Your Opinion of Sanrenmu Knives

[orthogonal1]

...

Are they using things that they have no right o use? Yes.
...

Like I said: Shameful.

You are wrong. Any maker can copy anything they so choose as long as laws are not broken. People do it all the time and it is well-nie impossible to find truly original products in areas of well establashed and mature technologies, such as knives.

I have not heard that the Axis lock has patent protection in China, I have not heard that Spyderco has a trademark valid in China, nor have I heard of any design patents being issued for the supposed "knock-offs" under discussion.

So, they have a perfect right to use any of these elements, as long as they are not imported to places where there is some intellectual property protection for these things, such as the U.S.

Should someone choose to import these knives as a business, action will be appropriatte to stop such activity.

I am not sure what can be done about relatively small scale importation.

Of course, I suppose those people who have ordered and recieved knives could be charged with violating the law. Somehow, I don't think that'll be too affective, though.



.

 

[Robert.B]

Well, I'd say you're pretty daft, because this crap is already being raved about and recommended all over the forums. Open your eyes. People are already sending their money to this company over others. It's gotten worse every month since it debuted.

Of course people will talk about a bargain, but to honestly believe people buying a 710 are doing so over a Sebenza isn't a very bright thing to say...I've been on here a long time, fads come and go, i've been a part of several.

The knife community is doing fine.

 

[bigbadboom]

SRM knives are excellent for the price.

So far its understood that SRM makes knives that are sold as inexpensive lines by Buck , Boker Magnum , and the Byrd line by Spyderco , not sure about the chinese made Spydercos , but it seems logical. ( also some of the Fenix branded knives )

Apparently they are a very large and flexible manufacturer & have been in the business for 10 years. ( Probably the facory is brand new with all the latest gizmos (?) cost saving etc.

SRM manufactures Land Knives , but not Ganzo or Navy . Theyre designs , whilst obviously influenced by other makes are not clones , and it seems standard industry practice to make what sells.

They are made for the chinese market. for about 4 US$

I've garnered this info from this and similiar threads.

lots of folks are pissed.

Does that about sum the situation up ?

 

[Dagon]

I have the impression that from the whole SRM output there are only a few knives that could be debated:
- the 710 whose design is influenced by the small Sebenza, but there are quite a number of differences. It is not a fake, as it doesn't claim to be anything it isn't. It is as much inspired as the Bradley Alias, and far less of "competitive threat" than the Alias is as it's so much at the other end of price and specs spectrum.
- the 702 that looks like certain Klotzlis
- the 962 which to my knowledge doesn't closely resemble certain Benchmades or Spydercos, but has the same hole and lock.
- the 763 has an axis lock as well
All these are to my knowledge not officially/wide scale distributed in the west; it's knife nuts like me who order them directly from the far east to find out what they are worth.

The idea that a high end western knife company would lose big bucks over these cheap but decent products for the local market, where most people still have very low salaries compared to the west, is ludicrous. In Beijing you can see more Porsche Cayennes than anywhere else in the world, and these richer people with a taste for western luxury would well opt for the real thing if they are knife nuts.

Then there a few other knives which are obviously rebranded as Magnum, Buck and (Black)Fox for sale in the west. There is also a model that looks close to a Puma TEC series knife (Puma's made-china entry level brand). I don't think there is an issue there.

 

[TheBishop]

I'm more disgusted after learning that than I was before. You people are fools.

I'm buying a knife, not a wife.
Get over it and yourself.
You buy Chinese every day, there's no way around it, and most likely enjoy the discount.
It may not be a knife, or it may be and you don't know it, buy you bought something cheap and it was made in China.

I enjoy and appreciate knives, but I don't sleep with them nor caress them.
I'm hearing a hell of a lot of buyer's remorse and crying over empty wallets it seems.
This is exactly the ignorance another poster spoke about from another site.
The day has finally come when some nut tries to tell me how to spend my money then call me a fool and lashes out at people that don't see things his way.

What's next? If you wake up with a hardon for slingshots, you'll be telling us we're fools for buying X instead of Y?
Grow up. There's bigger things to worry about.

Spend your money where you feel its appropriate, I wouldn't even think to be so pompous as to tell you how to spend it and on what.
J85909266, the knife Police. Next you'll be searching under beds and melting them down in public.

 

[cziv]

This is a large, capable manufacturer making a mockery of the people that actually did something for the progress knife designs and production, and you people accept it with open arms.

This statement is ridiculous. Every knife "USA made or based companies" that use a framelock (I have several a few feet away from me) are all mocking Chris Reeve? Every large bowie style fixed blade mocks Jim Bowie or owes his lineage, payments for infringement of IP rights (they're even using his NAME)? That's how silly you sound to me reading your posts.

