Ganzo?

[Vendetta]

I know this is a sensitive subject on some forums, but has anyone here handled any of Ganzos firebird knives? Wonder what opinions are of them here?

 

[jsharmon7]

Issues with stealing designs aside, they’re not bad knives. I’d rather have a Ganzo or similar Chinese knife over the stuff put out by Gerber, Schrade, or other American labels.

 

[Vendetta]

Leaning more into the world of guns, I dont really care much about cloning. Flat out copying designs with copied names, boxes etc is different. But similar scales, blade shapes etc is bound to happen. On that note, I recently bought an FH11 and an FH31 and based on those two will most definitely be purchasing the rest of the Firebird line. I am thoroughly impressed with them all things considered. And would certainly purchase them over the lower end American names.

 

[rhino]

I have two Ganzos that predate their Firebird brand. One is a copy of a Lionsteel, but with a bad, illicit copy of Benchmade's Axis Lock (from when it was still under patent) and a copy of a Spyderco Endura, but with a poorly executed liner lock.

Both are crap in every category. Both locks fail, the parts are poorly fitted, the blades are alleged to be 440C, but I doubt they are are, and the heat treatment is an embarrassment. They're both butter soft.

 

[Vendetta]

I had heard that about the pre d2 knives. Seems like they have made a big effort to change with their newer knives. Im impressed with my 2 so far.

 

[rhino]

Issues with stealing designs aside, they’re not bad knives. I’d rather have a Ganzo or similar Chinese knife over the stuff put out by Gerber, Schrade, or other American labels.

Leaning more into the world of guns, I dont really care much about cloning. Flat out copying designs with copied names, boxes etc is different. But similar scales, blade shapes etc is bound to happen. On that note, I recently bought an FH11 and an FH31 and based on those two will most definitely be purchasing the rest of the Firebird line. I am thoroughly impressed with them all things considered. And would certainly purchase them over the lower end American names.

Given the prevalence of reasonably priced, good quality knives now coming from some of the brands from China (e.g. Ruike, CIVIVI, Kizer Vanguard, Steel Will, Real Steel, etc.), the bar is a lot higher than it was when the two Ganzos I have were made. There's still a market for crappy truck stop knives, but there is also incentive to produce much better stuff in that $25-$75 price point and the competition is growing in quality/value and the number of options. The Ganzo Firebird knives are probably a reasonable value given the nature of the current market.

I remain hesitant to spend money on brands that are not sold by online knife shops like BladeHQ, but I'm willing to consider knives that get multiple good reviews from some of the more reliable and experienced youtubers who actually test the knives' performance and durability in addition to raving about how smooth they open or how they look and feel.

 

[Vendetta]

Agreed Rhino. The thing that led me to try out a Ganzo was watching a metallurgy test that showed these were actually d2 and a rockwell test coming in north of 60 on multiple Ganzos. For the price and being fairly new to the knife scene I saw these as a good "gateway drug" to more serious knife collecting and a good baseline comparison.

 

[rhino]

Agreed Rhino. The thing that led me to try out a Ganzo was watching a metallurgy test that showed these were actually d2 and a rockwell test coming in north of 60 on multiple Ganzos. For the price and being fairly new to the knife scene I saw these as a good "gateway drug" to more serious knife collecting and a good baseline comparison.

Reasonable!

On a similar note, I'm still impressed by the Ruike 801. It would be tough to find a better folder for under $30 and not easy to find a better knife for $50.

 

[Vendetta]

Reasonable!

On a similar note, I'm still impressed by the Ruike 801. It would be tough to find a better folder for under $30 and not easy to find a better knife for $50.

Great... another knife to order. Here I was hoping knives would be slightly cheaper than guns. But they multiply much much faster.

 

[Gabriel]

 

[spencer5650]

Just picked up a FH41, very impressed with quality versus price paid. Very smooth knife, razor sharp blade, will be on the lookout for other models.