Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Ken Fong Balisong..Blatant Benchmade ripoff (is it worth it?)

I removed the "Benchmade" off the pocket clip and added what it should say
So, back in the 1980's Balisong's or Butterfly knives where all the rage mainly for their movie appearances. I remember seeing my first balisong in the movie Outsiders and like many kids, I had to have one. My first was a Japanese made Fury which I still own. I learned to flip, twirl and spin with the best of them albeit with many a cut knuckle and/or finger. As I grew older the realization of the (lack of) utility became obvious. At this point in my knife collecting adulthood, they're pretty much fidget spinners for the knife world with the added element of danger. On that note, the obligatory disclaimer should read: REAL, sharp balisongs are NOT toys and are not recommended for beginners or anyone under the age of 18 (or anyone not able to make an adult decision). These knives can cut you and cut you badly. You can easily be cut to the bone, loose an eye, lop of things you don't want lopped off and/or seriously injure those around you. If you don't know what you're doing, I HIGHLY recommend getting a trainer first. I have the scars to prove it. 

Arguably some of the best and most collectable bali's are made by benchmade. Afterall, their butterfly knife is what got the craze started in the 80's. There are other balis that are very well made by makers such as microtech, spyderco, protech, Brous and the bali nut's favorite BRS (Blade Runner systems). All of these companies make great balis and unfortunately for almost all of them, the Chinese makers have been hard at work copying them, often with very similar materials. Benchmade of course has been the most copied. I'll start off by saying that most of the clones you can buy off of the various chinese websites are pure 100% unadulterated junk. One maker however I had read had stepped up their game and SUPPOSEDLY been putting out some good knives. The maker Ken Fong, had made quite a name for himself on youtube, some written reviews, etc. 
Opposite side view
Well, a while back a friend brought his Benchmade bali to work to show me and showed me the two tricks he'd learned. Upon handing it to me, I dusted off my ninja skills and impressed him with some old school flips until I flipped it right onto my desk (hey I'm not as ninja as I used to be). While we discussed the fact that they weren't much good for EDC, tactical, etc. we did agree that they were fun to play with. Thus started the inevitable desire on my part for a new bali. I hadn't researched them in years and I was surprised that the benchmade I had bout in 1989 for about $50 was now worth around $600! Even new ones that were similar were costing upwards of $300. I just wasn't ready to spend that kind of money on a knife that I wasn't going to actually carry and use. Enter the Ken Fong idea. While I didn't want a $10 convenience store bali, I did want something nice to flip and leave on my desk for fidgeting purposes. After reading some reviews and seeing the specs on the Ken Fong knock off, I did something I never thought I'd do, bought a clone from a well known Chinese vendor. 

FROM THE BOX
After ordering and waiting about 4 weeks for my new bali to arrive, I was somewhat surprised at the quality that can be had for a mere $83. The weight was great, the smoothness was good and to be honest, it looked good. Then I noticed a missing screw and there were no extra's in the box. Well an email to Ken Fong through the same website and about a 4 week wait, I received a complete set of screws to cover the whole knife. I inserted the new screw and began playing with my new bali. To be honest, in eight weeks of waiting, the bali itch had worn off and I'd wish I'd just bought another Spyderco or REAL benchmade :) That being said, after some flipping and twirling, the itch slowly came back and I was happy....for a moment. After about 10 minutes of flipping, I noticed two more missing screws. They were ALL loosening and falling out. Fortunately I found the miniscule screws and replaced them. I live in the sticks so I had to drive about 70 miles to pick up some loctite blue, remove ALL of the screws on this bali and replace them. After adjusting their tension and letting the glue setup, I was back to flipping. 
All screws required loctite application to prevent them from falling out

MATERIALS
The handles and liners are evidently titanium. I have many Ti knives and I'm relying on my experience with Ti to make this determination. The blade is supposedly D2 steel but I have little experience with it so I'm taking their word. D2 when properly done is a good steel but it can rust. I have no idea what type of heat treat Senor Fong uses so you get what you get. Being basically a fidget spinner for me, it won't make much difference; I won't be doing much cutting. The catch pin I believe is aluminum and the spring that pops it out of battery is pretty good. All of the screws are torx screws and (thus far) seem to be of good quality. The clip I believe is Ti as well and it does not work good for this purpose. Unlike a steel clip, there is little flex. That combined with the length don't allow it to be clipped into the pocket without some serious struggle. The color scheme is a personal thing and I thought this one looked good. 


SIZE
This is a good sized Bali, The overall length is 9.3 inches, the blade is 4.25 inches and the handle is a little over 5 inches. It's a good size for a flipper. See below for some size comparisons to REAL knives; Hinder XM-18 3.5", Spyderco Native, ZT 0620CF and Spyderco Endura 4.
Size comparisons to some commonly carried knives. 
FLIPPING
Flipping this knife after customizing it with Loctite Blue and many adjustments before it sets up is nice. Make no mistake however, if your comes like mine did, you will be Loctiting every screw and adjusting every one to your desired tension. Post adjustments however makes this knife a fine flipper. I can do any of the tricks I used to with my old Benchmade. Top that off with good looks and we have a fine sharpened fidget spinner for the knife nut. 

