Some months ago I bought a swiss army knife -type of folder (model 2223), made by Renno of Spain, from a local army surplus store. I don't really know anything about the manufacturer. The Renno product catalogue can be found here on Cuchilleria Andujar website.
To begin with, here are two pictures of the knife in question. The first is from the catalog, and pretty bad quality-wise, even though I tried to improve it a bit. The second one is a scan of detail in the handle, showing the actual olive colour and the texture as well. If I get my hands on a digital camera, I might add some better pictures later on.
There are two blades, both have the spine width of about 2mm (0,08") and are 74mm (2.9"). Neither are locking, but have adequately powerful backsprings to hold them open and closed. Both blades are opened with the aid of nail slots, a strictly two-handed operation. With a drop of oil, opening the blades is pretty smooth. There is slight horizontal play with both blades. The liners are quite thin, I would not subject the knife to much sideways torque or twisting.
One blade has a knife blade about 60mm (2.36") long and a wire stripper notch of about 10mm (0.4") in length. This blade also has "Renno" engraved on the ricasso - the only marking on the knife. The wire stripper is a questionably useful feature. It is sharpened at a high angle, and I personally don't see much need for it. But it is out of the way, and I find the added ricasso helpful while sharpening.
The other blade has many features. There are can and bottle cap openers, a four-sized wrench, a screwdriver, a saw and a small round hole for bending wire (I'd imagine). The bottle opener works decently. I found the can opener to be blunt, and sharpened it some. After this few minute modification, it works well. The screwdrivew can be used for slotted screws, when no more than moderate power is needed to apply. The wrench seems to be cut into shape with enough precision. At first, I thought the saw was a joke. It's basically a series of oval notches machined in to the blade at an angle. It does not have any bite to speak of. To my surprise, it could cut into wood, and would actually be useful if one needed to cut shallow notches for constructing a shelter or lashing something to a wooden shaft. It can also be used on hard plastics. Still nothing in comparison to the saw Victorinox employs.
The handle is olive green plastic with a very non-aggressive moulded texture and an emblem depicting an eagle on the other side. It is about 111mm (4.6")long and 17mm (0.7") wide. The overall construction is only adequate, but there are no sharp edges/corners and hand is filled pretty nicely. All visible metal parts had a decent/good satin finish. The undersides of the springs were roughly finished. There is a projecting part at the end with a hole in it for binding a tether. I think this could also be used for breaking windows in an emergency.
The knife was not too sharp out of the box. It was easy to sharpen with some sandpaper and a strop. I gave it a convex edge. The main grind is full flat. I had no trouble making it shaving sharp, but I have usually settled keeping it near shaving sharp, as this level is very easy to maintain and is good enough for basically every need. I suspect the steel to be 440A or some high carbon modification of a 420 series steel or something similar. (as I understand, Andujar uses 440A). It is not treated to very high levels of hardness, the mid-50s rc would be my guess. In any case, the convex edge is durable when subjected to light/moderate daily use. I would recommend this type if edge for this particular knife. (also see post #4)
Overall length is about 186mm or 7.3 inches.
This knife was cheap, around 10 euros IIRC. For this price, I consider it to be perfectly decent, perhaps even a bargain. IMO it is good enough for carry.
Thank you for reading and apologies for any bad English.
To begin with, here are two pictures of the knife in question. The first is from the catalog, and pretty bad quality-wise, even though I tried to improve it a bit. The second one is a scan of detail in the handle, showing the actual olive colour and the texture as well. If I get my hands on a digital camera, I might add some better pictures later on.
There are two blades, both have the spine width of about 2mm (0,08") and are 74mm (2.9"). Neither are locking, but have adequately powerful backsprings to hold them open and closed. Both blades are opened with the aid of nail slots, a strictly two-handed operation. With a drop of oil, opening the blades is pretty smooth. There is slight horizontal play with both blades. The liners are quite thin, I would not subject the knife to much sideways torque or twisting.
One blade has a knife blade about 60mm (2.36") long and a wire stripper notch of about 10mm (0.4") in length. This blade also has "Renno" engraved on the ricasso - the only marking on the knife. The wire stripper is a questionably useful feature. It is sharpened at a high angle, and I personally don't see much need for it. But it is out of the way, and I find the added ricasso helpful while sharpening.
The other blade has many features. There are can and bottle cap openers, a four-sized wrench, a screwdriver, a saw and a small round hole for bending wire (I'd imagine). The bottle opener works decently. I found the can opener to be blunt, and sharpened it some. After this few minute modification, it works well. The screwdrivew can be used for slotted screws, when no more than moderate power is needed to apply. The wrench seems to be cut into shape with enough precision. At first, I thought the saw was a joke. It's basically a series of oval notches machined in to the blade at an angle. It does not have any bite to speak of. To my surprise, it could cut into wood, and would actually be useful if one needed to cut shallow notches for constructing a shelter or lashing something to a wooden shaft. It can also be used on hard plastics. Still nothing in comparison to the saw Victorinox employs.
The handle is olive green plastic with a very non-aggressive moulded texture and an emblem depicting an eagle on the other side. It is about 111mm (4.6")long and 17mm (0.7") wide. The overall construction is only adequate, but there are no sharp edges/corners and hand is filled pretty nicely. All visible metal parts had a decent/good satin finish. The undersides of the springs were roughly finished. There is a projecting part at the end with a hole in it for binding a tether. I think this could also be used for breaking windows in an emergency.
The knife was not too sharp out of the box. It was easy to sharpen with some sandpaper and a strop. I gave it a convex edge. The main grind is full flat. I had no trouble making it shaving sharp, but I have usually settled keeping it near shaving sharp, as this level is very easy to maintain and is good enough for basically every need. I suspect the steel to be 440A or some high carbon modification of a 420 series steel or something similar. (as I understand, Andujar uses 440A). It is not treated to very high levels of hardness, the mid-50s rc would be my guess. In any case, the convex edge is durable when subjected to light/moderate daily use. I would recommend this type if edge for this particular knife. (also see post #4)
Overall length is about 186mm or 7.3 inches.
This knife was cheap, around 10 euros IIRC. For this price, I consider it to be perfectly decent, perhaps even a bargain. IMO it is good enough for carry.
Thank you for reading and apologies for any bad English.
