Made in China

Sanrenmu 710 Review

Last Updated: June 18, 2019

As an OEM for various knife companies, Sanrenmu is responsible for a lot of excellent, affordable budget knives: models like the CRKT Drifter helped establish just how much we can expect from a cheap knife, setting the standards for things like the steel choice, fit and finish levels, and utility on budget folders.

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As a knifemaker on its own, however, Sanrenmu has attracted controversy. Not only does it sell its knives at very low prices (a lot of times even lower than the budget knives it makes for other companies), but there are also features and designs in their catalogue that are taken directly from other knife companies, without their consent: most famously the Benchmade Axis Lock and the knife I’m reviewing today, the Sanrenmu 710, a knife that is commonly described (and decried) as a rip-off/knock-off/copy of the Chris Reeve Knives Sebenza.

I feel like any review of the 710 has to address this issue, however briefly. The 710 echoes the Small Sebenza’s lines, but a comparison of the two knives will show that the overall designs are different: the 710 is smaller, with a different blade shape and grind. Additionally, speaking as somebody who has always wanted but never owned a Small Sebenza, I can say that the 710 has never struck me as a substitute or cheaper replacement for one.

It has, however, struck me as an excellent little knife. It has all the quality of Sanrenmu’s OEM knives and as the unofficial ‘flagship’ of their SRM-branded blades, I think it’s worth looking at a little closer.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The 710 has a blade length of 2-11/16”, a handle length of 3-11/16”, an overall length of 6-9/16”, and is made in China. The size of the 710 is just about right for an EDC knife. The weight, at 3.25 oz., is not inspiring, but with an all stainless steel construction you go in expecting to be disappointed in this regard.

I do think it’s worth discussing the fit and finish a little because, to be frank, Sanrenmu has a reputation for doing a slapdash job on their blades. I’ve owned two other SRM knives. My first was a 763, purchased three years ago. Out of the box it was completely adequate, besides a sloppy (but not catastrophically sloppy) edge bevel. The next, purchased maybe a year later, was a 605. Out of the box the blade centering was off, but a tightening of the pivot pin fixed this.

While neither my 763 nor 605 were bad out of the box, my 710 was almost pristine: the blade was centered, the scales were chamfered and lustrous, the edge bevel was much more even. The only issues were a slightly uneven finish on the blade itself, and blade decentering over time(easily fixable). Sanrenmu has always been seen as a bit of a gamble fit and finish-wise, but that’s never been my experience. Even so, the 710 was a step up.

The part of me that wants everything to be connected thinks that maybe, with the middle of the market bottoming out, the communal fixation on low- and high-end knives that this bottoming-out entails, and the new levels of quality and popularity Chinese companies like Kizer and Reate have been attaining, SRM has decided to work on their image and the level of quality in their products. Conspiracy theorizing aside, I find the 710’s fit and finish excellent.

The 710’s angular drop point is also excellent, a gloriously task-neutral, light-to-medium duty blade. The proportion of straight edge to belly is perfect. The tip is acute, and dropped to just the right point, making it easy to ‘lead’ a cut and accurately follow through. The 710’s blade offers very good, and very consistent, performance in all the standard EDC tasks.

An aggressive high hollow grind plays a key role here. Despite starting from fairly thick stock, the grind is very thin behind the edge, ensuring that the primary characteristic of a hollow grind – reduced friction and drag through material – is noticeable. In fact, out of the last few knives that I’ve reviewed, the 710 has done the best with cardboard cutting, the efficient, low-drag hollow grind making up for an edge that dulls fairly quickly.

As you’d expect the 710 is made from 8Cr13MoV, default budget knife blade steel. For me, 8Cr13MoV is the baseline for modern steel, setting the bar for acceptability in every area, but impressing in none other than sharpenability. I’ve never been surprised by 8Cr13MoV, but never really disappointed by it either. Adequate, a known quantity, and endearingly mediocre: what else is there to say?

Well, maybe just one last note: I think that, in our spec-obsessed modern age, we forget that poor edge retention in any modern steel is steel pretty decent: I cut through a lot of cardboard with the 710, more than I could reasonably expect to deal with in a month of standard use, before I noticed any real performance issues. I still prefer better steels, don’t get me wrong: I just think that we tend to hyperventilate when it comes to comparisons that, in 90% of the situations we find ourselves using blades in, don’t matter. Yes, 154CM or N690Co or S30V are better steels by a long shot, but in a regular week of use I certainly wouldn’t appreciate the difference.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

The 710 is all stainless steel, never my preferred material for a handle, but good execution of substandard materials goes a long way with me, and on this 710 the handles are cleanly-cut and chamfered all around the edges inside and out, making them comfortable and solid-feeling in the hand.

The general lines of the handle also help. Clean and simple, just like I like it. There aren’t any unnecessary grooves, besides the acceptable choil/lock access cutout. Indeed, the handle would almost be too flat if a gentle, almost unnoticeable curve to the inside portion of the handle (the part your fingers cross over) didn’t lend some dimensionality to the knife.

The jimping on the spine of the blade is really good, the same squarish, ‘gear teeth’ jimping that you see on the CRKT Drifter. It keeps your thumb right where it needs to be to steer cuts, aided by the somewhat back-heavy balance: normally this isn’t something I like, but on a knife this small, with a blade ground so thin behind the edge, it feels right.

The texturing on the handle is less successful. Nail file or grip tape is definitely the cue visually, but it is much less textured than either. I appreciate the way it breaks up the monotony of the steel handle, but it doesn’t help with the grip during deployment, which this knife could use. The jimping and balance provide grip during use, but when you’re deploying the knife or trying to manipulate the lock you may fumble with it a little bit.

