Doing some research, supposedly the D2 steel of Ganzo is lab tested and genuine. Hardness of 62, a bit on the high side. No idea how good the heat treating is. Even if it’s not great, it should still be better than the AUS6/AUS8 knives I’m used to.
Bladeforums has a few topics about this, what a dumpster fire. They probably have a point, about the fakes and lower quality control. They’re clinging on to the past or their pride, treating anything Chinese as inferior.
Plenty of suggestions here. Besides a bit shorter, I also like it to be fairly narrow. I’ll do some more research. If anyone can share more names of trustworthy Chinese manufacturers, I would be happy to hear about them.
You’ll find. At those prices they are Chinese/Vietnam MFG.
Variable quality,assembly of.
Could be lucky. But they tend to be luck of the draw.
For Half decent, A lot of Chef’s use as good beaters.
Go to Hocho Knives. and check out the Tojiro Japanese.
Genuine VG10 triple layer. Worth the money.
I have several, use daily.
Above. Slippy polished timber handles.
You seriously use the knife.
Get a small tube of Clear Silicon.
Smear it very lightly over the scales.
It gives a lot more grip. But you lose the “polished” look.
I ended up buying the Stratos… Shipped to son in N.C.
He’ll pass it on with sister in law.
She flight crew on Quantas Aust/US runs.
Alongside my Ganzo SanRenMu and Harnd’s.
I’d say it Maybe, a touch better that Harnds.
and a step up from other two.
F&F. Bearings. Balance in hand and feel.
That’s only My view.
With the models of the Knives I own.
There’s an awful lot out there.
Probably 98% of them better than my choices of blades.
Who knows… I’m happy.
Ah well. I’ve got a Cold Steel 6in fixed,
and an Iseya “I” Hammered series. 7 1\2in Santoku on the way.
Old one is Tojiro triple lam VG10. (I looove the blade shape and feel)
Tojiro are Very nice working blade.
But wife saw this and said X-Mas…
If you want a X-Mas.
THEY are a niiice Light piece of mid range 33 layer laminate.
So I keep telling myself.
I love Blade Forums but the place isn’t without difficulties. For instance, it’s very difficult to have a rational conversation about Ganzo knives over there. I understand opposition to counterfeits and clones, especially when some makers are contributors to the forum. I personally find counterfeits deplorable. That’s not what Ganzo does though. Sure, they have borrowed design elements and arguably a few clones. The difference is that they’re not trying to pass them off as something else, or lying about their steel content. There are also considerations regarding the historical progression of technology, the intricacies of intellectual property across different geopolitical zones and markets, etc. The hate usually feels a little misguided or poorly founded. Sometimes, it just boils down to anti-Chinese sentiment.
An interesting point made by Kevin Cleary is that some of the people advocating that hate might be unknowingly carrying a Ganzo-made knife. Given that many American or other companies have contracted to have their knives made in China anyway, Ganzo is one of the companies that might have made them.
Anyway, Ganzo’s D2 has been independently tested by various YouTubers. The HRC has been pretty good but that may have set artificially high expectations. From what I recall, cut testing puts Ganzo’s D2 on par with other budget D2 lines from China such as Steel Will’s. Given that Ganzo is delivering near the bottom of the price pool and competing with a lot of knives using 8Cr13Mov; I’d say that’s a win.
I have a Bestech Pebble which is similar to that Xanadu. It’s a bit more expensive as well. One of my favorite knives. I haven’t searched many places for it but, it might be able to be found cheaper.
Thanks for summarizing this. Tedious to wander through all the videos. Seems like CH Knives has been scoring well on average, often hitting the upper end of the declared hardness range.
I’m on the fence with this one. It looks like Yon Xanadu got dinged for not using the steel they claim by LuvThemKnives. That’s my biggest issue with buying knives on aliexpress. If the knife is 8Cr13Mov or whatever, just say so. A company like Tonife has no problem listing 3Cr13Mov or 5Cr15Mov. As a result, I have no worries buying from them. In fact, their little 7Cr17Mov Squirrel is one of my favorite knives.
Was wondering if there are any deals like the gocomma knife that was selling for around $9.99 (around a year ago or so). I liked that knife and was wanting something budget like that.