My two Fura Kwaikens, a ZT clone and my Malyshev Gnome all had good D2 steel, my Ganzo G-7533CF was like made of tin can steel instead of their usually good 440C, sharpened well, lost the edge from looking at it. Never had bad D2 so far, my new TwoSun TS51 seems to be on the good side, too.
I think it’s more a consistency thing than saying this brand is good, this is crap. They have a wide range in quality which comes with the cheap price.
Lucky catch
FURA
ZT clone
Malyshev Gnome
Bad 440C
So far I had no bad D2 knife but I haven’t tested how quickly they rust (D2 is not stainless)
After thinning the Gnome’s blade it’s my work edc knife, sharp as hell, enough to cut 3mm rawhide, stays sharp for a good while (XCrXMoV would be dull after one cut)
By the way, how do you pronounce FURA? To me it sounds very… German with a square mustache, iykwim
The reports of not-so-good D2 in some budget knives has made me steer clear of it. I’ve got two knives made of D2 that have worked well for me (Ontario RAT 3 fixed blades) but I’m not really willing to take the risk. The fact that it can rust just makes me look elsewhere. My D2 knives have not shown signs of rust but they are fixed blades and don’t spend time in a sweaty pocket.
I’d prefer Sandvik 12C27. My Land 910Plus, a Bark River and a bunch of Mora blades I’ve got are made of the stuff and I like it a great deal. It’s very fine grained and seems to get sharper than the large-carbide D2. It’s really nice and stainless and it’s made by a single company.
I guess that it’s not used so often by Chinese companies because they’d have to import it, but it’s one of the things I look out for when looking at a new budget knife.
In my opinion many small brands are made by peasants with a CNC machine.
You want titanium handle with D2 steel? No problem, they buy the materials and cut the handle and blade from blanks. But no metallurgist in factory, no knowledge of heat-treat, no knife making tradition, no destructive testing for quality control. They are seat-of-the-pants operations and it’s okay to make bad products (or lie about steels) because they have no brand value, nothing to lose.
I wouldn’t be so harsh on them. Most of the knives that come from China are from Yangjiang (Guangdong).
It is said that 80% of the export knives come from there, 60% of the whole Chisese production in knives and scissors os from there.
It’s the Chinese Solingen, Sheffield or Seki and of course they are known for counterfeit knives.
There’s enough knowledge to produce good cutlery, not just small sweatshops, even though might exist.
It’s very unlikely that Sanrenmu is such a small factory and even FURA knives can’t be made that way.
But guess what, cheating is not a Chinese invention. I have a book with reprints of a German seller’s catalog on knives from the 1850s.
They were proudly presenting knives with Sheffield imprints and company logos, even some American brands and whatnot.
You can’t trust modern products, you can’t even trust old stuff
I’ve already seen several furas with D2 with tests and really something is wrong with that steel. The green kwaiken of Fura and the other gray kwaiken similar to the y-start lk5010. And I’ve seen more complaints from the D2 of fura.
You can not know how i pronounce “Fura” because i have not published on my channel or blog any knife of this brand, if i had done so you could see how i pronounce it on my YouTube channel. Sorry :innocent:
I am not talking about the large companies like Sanrenmu. For sure they have a professional operation and understand their materials. They would not have so many western clients otherwise.
I am talking about the small operations. In the olden days these often contained the best craftsmen…now they contain machine operators. You want M390? No problem, they order some sheets and feed them into their machines. But they don’t pay attention to manufacturers heat treat guidelines. Maybe they don’t understand; maybe the don’t care. For them it is all about the materials and the look, to entice the online buyer.
There are many cases of buyers purchasing expensive and boutique knives from Ali etc. Great materials, titanium, D2, ceramic bearings etc. Looks great, even beautiful. But when tested they realise there is something very wrong with the D2.
Well, one can only say that after some. A hardness tester could help, too.
I can only say that my green Fura Kwaiken is easy to sharpen and holds its edge well, even after giving it a hollow grind and a full flat tip without second bevel.
Is it D2, or maybe 9Cr19MoV or whatever the actual term is? Is SRMs 12C27 really ade by Sandvik or is it the Chinese equivalent? We will never know.
Still I don’t believe that these knives like FURA are poduced in a small shack.
Just my impression, your opinion may differ, but this kind of mass produced stuff is not made in a garage.
Anyways, do as always with products with unknown origin. Read other buyer’s reviews and think about it what you might get for a specific sum and if you’re willing to take the risk buying a lemon. I have a “boutique” knife from AliExpress, a Kevin John TiLock with S335VN stamped into the blade.
Is it that steel? How could I know, I don’t even have a “real” S30V knife to test. It sharpens up pretty well, holds a good edge, just like my legitimate Spyderco Caly 3 with ZDP189 steel. Now theres’s a “M390” version out, is it that steel or just the same as in my older copy? Get an alloy analyser so you can tell.
The highly praised Ganzo G-7533CF was a lemon though, but I just bought it cos I loved the looks at first sight. But well, not always good to decide with your heart
Since you guys mentioned D2, I can confirm that my Y-START JIN02 is not D2 as advertised. It doesn't catch rusty spots or stain in an environment where Ganzo's 440C or 9cr14 occasionally does. That was also mentioned in some youtube reviews IIRC. A chinese knife advertised as "D2" may be 9cr18 or similar for all we know. I would set my expectations low and not cry either way.
PS. That's not to say I don't like my JIN02, because it's excellent except for the very complicated assembly. It has 14 screws of multiple kinds I think? More than one screw per dollar I paid for it haha
I’m also wondering if there are any real differences in what is obviously the same knife, but listed with slight differences. For example:
These look like the exact same knife, but one is listed as D2 and the other as 440C steel. They’re probably the same, so which steel is correct? If I were going to buy this knife, is it worth comparing anything besides price? I know some sellers throw in minor gifts like box vs nylon pouch, but are all the knives from the same manufacturer?
Another example:
Look the same, both say SPG2 on the blade, Aus8a vs 440C. For this particular style I know there’s a shorter, about 16 cm long version, but both of these are the bigger version.
Speaking of real D2 steel (german 1.2379), the Manly Comrade, slipjoint, made in Bulgaria. Great fit & finish, around ~50€ shipped. They have a nice range of knives, be sure to check them :+1:
Been using it a couple days, mostly in the kitchen, hence a bit of patina already