As is the case with a lot of SRM knives (Drifter included), the 710’s clip cannot be repositioned: tip-down, right-hand carry is all you get here. The lack of options is definitely a bummer, particularly considering how easily this knife could be drilled for all four positions, but the clip itself is good: slim, strong, effective. I like it much better than the wide, too-tight clip on the Drifter.

Thanks to the stainless steel scales, stowing and retrieval is effortless. This is the one area in which the handle material is an unequivocal win. Smooth retrieval/stowage and a slim overall profile make the 710 a great carry.

Deployment and Lockup

The 710 deploys via good old fashioned thumb studs and a common budget knife washer setup: a thin phosphor bronze/Teflon washer combo on one side, a lone Teflon washer on the other. This is probably a cost-saving measure, but regardless the performance here is indisputably good – great, even. Out of the box it was reliable and quick; after a drop of Nano Oil it became glass-smooth, rocket-fast: wonderful. Until I got my hands on a Vanguard Gemini, this was the early frontrunner for Highest Fidget Factor 2016.

I just don’t like framelocks. I’ve used a lot of them over the years, and I’ve never used one that didn’t immediately exhibit or quickly develop bladeplay. It isn’t really an issue, per se, because it can usually be tightened out again, but the fact is that framelocks are finicky in a way that a lockback or a liner lock just aren’t. The faster this obsession with framelocks ends, the happier I’ll be.

For all my grumpiness, however, the 710’s framelock is good. Steel framelocks are stronger and more reliable than titanium ones (and much cheaper, of course), and, while I did eventually get bladeplay, it isn’t much and yes, can be tuned back out. Besides this everything is good: the lockbar is easy to access thanks to that choil/cutout, and the lockbar disengages smoothly, every time. I like the liner lock on the G-10 Drifter better, but this’ll do.

Sanrenmu 710 Review – Final Thoughts

Sanrenmu knows how to put together an affordable, useful blade: they’ve proven that with their OEM work for Spyderco, CRKT, and others, and proven it again with their own knives. The 710 is very affordable, even in the context of the budget knife category, and it’s stiff competition for affordable favorites like the Drifter.

Sanrenmu helped to establish the budget knife archetype, and here we have as distilled a representation of that archetype as possible. The 710 is a very, very good knife.

Sale

Sanrenmu New 7010 8CR14Mov Blade Steel Handle Outdoor Camping Survival Hunting Utility Knife Super Military EDC Pocket Tool 710 (1)

Model number: 7010LUC-SA , Lock mechanism: Liner lock
Total length: 165mm/ 6.50in , Blade length : 69.6mm / 2.74 in
Blade material: 12C27 , Blade thickness: 2.5mm / 0.10 in
Handle material: 3Cr13, Handle thickness: 12.87mm / 0.51 in
Item weight: 90g / 0.20 lb

I recommend purchasing the Sanrenmu 710 at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Zebralight H52w Review

by Grayson Parker 12 Comments

Last Updated: August 30, 2019
I’m going to say this up-front so that everyone knows where I stand. In my opinion, the Zebralight H52w is the best light released in the last few years. Other lights surpass singular aspects of its performance. It doesn’t have the best runtimes, the highest lumens count, nor is it the smallest light available. The user interface can be a pain. Despite that, it performs so well across the board that I often wonder if I need another flashlight. Some compromised designs are flawed because they do nothing well. Fortunately, that’s not the case here.

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Of course, this isn’t a controversial opinion among gear geeks. When the Zebralight SC52 debuted, it received effusive praise from the community. It was (and still is) something of a dream light. It manages to cram stellar runtimes and high output into a compact package fueled by a simple AA battery. Great as that light is, it doesn’t have the trait I wanted most: the ability to wear it as a headlamp.

Some background: I used to be in the Boy Scouts. We’d traipse all over any kind of terrain you could care to name, and I used a light on those trips on a regular basis. While most of the scouts in my troop (and some of the leaders) started out with mini Maglites, we had all switched to headlamps within a year. Headlamps let us keep our hands free while we were hiking in or setting up camp. Even at home, the various flashlights tucked away in odd nooks and crannies were gradually replaced by headlamps.

Sadly, most headlamps aren’t suitable for pocket carry. They often require multiple batteries, and though lightweight they’re often bulky. You could get away with keeping one in a backpack or messenger bag, but you’d look like a bit of a goober breaking it out.

All of that is a roundabout way of saying that the Zebralight H52w neatly solves the unstated dilemma. Whether clipped to the pocket or riding on the forehead, this light offers the best of both worlds. I’ll go into more detail below.

General Dimensions and Construction

The Zebralight H52w measures in at 3” long, .86” wide (at the widest point), and weighs 2 oz. with the battery. That this light is considered medium size astounds me, but such is the state of the market today. For a flashlight in the 1xAA format it’s quite lean; if it were any smaller I’d worry about the durability of the light itself. Zebralight typically goes with a natural HAIII coating and I applaud the choice. I haven’t seen any undue wear, and the grey/green is subdued without being “tacticool.” Overall, the quality of construction is top notch. For someone with a reputation for being
finicky, I can’t register a single complaint with regards to construction.

Some may find the appearance of the H52w odd. The angled flashlight design hasn’t been mainstream for decades, and people have become unaccustomed to it. Personally, I love the aesthetics of this light. It’s not just that the angled lens harkens back to the 1940s and 1950s, though that is part of the appeal. Moreover, between the heat sinking on the back of the lens and the scallops of the body, this light feels like the art deco inheritor of those earlier models. I could see this as a gadget for Batman in the 1990s animated show or clipped to the suit of the Rocketeer. Maybe I’ve gone off the deep end, but check out what the H52w looks like once polished and tell me it doesn’t look like a vintage ray-gun.

