SRM, Bee, Enlan, Navy and knives Fan post

Status
Not open for further replies.
My experience / opinions so far with the ones I just got:

SRM 710: Pros: Stunning little knives and extremely well-made. Flawless fit & finish. Nice clicking frame lock, sounds solid. No blade play. Cons: very small and difficult to open with large hands; also not too smooth in opening itself. I consider more like gentleman's knives/money clips that you can just slip into the pocket. Purchased: 5 pieces

SRM 733b: Pros: Excellent fit & finish; sharp; nice frame lock. Cons: kinda funky looking..mall-ninjaish; VERY difficult to open (although has flipper to assist in the first half of arc) because of both the very small size and the machining/tolerances; No pocket clip, but it does have a well-made carabiner. Purchased: 5 pieces

Bee L06: Pros: Excellent fit & fitness; came pretty sharp...sharper than all the other models; centered blades; great ergonomics for some grips; extremely smooth opening; great build and great materials; liner lock seems to be very secure; no blade play. Cons: almost none, except liner locks are not as special or high quality as axis or frame locks; terribly non-ergonomic in some grips. Purchased: 4 pieces

Enlan L02: Pros: gorgeous knife and excellent build and materials; axis lock; large and substantial; flawless fit & finish. Cons: difficult to open because of poorly designed stud placement...you really have to get your thumb just in the right spot and press upwards; the studs are also slippery; there is some slight blade play in each knife. Purchased: 2 pieces

Ganzo G701: Pros: Outstanding fit & finish; buttery smooth opening; interesting click sound on early open..like a ratchet..sounds high quality; beefy & substantial & rock-solid construction; axis lock; excellent lock-up; amazing value. Cons: one blade is slightly off-center; tanto blade; needed more sharpening than other models; blade steel is maybe not great quality? Purchased: 2 pieces.
 
I've had a fair amount of issues with many of my SRM-Enlan-Ganzo class knives so I appreciate reviews that report on both the pluses and minuses.

Problems aside, I continue sampling these folders because -- who doesn't need a beater or love a bargain?

Based upon reviews here I recently ordered two Enlan M07s and five of the little SRM 605 models for gifts. I'm happy to report that all are well-worth the $$.
 
Zip tie wave & deep pocket carry clip

Enlan EL02 and Navy k631
6564985113_b000b0078e.jpg

6564986631_367cedb66c.jpg

6564985905_02b21586be.jpg
 
I used larger paper clips, change it with plier :)

Only to hold the knife upright in my pocket. Easily bent if forced by movement, so retention is not that good. However, for my use, it works!

I thought those SRM no longer in production? Nice score!

BTW, I checked Ankerson test on Manix 2, where the lock failed, retested these two and the EL02 sometimes does fail the spine whack! :eek:
When the impact is strong and sudden, the lock slips. Static pressure or whacking against softer surface (i.e. human bone), it holds. I might also over lubricating it, so I have washed the area again, and it improves, but still not 100%.

Will see what I can do to improve it further. One thing I notice is that there's vertical play due to pivot not snugly fit. It might be the cause :(
 
Update:

Took out the pivot, cleaned the oil, reapply only to pivot & washer (one nylon, one PB), put them back, now the slippage is gone. Vast improvement.

One thing that I realize, axis, liner & frame lock depends partially to the friction between the surfaces, to help mitigating sudden impact that might unseat the lock, as the impact might be strong enough to overcome the sprin tension, even if it is just a split second.

It is therefore a bad idea to lubricate the mating surface.
 
Sanrenmu 401
- Difficult to open and close one handed.
CIMG1833.jpg

Compared with Vic soldier, spyderco ladybug, Kershaw chive
CIMG1849.jpg
 
Last edited:
Wow, didn't realize the 401 was so small. Definitely puts it on the "want" list. Have you tried adding a lanyard for grip?
 
Enlan_EL06_800x226.jpg


Picked up an Enlan EL-06 in late November because I liked the design of the knife and was curious about 9Cr13MoV steel (also used in some Benchmade / Heckler & Koch knives). It is a good looking knife (my picture doesn't do it justice), but the build quality leaves much to be desired compared to the other Enlan knives I've gotten.

