I recently ordered a pair of SanRenMu knives and an Enlan knife. I had seen several forum postings and video reviews sharing a common theme - that these knives were built to very high quality standards and priced at very affordable levels. Curious as to the owners' and reviewers' excitement, I visited Exduct and picked out two medium-sized (SRM 704 & 710), and large (Enlan EL02B) folding knife to see for myself.

I was pleasantly surprised.

My initial impression, after removing the knives from the packaging, was that they felt very well built. There was no flexing or bending any way I handled the knife. The handle construction is solid and sturdy, and the blade was securely tucked inside each with no danger of accidental unfolding. The different handle types on the knives, G-10 and stainless steel, were all precisely machined, leaving no rough or jagged edges. All the screws holding the clips, handle, and pivot together were securely and properly fastened. In all, just handling the closed knife, I was very impressed.

Next came opening and closing the knife. The knives I selected included a frame lock, liner lock, and axis lock, and all three had thumb studs available for blade deployment. The knives opened smoothly with a steady push on the thumb stud, and the axis lock on the EL02 also allowed for flicking the blade open with a wave of my wrist. The locking mechanisms on all three knives engaged consistently and securely, locked the blade in place with absolutely no blade play. Releasing the lock on all three knives was easily accomplished using one-hand. Overall, terrific handling on all three knives.

With positive impressions of the knife handling thus far, I moved on to testing the blade. All three knives came with razor sharp edges and were able to break down materials from single sheets of notebook paper to heavy two-ply cardboard with ease. The EL02, being a larger heavy-duty folder, was also used to test some heavier cutting, like trimming shrubs, cutting small tree branches, cutting through a garden hose, and cutting heavy plastic garden dividers. These knives easily handled the cutting tasks I would expect of folding knife.

The blade material on the knives, 8Cr13MoV (8Cr15MoV on the SRM 710), is a high carbon stainless steel that can take a fine edge and hold it reasonably well. While there are better performing steels available, they cost substantially more and only offer incremental performance improvements. While the 8Cr13MoV steel can wear down faster than some of the premium steels, it is also that much easier to re-sharpen to razor-fine edges.

After experiencing the build quality and cutting performance of these knives, I had forgotten how little they actually cost. These knives are easily of the same caliber as offerings from other mainstream manufacturers that might cost 2-3 times more. These SanRenMu and Enlan knives offer an unbeatable value and can satisfy the cutting needs of  casual and heavy knife users and collectors.