Sanrenmu 7056-SF

I have been looking for a quality low price (under $65) knife. After trying Kershaw, Gerber and Cold Steel Finn (really wanted to like the Finn. Blade was great). There are features of any knife that are a matter of personal preference. Thumb studs, flipper, spring assist, metal treatment/look. For me this has it all, for the price! -knife blade is made of 8Cr14MoV steel which is supposed to be very similar in quality to AUS 8. I have researched the hardness of the steel and see it usually at the 55-57 RC. Not the hardest, but it is tough. Blade edge retention should be, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest in retention: 7. --the blade type is drop point with a flat grind(?) -The clip seem quite a bit more flexible than higher priced knives. Notice I did not say better knives. The clip flexes enough to where you can clip the knife to your pants pocket without using two hands. --The clip cannot be moved to provide various carrying styles. Never an issue for me but may be for others. ---The clip can be removed if you do not need it. -Thumb studs work better than a Kershaw Cryo II (and MANY other knives). --When used, my thumb does not feel in danger of being sliced. --A flick of the wrist is need to complete the opening of the knife. The flick is much easier to achieve, much more so than the Cryo II. --Brass color if it matters to you --I do not care for spring assisted openers. Extra pieces which can break or malfunction. ---You will look cooler when opening a spring assisted knife. They are nice but more to go wrong. -Stonewashed: looks very good. Should help hide lesser scratches to the metal. -Flipper: used as an alternate to using the thumb studs. Works well, it is not spring assisted so a flick of the wrist is still needed. --This is fine since I want the flip assist when one of my hands is busy. Speed is not even a factor to me. -Weight: too much for slacks, fine for all other clothing. --if you are carrying a knife while wearing slacks, I would get a synthetic handled blade to reduce weight, or a smaller knife! -The knife just fits into my hands which are medium sized. -The finger groove is well placed. The locking part of the frame is textured with grooves which do dig into the hand depending on how you hold it. Not painful but noticeable. -There is a hole near the butt of the blade for a lanyard if desired. For the price, and double the price, this knife is a great value. Edge retention which to me is a critical issue, but sharpening the edge is even more important. I carry a dual-ceramic rods pocket sharpener for field expedient (garage, backyard) sharpening. This is what I was hoping for with the much heavier and more costly Kershaw Cryo II.

This is a great little folder. It's a great steel for an inexpensive EDC, and takes a very good edge. The hardness rating is believable, as it holds the edge fairly well, but it will dull faster than a high-end steel. There's no way around that. The good news is that it sharpens very easily back up to a razor edge. Mine came sharp, and the grind was nice and consistent. The stonewashing isn't too pronounced, but it does scuff the knife up enough so that nothing you do to it will be immediately noticeable. The gold thumbstuds are a take-it-or-leave-it design choice, and my feelings about them go back and forth from day to day. The color has no impact on performance, though. This is not a spring-assisted knife, although its mutant twin, the Kershaw Cryo, is assisted. The flipper makes more sense on the Cryo, as this flipper will not deploy the blade without a decent amount of wrist flick. That doesn't really bother me, though; the flipper gets it started easily and the thumbstud will carry it the rest of the way. On top of that, I love the nice big choil that the flipper gives the grip. There's no worry about your fingers sliding up onto the blade. At first the lock is a bit tricky to disengage but once you do it a few times it gets easier. I'm not sure whether it loosened up or I just got used to pressing it the right way. For the price of this knife, you can't go wrong. I got it instead of the Cryo because I don't love assisted openings, and instead of a CRKT Drifter because I love the choil and the Drifter's is fairly small. Very pleased. I use it all the time, and there's no worries about hurting it because it's so dang cheap.

It's a good looking knife for the price paid. Steel is good for what it is. No issues with sharpness, retaining an edge, chipping, or breaking in any way. Has a very solid construction. Fairly thick and heavy in the hand. Blade is small, but a decent size. I, for one, prefer blades of this size over larger ones. Not much special about this knife in addition to it just being a knife. No frills. For a couple bucks more, I think you could get a higher quality knife, so its hard for me to give this knife 5 stars. But its good for the price point and I think it stands out among other knives of this price. Don't be fooled by my 4 stars - I would recommend this unless you want the quality of better knives like a more slim profile, better steel, smoother opening, better grip, etc - but its hard to beat for the price.

I much prefer the Stonewash finish on this knife. The blade swedge, spine, and flipper tab are nicely smoothed. On the Gray coated model, the flipper tab edges are too sharp for my taste. Also, I just love the natural steel. As the title stated, this knife is solid in lockup, snooth to open and close, is solid at the pivot. No blade play open or closed, and is as centered as you can get. Detent is good, and the gimping on the thumb groove of the locking bar is a nice touch. I love the barrel standoffs (love them on my XM-18, love them on this knife). This is not a spring assisted knife, which I actually believe is an advantage. Even my mid-level Kershaw SpeedSafe knives have some blade play. It doesn't bother me because that's the way they all are. I've read that the spring assist mechanism typically does introduce some blade play. In contrast, this Sanrenmu 7056 is rock-solid. No blade play any way I move it. It makes it difficult to flip the blade all the way into lockup, but I don't even do that with my Hinderer XM-18. I think a more classy way to open the knife is to use the convenient, and safer, flipper tab to break open the knife, then the thumb stud to lock it open. One thing to be aware of with the pocket clip: the only option is tip-down, and in the right front pocket that puts the blade spine forward. I prefer tip-up carry on the right side, with the blade spine facing back into the pocket seam. Maybe I'm overly paranoid about safety, but that's my preference. The clip placement isn't really a design flaw, because it's a legitimate way to carry a knife. Just doesn't have any other options, unlike the Kershaw Cryo which has all 4 clip placement options available. But hey, I'm learning to get comfortable with tip-down carry in my left front pocket. Bottom line, just be aware of clip position if it matters to you. Overall a solid five-star knife given it's fit, finish, aesthetics, and price. I love mine.

Doesn't flip out well. Very dirty out of the packaging. Hands turned black. Handle feels shorter and more cramped than the actual cryo. Otherwise it's a nice enough nice. As of this writing the actual Cryo is only $22. I'd prefer to get that one.

People are probably not expecting the knife action to be stiff in this era of knife making, however, this knife was designed before ceramic ball bearings were easily accessible, same with brass. I loosened mine up a bit, gave it a cleaning with some oil and the action worked smoothly. I used this knife periodically throughout the summer and it always held up to any task. I needed a cheap one I could lose on the trail. Took it camping many times. The fact it has dual thumb studs, a thumb flipper, a push stop on the liner lock, and the ability to hold a very fine edge makes me want to buy another one. Easily my best purchase of 2023, I was not looking for a civivi and I have almost every crkt knife.

There is no way to make the flipper work

Very disappointed. The blade fails to deploy fully via the flipper tab and almost impossible using the thumb stud. The price was right and I had confidence in the product given my prior purchases from Sanrenmu. Probably should return, but not worth the trouble. I may have to tread softly if I ever choose this manufactuer again.