Anyone Like or Collect Knives from the Various Chinese Makers??

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Nalapombu

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Hey all.

FIRST OFF….I am NOT talking about companies that produce clones, copies, rip-offs or theft of designs from other well known makers.
I am also NOT denigrating or throwing cold water on the huge number of fantastic AMERICAN knife brands and makers.

I got a knife for Christmas that I really like. It’s a knife from a Chinese maker, MIGURON Knives. I got the Makora. It’s a BIG blade at 4 inches and it’s not a svelte lightweight either. I like large blade knives for carry though.

Since getting it I have started looking at knives from other Chinese makers, mainly CIVIVI and WE knives. I know there are lots more, but I’ve just started exploring.
I have seen quite a few knives that really look good to me. The knife I got is a flipper, I’ve never had or fooled with one before. I find myself really liking it. It’s certainly different than my long time EDC the Spyderco Endura.

Now that I am seeing more of what’s out there, I thought I’d ask you guys and gals if you like or collect knives from Chinese companies. If you do, which companies do you like and prefer to carry? If you have pics of your stuff, please post.

What’s your thoughts on these makers and their knives?

Thanks for your time.
 
I carry this small TwoSun in my pocket every day.
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Another TwoSun I carry quite a bit
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Artisan makes some interesting knives too
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Canada customs hates knives more than anything, so no imports for me.

That said from what I can see there are more independent knifemakers on AliExpress than anywhere else I've ever seen and some day I'd love to start collecting them.
 
Have four Kizers here: Guru, Roach, Dukes and S.L.T.

Didn't set out to "collect" them per se. I just like them as they are all first-class price performers.
 
I try things like anodizing and abrasives on a Ruike Ti Hussar before I treat more expensive knives.
There is also a reprofiled small Steel Will CutJack in the shop in D2 I am happy with. I stopped buying Chinese as much as I can though.
 
I like WE and Kizer for the most part. WE's sub-brands, Civivi and Sencut, have a lot to offer at their respective price levels. The 9Cr18Mov across those brands gets an excellent heat treatment and that helps them to punch above their pay grade. Bestech, Kubey, and Petrified Fish are all decent if you like Chinese D2.

Ruike and Real Steel are both made by Sanrenmu. They are okay. QC is definitely not as good as Kizer or WE's brands. However, they do tend to be better than Artisan/CJRB and QSP in my experience. (I've had multiple lemons from Artisan/CJRB and QSP.) I've had better luck with fixed blades from Ruike and Real Steel. Sanrenmu uses an 8-position rotatable clip on a lot of their sheaths and I've come to appreciate that.

I've had a few TwoSun knives. They seem to be well-made. However, I have two consistent complaints. First, all of my TwoSun knives have had thicker blade stock than they need. They've been ground well and get reasonably thin behind the edge but they'd be so much better if they didn't start out at like 0.15"-0.16". Second, some of them do what I've heard people call "double-clutching". Effectively, they don't get far enough past the detent and can rebound to lock-up when stopped at the thumbnail during a close.
 
I dont have a problem with quality Chinese knives of any pricepoint.

I got the itch for a traditional the other day. I have been lukewarm on Case for sometime as I don't think their price is warranted for the quality they are putting out these days.

I would gladly pay GEC prices for the quality, but I dont care to chase a knife down. If I want it, I want it. I'm not jumping through hoops for a knife that takes two hands to open ;)

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So I stumbled across Brother knives on the big river site. About $40 for a lock back, carbon fiber grips, VG10 steel. Nice centering, passable lock up (none of my slip joints lock up as tight as something like a Buck 110), and good fit and finish for under $50. All the lines of a GEC with just about a half step down in finish (shield is not pinned, slightly sharp corners on the bolsters, etc)

So far, I'm pretty impressed. The quality reminds me of the Boker Plus line. I find the CF a bit garish. It reminds me of the vest on a cheap prom tux. However, it has it where it counts. I could see this being a solid little edc when I opt not to choose a larger/more aggressive knife for certain situations. I'll most likely be buying more, and certainly plan on picking up a high end Chinese folder the next time I can handle oneel at SMKW or the like.

Edit to add:
Upon looking at the knife in the overhead light, the shield appears to to be pinned from the front. Not all the way through to the inner liner, but not a tossed on glue job...not bad.
 
https://imgur.com/a/saokUoX

Reate is my go-to. Consistently pumping out some of the best knives on the planet around the $250-$400 mark. Besides some super expensive brands like Holt, Shirogorov, and Koenig, Reate's action, blade grinds, edge consistency, and fit and finish are extremely hard to beat. They always come with a screaming sharp edge, and since about 2017/2018 a lot of their knives have been pretty thin behind the edge, unless its intentionally made thick. I.e. my chaves redencion 229, which looks like it would cut like a brick, has an edge legitimately half as thick as a spyderco paramilitary 2 (.013 vs .025), and it uses a hollow grind so it will stay thin through a lifetime of sharpening instead of thickening up on the first sharpening. Some of my favorite knife designers use them as their OEM for production runs, such as Chaves, Sharpbydesign, Liong Mah, Mark Varga, Something Obscene Company, Peña, and the list goes on. Their in house work is usually hit or miss, as far as overall design goes, but their work with knife makers is superb.

