Went to a bidding fight at eBay until 3:30 this morning for a brand new piece of out of production numbered edition Spyderco Phoenix.
Thrown away the white flag when the bidder went above US$300.
Back in 2011/12 when dealers were clearing stock of this knife, they were sold for as low as US$120.

Guys, have any of you ever ordered direct from knifecenter.com?
They do ship direct to Malaysia, just wondering if have to deal with custom or most of them can slip through without raising a red flag.
Thinking of ordering ZT0900 and Cryo, and both of thrm only have 2.75" blades.
I already ordered Ganzo G704 from Gearbest to test the water, so will see how it goes as only use free untracked shipping from China.

I thought this thread is dead and buried already

Sharing a photo of my ZTs.
0900 and 0562CF



I've a Kershaw Blur balckwash S30V that is still in the mail.
I also have some China-made knives from Ganzo, Sanrenmu and Enlan

Which Sanrenmu model you have in mind?
I have 2 SRM, a Ganzo, an Elan among my collection of Chinese knives.
They are good for what you paid for, so not really a heartache if you chipped the blade or lost them

They are definitely not as well built or high quality like my ZTs, as expected.

Photo below is my Sanrenmu F723, which I tend to EDC a lot as it it very slim and sharp.
My other SRM is a flipper, but it can't really flip without wrist action, so I will not suggest a SRM flipper as I don't think they used bearing systems for their flippers.
Heck, maybe not even a washer in their flippers?


Attached thumbnail(s)

@tescogot
Mind sharing how much he charged you for your knife?
Been thinking of sending my 2 ZTs for sharpening as my Sanrenmu and Enlan are sharper out of the box

This post has been edited by widget: Mar 31 2016, 02:01 PM

Thanks for your reply.
Excellent news indeed as the fee is affordable for straight forward sharpening

I have 0900 and 0562CF.
I did post the photo maybe a few pages back.

I bought my ZTs overseas so they are still reasonably priced, if compared to local prices.

Meanwhile below is some of the Chinese knives that I have.
Not in the picture are a red Ganzo G704 in my glovebox, a Ganzo G739 with Carbon Fiber handle still in the mail from China and 2 Sanrenmus I left in my kampung.



This post has been edited by widget: Apr 3 2016, 11:12 PM

Finally manage to find Hnderer XM-18 3" slicer, Gen3 in the exchange.
The knife feels good in the hand as I do find my ZT 0562CF kinda large for EDC duty.

Now the bad part is, I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed wih the knife.
I'm a "flipperholic", if there's such a word for it :s13:
The latest Gen3 3" has stronger detent than the earlier 2 gens, but the blade just doesn't fly out like my 2 ZTs.
But I think I should be contended that no wrist action is needed to flip open the Hinderer.
My second peeved is that the pivot screw will come loosen after a few flipping, so I need to go out and search for loctite.
Thirdly, even though it is a slicer grind, the blade is still quite thick and it doesn't do very well in peeling some mangos skins

Thanks for your reply guys.
The strong detent is not a problem, as I'm already used to my 2 ZTs.
I think I'm just underwhelmed by the flipping action, which I kinda understand as Rick Hinderer designed the XM series many years ago to be serviceable in the field, hence the use of Teflon washer instead of bearing.

But fast forward to present days and the use of caged-bearing in some of the latest knives makes the XM-18 kinda dated, although the ergo and the feeling in the hand are still top notch.

A tale of 2 Hinderers



The ZT 0562CF is available for sale.
If you guys is interested, drop me a PM

My first Continental knife
Just received the TRE Ti with blue accent this morning.

The first thing that I checked on my new knife is the flipping action, and I have to say mine has maybe a medium to strong detent and it can flip without any wrist action.

While it doesn't flip open like a rocket, like my ZT 0900 or ZT 0562CF that run on KVT bearings, I consider the flipping action on mine to be quite good, as I've read many complaints by TRE users on their weak flipping action.

After that I installed the thumb disc and while I can open it slowly using the thumb disc, I can't flick it open with my thumb, like I can easily do with my Benchmade Nakamura CF.

So maybe the newer release of the TRE are adjusted at the factory to have stronger detent? Or maybe just sample variations?

So far, after just few hours of ownership, I like the size, weight and the build quality.

It has almost the same form factor and weight as my BM Nakamura CF, but very contrasting look as the TRE is full titanium handle while the BM has 3D CF handle.

Someone told me for knives, it should be 20-25% tax + 6% GST, as he ever kena from Kastam before.
That's why it is safer to buy 1 folder at a time, instead of bulk.

As someone suggested, for Spydy, can try Outfitter from eBay.
Ever since Spyderco enforces the 40% MAP beginning of this year, prices are generally the same in the US, only savings to be made is from shipping.
Received this Chaparral from them a few weeks ago.



This post has been edited by widget: Jun 15 2016, 01:19 PM

I've bought some Ganzo, Enlan, SanRenMu knives from PRC and for the price of US$10-20 each including shipping, they are value for money knives and quite well built as beater knives.
The knife in your link is zombie knife, so I have no idea how easy it is to clear the Kastam over the usual 3-4" folder.

I've only known OGM, Thomas Tools, etc but they only stock KA-BAR, Bark River, etc which are at different price brackets.

I'm only into tactical folders, so can't really help you there

SanRenMu - Gearbest

Something like this?
From the photo, it looks like full tang

Cima