With both of these in my hot little hands, and based on little more than carrying them around a bit and cutting a few things, I thought I’d try my hand at reviewing my two new knives. The first being the Navy K602, and the second the Inron MY801.
Firstly, some pretty pictures… well pictures anyway.
The Navy
and the Inron
also a size comparison with my Endura 4, because Endura.
Navy K602
First impressions were rather like those of Steve Irwin’s take on stingrays, “crikey, that’s a big one!”
Make no mistake, the Navy K602 is a big folding knife. Of the big four, Sanrenmu, Enlan, Navy and Ganzo, I think this is the only one whose blade length exceeds 10cm in length, officially by 1 centimetre for a total of 11cm. Despite that I didn’t find it particularly heavy, this framelock is reasonably thin, and the blade itself is about 3mm meaning that despite its size it doesn’t feel unwieldy in the hand.
The blade and frame have a stonewash finish that is not unattractive and certainly the big recurve blade has an allure all its own. The black G10 is best described as functional, and functional it certainly is. Given the strength of the composite, so much so that some manufacturers run their knives with only partial, or no, liners relying on the G10 for handle rigidity, I wonder if this and the Inron MY803 use the G10 scale as a source of structural support for the steel.
The pivot rides on a bronze washer on one side, and a teflon washer on the other. During operation I found a certain self tightening that also moved the blade off centre, the centring of the blade being a convenient check that the pivot is correctly tightened, some loctite is on the way. With a spydy-flick (break the detent with the thumb and flip the blade out with the wrist) the blade comes out easily and locks up well. Although I didn’t go overboard whacking it, the lockup is secure enough that I don’t think it would close on my fingers.
Overall fit and finish is adequate, one of the things I like about the other “big three” is that you feel like you got more for your money than what you paid for. Navy, at least in the K631 and K602 that I own, feel very much like getting exactly what you pay for. This is a cheap knife, I paid $15.56US for mine and unfortunately it does feel cheap. When I got it there was a small chip on the edge of the blade, so I slapped it on the Edge Faux and with a series of stones brought it up to a near mirror edge that also polished out the chip. Hair shaving sharp, although I don’t yet have my strops ready to take it to its ultimate in scary sharpness.
Overall I would give this knife a six out of ten. If you really must have the biggest then this is the only candidate. Just make sure you can legally import it, I had to get a dispensation from the New Zealand Police before importing a knife over 10cm.
Inron MY801
The Enlan EL01 is one of my favourite knives ever. I own two already, and have a third in the mail. When I saw Inron’s direct competitor to it I hemmed and hawed a bit before finally pulling the trigger, but now I have it I’m glad I did.
That this is clearly inspired by the Enlan EL01 goes almost without saying. In most dimensions they are identical. If I can point to one specific difference of feel, the Inron feels like it was designed by an engineer. Like its big brother the MY803 it feels as if the major concern of the design team was the blade, with the ancillaries coming a distinct second in their priorities. The Enlan meanwhile feels like it was built by an arts student (with a slightly homicidal bent). But that focus is something I admire, because when all is said and done, a knife that doesn’t cut isn’t really a knife. It might be a spoon though. The Inron has one hell of a blade.
Compared to the 8Cr13MoV of the Enlan, the Inron boasts 9Cr13MoV steel. Whilst 1% carbon might not seem a lot, in metallurgical terms it makes a big difference to the potential hardness of a steel. Inron include a little brochure explaining that they harden their knives to 59-60 Rockwell, and I have no reason to disbelieve them. The blade is hollow ground (like the MY803) and comes hair shaving sharp (like the MY803). It has a good belly for carving, and the point is very pointy, presumably for pointing. Although nominally the same length as the Enlan, the difference of flipper and handle configuration means that cutting edge of the Inron is about a centimetre shorter.
Like the Navy (and the Enlan) the pivot uses a single bronze washer and a single teflon washer. It deploys on the flipper easily enough, requiring just a little wrist flick to finish opening, and if you like you can use the thumb studs.The liner lock does its job, locking the blade up securely with no detectable play. Interestingly the liners are both drilled for the pocket clip screws, but only the right side G10 is. Presumably you could take the scales off and drill the left side to match.
In the hand that engineer designed feature rears its head again, as the knife has almost a complete lack of jimping to give the user something to brace their fingers or thumb against. That said, the G10 grips are very comfortable and fairly grippy, so that jimping may not be missed. The only thing that counts against the comfort is that the inner edges of the liners are quite sharp. The handle is shaped in such a way that it is possibly more secure in the hand than the Enlan. Time will tell.
For the $16.81US I paid for this knife (Hello Gift Shop) I received a very good knife.
Overall I would give this an eight out of a ten.