Preface

Here’s a knife I asked for specifically from GearBest. Anny agreed and sent this and 3 others over for me to play with and test. Here’s the first review from that batch!

Coupon

I do have a coupon, but it’s just a generic 15% off. It’s OUT15OFF. Click over here to purchase this knife!

Package and manual

This Ganzo, like all the other Ganzo’s I’ve had, arrives in a nice and small cardboard box.

Here are the other sides – all printed with something, including one side on which GearBest has placed their inventory sticker.

There’s no manual to speak of, aside from what information one can glean from the package itself. Not that too much information is really needed….

Form / Size

First off this is a fairly large knife. I hesitate to call it “big” because we all have different notions of what “big knives” are (to wit: my co-workers all think that this is a “big knife”). I can add that I very much prefer small knives, but I happen to love Axis lock.

The actual form and hand feel of this unit is fantastic. The drop point blade goes in just the perfect direction for usefulness. That’s a bit hard to explain….. If you picture the knife as a tool – the extension of your hand – the business parts of the blade are in a great place for action. Just good geometry, that’s all.

Look

Let’s not fool ourselves – this knife looks just like a Benchmade Griptilian. I think the blade shape is slightly different. I’m a huge fan of the Mini-Griptilian, but even that knife was a bit too big for me to carry long term. So this Ganzo, sized more like the full sized Grip, is right out for daily use. Not only that, it looks big – to co-workers in an office setting, to bosses, to wives…. this is not a small knife!

Having said all of that, the look of this knife is absolutely stunning. The orange wavy handles draw a user in, and beg to be picked up. The stonewash blade has a fantastic look and feel that speaks to quality.

Sound (Open/Close/Lock)

May be big, but it opens silently, with a single, secure click when it locks open. There’s no doubt that it’s opened, and it doesn’t seem to ever open in half measures. Either it clicks locked open, or it’s not locked at all. Very positive reinforcement on lock.

It also rests in the home position snugly, too. Somewhere around 30 degrees, the blade will close itself.

The actual mechanism for opening is of course an Axis-like mech. And again, that works flawlessly on my test unit. I do tend to use the stud on both sides of the handle for releasing the lock, but with some practice (or possibly, cleaning/lube and or lightly loosening the Torx pivot screw), this would be effortless.

Build and Feel

I’ve said or at least hinted at it already – this knife is built like a tank. The handles are grippy and robust. The blade is thick and the stonewash makes it seem quite burly. There are even full metal liners. The pocket clip is smooth and has a big mouth for easy grabbing of pants, but ample room for thicker pockets.

The one complaint I have about this knife is that the scales are actually quite abrasive. I can tell this a few ways. 1, The knife is difficult to get in and out of the pocket because of the scales. FWIW the Mini Griptilians I’ve owned have all been this exact same way, though this Ganzo is slightly worse simply because of the horizontal bands on the scales. 2, after fairly minimal use, the orange has become discolored from the bluejeans I wear. These aren’t some hipster raw denim, making everything I touch blue, either. These are old, many-washes-jeans. In fact I was even surprised to note that they had any blue to give.

Blade centering on my review sample was very good.

Carry

I am accustomed to carrying large items in my pockets. In my extensive flashlight testing, I have tested many EDC type lights, including 18650 lights, and even 26650 lights, which I often carry clipped in my pocket. So having a large item in my pocket is not unusual for me.

The clip doesn’t quite allow for complete “deep carry” but most of the knife is concealed. Only about 8-10mm is revealed above the clip. The clip also has what I call a large mouth, which makes grabbing on to pants pockets etc very easy. It’s quite tense, too, so it’ll hold the pants snugly.

Vibe

This is a huge (“huge”) orange knife. I got more than one comment on this knife at work, and more than one of those wasn’t effusively positive. But those who are accustomed to being around larger knives will likely love this one for it’s color and wavy scales. The vibe here is fantastic.

Cut

I got 4 knives in one package, and while this was sharp, it wasn’t the sharpest. That’s no comparison for you since you don’t know how sharp the others were, right? Point is that this one could be sharper. It was also not the least sharp, so that’s good too. It easily cut paper – very easily in fact. I’d think it could use some touching up but probably just a bit of stropping would put this at “very sharp.” I’m pleased with the out-of-the-box sharpness, in any case.

Value

The cost of this knife at GearBest.com is around $20. There’s a 15% off coupon, and at that price, this knife is easy to recommend. Even at $20, this knife is fantastic quality, and easily worth the cost.

Gallery

Notes

This knife was provided to me at no charge from GearBest.com. I was not paid to write this review.