this handle please post it.

I have several of the liner lock 707’s (one camo blade and one plain). Does anyone know if a plain blade from the liner lock model would serve as a replacement for the camo blade in the frame lock model?

That combo doesn’t seem to exist but I like that look. The nice camo handle with the plain blade.

3

I “hate” Enlan proprietary pivot screws installed to force customers to buy additional tools.
The “fun” thing is that the triangle pivot screw tools isn’t compatible with the “above on the picture” triangle pivot screw. It needs the 3 points pivot screw tool to be adjusted.

Later, I will add more comments and pictures here about several knives I bought, as my english is not good enough to write reviews.

4

+1
I too loathe proprietary pivot screws!!

The ones on my Leen 1203-2 really annoyed me. Had to cut a notch in one side to adjust the pivot because it was waaaaay too stiff from the factory. The notch is not hideous, but really, who wants to cut a brand new knife?!? Not me.

I am baffled by companies that make it so you cannot service their products. If they expect me to buy a replacement, instead of servicing the one I have, they are mistaken. I’d sooner buy another brand instead. They need to wake up and use common hardware. I probably will not buy another Leen if they don’t change screws.

Back to the OP….
your comments on the Bee L05-1 are spot on mate. What a slept-on knife! I seriously think this should be up there with the SRM 710 in terms of popularity, but for some reason it is not nearly as well known.

The L05 is nice too, but the full flat grind blade on the –1 makes a huge difference. The rosewood [fake?] handles have really grown on me too. I have never been very big on wood handle knifes but this one changed my mind. Maybe it is overall ergos more than the material. I don’t really care frankly. I just dig it. :slight_smile:

I plan on ordering a couple more L05-1’s for gifting this holiday season. I think every man should have one. Great knife so far. Hope it holds up.

That’s all for now.

5

I have a quick question. Will the 3 pin tool for the screw on the bottom left work on the triangle screw on the bottom right?

6

I recently got the SRM 909 which is a great knife but it uses the 5 point pin-hole type of pivot but is bad enough but unlike the triangle pivot on my EL-01D which is flush with the handle this one is not. The round side of the pivot sticks out from the handles like a button.

No reason for this kind of design. It’s still a nice knife though!

7

I tightened my Tri- Pivot Enlan knives with a small drill. Just remove the bit and adjust the “three fingers” to the size of the pivot and turn the drill slightly by hand.

8

I do that as well. I’m sure the 5 pin type can easily be adjusted with two pins or even small needlenose pliers.

9

Yes, the 3 pins pivot screw tool works on the 3 models of Enlan proprietary pivot screws, but its grip / stability is not as good as the triangle pivot screw tool, you have to push hard on the tool to avoid that it slip of the triangle screw’s print you mentionned.
It will slip if you try to unscrew too fast, turn the tool slowly and then reajust the position of the tool in your hand to have a good position of your hand to push hard on the tool and to always keep the tool completely perpendicular to the axis of the screw. Only quarter turn until the “thread lock” breaks.
If you will receive a tool with 3 different pins lenght, push the tool on an hard surface to slide those 3 pins down completely in place.

10

I got a cheap pair of thin needle-nose pliers from Radio Shack that work. I think they are made for working on computers.

11

The (blue handles) pliers in picture HERE works on the 3 holes pivot screw but I didn’t try it on a pivot screw with “thread lock”.
I would not like to leave marks.

12

Yes I agree 100%. Microtec started this because they dont want people messing with their $500 knifes. Then I guess China copied it without know what the reason was.
For a $10 Chinese knife please use a regular straight pivot screw so people can take it apart!

13

I tried something similar but my pliers were too cheap and started to flex. I think I might just order an El-02 with 3 pin tool and try to use it to loosen my el-01 too.

14

as suggested on another thread, It would be awesome if Jacky could manage to get standard replacement pivots or pivot screws. Enlan clearly doesn’t wan’t to play ball when Jacky tried to get them to drop the pouch/gift box on the EL-08, so it seems pretty hopeless for them to listen to customers about the pivot if they won’t even listen to one of their major dealers.

15

M1K3Z0R, a fews days ago I was searching informations about some chinese knives and I found a thread about SRM knives on a canadian forum where you are participating. There is several massages written by Jacky Hu and if I remember well, in one of them he told that it was him who made / organised the production of the 2 tools for enlan pivot screws.
If he changes / sells standard pivot screw, he will not sell his tools anymore.

The only way would be to stop buying these knives, but the new pivot screw do not seem to stop /prevent people from buying them.

The current situation is not conducive / auspicious to change things. :frowning:

16

I can see that, the current economics of the situation are tricky. It still confuses me as why they would go through all the trouble of making a strange pivot that will only be used on some knives. If the point was to make money off the tool, it would make a bit more sense, but it’s not Enlan making the tools but rather Exduct out of customer demand. As pointed out earlier in the thread it is likely Enlan trying to set themselves apart as being on a higher tier, thus taking the pivot screw designs of expensive knives and applying it to their own.

Given the knives are still a bargain for what you get, I would rather put up with the proprietary pivot if it came to a choice between the current situation or increased prices.

17

The manufacturers probably aren’t even considering that people will be taking a $10 knife (or flashlight) apart.

18

Sad but true. It makes me depressed thinking about perfectly good hardware being tossed because someone somewhere figured it would be cheaper to buy another one than invest time and money in sharpening gear and skill

19

I find the biggest problem with these knives isn’t figuring out how to adjust the strange pivot screws but rather getting all the other screws out to fix/clean some other issue without having one screw that strips or just won’t come out for whatever reason.

20

They ship very tight for customs, which is great but then how am I supposed to loosen it on my end? EL01 is not supposed to be a 2 handed knife, which is what my examples are due the pivot being so tight.

A simple regular slotted screw would really help in this area, but it is what it, and as you mentioned these are 7.99 knives so what can you do.