Output, Runtime, and UI

To be perfectly honest, I stopped paying attention to the lumens arm race after purchasing this pocket spotlight. The 280 lumen high is outpaced by plenty of offerings from competitors, but the differences aren’t enough to turn me off. I’ve used it to bike home in the dark, and the high mode lights up the path ahead brilliantly. The medium and moonlit low are very useful, the low in particular. I use Sanyo Eneloop AA’s in this light. Zebralight recommends them, and rechargeable batteries are cheaper in the long run.

When this light was released, the true selling point was a moonlit low that lasted 3 months. Granted, that low only provides .01 lumens, but it’s enough light to read by in the dark. The runtimes on high and medium are also pretty impressive: 280 lumens for .9 hours, and 50 lumens for 7.5 hours. I find myself using the medium setting surprisingly often. Black widows are everywhere in my hometown, and the low doesn’t offer quite enough light to spot their little red hourglasses. 50 lumens is more than enough to notice them without competing with the headlights of passing cars.

These settings may not be to your liking. Fortunately, Zebralight’s user interface allows for a certain amount of customization. Here’s the catch: accessing these extra modes requires using the advanced UI. This is the worst part of the light. I’m not going to bother explaining the advanced UI here – it’s that complex – so just go look at their website. It’s not impossible, but it does require some trial and error. As for the normal interface, I have no complaints. To turn it on in high, simply press the button and release it quickly; medium, double-click; low, press and hold for .6 seconds and release. If you want to bug your friends triple click for the strobe feature. I really appreciate that you can access the high and the low without cycling through multiple modes.

Ergonomics and Carry

Ergonomics on the H52w are solid. It doesn’t have enough length to get more than three fingers on the light, but the scallops on the body tube aid the grip enough that I’ve never had cause for worry. The clip isn’t my favorite but doesn’t negatively impact the grip. I prefer the angled body ever so slightly in terms of ergonomics: it just feels more natural to have my hand up (as if I were holding a hammer) than down (as if I were holding a garden hose). When the H52w is strapped to your skull, it’s about as comfortable as a headlamp gets. It’s not heavy enough to pull down on the strap, and the cloth itself is fairly soft. It even pairs well with a bicycle helmet.

Both the strap and the pocket clip are well made. Some folks dislike the clip – it’s a friction clip, so in theory it can slide around – but I’ve never experienced that problem. The clip seems to be made of a spring steel, and can be attached to either end of the light. It’s worth noting that between the high tension of the clip and the grip scallops, I worry about shredding my pocket edges. That situation has never come up, but I’d be on the lookout. Luckily it carries beautifully without a clip, sliding into most coin pockets with ease.

Zebralight H52w Final Thoughts

Go buy this light (if you can, Zebralight has availability issues early in the year because of Chinese New Year… no, really). There is no situation I’ve run into where the H52w was insufficient: be it housework, monkey business, or just getting around in the dark. The only people I’d not tell to buy an H52w are people who already own one. If I had to ask for a change, I’d appreciate something other than a button activated light. Selector rings are much easier to operate in general.

Ultimately, that complaint can’t hold this product back. If you want a flashlight that is just at home navigating dark forest trails as it is illuminating a book (without waking up your partner), this is it. It’s a rare sort of product even years after its debut. Typically they can be had for around $64.00.

The best recommendation I can give is this: I haven’t bought a light since I purchased it, and if it was lost or damaged, I’d immediately order a replacement. Sure, it doesn’t always end up in my pockets. But like the Alox Cadet or the Paramilitary 2, I couldn’t fathom not having one for long.

Zebralight H502 L2 AA Flood Headlamp

Record breaking 278 ANSI from one AA Eneloop (more output with Energizer L91 lithium)
Record breaking 3 months runtime at min output (longer runtime with Energizer L91 lithium)
All levels are current regulated. Low battery alert when the light is switched Off (LED flashes every 80 seconds if the battery voltage is below 1.06V).
Battery capacity indicator (LED flashes 1-4 times. 4 short clicks to start)
Waterproof to IPX8 (2 meters, 30 minutes).

I recommend purchasing the Zebralight H52w at Amazon. Thank you for reading.

Kizer Ki3404-a3 Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 8 Comments

Last Updated: August 12, 2019
As the standard-bearer for the burgeoning (and almost instantaneously influential) high-end Chinese knife scene, Kizer made an immediate impression with its very high-quality, relatively affordable knives. In what is perhaps a not-very-encouraging indicator of where the knife community’s mindset is at, Kizer immediately fell under harsh scrutiny – a scrutiny that only intensified during the unfortunate business with Tim Britton.

Buy the Kizer Ki3404-a3 at BladeHQ

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Somehow, though, Kizer came through it, and seem to have earned the respect of knife users, and the attention of other knife companies. I’m not a market analyst, but I think that, since Kizer showed up and started offering a lot of knife at decent prices, prices for high-end knives have, in general, gone down: it’s hard for me to imagine that the lower-than-expected prices of knives like the Spyderco Positron or the Benchmade Valet are total coincidences. The paradigm has shifted.

