440A/440B/440C? That is a huge difference.... yeah, chinese specs .... you will never find something more random..
They claim 440C, although any 440 is probably better than 420. But hey, who knows... anybody know where I can find a budget Rockwell hardness tester?
Hardness is more a matter of heat treatment, rather than the steel composition.
Yes, understood, but with all variables considered, hardness (at least within the boundaries of Chinese knives) is probably more important to me than whether it's 420 or some variant of 440. I have a D2 knife, supposedly in the 62 RH range, that I've never had to sharpen - and I hope I never have to.
I like my smaller knives to be harder and my bigger knives to be softer. With medium range steels, the harder steel tends to be too brittle for my liking. Essentially... harder != better.... depends very much on the usage. I will post some pics this weekend, what an abused EL01 will look like.
There is a seller on ebay that showed pics of his L01s on a hardness tester - ranged from 58-59 if I recall correctly. Not outrageously hard, but probably as hard as you're likely to find on these SRM/Bee/Enlan etc. knives. I'd probably take them all like that, if I could.
Those photos are from the Enlan website. Sanrenmu and Enlan use the same steel and Bee is a brand name used by Enlan. Ganzo claim to use 440C but I suspect it is a Chinese equivalent since, as far as I know, they do not make 440C and I can't imagine them importing steel to make budget knives.
Feel free to shoot me down in flames if you know better.
No flame-thrower here... 
Here's an excerpt from jekostas steel primer:
440A/440B/440C: Stainless cutlery steels, not often used any more. Roughly correspond to .4%/.6%/.8% in carbon content, with 440C making a very reliable knife blade. When you see a steel labelled as "440 stainless", it will generally be some form of 440A steel. Gerber's "mystery steel" is 440A stainless steel
AUS-4/AUS-6/AUS-8/AUS-10: Japanese-developed stainless steels made to compete with the 440 series. The number in the steel denotes the amount of carbon present in 1/10th of a percentages. Was considered a high-end steel a decade ago, but AUS-8 is the only variation that continues to see regular usage, mostly from Cold Steel knives.
3Cr13, 5Cr13Mo, 8Cr13MoV: Chinese-developed stainless steels, developed to be comparable to the Japanese AUS series. Becoming very popular. 8Cr13MoV is a solid, midrange steel that combines good edge retention, high toughness, and easy sharpenability with moderate corrosion resistance. Used by many knifemakers, including Spyderco, Kershaw, CRKT, SanRenMu, Bee, etc.
I suspect what the Chinese call "440C" may be one of the *Cr**MoV steels, by way of backward progression. At least, that may be the best case scenario.
You're both right. Ganzo uses 9Cr18MoV, which is slightly different than 8Cr13MoV. It's supposedly a better steel from a chemical formulation perspective, but how hard or soft the steel is in the end depends entirely on how Ganzo heat-treated it. I've found that the Chinese makers tend to heat treat their steels a little bit softer for their own knives than for OEM customers, as it makes for faster machining and thus lower cost.
I just got the SRM 603 from MF today. It's a small and simple knife but very nice to use. One hand's easily once you set the tension right. Very nice curve to the blade (bends back around to give it that extra pressure when cutting) and extremely good ergonomics for a small pocketable piece. Only $6 but makes the list.
I also have the 962, but frankly I don't like it. Cannot one hand (ie thumb) flick with the "hole" or one hand close with the axis lock (which seems a gimmick to me). The micarta looks interesting but grips worse than g10 and slippery as polished wood when wet.
Bee knives (at least the two I just got) are very slick in general, that extra 10% over SRM makes them worth it for show, but maybe not much better in actual use.
I ordered one from PriceAngels.com. If they are a Sanrenmu "Strike Civil" http://sanrenmu.com/en/fixed/product/18.php then the steel should be 8Cr13MoV which is not a bad midrange steel. And we still don't know how long is the tang.
I also hope I get one without label...
If it hasn't been mentioned here yet, the SRM/Sanrenmu 9 series knives have been discontinued and are destined to become cheap collectors items (baby that 962 if you have one).