First, there was significant horizontal blade play out of the box. It didn't quite wobble when I just shook the knife, but when cutting through some cardboard boxes, it was very noticeable. The only way I could get rid of the blade play was to tighten it to the point where I could no longer open or close the blade. Since that defeated the purpose of it being a folding knife, I settled on tightening it until the blade play wasn't any worse than my SOG or Spyderco knives. The trade-off is that the blade doesn't open nearly as smoothly. It can still be opened with a hard flick of the wrist, but you can definitely feel the tightness when closing the knife or doing a slower controlled opening with the thumbstud.

The second and potentially dangerous fault is the weak detent. Even with the pivot tightened quite a bit more than the factory adjustment, you can still shake the blade out of the handle. The detent ball appears to be intact and undamaged, but it just doesn't hold the blade closed very securely. Holding the handle and giving the knife a good shake will result in the blade popping open 1/2 to 3/4 of the way. Drops onto padded carpeted floor also resulted in the blade popping open pretty often (basically any time the knife landed in such a way that the blade could open).

Not everything is bad though. The stonewash on the blade looks nice, the factory edge is razor sharp, and the liner lock engages solidly. The G10 handles are well machined and fit to the rest of the knife. The pocket clip rides a bit higher than I would like (leaves ~1" of the knife handle exposed), but that's just personal preference.

Maybe I just got a lemon, but as it is, the EL-06 I got is unsafe as a folding pocket knife. Others' experiences might differ. I have a couple other Enlan knives and have been quite pleased with their build quality, so the problems with the EL-06 are disappointing. I am still curious about the steel, and I do like the aesthetics of the knife. At some point, I'll probably look at finding a sheath for it, and then just "lock" the blade open by tightening the pivot so it can no longer close (and resolve the blade play issue).
 
Please do let us know if 9Cr significantly increases the wear resistance. The closest to compare with cardboard cutting would be EL02 (same blade / grind profile).

I found fresh edge got to non shaving just by slicing cardboard from one pizza delivery box similar to what Ankerson does. My Navy works better easier to go through because of thinning down & convex grind I did. The EL02 edge (convexed too, just the edge), however fared slightly better but the blade profile gives more resistance going through cardboard (thicker & concave grind)
 
flarp said:
Picked up an Enlan EL-06 in late November...
Click to expand...

My EL-06 came with none of the issues mentioned above. The lock up is rock solid without any bladeplay and the detent keeps the blade in closed position too. What tool did you use to adjust that new pivot screw? Mine came with the previous "three dots" design.

enlan%252520el06%25252007.jpg
 
Last edited:
@Vortex: I just used a small flathead screwdriver. I fit it in one of the three grooves in the pivot screw and turned it.

@Chris: Regarding the blade itself, it seems good so far. Even with its thickness (4mm), it did make easy and smooth cuts through cardboard. I used this knife to break down about a dozen shipping boxes (mostly single ply, but some two-ply) from various holiday purchases into small pieces. Basically, about 24 cuts per box (4 top flaps + 4 bottom flaps + 4 sides, and then cut each of those resulting pieces in half) for stuff the size of a USPS medium flat rate box (more on larger ones). The last cut was as smooth as the first, so there was not any significant dulling. I didn't try to shave hair with it, but it was still making smooth cuts (no frayed edges along the cut) through sheets of paper. These are far from being controlled tests, but it is representative of some real use cutting.
 
Thanks for feedback.

Was the edge factory or already thinned down?
24 is not much. I think my EL02 and k631 went through about 150 uts, a.l.a Ankerson ;). IIRC @24, both still cut well.
 
That was factory edge. It wasn't 24 total cuts. It was 24 cuts per box (sometimes more, for larger boxes) multiplied by ~12 boxes. So probably upwards of 300 total cuts. It doesn't shave hair anymore (I haven't re-sharpened or touched up the blade), but it still makes smooth cuts through paper, cardboard, and plastic (blister packs).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top