One of the first Kizer knives to make an impression on me was the Ki3404-a3. Kizer’s initial output, although of indisputably high quality, consisted mainly of huge, over-embellished knives that I wouldn’t have any use for. The 3404, however, was small and spare: a clean, professional, functional design. So I picked one up. When I first got it, I thought it was incredible. My opinion has changed somewhat since then, but I still think that, both as a statement of intent from Kizer and as a tool, the 3404 is worth taking a look at.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The 3404 has a blade length of 3 1/16”, a handle length of 4 1/16”, and an overall length of7”. It weighs 3.1 oz. There isn’t anything bad, or astounding, about those numbers, and I think that this is indicative of the knife as a whole: it’s competent, but also a little rote and unexciting.

I think that saying one type of blade grind is ‘better’ than another is of limited use critically, because so much comes down to execution, but if I did indulge in a rule of thumb regarding grinds it would be that hollow grinds tend to be better slicers. The 3404’s hollow grind is, like the knife itself, clean, professional, adequate: it doesn’t distinguish itself at any particular task but does a solid B+ job with anything you would reasonably use it for.

And speaking of solid B+ performance: the3404’s blade is made of S35VN. S35VN is probably the most balanced of the super steels we commonly see in knives. No freakish chemistry, no single outstanding gimmick, no real compromise other than that it doesn’t excel at any one thing the way that, say, 3V or ZDP-189 do. You just get solid performance in every category. If it is anything besides your first super steel, I suspect you’ll be pleased but not delighted. And, let it be known that, as far as I know or remember, Kizer was the first company to start offering S35VN at the (comparatively) low price points of $90-120.

It’s probably worth making a brief note on the fit and finish: it’s very, very good, and a textbook example of a ‘cool finish’. This is a knife whose high marks in F&F come from precise machining and excellent assembly. The closest comparison I can make is to a Taichung, Taiwan Spyderco, albeit with a little less character – although I think that comes down to the overall blandness of the design rather than Kizer’s manufacturing chops. If I had to complain, I would say that the titanium scales are surprisingly scratch-prone, as you can see in my pictures. It isn’t going to ruin your life

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

The blandness that I mentioned above, for all that it stops the 3404 from achieving real greatness, also prevents it (mostly, see below) from awfulness as well. You see this most clearly in the handle design. You’ll never think about the 3404’s handle, either disparagingly or appreciatively, for as long as you have it. It works well, but it isn’t going to ring any cherries either.

The handle isn’t totally neutral, there is one finger groove under the fingerguard/flipper (reminiscent of a less roomy Knockout handle), but it’s just fine. The scales are contoured and fairly gently bead-blasted, and offer enough resistance to keep the 3404 from slipping around as you’re using it. There’s also jimping on the thumb ramp and spine and the base of the handle – more than I need, certainly, but it’s well-cut and I have no complaints.

Issues arise with the clip. It’s bad. I don’t subscribe to the “tip-up or bust” school of thought when it comes to my pocket knives, but I do think that any knife that uses a flipper, as the 3404 does, should come configured tip-up. This is because a tip-up configuration puts the flipper tab on the outside of the knife as it sits in your pocket – that is, the side that isn’t against your pocket’s seam. When you have a flipper knife that clips in tip-down, you have to accommodate the tab against the pocket seam, effectively making the knife occupy more space in your pocket than it should. Irksome more than deal-breaking, true, but it does seem like a strictly inferior choice from a design perspective.

As an aside: I’ve heard from multiple sources that some 3404s come with the handle milled out for optional tip-up carry. I haven’t seen one myself, and it looks like most of the major retailers are still advertising this as a tip-down knife, but you may luck out.

Orientation aside, the clip itself is bad. The weird looks are enough to drag it from my good graces, but beyond that the flared-out end scrapes paint and catches on things. And while I don’t care about deep carry too much, this clip also leaves a lot of knife exposed. I wouldn’t bring this up if the clip did anything else well, but its universal ineptitude is making me petty.

Generally, I feel like the missed opportunity a bad pocket clip represents isn’t very much in the overall scheme of the knife as a tool, but given the uniform competence you see everywhere else on the 3404, it really stands out. I actually seriously considered taking the thing off, and that’s something that’s never even entered my head before with other bad clips.

Deployment and Lockup

There are two broad categories into which a knife’s deployment can fall: smooth or aggressive. Smooth deployments are something like a really well-worked-in Axis Lock, like on my 940-1: thoughtless and graceful. Aggressive deployments are like my really dialed-in CRKT Drifter: kinetic and responsive. Neither is better than the other; both, when done well, can be incredible.

The 3404 is an aggressive flipper done well. You definitely need to build up some tension in your finger, but once you do the 3404’s blade comes shooting out. It’s satisfying, and a ton of fun from the fidget factor perspective. I’ll also say that the thumbstuds, vestigial or no, are really good. I could live without them on a flipper this good, but hey, options aren’t a bad thing if they don’t add much weight and work this well.

What works less well is the 3404’s framelock. It still works, but it is very susceptible to any sort of looseness in the pivot – much more so than a liner lock would be (he said, beating a dead horse). And the pivot comes loose on the 3404 fairly quickly – understandably an easily fixable issue, but the frequency with which it loosened reminded me of the lock problem over and over again. And if I have¬ to have a framelock, I want a steel insert; we all know titanium’s tendency to deform over time. A theoretical concern, maybe, but one that would definitely make the pivot issues even more pronounced.

Kizer Ki3404-a3 Review – Final Thoughts

When I first picked up the 3404, I thought it was one of the best deals I’d ever gotten on a knife – and, at the time, I was right. Titanium, flipper, S35VN for $120 was a screaming deal back then. Even today it’s pretty good. As a statement of intent, it’s hard to argue with the 3404. It caused me to keep my eyes on Kizer, and I think they’re really starting to come into their own with knives like the Gemini – not to mention that the bigger manufacturers are offering similarly enticing, high-value high-end knives: things like the Native 5 with S35VN, or the upcoming Mini-Griptilians with 20CV.