I'm sitting on about 50 new knives since I've started this thread. Several are duplicates to be used while others might sit around in the display cabinet to play with or light duty use. I'm still waiting on several more (colt, browning, cold steel, condor tool, Schrade, more srm's and Navy's, an original Camillus Becker bk9 and several more. When I get them all together, I'll do a huge review. Most of my buying decisions have been based on the positive reviews from others, so there will be little new info for me to add. It should make for a nice photo compilation and basis for comparison. I’ll hold my observations for now. Thanks to discoverybargain.com screwing me over with lies of false shipments and incorrect inventory levels, several knives have had to be reordered through other vendors and I'm still trying to find some SRM 9 series that have just become discontinued. They were available a month ago from other vendors when I ordered through discoverybargain, but now I might be SOL thanks to a crooked company that should be bombarded into a crater by the USAF.
I'm looking forward to hearing about the Buck but reports I've read elsewhere shows it to be a very descent knife for the price. One thing is for sure. With the quality of cheap knives on the rise, it almost doesn’t make sense to buy much more expensive originals unless you're a collector or need one for special purposes not found elsewhere. Expert reviews confirm this time and time again.
When I lived in San Francisco, I used to attend a Japanese cutlery exhibition once a year. Most examples were priceless relics that made large audiences weep and gasp as we were allowed to walk in a huge single file line to get a glimpse of the swords that built much of their proud heritage. The pieces were transported in nitrogen purged containers, taken out for an hour to be show and then immediately returned to the storage container and purged once again with nitrogen. Although the finest hand made Damascus swords are beautiful works of art and built to an incredible standard... and carry with them a rich history, I've always wanted to handle one to compare with a $150 knock-off. Sadly, they simply wont allow it. 
flashpilot can you show some pic of this knife. In a lot of the photos the quality of the drilled plastic holes look bad.
Even the real Buck Vanguard specs indicate a 420 steel blade, so how bad can the knockoffs be unless the finish or heat treatment is really lousy? The copies are said to be 440C (they probably mean *Cr**Mov) but I find this more doubtful given the lower grade steel of the original.
Navy knives with G10 handles are all about the same in quality. The drill detents aren't perfect but after you've handled them for a few hours, you cant notice the color difference or imperfection any more. When they are made, the material removed by the drill bit makes the plastic more shinny than the rest of the handle. Once the knife is handled, the coloration all becomes the same from oils in your skin, etc. Also, lighting plays a huge factor when photographing these pieces. Overall, these are an absolute steal for the money, have a distinctive look and feel, and quality rivaling SRM. I took some photos with flash on and flash off but couldnt quite capture what the handles really look like - the way the dimples contrast with the rest of the handle. It looks much better in person.
For large folding knives
Top pic to date: Bee EL-01. Amazing build quality and finish all the way through. Excellent engineering. Strong sharp blade. Profile should work well under most any condition and seems a great compromise for strength and abuse while still able to be used for somewhat intricate cutting chores. Blade is the safest amongst my larger knives to aggressively flick open and be more careless than usual without worrying about losing a digit; thanks to the lower hand guard that also acts as an index finger assist while opening. Disclaimer – if you cut yourself, that’s your fault. Not mine! I know have 3 of these knives and build quality between examples is absolutely consistent without major imperfections or gripes.
Least favorite: Ganzo G704. I had high hopes for this knife and was expecting a better build quality. My 2 examples both exhibit noticeable looseness in the locking mechanism and bolsters. The blade isnt as robust as the EL-01 and they aren't very sharp from the factory. The handle to blade ratio of the EL-01 seems much better, utilizing all available space in the frame to make use of the largest blade possible. The EL-01 closed length is only about 1/4" longer than the G704 but is substantially larger when opened. In the hand, I cant feel any difference in weight between the two. I still haven't attempted to take them apart to tune and polish them but the vertical movement in the locked position is likely something permanent that cant be corrected. Tightening the pivot torx screws might take out some of the side play but will make it much more difficult to open, and likely impossible to flick open with one hand. Its also not as easy or consistent to flick open as the EL-01 straight out of the box. The EL-01 locks in with authority every time, even with mild wrist action. I'm still happy to have the G704 in my collection. The coolness factor rates a sold 9 in my book. Its just that for the price, I was expecting something produced to a much higher standard.
IMO, the winner by a very substantial margin is the EL-01 (also available in black blade & half serrated blades). Still, if you can afford it, buy them both!
Buck's 420HC steel is far superior to any other 420 formulation on the market because they have a proprietary heat treatment. Buck knives regularly test in to the 57-59 HRC range, which puts it on the same level as AUS-8, 8Cr13MoV, GIN-1 or any number of other medium-range steels.
Gerber, on the other hand, you're likely to get better steel out of the knockoffs than the original Gerber knives (which all use a standard-treated 440A equivalent at about 54-56 HRC).
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