Preface

When I saw this one I immediately wanted one. I love cleavers, I love carbon fiber, and the overall design of this one just drew me in. GearBest sent one over – this is the Ganzo F7551-CF!

Versions

There are at least two versions of this knife. There’s the one pictured here, the carbon fiber model. There’s also a G10 scale version, which is available in orange, black, and green.

Package and manual

Ganzo has their Firebird branding all over this thin cardboard box. GearBest also has added an inventory sticker.

The end of the box displays the model number, F7551-CF.

And here’s what comes in the package. Typically Ganzo knives are wrapped in bubble wrap, and the cloth pouch is wrapped over it – that’s how this knife is packaged, too.

Look

The overall appearance of this knife is great. The shape is unusual for what I typically carry; lots of swooping lines, and a tall grip on the blade. But the carbon fiber with blue accents is a very nice look.

Despite how it looks in the two photos above, the hole for opening is a hole, and not just an indention in the blade.

Open / Close / Lock

Ganzo directly says this is an Axis lock knife – a moniker Trademarked by Benchmade. Whatever the legal terminology, this is an Axis lock. It’s quite good, too, working just like my Benchmade Axis locking knives.

To open the knife, I use the thumbstud. The blade swings easily open, and locks very securely with a thud.

To close the knife, I grip the handle in my palm, and release the Axis lock with thumb and index finger. The lock mechanism could use some cleaning or lube; it’s just a touch gritty.

The lock, as Axis locks are, is very secure. The mechanism requires a bit too much effort out of the box, but over time, or with some lube, this should soften up a good bit.

Build and Feel

There’s a lot of meat on this knife. The blade has a modified cleaver shape, with a long edge. There’s a large finger choil, and some very large jimping on the spine. This is a comfortable hold, but leaves a lot of handle sticking out of the hand. Equally comfortable is holding fully on the handle.

The thumbstuds are secure, and grippy. They’re anodized blue, but toward the base the anodizing isn’t quite blue.

The backspacer seems to be nylon, and the blade on my sample is perfectly centered.

The spine is sufficiently thick to take a beating. The blade shape is also perfect for this, too – for cutting meat or splitting wood, or whatever.

There are full metal liners, which have some accessory jimping, which is a little finer than that on the blade.

Size

Officially: 11.5cm closed. 20cm open. 7.5cm blade. That’s quite a big knife, particularly for pocket carry.

Steel / Cut / Oats

GearBest states the steel as 440C Stainless. This is reported to be one of the softer knife steels, so should sharpen fairly easily.

I believe this may be the sharpest knife out of the box that I’ve ever reviewed. It absolutely peels paper (in the “paper test”). And blade is just such a “wants to cut things” shape.

Retention

There is a long steel pocket clip, which is installed upon arrival, allows only tip-up carry. The clip may be moved from one side to the other, but always tip-up. I like the clip – it has a big mouth and slips onto pockets easily. The screws for removing the clip are torx screws, and have a hole pattern like Benchmade knives.

There’s also a large lanyard hole out past the pocket clip. A lanyard is not included.

Conclusion

I really love the cutting portion of this knife. I like the way the knife handles. I love carbon fiber and this is real carbon fiber. I don’t like the shape of the handle; it’s just not all that comfortable in my hand.

Mini Review

GearBest also dropped this little keyring in the package with this knife. Not a ton to say about this little gadget. It’s a set of keyrings notable for the “2” shaped ring.

It’s not unlike a small carabiner, with wire retention. It doesn’t lock, but tension holds it closed snugly.

The split ring is pretty standard. It’s notable because it’s flat.

It’s a pretty neat set, and can be picked up for a couple of dollars.

Up Next

I have a couple more flashlights for this week. Stay tuned!

Notes

This knife was provided by GearBest for review. I was not paid to write this review.

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