Besides, these knives in question really shouldn't even be in the USA. They aren't even marked with the country of manufacturer. Which is the law for mass imported goods.
People are ordering these direct from China. That's why they are so inexpensive to buy.
If the Chinese companies tried to import these in number, I'm sure they'd have a few problems.

Sal posted in this or the other thread on Sanrenmu that certain knives were meant to be marketed in China - not the USA. Try throwing your weight around in China. Google did and got kicked to the curb. Now they operate their under the regulations that the Chinese government originally gave them.

Sal said there was someone in Spain buying from SRM and selling to outlets who ship to the USA and that it wasn't an easy thing to deal with. He also said that if they set up shop here in the USA that they would get a hurt put on them by some knifemakers.

Originally Posted by J85909266
I'm more disgusted after learning that than I was before. You people are fools.

Calling anyone this name is just plain wrong. You shouldn't do it. We're all knifenuts under the skin.

 

[Sal Glesser]

This has been a very interesting thread with many points of view presented. I thank all of you for providing your thoughts. SRM is an unprecedented case and I'm curious to see what develops in time.

(SRM is the first Chinese knife "brand" company that I know of that is marketing product made for the Chinese domestic market that is being sold outside of China).

sal

 

[Brennanscott]

Sal, you just keep kicking out that awesome product and folks like me will buy.

Just got a leafstorm a week ago and all I can say is
Thank you good Sir"

 

[Dagon]

This has been a very interesting thread with many points of view presented. I thank all of you for providing your thoughts. SRM is an unprecedented case and I'm curious to see what develops in time.

(SRM is the first Chinese knife "brand" company that I know of that is marketing product made for the Chinese domestic market that is being sold outside of China).

sal

Sal, I have the Tenacious, Persistence and Cara Cara G10, and I love all of them (chances are that at least one of them is being made for you by SRM).
Now I have a few other SRMs which are also very convincing considering the low price, and thus if you continue to outsource entry-level Spydercos to SRM, well I can fully support that. The quality/price of this company's products is really convincing.
Over time I can see them evolving to create only truly original designs, also for the local market. Now already many of their designs are original, it's a small subset of "inspired by" models that causes all the brouhaha.

 

[oxbld]

Do you really care about knives, or are you just out for a bargain?

How are these two mutually exclusive?

My latest obsession has been with Kershaw and ZT. The last knife I bought was a ZT 0350CB, the next is the ZT 0551. You get outstanding knives for the prices. I consider them great bargains, as are some other knives from Spyderco, Benchmade, Buck, and others!

However, I still would like to pick up a couple of the newer SRM's because they are such great knives for the price and are easily replaced if I broke them (which has not happened so far.) If I didn't care about knives, I would not want to buy more. I would just be happy with what I already have.

 

[oxbld]

(SRM is the first Chinese knife "brand" company that I know of that is marketing product made for the Chinese domestic market that is being sold outside of China).

sal

This is where a big part of my interest in these knives lies. I really got a kick out of showing friends at work, "My Chinese knife from China." Almost nobody has even heard of them outside the knife community. The only people that I know personally that have are the people to which I have given 710's. In a way, I kind of hope that they never do start trying to market them here.

 

[Habbekuk]

I walked the streets in Changzhi for miles and miles. I was looking for food items that were unknown to me and I ate them. I bought sacketfull's of tangerines because they where in season. I took pictures that are very much chinese.
But I was also looking for pocket knives, I still think I am a knife person. If I was not a knife person, why should I look?.
I bought some of those bloody chinese blades.

 

[Sal Glesser]

In a way, I kind of hope that they never do start trying to market them here.

If they do, then the price has to go up. You know; taxes, licenses, insurance, warrantees, employees, lawyers, profit, advertising, etc. etc.

sal

 

[TheBishop]

If they do, then the price has to go up. You know; taxes, licenses, insurance, warrantees, employees, lawyers, profit, advertising, etc. etc.

sal

Also, I see this as a temporary thing. You can see a double of the price if you look around as different suppliers are testing the waters.
I they figure out a steady supply chain of sorts, its sure to only go up.

BTW Sal, just a thank you for all the knives you've created and I've bought and continue to buy.
That Rock Salt is my fishing buddy for the surf (had Swinkels make a custom sheath for web belt adjustable high/low carry), along with the Caspian as a necker, they are simply amazing knives.
My second knife ever was an endura, shorter style. Most recent one another Endura, my they've grown up

 

[NaturalMystic]

I got a Navy a few weeks ago for the sole purpose of keeping in my car as a beater knife. I was so impressed with the price to quality ratio that I've got a few more SRMs, a Navy and a Bee en route to me. The sole purpose of these knives for me is for use as loaners or beaters. Like most everyone else, I've worked hard for my $$ and am tired of having to lend out my good knives to non-knife people especially, then having to worry about what sort of condition my blades will be returned in.

