Is this ganzo based on an existing design?

[SwissHeritageCo]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to find out if this ganzo is based on an existing higher quality knife and steel because the design reallt appeals to me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RousingRabbles]

Looks pretty similar to an MBK (Monterey Bay Knives) EZC or EWC

 

[POCEH KOCEB]

Ganzo Firebird line. They put together Laconico elements as noted, and changed few things so it wont look like blantant copy.
Steel quality with those used to be hit or miss. Overall quality of the buld is ok. Expect thicker blade,
because when they used the 13mov flavors of the steel marked as D2 or Sandvic, they used to HT it to the upper limit, blades become brittle and they made it thicker to compensate little bit.
Maybe, since they are present in more legitimate retailers now, they moved to better steels and they correspond to the marking but l didnt handle one of those for a long time.
Overal not bad beater, ld guess - inexpensive.
They are much better options with more legitimate Chinese companies, if the design is appealing to you but not looking to spend more, maybe you should check the Civivi line, if lm not mistaking, they also had some Laconico colaboration and you will get better build quality, cheaper price and theyr steel is really what is marked on the blade.

 

[c7m2p3]

Yeah there are a lot on here that have a very mixed view of Ganzo as a brand given their penchant for taking existing designs and changing one or two things about it. I know they had an axis lock version of a PM2 at one time as well as something that looked very much like a RAT 1 with an axis lock.

That being said, much of their newer work looks to be more in house designs and this is one of those newer ones. If I were you I would check out some of the other brands out there like CIVIVI, CJRB, Sencut, or QSP. You can get a lot of knife for your money and most of those brands are going to be producing origninal designs at a price that is a mere 10$ more expensive than Ganzo.

Not to mention if you go with something like CIVIVI you are getting a much thinner grind out of your blade. I think the extra sandwhich worth of money is worth it.

 

[dman62]

I bought a few of their blades made of 440 for beater/air travel knives. I hated 440 series steel up until then. Took one to Oregon to visit my daughter and we went on a trip to the coast and stayed at an Air B&B. One night we had a fire in the fire pit and I used the knife to baton some wood for kindling. Kind of expected the knife would break. Took it like a champ and the edge was still nice and sharp. Don't know how they heat treated that steel, but color me impressed. Planning on picking up a few more for first knives for the grand kids.

 

[jbmonkey]

I bought a few of their blades made of 440 for beater/air travel knives. I hated 440 series steel up until then. Took one to Oregon to visit my daughter and we went on a trip to the coast and stayed at an Air B&B. One night we had a fire in the fire pit and I used the knife to baton some wood for kindling. Kind of expected the knife would break. Took it like a champ and the edge was still nice and sharp. Don't know how they heat treated that steel, but color me impressed. Planning on picking up a few more for first knives for the grand kids.

you batoned with a ganzo folder? want to make sure I read that right?

 

[Dergyll]

you batoned with a ganzo folder? want to make sure I read that right?

So did AKB

 

[jbmonkey]

So did AKB

his ganzo didn't do so well. I wouldn't expect any folder to do all that great anyways. I skipped to the ganzo part didnt watch the earlier stuff.

 

[Oklahoma Outlaw]

The Cheburkov Killer Whale is a batoning machine……





The fun begins at 2:10…….

 

[POCEH KOCEB]

If you are lucky to get decent steel they are ok. The only Ganso l bought was a Bedlam copy.
l got it because I was curios is they are such a good copies, at the time they were very popular in some parts of Europe.

Pretty much no damage to the blade. I still have this knife somewhere.
Their most popular models were copies of Benchmade and Ontario Rat1, Russians used to love those, called them “Ganzario”
As one can see they were exact copies of the well known models. Some of them were good, some - bad as quality consistency

Nova days they are sold everywhere but they came up with the line Firebird so they will not be so much associated with the name Ganzo because of the blatant copies that were -probably 90% of their production.
Amazon sell “Firebird” brand and the small print reads “by Ganso”… Talking about scam…
Anyway, I’d look at other companies, probably few bucks more but better quality and their steel would be probably with more consistent quality.