In fact, there are so many cool knives around the 3404’s price point today, that, good as it is, it impresses much less than it did a year ago. Although the 3404 does very little wrong from a design standpoint, I also find it quite boring. It’s competent, but not innovative or memorable beyond the price at which it was offered, and now there are better knives for around the same price – some by Kizer themselves.

All that being said, the 3404 is still a good, good knife. If it catches your eye, I heartily recommend it.

Kizer Cutlery Titanium CPM-S35V Folding Knife,CPM-S35VN Blade KI3404A3

A Distinctive Knife Made With High Quality Materials!

If you are interested in buying a Kizer Ki3404-a3, I recommend purchasing it at Amazon.com or BladeHQ. Thanks for reading.

Editor’s Note: I agree with Ben’s assessment of the 3404. This knife was more exciting a year or so ago than it is now, however, it is still an important knife for Kizer, and at the very least it will serve as a reference point for things to come. On it’s own, it still appears to be a functional and well executed design.

CRKT Hootenany Review

by Dan Jackson Leave a Comment

Last Update: March 4, 2018
Hootenany, noun, a social gathering or informal concert featuring folk singing, and sometimes, dancing.

I don’t read too far into names, but I had to look Hootenanny up in an attempt to gain a little context. If you ever meet Ken Onion, the designer of the Hootenanny, you will quickly learn he is a fun and lighthearted guy. Perhaps the name offers more of a view into the designer himself, than the product at hand.

Buy the CRKT Hootenanny at BladeHQ

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The Hootenanny is Ken’s take on a folding hunting knife crossed with a modern Every Day Carry (EDC) piece. So perhaps the name harks back to old timey days, when people might regularly use their folding knives to prepare meals and whittle sticks around the cracker barrel prior to a good ole fashioned hoe down.

Either way, this struck me as one of CRKT’s best offerings of 2015, and I wanted to give it a shot.

General Dimensions and Blade Steel

The Hootenanny has an overall length of 7.84″, a 3.34″ blade, weighs 4.8 ounces, and is made in China. Since partnering up with CRKT, Ken Onion has seemed to favor thinner, lighter knives. I think that is a good thing. The Hootenanny is still a big knife, so any attempts to pare it down to something manageable are welcome in my book.

This is a “fish and fowl” knife, so it’s primary application is for hunting and processing small game. Extra length to the blade and handle are important for being effective in that role.

With that said, most people who buy this will likely use it as a EDC piece, and that is the main perspective that I evaluated Hootenanny from.

The Hootenanny has a slender upswept blade with a long curving belly and high hollow grind. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the blade is the run of jimping midway along the spine. All of these features were built into the knife with processing meat in mind. I’m not a hunter, and didn’t get a chance to take this one fishing, but I have used it in the kitchen. The knife slices well, and the upswept tip stayed out of the way when I broke down a chicken for dinner. I could see this having a place at a camp site, but did not test the knife in that capacity.

CRKT went with 8Cr13MoV steel. I’ve discussed this steel quite a bit (and you can always read further about knife steel on the knife steel page), but for the uninitiated 8Cr13MoV is a lower end Chinese stainless steel. It is easy to sharpen, but not particularly great in the edge retention department.

Given the ~$40.00 price point I think the choice of steel is appropriate here. You won’t find much else from a Chinese knife in this price range. I personally do not mind 8Cr13MoV at the right price. I was careless and my blade did develop a little corrosion during testing, so be sure to keep it cleaned and oiled like any other pocket knife.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The Hootenanny is a bolstered knife, with a stainless steel frame, FRN (reinforced plastic) handle scales, and a FRN backspacer. The handle has some nice details, with flush mount bolts holding the scales in place, curving lines cut into the gunmental gray bolsters, bolsters that are integrated into the liners, and an oversize decorative pivot. The construction is solid and the finish work is good. The pieces line up, the tolerances are tight, and the end result is a thoughtfully executed handle that makes the most of its humble materials.

The Hootenanny is a large folder and provides plenty of room for a variety of grips and hand sizes. The blade has a large foward finger choil, allowing you to move in close on the blade. The handle scales are lightly textured. The scales offer some traction, but aren’t as grippy as peel ply G10. There is jimping on the back of the handle, and also on the spine. All of these features are designed to hold your hand in place; presumably while gutting a trout or plucking bird shot from a dove. I used the knife in more pedestrian applications, and found the Hootenanny to be be comfortable and grippy. Ken knows ergonomics and that shows in the design and execution of the Hootenanny.

In the past, Ken Onion’s pocket clip designs have been criticized for being goofy. The clip on the Hootenanny is relatively subdued and discrete. It curves along the back side of the handle, and is really set for right side tip up carry only. Being a lefty, I prefer an ambidextrous option, but if you are only going to put the clip in one spot, this is the place to do it. The clip has good spring retention, and it buries the knife deeply in the pocket.

In practice the Hootenanny caries well for a larger knife. At nearly 5 ounces, you feel this knife in the pocket – especially with most of the mass being around the pivot. Still, the Hootenanny is a comfortable carry. The knife is thin and the pocket clip is strong, so you can clip the knife in place and then forget about it.