Bestech is starting to up their game in the OEM field (look into twpricedesign), Rike, and WE are all pretty exceptional as well.
 
Finch Knives is an American company in Kansas whose knives are made in China. I have their Holliday and 1929, and those are some very fine, well-made knives.
 
Some of (if not most of) the "best" and most reputable Chinese knives are pretty much only known and available in China.

Which for me is a little bit strange. Despite the fact that 95% of products discussed in this forum are technically illegal to own for their ordinary civilians, in domestic Chinese knife community you see a lot of talks of Foreign custom / mid-tech small brand products. Lots of interests, discussions, WTB and owners of products from Carothers and GSO and Bark River and Malanika and Busse and MSC and Creely and so on. I'm not even mentioning stuff like JS and MS full custom pieces. Marfione Custom pieces are literally everywhere. I know what you're assuming, but all talks I saw on them are on authentic pieces. Buying counterfeits is generally frowned upon, but sharing Microtech counterfeits is especially frowned upon and such contents will be removed immediately with possible account ban.

Or maybe the Chinese mid-tech stuff are available in the rest of the world, only I don't know they are?

I'll just post some pics here, let me know if you've ever seen any of the brands / makers / products listed.

You'll immediately notice, though, that a lot, LOT, of these products are designed as well-made objects, not practical tools. This is due to the fact that most Chinese civilians don't get nearly as much opportunity / need to really use their knives as a practical tool as, for example, people in U.S.

Also, these are not custom pieces. They sell them by the hundreds, with excellent consistency.

Disclaimer: I do not sell or intend to sell anything listed here. I don't even know how to get them as they're only available in China and seems to be always sold out.


“Autumn Falcon“ by “XXSTJP Forge Works”

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Forged, clear-ceracoated feather-pattern Damascus blade. Beryllium-Copper / Tungsten bearing. Available scales including Westinghouse micarta, Mammoth, “Desert Ironwood”, and assorted metal options.


“Gravity Wave” by “Six-fingered Zeng”

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Hand-satin, Bohler factory-treated M390 blade. Ti-Damascus spindle. 440C / Ceramic bearing. Zirconium-alloy thumb stud, TC4 handle in various finishes.



“Catastrophe” by “District 9”. (This brand has a large and loyal fan base I don’t know why)

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Stone-wash 6mm (!) M390 blade. CNC TC4 handle. Interchangeable ball-bearing or washers. Push-open pocket clip. Locking reinforcement pin (like RAO). Weights 415g (14.6 oz) (WTF)


“Thrush” by “Bountain”

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41-layer SG2 Damascus blade. Scale options include assorted bones and mother-of-pearl materials.



“Cybertrix” by “Forever Steel” (Owner is a big fan of Tesla)

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Partial Hand-satin M390 blade. Sand-blasted TC4 handle. All straight lines. No visible screws.



“Small Balisong” by “Moye Works”

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All kinds of options, all kinds of variations. All parts interchangeable, including combs, forks, and box cutter blade holders.


These are just a tip, although a pretty nice tip, of the iceberg. Thought it'd be a good idea to share with this forum.
 
As far as production knives go. I am a fan of Ruike. Dollar for dollar. I have not seen anything from China touch Ruike in terms of quality. Until you get into Deviant blades. Which run $900 on up and considered custom.
I do own a budget CJRB Silax fixed blade that is pretty dang decent and good for food prep/light duty camp chores.
What I would like to have is a Chinese made blacksmith knife designed from the Zhou dynasty or earlier era. As I tend to collect blacksmith knives from around the world.
 
I tried only two and still keep one of them: a Reate Horizon D (picture below), which is definitely in the league of RHK in terms of quality, F&F and materials. The other one is an early release by Kizer, which was just so-so.

The main reason that I have not bought more is it seems knives made in China do no retain their value well, as compared to knives made in the USA.

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Knives made by Chinese companies or American branded knives made in China? And China, not Taiwan?

I don't specifically collect knives of Chinese makers but I still own a few that I really like:

1) Artisan Cutlery - Waistline and Shark
2) Real Steel - Megalodon 2017 Titan

My favorite among these is the Ti Megalodon which I often carry:

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Sold off most of my American branded/made in China knives which were mainly Kershaws/CRKTs.

Not sure how many of those I still own but my favorite among them is the CRKT/Ikoma Fossil because it's just so ridiculously "cool" to hold/look at.

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LOL! ;)
 
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