Every time I go to the cottage, etc with a group of friends, or even friends of friends, everyone knows me as the gadget guy with the expensive flashlights, knives, etc, so as a result they always come to me to borrow my Spydercos, Benchmades, Fenix, Surefires, etc, etc. I'm VERY particular about my stuff (even my wife has a hard time borrowing my cameras, gear, etc!) so rather than be miserable on those outings, worrying about my gear, these knives will be taken and loaned as requested, without me batting an eyelid about them. That to me makes them worth buying, and it in no way will affect my continued purchases of future Spydercos, ESEEs, Benchmades, etc. As it stands I'm waiting for word on the release date for the Spyderco Dialex Design Junior I saw a prototype of in another thread.

People can say what they want about me because I bought some of these knives, but unless they're paying my bills or funding my knife purchases they know where they can go! I don't plan to make a habit of buying more of these SRMs, etc. I needed some to fill a particular need as loaners so that's what I did. I've been a loyal Spyderco owner/collector for about 15yrs and will continue to be one.

 

[cziv]

BTW Sal, just a thank you for all the knives you've created and I've bought and continue to buy.

Me too Sal. My first knife I paid $100+ for was Police 3, then a Military, then an Endura 4 G-10, Then Tenacious, Persistance, S35VN Mule, Perrin collaboration Street Beat...... You deliver super nice knives that come screaming sharp, right out of the box!

 

[bigbadboom]

Anyone tried the Fixed blade knives they have listed on the SRM site ?

 

[Robert.B]

Anyone tried the Fixed blade knives they have listed on the SRM site ?

I havn't even been able to find them, I wanted to try out the ceramic chef knives they advertise on the site...never used ceramic before but been wanting to give them a go.

 

[00max00]

I posted the same on another thread. So out of all curiosity generated by the highly hyped SRM knives in the forum especially the 710 by some of the forum members, I went ahead ordered two 710s. It arrived from Hong Kong in around a week.
Out of the packaging, there are a few scratches and surface blemishes which are the norm to knives cost only $12 each shipped. I was surprised to find couple rather big stain in the liner cut-out, stainless steel I thought? And the cut out itself is rather rough with horrible burs. Blades are off centered on both, but not to the extent toughing the liner. Lock up is solid with no vertical play as I said in a previous post that frame/liner lock are the easiest lock type to achieve no-play, no surprise here, none of my knives did even the $5 Walmart special Winchester I got couple years ago. However, there’s noticeable side-to-side play if you tried, but I guess tightening the pivot may fix it. The blades are plentiful sharp, not sure how long it would keep that way though. No steel type indicated anywhere. Question, how can you tell what steel was used? 8CR13MOV anyone?
All in all, the impression is mediocre at best for a knife cost $12 shipped. Fit and finish is around the same or a little better then my $5 Winchester from Walmart, but the Winchester proved itself to be a better value. Will I buy it again? Absolutely NOT! Is it a replacement to $100 knives from reputable American companies, ex: Spyderco, like some of members claimed? Are you serious?? I would take $45 Vantage Pro S30V/G10, $25 Skyline any day! That’s about it, a really cheap knife whose market is in below $10 none knife users. Until now, I really start suspecting some of the members here are affiliated with SRM sellers. Case closed, at least for me.

 

[NaturalMystic]

My knives came today - a regular SanRenMu 710, a black 710, a 401, a Navy K502 and a Bee L05. The hype around these got the better of me so I thought I'd sample a few. I agree with 00Max00 that these 710s aren't going to affect Sebenza sales at all, or replace other lower-cost local manufacturer's sales (except maybe the Bee). Both of my 710s open and close smoothly and all 5 knives lock up tight,. The blade on the silver 710 is a bit off-centered when closed but both blades came shaving sharp. Milling and fit and finish (F&F) are decent on both also.
The little 401 is ok also, no blade play and decent F&F. The Navy is also ok but the Bee is by far the best of the bunch for me.
As mentioned before, these will be beaters/loaners/in-car emergency bag back-up blade, but I think I'll keep the Bee as my personal occasional beater when I don't want to risk damaging my better blades. IMO I say occasional because the blade is 3" long and I normally walk with sub 3" blades so I likely won't walk with it too often.

Final thoughts, these knives are good for what they cost, some definitely better than others, with the Bee being my favorite. That said, they won't be knocking my main EDCs: my Caly3, G10 Dragonfly, or Mini-Grips out of my pockets except for on the above mentioned situations where a beater is required. When I get around to taking some pics I'll post some up.