Deployment and Lockup

Like many of Ken’s designs, the Hootenanny is a flipper. The flipper is prominent, heavily textured, and easy to locate and flip. The detent is strong and the blade fires out with a loud metallic “thwack”. CRKT has done a good job with flippers in the past, and this Hootenanny is no exception. Inside there are what appears to be caged bearings, although CRKT has marketed this as an IKBS (Ikoma Korth Bearing System) knife. The action is smooth and the blade glides into the open or closed position.

CRKT and Ken decided to make the Hootenanny a bolster lock knife, which is basically a frame lock where scales run 3/4 the length of the handle. The bolsters are 2CR13 steel, and hold the blade securely in place. There is no lock rock or side to side blade play in my knife, which is what I would expect from a steel frame lock. My knife locks up around 70% – so it’s a later lockup, but it has stayed there since day one and there is no stickiness to the lock at all.

Here is a shot of the Hootenanny next to the Kershaw Blur:

My blade favors the lock side by a millimeter, but does not rub.

CRKT Hootenanny Review – Final Thoughts

The Hootenanny is a successful knife, and is probably my favorite CRKT design for 2015. This is a more subdued design for Ken. There is no recurve in the blade, the pocket clip is normal looking, the overall look is handsome with the dark scales and gunmetal gray bolsters.

The fit and finish of CRKT’s stuff has always been nice, and the Hootenanny is no exception. And I think given the budget CRKT made some nice choices here with the satin finished blade, IKBS, strong flipper and oversize pivot. The use of FRN keeps the knife reasonably light (that is a big reason why I decided to not review the CRKT G.S.D. – a handsome knife by a popular designer, but just too heavy for my taste).

If I had to complain, I would complain about the knife begging for higher end materials. Better blade steel would be at the top of my list. People harped on Cold Steel for years about their use of AUS-8, and now that everything is being rolled out in CTS-XHP, I think we need a new company to “encourage”. And CRKT is actually heading in that direction. They have collaborated with LionSteel, TOPS, and Condor to venture in to higher end products like the Hi Jinx, Hoodwork, and Mah-Chete. While CRKT is a company whose bread and butter is value and volume, the enthusiast in me can’t help but ask for a higher end version of the Hootenanny.

For around $40, the Hootenanny delivers a lot of bang for your buck. If you are in the market for a sturdy 3.5″ folder, you will be hard pressed to find much better at this price point. Perhaps the Kershaw Blur is the closest competitor, but these days they retail for well over $50.

The Hootenanny is a thoughtfully designed and well made tool, that works as either a folding field knife or large EDC.

CRKT Hootenanny EDC Folding Pocket Knife: Hunting, Outdoor, Everyday Carry, Satin Blade, Friction Grooves, IKBS Ball Bearing Pivot, Frame Lock, Stainless Bolster, Nylon Handle, Pocket Clip K300KXP

IKBS Ball Bearing Pivot System
Oversized Pivot Style
Low Profile Pocket Clip
Designed by Ken Onion in Kaneohe, Hawaii
Limited Lifetime Warranty covers any defects in materials or workmanship, see company site for details

I recommend purchasing the CRKT Hootenanny at Amazon or BladeHQ. Thanks for reading.

Spyderco Clipitool C175 Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 10 Comments

Recently, in a comment on an article on Everyday Commentary, the always-astute R.D. gave a summary of each major knife company’s chief weakness. For Spyderco, he said that they were “diluting their core identity (cerebral, highly engineered, function-based knives) to chase trends.”

Buy the Spyderco Clipitool at BladeHQ

Buy on Amazon

I couldn’t have put my current feelings about Spyderco any better. Although the Positron or the Nirvana are beautiful, immaculately-finished, and eminently useable and enjoyable knives, I feel like they lack the spark that the best Spyderco designs have. I feel like Spyderco has the Bethesda problem: they’ve become complacent and the products they’ve been putting out recently reflect that – and even if those products aren’t bad, they’re unimaginative, and unrepresentative of what makes Spyderco special.

The last brand new Spyderco design that excited me was the Clipitool line. In particular, I had my eye on the Clipitool Driver; a tool that echoes the immortal Cadet in terms of its verb set (cut, screw, pop, pry), but with the Spyderco cerebreality that R.D. mentioned in his appraisal of the company. In short, it seemed like something special, and I was excited when Dan sent me one to review a month or so ago.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Clipitool has a blade length of 2”, a handle length of 2 ¾”, and an overall length of about 4 ½”. It’s made almost entirely out of stainless steel, and weighs 1.9 oz. – a really dense 1.9 oz., which is to be expected given its tiny overall footprint what all is crammed into it.

It’s a small knife: the Dragonfly is up a size class from this thing. And as much as I prefer smaller knives this is almost too far – almost. A knife like the Dragonfly can do about 95% of what you could expect to use a knife for in normal, day-to-day life; the Clipitool’s micro blade can do about 90%. Food prep is out of the question, so if that’s something you use a pocket knife for (I don’t, generally) you may find the Clipitool’s utility more restricted than that.

The blade steel is 8Cr13MoV, the standard for entry level-priced knives and probably one of the most written-about steels on the internet. Its primary characteristic is the ease with which it can be sharpened; everything else about it is just enough: just tough enough, just rust-resistant enough, holds an edge for just long enough. I’d take just about any other modern AUS-8-and-up steel over 8Cr13MoV, but that speaks less to its inadequacies than to the embarrassment of riches we have when it comes to good, affordable steels.

The other implement you can fold out of your Clipitool is the distinctly Spyderco bottle opener/screwdriver. It has that distinctly Spyderco pseudo-fugliness to it, but it works really well in both its intended roles as well as in its unofficial capacity as a miniature pry bar. I was worried that the length of the driver arm would make it too fragile to really beat on, but I used it in a pretty careless fashion taking an old computer apart, and it held up well: there was a bit more side-to –side play afterwards, but nothing that tightening the pivot screw wouldn’t fix.