 

[lieferung]

If you are lucky to get decent steel they are ok. The only Ganso l bought was a Bedlam copy.
l got it because I was curios is they are such a good copies, at the time they were very popular in some parts of Europe.

Pretty much no damage to the blade. I still have this knife somewhere.
Their most popular models were copies of Benchmade and Ontario Rat1, Russians used to love those, called them “Ganzario”
As one can see they were exact copies of the well known models. Some of them were good, some - bad as quality consistency

Nova days they are sold everywhere but they came up with the line Firebird so they will not be so much associated with the name Ganzo because of the blatant copies that were -probably 90% of their production.
Amazon sell “Firebird” brand and the small print reads “by Ganso”… Talking about scam…
Anyway, I’d look at other companies, probably few bucks more but better quality and their steel would be probably with more consistent quality.

That top knife looks like if Benchmade made a Michael Walker knife. Neat.

 

[MolokaiRider]

Someone should copy this design and sell it cheaper with substandard materials.

I heard it's a popular business plan.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Thanks for your expertise guys.

I know ganzo likes to ''borrow'' designs specifically and I was hoping there was a close copy (or original rather) of this design from a more reputable company.

Looks to be the MBK ECW and its larger cousin, sadly I'm not a $150-$300 folder type guy. Not knocking it, but I prefer my users to be around $100 tops.

As much as I like the design, size, and clip I just can't see myself sporting a ganzo. Guess I'll stick with something spydie for now.

Really appreciate the info!

 

[Murphjd25]

 

[Chronovore]

Thanks for your expertise guys. ow ganzo likes to ''borrow'' designs specifically and I was hoping there was a close copy (or original rather) of this design from a more reputable company.

Looks to be the MBK ECW and its larger cousin, sadly I'm not a $150-$300 folder type guy. Not knocking it, but I prefer my users to be around $100 tops.

As much as I like the design, size, and clip I just can't see myself sporting a ganzo. Guess I'll stick with something spydie for now.

Really appreciate the info!

Ganzo certainly has a history of copying designs or doing mash-ups of existing design elements. Generally, those knives are in a different series from Ganzo and use 440C.

A few years back, they launched a series of knives with original designs using Chinese D2. The D2 has been checked numerous times and is definitely Chinese D2, usually 60-62HRC, and at least as good as what you'd get from Steel Will. Build quality is okay. I've had a bunch of them. Honestly, QC has been better than QSP or Artisan in my experience.

This knife is part of the latter series and is an original design. I get that lots of people hate Ganzo and it's easy to accuse them based on their history but this is an original design. Compare it side by side with the EWC (pictured below). Having a recessed line in the scales does not make it a copy. Lots of knives do that. I'll post a few for comparison...

 

[Chronovore]

Here is the Monterey Bay EWC, the Artisan Sirius, and the Artisan Centauri respectively. The Sirius is arguably closer to the EWC in my opinion. There are other versions of the Sirius available, including one with thumb studs. Coincidentally, I like that the Ganzo model is actually rounded at the bottom of the handle.

 

[NorthernSouthpaw]

Ganzo has, and still does, STEAL other makers designs.
I don't care how what BS excuse you come up with to justify it to yourself. If you buy any of their products, even the "original" designs. You are supporting thieves, and are damaging this hobby.

End of story.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

The point of this thread was my hope that this model was a copy of a design that was already on the market, and from a company outside of china.

Turns out the quasi original was made in china as well.

I really like the block handle and deep carry wire clip but I prefer the blade symmetry of the Mbk ECW. The big C pivots on the civivi bother me, but not more so than Chinese production.

I like a less is more look and the Chinese seem to be really capitalizing on that aesthetic lately.

