That's good to know. Any idea as to whether the Sanrenmu Strike Civil might the knife that's being sold as the Buck Vanguard knockoffs on the various Chinese sites? There's another knife out there by Magnusson, also called the Vanguard, supposedly Swedish-designed (who knows where it's manufactured), looks exactly like the Buck and SRM and sells for $24. I wonder if/how these all might fit together.
No clue, unfortunately. I've never had chance to handle either the Magnusson or SRM versions, nor do I know the day and date of original design and manufacture of anything.
My best guess would be the Buck is original, and the Magnusson is a re-branded SRM as the the earliest reference I can find of the Magnusson version is late 2010.
But again, I could be completely off - knife companies straight up copying designs from each other is a practice that's older than most of the people on this forum.
Does anyone have the SRM 905/908 or Bee L04/L05? I like a wood or at least wook looking handle and can't decide between these, and don't want to buy them all. Yet. :D
jekostas, that's OK, thanks. The knife industry is fundamentally quite larcenous, isn't it? Throw in national borders and patent indifferences and almost anything goes.
I have never been a huge fan of Buck pocket knives. They are quality and hold an edge decent, but they seem to be a pain to put an edge on by hand.
Granted, I only have a couple of their lower end ones.
I have the SRM 905, 908 and the Bee L05-1. What you wanna know? The 908 handles aren't wood but Micarta and it has no clip and a coated blade (probably grey titan nitride) , BTW. Videos about them are HERE.
Oh, it goes well beyond just international patent disputes. The first production locking knife (and probably the most iconic) is the Buck 110 Folding Hunter which was released in 1962. By 1964 there were something like 6 different copies in the marketplace, including some from some otherwise respectable US companies like Ka-bar and Schrade.
They way they used to get around patents is make all the parts fit slightly differently so you couldn't swap from company to company.
I have L05-1. Good knife, folksy look. Mine was perfectly centered and flick-opens like a charm. Bigger than SRM 7xx series but little smaller and lighter than EL-01. Recommended.
Thanks for the reminder. I just grabbed the last 908 at Exduct. These are now out of production.
908... best ergonomics of all knives I have, the opening on mine is very hard, but others had not that problem... just my typical luck. 
Micarta looks better than G10 and is easier to keep cleap than pakka- and especially rosewood (open pores).
MY 905 and some comparison pics 1 , 2 , 3 , 4
MY problem with the 908 is descibed here, but don't let that freigthen you... seems to be a single incident as far as my google searches covered that matter. Actually from those 3-4 knives you mentioned .. I still like the 908 best. The problem has gotten better over time, but it takes forever. Maybe due to that coating?
You bastard! 
What do you mean exactly?
That was directed at the post above yours. Look at the post time. :)
Twice the price :(
Make an offer and buy more than 1 knife, i think he does combine shippings (but ask him first). To be more precise, buy some of the new knives and tell us, how they are. 
Sorry bro!
I do that all the time on ebay and get great rates. Usually after initial contact, we negotiate outside of ebay so that we can both save more. This vendor has many fine budget knives, including several SRM 9 series that are now extinct. Just make sure he can actually get them before ordering. Ive had several cancel and then had my palpal refunded.
as to the knife industry being larcenous, think poor michael walker who streamlined and popularized the linerlock around 1980. its a brilliant, efficient rework of a design that had been around since the 19th century but he didnt patent it. he eventually won the right to the trademark "linerlock" but by then everyone was using it. not that these chinese makers (for right or wrong) would have cared about that.
You're going to call out the Chinese makers on the liner lock? Sorry to tell you this, but EVERY knife company in the world uses liner and frame lock knives these days without giving credit to Chris Reeve or Michael Walker.
Well, except for Spyderco, perhaps.