In general, the fit and finish on the Clipitool is what I would describe as pleasingly sloppy. There was a little wiggle in both the blade and the driver arm to begin with, there are some gaps at the butt end of the knife where the springs meet, and most of the edges, with the exception of the outer edge of the handle scales, are sharp, albeit not troublingly so. I find that there’s something reassuring in a knife with some small-scale, non-performance-affecting issues; I’m less afraid to beat on it because that feeling of hallowedness I get from, say, a Taichung, Taiwan Spyderco isn’t present.

The stainless steel scales do attract scratches, though, as you can see in the pictures, so if that bugs you be warned.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

I hate finger grooves and ‘ergonomic’ scalloping; the weird curves on the Delica’s handle are the primary reason why I dislike that knife as much as I do. And yet here we are looking at the Clipitool, a knife whose handle is entirely finger grooves, and I really like it.

I think the reason why I like the Clipitool’s handle is that it is designed with the overall size of the knife in mind. The Clipitool is so small that, when you’re using it, there’s only one way to hold it, unlike the Delica, which could theoretically be held a few different ways. The grooves keep your hand where it should be to use the knife most effectively, and prevent it from slipping around on the slick steel scales.

When you’re using the caplifter/driver, the ergonomics are different, although equally good. The folded-in blade is what your fingers wrap around, not the grooves, and the neck of the driver arm sort of extends the handle, meaning you can actually fit all five fingers on the Clipitool for lifting caps or driving screws, making both tasks easy to perform:

The Clipitool comes with a micro version of what I feel is probably my favorite clip on the market, the standard Spyderco spoon clip. I’ve mentioned before that I’m hard on my knives’ pocket clips, which is why I prefer the spoon clip to the wire clip on my Spydercos. This miniature one is so good: just-right tension and the smoothness of the steel scales makes stowing it away and retrieving it thoughtless, and it is very durable. I don’t know how popular the Clipitool has been overall, but if Spyderco takes anything away from this design I hope it’s the clip: I would love to see it on the Dragonfly 3.

Deployment and Lockup

The Clipitool, despite having Clipit in the name, is a Slipit knife – Spyderco parlance for a slipjoint knife (I assume they called it a ClipiTool and not a SlipiTool both to advertise the fact that it has a clip and because Slipitool sounds vaguely dirty). In the official Clipitool literature Spyderco says that the opening hole is meant to function as a nail mark would on a traditional slipjoint knife, facilitating easier two-handed opening, but, as with the Pingo, you can open the Clipitool with one hand, albeit somewhat awkwardly. The driver arm however will always need to be opened with two hands.

It feels silly to be talking about the walk and talk of this emphatically non-traditional knife, but since it’s a slipjoint I feel obligated to bring it up (and indeed, the overall shape and two-pivot design remind me a lot of the Case Peanut): it’s decent, probably a half-step up from what I was expecting given the price. The driver arm in particular has a really pleasing snap to it. The pull would probably be about a 4 on the blade, and a 2 or 3 on the driver arm.

Lockup, or maybe slipup in this case, is good. The Clipitool feels a little harder to close than my Peanut or my UKPK, and about on par with the Cadet. The choil precludes virtually any chance of accidental closure. There isn’t a lot to talk about on this point, so suffice it to say that the Clipitool is adequately secure, as you would expect from a Spyderco-designed slipjoint.

Spyderco Clipitool Review – Final Thoughts

Some people remain optimistic about Spyderco, but I find it harder and harder to do so. Knives like the Nirvana or the Mike Draper or the divisive Rubicon strike me as empty displays of virtuosity, undoubtedly good, but overpriced and fundamentally unimaginative; knives from a company at the height of its manufacturing powers but at the nadir of its creativity. The best non-collaboration knives Spyderco released this year were upgrades of existing designs. Because it was a totally new design, and because it seemed so in tune with what drew me to the company in the first place, the Clipitool would be memorable to me even if it were only an interesting failure.

But of course it isn’t a failure: it’s a wonderful tool – I would call it almost genuinely great. I do wish the blade was a bit longer, but I’m not sure how that could be accomplished without making the overall footprint a little too big. I would also like to see it in FRN or G-10, if the price could be kept where it is. The best thing I can say about it is that I’m going to keep it in my pocket for a bit even though I’m done reviewing it. It’s just a pleasing thing to own and use, and I recommend it without hesitation to anybody.

Spyderco ClipiTool Multi-Functional Stainless Steel Pocketknife with 2" Steel Blade and Screwdriver/Bottle Opener - PlainEdge - C175P

CLIPITOOL - A special family of tools that combine a high-performance cutting edge with the added convenience and functionality of other tools. They feature pocket clips for convenient carry and easy access.
MULTIFUNCTIONAL - Features a convenient folding bottle opener that also doubles as a flat-blade screwdriver
PLAINEDGE BLADE - This knife has a sharpened blade with no serrations or teeth sometimes referred to as a smooth blade.
SLIP JOINT - A non-locking mechanism in which the blade is held open by spring pressure on a flat section on the back of the blades tang.
SPECIFICATION - Closed Length (Inches): 2.57, Overall Length (Inches): 4.59, Blade Length (Inches):2.02, Blade Steel: 8Cr13MoV, Grind: Full-Flat

If you would like to buy a Spyderco Clipitool, I recommend purchasing it at Amazon.com or BladeHQ. Thanks for reading.

