Review: Sanrenmu 704 folding knife with liner lock

Sanrenmu 704 folding knife

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★


Summary:

Size: small, EDC capable
Lock: liner lock
Modes: Open / Closed, nanual realease
Color: Black, blade not colored / neutral
Handle: G10 black
Tailstands: yes
Price Payed: under 6usd! delivered
From:

Price Angels

Coupon Code "PFO10OFF" 10% OFF (Expires on 8th, May)

Date Ordered: 10th april 2011

Pros:

  • Compact sized yet decent size blade
  • Very well made and lightweight
  • Very inexpensive
  • came reasonably sharp
  • no visual imperfections on blade
  • G10 handle
  • Elegant look

Cons:

  • Liner lock is ok, but an axis lock would be nicer
  • Desgined for right handed use (not a con if you're not left hander)

Features / Value / Design / Build Quality : ★★★★★

The sanrenmu 704 is a very nice small sized knife. It can be a nice EDC choice. The G10 handle makes for a nice grip and provide almost a gentlemens knife look. Came scratch free and the operation is smooth. No side to side play and no wobbling of any kind. The locking mechanism engages securely 100% all the time. Opening requires some force at start. This is actually good and keeps the blade where is suppoed to be and to not open in your pocket accidentally. Getting stabbed by such tool can't be nice as is very pointy and reasonably sharp stock. Granted you can't shave with it at stock sharpness but is still quite sharp stock. The walls are full size and covered with black G10 to add grip. The finish is very good and for the price range outstanding.

A few pictures...

Summary: ★★★★★

For the price asked it is truly a price performance top performer. If it had an axis lock instead of liner lock mechansim it would be a perfect knife for right handers. As is it's just good and i mean really a good folding knife.

It deserves a full 5 stars for the price/peformance overall. It's not perfect but it's not far either. :)

If interested, price angels offers a substantial discount for SRM 704 and Full tang 20cm Buck knives. Coupon Code is "PFO10OFF" 10% OFF (Expires on 8th, May)

Good review. This was my first SRM knife, and I was truly impressed upon receiving it. The look is somewhat utilitarian with its boxy profile, but gentlemanly - it shouldn't arouse much concern if presenting it around non-knife people. Blade retention is high, like you say, so can be a little tough on the thumb at first to overcome that tension. But when it does, the blade flies out impressively.

Check that thumb stud screw - I don't have mine with me, but it might be reversible for left hand opening by means of hex wrench.

Great knife - one of the anchors in the SRM line, imo.

Thanks for the review Budgeteer. I were looking for a Sanrenmu to start with and grabbed this one instantly after your review. Pity I missed the coupon on the bottom. Maybe I should order another one to compensate this? :)

Nice review! Great deal too. Sticky'd.

I bought an SRM 962 off of eBay and paid a lot for it. Three days after buying it someone here pointed out that 962s could be had from DiscoveryBargain for well less than half what I had paid. So of course I had to buy one from DB to average down!

LOL! And i wanted to make it small with all the info so anyone would read it through. :)

Thanks Budgeteer ordered one for 3.97 €, that really is dirt-cheap. The full tang you mentioned is only OK-ish.

I have the 704 and it's a nice EDC. It's decent, has a good grip for under 4€ it's a perfect purchase. If you pay 5-6€ it's also a good price, but if you can save some money - buy it now.

If you are looking for an edc-able knife in this class you should also consider the Sanrenmu 707 (CRKT drifter clone). IMHO it's like a perfect mixture of a 710 and a 704.

Clone nothing - that IS the Drifter. SanRenMu is CRKT's Chinese OEM.

That's why I said clone and not copy. ^^

I got the all-black version of the 704 today - the GB4-704. Love it. The blade retention is not nearly as high as with my previous silver sample, which is a good thing, but that may be due to individual variance. First thing I did was flip the clip to tip-up carry. I think this new 704 will share edc duty with my 763 for the foreseeable future. I really like how the knife almost disappears when clipped with dark colored slacks.

If you do a light thumb flick along the angle of the angle cut out, the blade on that knife just flies out of the handle.

It sure does, although my silver 704 requires a lot more pressure to overcome that initial resistance. The 704s and 723 are probably the fastest opening knives I own.

Yes, the sucker is so fast that some people thought it was spring assisted... I like this knife a lot. Black version is my EDC knife.

I really want to buy this knife, has everyone had good transaction with Price Angel, or the above mentioned DiscoveryBargain.

Best sites to buy this knife?

In case you haven't, you might want to check out the Budget Dealer Experiences subforum. Both DB and PA have their own thread and I've ordered from both more than I care to admit. Both are legit, in the sense, that they aren't an outright scam. DB's customer service (or lack thereof) can be a major pain but I've received dozens of knives from them with no problem. I've also had resort to filing Paypal disputes because they apparently insist on doing funky stuff with US addresses. Never received a reply, ever but eventually got my money back. Spelling it out for then in very simple terms in the comment field and listing the address they're supposed to use, as-is, with no Chinese address modification jumbo mumbo does tend to help, in my experience.

I've never had a reason to contact PA's CS department. Usually I order stuff and they deliver or cancel the order when they can't get the item. Just so you know, they have been sort of touchy about shipping knives lately (the whole college olympics thing I should probably look into but never get around to :D).