I want to choose another budget knive: i'm thinking on these models:

I own over 200 knives. I own about 30 good chinese knives.

Ganzo 704 is the best of them. It should be, it is a well made clone of a popular knife by a top designer and maker.

Hola Xatu,

i only own the 704 from that list (the new model, with thicker blade). It is very well made, large and very comfortable in hand. I really like the axis lock on big folders, since i think framelocks could be accidentally disengaged (larger knives are used for tougher jobs and sometimes i feel how i actually touch the frame/liner lock when using the knife). Mine came no sharp at all, but just a minor problem, easy to fix. The only thing i don’t like about the design is the dagger tip. I’m not planning to stab anyone with it (so far) so it’s not so useful and makes the blade a little bit weaker and less useful. Oh, and the coating! that’s why I’m drewling with the K630…

well the navy k502 may be a bit rough but it’s got some very desirable attributes:

1) it’s a compression lock. theoretically stronger than liner lock. and when held normally, no part of your hand touches the lock so no risk of accidental release. can’t say the same about a liner lock

2) thumb holes. i believe they’re easier to open reliably under stress than thumb studs

3) full flat ground

4) all torx screws. no proprietary fasteners

5) reasonably priced

the rough edges are easy to smoothen up with sandpaper. the heavy liners are easy to skeletonize with a dremel cutoff wheel

Flat grind knives make better slicer/cutters.

Hum.. I'll hijack this thread. I also thought about some nice knife to put in my car. I want something with belt cutter and glass breaker, just in case.. anything good in the budget area?

I have the Ganzo G704 and it’s my EDC. I think the only reason the blade looks small is because it’s so damned big and thick plus the handle is very large (great for big hands). It’s 8.5cm exposed when open and 4mm thick. It’s a solid, never fail tank and I’d never trade it.

I see that ganzo g704 have very much supporters. I have the ganzo g710 and it’s ok, a little small blade (and it’s bigger than the ganzo g704 even, i like blades with over 10 cm aprox), veeeeeeery smooth, great sharpness. I read that the axis lock of ganzos are weak. Well, i don’t know but my enlan el04 with axis lock engages the lock more length over the blade than the ganzo. I think the secure of enlan el04’s axis lock is better than the ganzo g710.

From the model above, the inron my803 is the favorite knife about design. I love it. But i’m afraid about its framelock or bladeplay.

The full flat slices better but do the blade weak. About navy k502 i think i prefer the navy k631 over the k502.

Actually today i had the t21 in my hands. My brother bought it a couple months ago (first he was considering the T01, but after my wise advice…) and it’s a very nice one. Plastic (not g10 as i had thought) makes it light and with a very good grip (something good in case you need it to cult the seatbelts). Tools doesn’t lock (safer) and they are made with nice stainless steel (very similar to the victorinox one). The belt cutter is the good one (not the straight edge you find in a lot of them). The main blade is almost just a larger version of the 763 , same kind of steel, and same useful belly. The scales are rounded, better grip if you want to break a window. Most of the cheap rescue knives are kinda flat-ish, so they can actually slip in your fist when hitting hard glass. Check out this link, they’ve got it cheaper:
http://www.exduct.com/Monthly-Special-Limited-Products.html
and if you decide to buy it, don’t forget to look for coupons.

So you recommend the same as Horst? Which of these tools will cut the belt? And why dont you like the T01?

Would be great to carry in my car then. Can anyone also recommend a small knife for pocket carriage?

@xatu: Sorry for abusing your thread. :shy:

Definitely. I mean, there might be better ones, but I’ve had this one in my hands. It’s a SRM (kind of warranty). The T01 comes with alu handles. Generally speaking i don’t like that material too much on handles because it’s not grippy, specially when wet (and believe me, if you ever needed to use the belt cutter or the window punch the last thing you’d want is a slippy knife), apart from transmitting temperature too efficiently (cars can get hot). The tool it has (bottle opener) is not as useful as the can opener because you can use almost anything to open a bottle. It has screw driver, yep, but a flat one (not so useful nowadays) and i don’t think you can really use it to pry. Serrated blades are cool but not so useful either. Both being light duty knives, the T21 is better for camping/picnic and food prep (straight edge for slicing and can opener). It’s not that i don’t like the T01, but i just find the T21 being much better designed and useful, more balanced and since the price is the same, for me would be a very easy decision. Here you have them side by side, so you can clearly see wich one is the beautiful one :smiley: and wich one is the T01:
http://www.exduct.com/Special-Limited-Products/T2101-Knife-Tool-Set.html

There are many knives with belt cutter , check these as an example:
http://s.dealextreme.com/search/belt+cutter.html?category=862
if you see, all of them use the same system
http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_18250_5_small.jpg
sometimes the rope/belt gets stuck in the corner, because there’s only one cutting edge. With the hook-shaped blades the belt finds cutting edges all around. Hope it helps.
Tschüssi!

I have the T01a and like it but keep it in my backpack rather than in the car. I like the fact that it has a serrated blade so that I can cut rope/cord.

It has a secondary safety for the liner lock which I removed.

As far as an edc there are many in that category. I like the SRM 605 just for the small size. Getting a little larger is my current favorite the SRM F1-723.

Well, some more comments about models int eh list? somebody has the inron my803?, i think its my favorite from the list…

Xatu, you’ve been contemplating that ~$16 folder for months as I see.
Be a man and buy it! :wink: If you don’t like it you can sell it any day…

I have bought some knives in that months. Now i’m asking for others models and others ideas. I never sell my knives. That inron was eliminated from my list and bought others but i saw a few days ago a video of inron and i will start to think again on it. But i think again that that 16$ (really 19$ or so) must be used in other better knives.

Those look rather big.. and I prefer a black one (blade also).. there are some, any hint?

I’m not sure what we are talking about now. The seat belt cutter knife or a small pocket carry?

I don’t know of any seat belt cutter type of knives with a black blade.

The SRM F1-723 has a black blade. I have a SRM GB9-707 that has a black body and a blade that is somewhere between shiny and and black.

About EDC. I'll order the one you guys recommended (the prettier :D).

Are SRM generally better than for example Ganzo? G702 looks decent.

The SRM F1-723 is the prettiest one I have.

I don’t know much about Ganzo knives. The 702 is an axis lock. I prefer liner or frame locks for the most part.

By the way I’m finding that the cheapest and faster way to get SRM knives is on ebay using “doingoutdoor”. This is for SRM knives that aren’t available in the U.S. of course.

I think I’m going to get a SRM PR-603 that way.

I like the ganzo 702, good looking with clip point blade but blade thickness is only 0.25cm for a 8.5 cm long blade, i prefer the ganzo 704 better.
I have SRMs, Enlans and one ganzo. In my opinion the quality of all is near in general.

The second is pretty stronger than first. It must be like the ganzo g704, it was 3.5 mm and now it’s 4 mm thickblade. I like the 702, remember me a bit to the cold steel recon 1 cut point.
It’s saddly that springs are weak, i know that if you can open the knife, it can be replaced with a guitar/piano string. I hope that my ganzo g710 don’t break in that way.
And yes, it’s very dangerous in a pocket.