Enlan M028 review

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
1

Dimensions are as follows:
DEPTH 15 mm
HEIGHT 94 mm
WIDTH 26 mm
BLADE LENGTH 71 mm
PRODUCT WEIGHT 69 g

Price: 8$

The most attractive feature of the knife are the decorative ridges that the liners have. They look unremarkable in the photos but they have a pleasing tendency to catch the light and sparkle giving the whole knife a somewhat jeweled appearance. The blade is well ground, nicely polished and easy to sharpen. It cuts about as well as you’d expect for a hollow ground blade of this thickness. The pocket clip is tight and polished well, so it adds somewhat to the appearance of the knife. The lockup is at 40% and does its job neither giving in to spine pressure or whacking (don’t do this to your knives).

So the good:
+good value for money, 8cr13mov is really decent steel, easy to sharpen and does the job quite well
+attractive decorative ridges and overall pleasing design
+good balance of size, weight and blade length
+solid overall construction

Towards the more neutral traits are the pakkawood scales. Mine came fairly dark brown and subdued so they could easily be mistaken for real wood at first glance, which is a plus. On the other hand, the scale on the non-locking liner (don’t know what else to call it) does not extend as much towards the ridges as the other one. In other words the scale is slightly smaller, which leads to more of the ridge protuding over the edge. I estimate the discrepancy to be just under one mm.

The neutral:
-large variation in handle color (something to keep in mind)
-one scale is slightly smaller than it should be
-pivot is mounted upside down

However, the knife has a major shortcoming that has to be corrected. At first glance the blade is well centered and even though the detente is strong and deployment somewhat stiff - it functions well. After a hundred or so openings and a bit of carry I noticed the clip loosening and the centering moving toward the non locking liner.

It turns out that the clip screws protrude so far from the liners that they push the pushes the brass washer upwards and into the knife. This actually held the blade centered. I loosened the screws and free from the pressure of the screw the blade moved from the off center position.

The bad:
you will need to disassemble the knife and file down the clip screws (take that opportunity to mount the pivot the right way up, to clean the knife and keep in mind that the screws have thread locker on them and if its one of the strong thread lockers you may not be able to open them without stripping one of the screws that holds the scale in mine would not budge)
-you will need to play around with the pivot tightness until you get decent centering

- it will take a while for the action of the knife to smooth out (many openings), so that it is both smooth and remains centered

- the clip screws come undone over time so either loctite them or live with it

- the protruding ridges are uncomfortable if you hold the knife tightly - they dig into your palm. I tried some wood whittling with it and it hurt my hands more than necessary

  • the brass washer needs polishing with some fine sandpaper

Bottom line:
This knife is really good value…if you’re willing to fix its shortcomings.

2

Maybe I was lucky on the QC lottery when I bought mine so that’s the reason my experience differs.
Mine came with a smooth opening action out of the box so I didn’t have to disassemble the knife for cleaning or for polishing the washer.
The wooden scales are the same size on both sides at mine and the clip screws aren’t protruding either.
So I consider the M028 a decent gentleman’s folder.

3

Lol, then mine must have been botched in just about every way possible.

4

I had to file down the clip screws too. I also filled up the enclosed nut so I could tighten the pivot screw fully and so it won’t press the blade much. Now I have a perfect knife with smooth opening. Nothing keeps loosening. I love it.

5

I think a little tinkering is acceptable at this price point.
Anyway it always gives me satisfaction when I manage to fix such inperfections at my budget folders. :slight_smile:

6

Now that is a nice looking knife IMHO.

TY for the review. And Welcome to the BLF :-D

7

It really looks better in person. A pity about the potential QC issues, but they aren’t difficult to solve.

That said, from what I’ve seen of Sanrenmu, Enlan still has a way to go before they catch up in overall quality.

8

Absolutely agree with you, I have quite a few Enlan/Bee knives and they are great if you are prepared to put a bit of work in, that varies quite a bit. On some it’s a couple of drops of oil and work the blade open and closed, that will do the job. On others it’s like you’ve bought a kit and it comes assembled but only part finished.
At the prices of most of these knives I consider that acceptable, it’s a hobby and I like tinkering with stuff.
I’ve only ever considered two knives to be absolute crap with poor design and not worth any more time spent on them, the Lansky World Legal and the Enlan L04GN, the green pakkawood scaled flipper that doesn’t, the geometry of the flipper is just wrong. The Lansky is just a very poorly made knife with seemingly no quality control at all.
Of the Chinese knives that I’ve got SanRenMu top the league for me. Enlan is a good second place and Ganzo third, I’ve not boughtba Navy so I can’t comment on them.

EDIT…………….I forgot to say thanks for the excellent review.

9

Thanks for the review. This blade seems to have a good design and blade geometry for EDC. Those scales look great, even knowing that it’s fake wood. Very tempting, thanks!

10

chinese company made knives are awesome for the price point especially being 8cr’s, if they improve their QC on each knives, its possible for them to take over american oversea made knives lol just saying

11

The blade is good, not as efficient in cutting vs something like an Opinel due to the thicker overall stock and geometry… but then, what is. I suggest lowering the edge angle, mine is now 17 degrees on both sides as per Lansky setting … it cuts better but the edge isn’t any more fragile.

My scales are nothing like the ones in the picture, so keep in mind that it can look completely different both in color and in grain.

I’ll post some photos of mine so you can see the difference when I get around to it.