- Joined
- Dec 26, 2010
- Messages
- 1,091
So I got home last night and a few toys were waiting for me. A ZT 0350 CB and (yeah yeah, i know) a Sanrenmu 710. I'll start with the SRM 710, to hopefully allay some flaming.
I'm super impressed with the 710, for the price. There are some very faint scratches, a tiny stain or two, and the hollow grind is not exactly symmetrical (meaning the flat area at the spine ends at a different sot), but the knife is extremely well put together and the blade is ground and sharpened very nicely (hair shavingly). The spine has a good bit of jimping. The blade is perfectly centered. The lockup is superb, absolutely zero play up or down, side to side. More solid feeling than my Sage 1. The only knives I have that match that solid feeling are my ATR, and my new 0350. It's a little smaller than I expected, but I'm cool with the size. The frame lock bar goes probably 75% into the tang, maybe a little more, so there might be some problems as it wears. Unfortunately the clip is only tip down carry, I'll have to drill and tap some holes to get the tip up. The knife opens really smoothly, and flicks open easily with a satisfying feeling. In conclusion, this knife does exactly what I feared it would do, it makes me really want a Sebenza... so bad. I guess I better start saving.
Now for the new hotness. First what I like about it. A lot. The knife is super solid, it gives me a very confident feeling holding it. The blade is very sharp, at least as sharp as my Sypercos out of the box. The f&f is quite good, not flawless though, there are some areas of the g-10 and liners and backspacers that are not flush. I'm impressed my the burly pivot bolt. THe blade is huge for its length. It's my first blade with recurve, and I think it looks and cuts great. We'll see when I have to sharpen it. The edge bevels don't seem to be the same though. The lock up is super solid, and there is zero blade play. The width and depth of the liner lock is ridiculous. I just hope that the thumbstud-stop pin doesn't wear and allow blade play. Very good jimping on the spine.
There are a couple of things that I don't love about it. First of all, the AO doesn't snap the blade open as fast or confidently as I'd like. I'm not sure if that's something that can be adjusted. Now to the one thing that I really don't like, closing the knife. The grip cutout that allows access to the liner lock is very small, it is difficult to get any purchase on it. I might end up grinding that cutout a bit, I'm concerned how the liner finish will be affected, since it seems to have a similar stone wash as the blade. Also, the G-10 next to the liner lock has no cutout to hyper-extend the lock into (as my Sage 1 does), so it is difficult to get it far enough over to initiate closing the blade. Maybe I'll grind the g10 under the liner lock so that I can push it further past the blade more easily. And finally, when you finally get the liner over enough and start to close the blade, the flip tab immediately pinches your thumb. I think a lot of this can be solved with some grinding, which I might try, although I am loath to modify the knife.
I'm not trying to bash this knife, since I do think it's pretty great, but the ergonomics are not nearly as developed as the Spydercos I have.
Anyways, just thought I'd put this out there, if anyone's interested. Thanks for listening guys.
I'm super impressed with the 710, for the price. There are some very faint scratches, a tiny stain or two, and the hollow grind is not exactly symmetrical (meaning the flat area at the spine ends at a different sot), but the knife is extremely well put together and the blade is ground and sharpened very nicely (hair shavingly). The spine has a good bit of jimping. The blade is perfectly centered. The lockup is superb, absolutely zero play up or down, side to side. More solid feeling than my Sage 1. The only knives I have that match that solid feeling are my ATR, and my new 0350. It's a little smaller than I expected, but I'm cool with the size. The frame lock bar goes probably 75% into the tang, maybe a little more, so there might be some problems as it wears. Unfortunately the clip is only tip down carry, I'll have to drill and tap some holes to get the tip up. The knife opens really smoothly, and flicks open easily with a satisfying feeling. In conclusion, this knife does exactly what I feared it would do, it makes me really want a Sebenza... so bad. I guess I better start saving.
Now for the new hotness. First what I like about it. A lot. The knife is super solid, it gives me a very confident feeling holding it. The blade is very sharp, at least as sharp as my Sypercos out of the box. The f&f is quite good, not flawless though, there are some areas of the g-10 and liners and backspacers that are not flush. I'm impressed my the burly pivot bolt. THe blade is huge for its length. It's my first blade with recurve, and I think it looks and cuts great. We'll see when I have to sharpen it. The edge bevels don't seem to be the same though. The lock up is super solid, and there is zero blade play. The width and depth of the liner lock is ridiculous. I just hope that the thumbstud-stop pin doesn't wear and allow blade play. Very good jimping on the spine.
There are a couple of things that I don't love about it. First of all, the AO doesn't snap the blade open as fast or confidently as I'd like. I'm not sure if that's something that can be adjusted. Now to the one thing that I really don't like, closing the knife. The grip cutout that allows access to the liner lock is very small, it is difficult to get any purchase on it. I might end up grinding that cutout a bit, I'm concerned how the liner finish will be affected, since it seems to have a similar stone wash as the blade. Also, the G-10 next to the liner lock has no cutout to hyper-extend the lock into (as my Sage 1 does), so it is difficult to get it far enough over to initiate closing the blade. Maybe I'll grind the g10 under the liner lock so that I can push it further past the blade more easily. And finally, when you finally get the liner over enough and start to close the blade, the flip tab immediately pinches your thumb. I think a lot of this can be solved with some grinding, which I might try, although I am loath to modify the knife.
I'm not trying to bash this knife, since I do think it's pretty great, but the ergonomics are not nearly as developed as the Spydercos I have.
Anyways, just thought I'd put this out there, if anyone's interested. Thanks for listening guys.