 

[Chronovore]

Ganzo has, and still does, STEAL other makers designs.
I don't care how what BS excuse you come up with to justify it to yourself. If you buy any of their products, even the "original" designs. You are supporting thieves, and are damaging this hobby.

End of story.

So I'm tutoring a young student in reading. She recently closed a book after just a few pages, proclaiming the story over. She additionally claimed, without argument, that everything in that book is stupid and that anyone who likes that book is stupid. Also, I'm totally the worst teacher ever and I was ruining her life by making her read. For anyone here who wouldn't by swayed by such a potent intellectual authority, I'll take the time to respond to our esteemed colleague, NorthernSouthpaw.

First, duplicating an idea or concept without proper permission or attribution is not the same as stealing a tangible item. I'm not saying that it is good to do such a thing but we should be real about it. Second, not only does such an act not necessarily damage the hobby as a whole, there are cases in which the opposite will be true. There are plenty of people who get introduced into this hobby via their experiences with a cheap Ganzo, whether it be a copycat design, a design mash-up like a Rat with an Axis lock, or an original design like the knife in question here.

A common refrain is that all those cheap copies of some Design X, however loosely copied or inspired, are necessarily blocking sales of the much more expensive original Design X. That is bad logic. For that to be true of any given consumer, that particular consumer would both need to have already been planning to buy the expensive original Design X and then to have subsequently changed their mind in favor of buying the cheap copy of Design X. While counterfactuals cannot actually be known, this probably represents a very small portion of the potential customer base for the original Design X.

In reality, the reverse can also happen. There absolutely exists consumers who buy the cheap copy of Design X and doing so later causes them to buy the original Design X. For instance, my own experiences with a couple of Spyderco-like Ganzo knives led me to buying a couple of actual Spyderco knives. Those are Spyderco sales that would not have occurred if not for Ganzo. Further, those experiences would in turn lead me to buying even more Spyderco knives. So if not for Ganzo, I wouldn't have purchased six real Spyderco knives from authorized dealers and wouldn't be eagerly awaiting my seventh.

 

[NorthernSouthpaw]

So I'm tutoring a young student in reading. She recently closed a book after just a few pages, proclaiming the story over. She additionally claimed, without argument, that everything in that book is stupid and that anyone who likes that book is stupid. Also, I'm totally the worst teacher ever and I was ruining her life by making her read. For anyone here who wouldn't by swayed by such a potent intellectual authority, I'll take the time to respond to our esteemed colleague, NorthernSouthpaw.

First, duplicating an idea or concept without proper permission or attribution is not the same as stealing a tangible item. I'm not saying that it is good to do such a thing but we should be real about it. Second, not only does such an act not necessarily damage the hobby as a whole, there are cases in which the opposite will be true. There are plenty of people who get introduced into this hobby via their experiences with a cheap Ganzo, whether it be a copycat design, a design mash-up like a Rat with an Axis lock, or an original design like the knife in question here.

A common refrain is that all those cheap copies of some Design X, however loosely copied or inspired, are necessarily blocking sales of the much more expensive original Design X. That is bad logic. For that to be true of any given consumer, that particular consumer would both need to have already been planning to buy the expensive original Design X and then to have subsequently changed their mind in favor of buying the cheap copy of Design X. While counterfactuals cannot actually be known, this probably represents a very small portion of the potential customer base for the original Design X.

In reality, the reverse can also happen. There absolutely exists consumers who buy the cheap copy of Design X and doing so later causes them to buy the original Design X. For instance, my own experiences with a couple of Spyderco-like Ganzo knives led me to buying a couple of actual Spyderco knives. Those are Spyderco sales that would not have occurred if not for Ganzo. Further, those experiences would in turn lead me to buying even more Spyderco knives. So if not for Ganzo, I wouldn't have purchased six real Spyderco knives from authorized dealers and wouldn't be eagerly awaiting my seventh. So THAT is why I support criminal behavior by purchasing stolen goods.

I fixed it.