I received my Ganzo G709 from Exduct yesterday.I bought it with my $20 5th round winning draw. For those of you that haven’t participated in it, I recommend you do.Now back to the blade…
All I can say is WOW! What a nice design, so pleasing to look at and feels comfortable in the hands. I was looking for something out of the ordinary, away from the same boring design. This G709 definitely fits that bill.
I bought the G706 back in July and really liked the design however the brother-in-law took it off my hands as soon as he saw it. The G706 was a smaller EDC sporting a dual blade and had the same doughnut retainer.When you use it you can stick your fore-finger into the doughnut hole to help give you better side-to-side control.The thumb rests comfortably in a more upright position giving you a more effective downward pressure on the blade.
This G709 is what I consider a full size pocket knife. It comes in just shy of 4.5" closed and 7.5" with the blade extended.You can definably gut a few bellies if your in a pinch.
Design - 5 out of 5 grape sodas. As mentioned above, I like the unique design, simple clean lines and something about that doughnut hole (I just have to stick my finger into it). Elegant and yet functional.
Build quality - 4 out of 5 grape sodas. The quality is what you would expect from a sub $20 Ganzo knife. There are some minor scratches on the stainless steel pocket clip and doughnut retainer but nothing to gripe about. Some 10min polishing should take it out. Overall quality is pretty good.
Functionality - 4.5 out of 5 grape sodas. The handle is comfortable on the hand and not slippery due to the textured G10 material. The edges are chamfered (45 degrees) and edges relieved. On some knives I cut myself and and I'm not talking about cutting myself with the blade but the sharp edges of the handle.
Blade - 4 out of 5 grape sodas. The business end is roughly 3" long, 4mm (5/32") thick. The blade and edge are nicely polished however like any Chinese knife, it definitely needs to be honed on the water stone before it can be put to use. 4000 grit would probably be the highest I would go on this knife. In terms of gun slinging, the blade needs to be opened with both hands. You probably will need to loosen the retainer to make it easier to open it with one hand.The blade liner locking mechanism is quite active.What I mean by that is that no adjustments needs to be done and there’s no play.
All in all I’m quite happy with this knife and ecstatic that I acquired it through the Exduct - BLFgiveaway.
That’s a real nice knife, congratulations, and boo, you just diverted me to spend half an hour ogling knives I am simply not allowed to carry.
I really hate the UK knife laws. Sub 3” folding blade, no locking mechanism permitted. :~ having grown up using locking knives, I can’t console myself to a none locker, I spend any time it was open, expecting it to fold and cut my fingers off.
Still, I really fancy a g706 and may see if one can be slipped through customs… My other liked knife is definitely not acceptable, its a nice gutting knife with a linear lock and good grip, but just looks too aggressive, which is most likely to get you in bother over here.
The law states a locker is treated as a fixed blade, you must have a professional reason to carry one. I wing it with my work knife - its in my tool bag and purely used to give a nice end on armourflex (pipe lagging) but if I forgot to remove it from my overhauls and went out to get dinner, technically, I’m breaking the law. An edc would get me really shafted in a stop and search (that said, I’m 33 and have never been stop and searched).
Thanks for the review and pictures. A little too agressive for my taste, but a nice build. The big question is: Where did you get that great looking digital camo pouch?? I need several…
The digital camo pouch came with the knife from Exduct. I looked now, and for a dollar more you get a "black pouch". I'm not sure if it's still available. You can always email them and request one.
@Bak - it's your's free if you're every in town. I don't need it.
Mine arrived in very good shape, with no visible scratches. The G-10 like handle sides look and feel good. The blade pivot could use some lubrication as the action is very stiff—you can barely get it open one-handed on the first try (takes a little practice to get the hang of the tightness and travel arc). The blade is reasonably sharp, yet could use a bit of honing as Bigwood said. The thumb stud is effective, but the opposite end looks a bit crappy and unfinished. They really should have put a polished/smooth end to it. The knurling on the back end is well done and provides excellent grip. Weight wise it’s a tad on the heavy size for a knife in this class. Still, it’s not all that bothersome.
One thing I find rather surprising is the usefulness of the frame hole. You can put one finger through it and it totally improves your grip. It’s almost like wielding brass knuckles. The maker could have introduced notches in the circular bezel to make it look a little more like a wrench tool than a knife, to add to the “stealth”.
Overall, I’m happy I got it. Hopefully they’ll keep making this model for years to come.
Cheers spas, they look good, for $49 though, I could get 6 srm h03’s, which do me for edc usage and don’t look as tacticool 8) I’ve just bought three knives too, a replacement srm h03, another srm and an enlan em-01 which I probably wont edc tbh as its a frame lock (naughty gords :bigsmile: ). We really do get a bum deal in the UK :~
They look great, don’t worry the Chinese factory that makes them will no doubt produce a “homage” to the knives. I’d probably buy both plain and serrated because I’m really wanting to try out the Veff serrations.
I’ve still not got a g706 or 709 despite the appeal of the finger hole, I have though found my edc, a sanrenmu m1, none locking, 70 ish mm blade, its on me all day, till my edc holster comes off when I get home and has proved so usefull, my boss wants a similar set up for himself.
I’m still hinting every day - notify when back in stock - at FastTech to re-stock the M1 it’s a great knife but the only other place I can find it want $23 and shipping on top, it’s not worth that.
The maker could have introduced notches in the circular bezel to make it look a little more like a wrench tool than a knife, to add to the “stealth”.