Casio G-Shock DW-5600E Watch Review

by Dan Jackson 15 Comments

After I destroyed my Seiko SKX173 digging a ditch in my back yard, I found myself without a watch. I was not in a place financially where I could replace it with another automatic, and the thought of getting it fixed did not cross my mind. So the only thing to do was to find something cheap to replace it – and to replace it fast.

Buy the Casio DW-5600E at Jomashop

Buy on Amazon

Like many Americans, I found myself browsing the aisles of Wal-Mart. Moments later I walked away with a Casio G-Shock DW-5600E strapped to my wrist. I knew that G-Shocks were supposed to be tough, and for $40 I could swing the purchase. That was the extent of my pre-purchase research. Oddly enough I also bought my first knife at Wal-Mart with no research.

The DW-5600E ended up being my daily wear watch for the next 3 years. I eventually got my SKX173 fixed, but the DW5600E stayed on my wrist 95% of the time. I eventually upgraded to something cooler (and 50x more expensive), but I still use my DW-5600E to time my laps at the swimming pool and for dirty jobs.

Case and Movement

The DW-5600E has a 42.8mm wide case, is 13.4mm thick, weighs 54g/1.9 ounces, and is made in China. I would say it wears small thanks to the rectangular design. Casio originally developed the G-Shock series in the 80s, with the goal of creating a heavy duty, water resistant watch with excellent shock resistance (G-Shock is actually short for “Gravity-Shock”). They ended up creating a modular digital quartz watch with a polymer cushioned case that has since spawned hundreds of iterations. Even the average lay-person can identify a G-shock, so to say the result was successful would be a massive understatement.

Personally, I have beat on this watch for years without a second thought. Whenever I am testing a large fixed blade knife, or doing something stupid, I choose the Dw-5600. It hasn’t failed me yet and I’ve owned the watch for years. The shock resistance Casio advertises is no joke. I have had cheaper quartz watches that fell apart.

The DW-5600E is currently Casio’s most basic model in the series. The 3229 module is the heart of the DW-5600E. I am not going to claim to be an expert on quartz digital movements. I will point you to Casio’s user’s manual for the 3329 if you want to know the ins and outs of the features and how to operate them. From what I can tell, my watch has kept great time.

The DW-5600E is powered by a CR2016 lithium battery, and Casio says that it should last for 2 years if you use the backlight and alarm once a day. I use mine less than that and the watch has been going strong for 3-4 years now without need for a new battery.

Rounding things out case back that is held down with 4 Phillips screws. This is to be distinguished from a screw down case back. The original DW-5600C came with a full steel case and screw down case back (making it uber desirable among G-Shock collectors). While the current iteration is less robust, it’s still good for 200M of water resistance and has held up great for me.

Dial and Bezel

This is a no-frills watch, but still offers a staggering number of features, including a timer, stopwatch, alarm, calendar, and illumination. Everything is clearly laid out on the dial, and you press one of the 4 buttons on the case to rotate through the functions. I use the watch and calendar functions on a daily basis, and find the stopwatch handy for timing laps in the swimming pool or sets in the gym.

Using the watch is intuitive. I am not going waste your time by trying to explain the feature set of the 3229 in great detail (read the user manual for that). The digital read out is legible, and it’s easy to cycle through the functions and manipulate the watch. The electro luminescent (EL) backlight works well and elicits a soft blue glow.

The LCD is covered by a mineral crystal. I have not had any chips or scratches on my crystal, thanks in large part to the protruding plastic bezel. While it doesn’t rotate and click like a dive watch, it does say “G-SHOCK PROTECTION” on it and soak up bumps and scrapes.

Strap and On the Wrist

The Dw-5600E comes with a removable polymer strap. The watch is designed so that the strap looks integrated, but if you wear it out it is easily replaced with a spring bar tool. Like the rest of the watch, the strap is practical. The strap is secured with a stainless steel buckle and polymer strap keeper.

I find the DW-5600E to be a fantastically comfortable watch. It is lightweight and since it is on a strap rather than a bracelet, adjusting the watch for a perfect fit is easy. Being a sport watch, it’s chunky, but it does fit underneath the collar of a dress shirt, if you are as sartorially clueless as I am.

I paired my 5600 with a Benchmade Griptilian, as both are polymer clad utilitarian objects.

Casio DW-5600E Review – Final Thoughts

For less than $50, the DW-5600E is an impressive piece of hardware. I wore mine with impunity for years and it has performed flawlessly. Although I have since moved on to fancier mechanical watches for daily wear, I still use my DW-5600 regularly – especially for the gym, working in the yard, and for other dirty jobs. It is a perfect beater watch.

Although this is considered an entry level G-Shock, it has everything I need and should work well for most people. I am not a huge fan of the oversized G-shocks, and I think that the beauty of the 5600E lies in its simplicity. It is a lightweight and rugged watch that is ready for work. It also represents great value for money.

I recommend it with confidence if you need an inexpensive, practical and tough watch.

Casio Men's G-Shock Quartz Watch with Resin Strap, Black, 20 (Model: DW5600E-1V)

With its high-tech functions, shock resistance, and comfortable resin strap, this Casio watch is a reliable go-to timepiece.
Quartz digital movement with accuracy of +/- 15 seconds per month
Functions include multi-function alarm, 1/100-second stopwatch, countdown timer, hourly time signal, auto calendar, and 12- and 24-hour formats
Protective mineral dial window
Water-resistant to 200 m (660 feet)

If you would like to buy a Casio DW-5600E, I recommend purchasing it at Amazon.com or Jomashop. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.