Centering is good
CONCLUSION
So is the Ken Fong Benchmade Clone/Knock Off worth the price of admission? If all you are wanting is fidget spinner, not for cutting anything and DEFINITELY not for collecting, then this knife may work for you. If you want a cutter, you're going to have to rely on the word of a company that  does not respect  copyright laws that the steel they claim is what they say. Even then, we have no idea what their heat treat is and ANY steel can go from great to crap depending on heat treat. If you're looking for a collectors item, this ain't it. Save your money and buy the real thing. If you just want something to flip and play with and don't care about collectability, resale, or even blade steel quality, this would make a fine flipper. It is definitely better than your average flea market bali, your convenience store bali or even some lower end decently made bali's. It is NOT top of the line Benchmade, Microtech, Brous, Spyderco, et al quality and definitely not anywhere collectable as the others are. In short if you want a toy, this aint bad. If you want quality, save your money and buy the real deal. 

The last question I have is, if Ken Fong (if there is even any by that name) has the materials and skill to bring this fake to market, why not build your own brand. This isn't a bad knife. It just pretends to be something it's not. The are many Chinese companies doing it right such as Kizer and Reate. They build their own (or collaborations)  designs and let them speak for themselves. I really believe Ken Fong could do the same. Until then, it's a toy.
One toy plays with another. 


Saturday, January 23, 2016

Kershaw 6034T Emerson Designed CQC-7K Knife - Review

Kershaw 6034T Emerson Designed CQC-7K Knife
While I've owned many Kershaw knives over the years, this is the first actual Kershaw that I have reviewed (if you don't count the ZT reviews). This Kershaw 6034T Emerson Designed CQC-7K caught my eye when a saw the announcement from the shot show and a snatched one up as soon as it came out. At a sub $30 knife I admittedly wasn't expecting much; I was surprised. When I received in from Amazon, and opened it, I was pleasantly surprised by not only the weight but the fit and finish was also surprisingly good. It wasn't up to the fit and finish of their own USA made Zero Tolerance nor that of a good Spyderco but for a $30 knife, it was good. Top this off with the fact that it had an Emerson opener and you have a winner in my book.

BLADE

The 3.25 inch blade on this knife is made of  8Cr14MoV steel. 8Cr14MoV is a common steel coming out of of China and in the same class more or less as AUS-8. It sharpens easily but edge retention is no where near that of VG-10, S30V, CPM-154, etc. While this one came with a Tanto blade which in theory is better for stabbing out of control car doors and angry car hoods, in my opinion, it's not as utilitarian as a regular clip point blade that comes with the Kershaw CQC-6K . The thumb disk and Emerson Wave for opening is familiar from Emerson's own knives and work just like they do. I've never been a fan of the disk for opening and think Spyderco's hole or thumb studs work better but the disk works none-the-less. The wave on this knife works great! It works so good in fact, I'd venture to say it works better and smoother than my real Emerson. Throw in a few Emerson graphics and the blade looks pretty good and functions pretty good as well. It did not however hold and edge as good as some of my other higher priced knives with better steel; but that was expected. Fortunately it sharpened very easy. The blade thickness of 0.11 inches made it sufficiently thick for most EDC tasks.

LOCK

The lock on this knife is a Chris Reeve Style frame lock without the over travel disk. The frame by the way is made of 410 stainless steel. This alleviates the concern that some folks have had about Titanium frame locks locking against a stainless blade. The concern I've heard and read is eventual lock wear.  I own several Titanium Frame locks and have never seen this issue so I don't know that I subscribe to it. Either way, the concern has caused many knife companies to place a stainless steel cover or shim over the lock face on many titanium framed knives. Since this knife frame is made of 410 stainless, there should be no concern with this issue. It locked up tight with no play in up and down and minimal play side to side. Again, pretty good for a $30 Chinese made knife.
The frame lock on the Kershaw 6034T Emerson Designed CQC-7K Knife
FIT AND FINISH

Fit and finish was pretty dang good for a knife of this price. This IS NOT your typical $10 Chinese made junk you find at your local convenience store. This is a real, usable knife with slight blade play but otherwise F&F was very good.

ERGONOMICS

Again, possibly because this knife had to be signed off on by both Kershaw and Emerson, the ergo's on this knife were pretty dang good for a 7.75" (opened) knife. The rounded edges and soft jimping are a pleasure to hold and use. I'm impressed.

EMERSON OPENER

The Emerson opener on this little knife was is in my opinion as good as or (dare I say) better in some respects than my actual Emerson. Combine that with the smoothness of opening and you can open this little knife reliably every time with a proper draw from the pocket.
The Emerson Wave Opener and thumb disk on the Kershaw 6034T Emerson Designed CQC-7K Knife
POCKET CLIP

The pocket clip is well done on this knife. It is long enough to allow for sufficient flex to make insertion into the pocket easy. Combine the clip with the smooth 410 stainless frame and you have an easy knife to draw from the pocket while staying in place when and where you want it to. The only ding is that it is only reversible not the four positions like some knives.

SMOOTHNESS OF OPENING

From the pocket utilizing the Emerson Wave, this knife pops open like a champ and locks solidly into place. Opening with the thumb disk can be done easily but no were near as flickable as a Spyderco's spyderhole or even a thumb stud.

USES

The uses of this knife are pretty much limitless. There are some tasks that a clip point such as the Kershaw 6034 Emerson Designed CQC-6K could accomplish better but this blade will accomplish most of your day to day chores. Unfortunately, the 8Cr14MoV blade steel limits its use as a survival or even a camp knife. It's somewhat soft for those tasks which require sharpening and sharpening in those scenarios isn't always an option. I think you'd want something that holds and edge a bit better.
The Kershaw 6034T compared to the Spyderco Delica with the Emerson Wave
Compared to the Spyderco Matriarch 2 with Emerson opener

CONCLUSION

For what this little knife is, I really liked it. It's found in many places for around thirty dollars, has decent steel, has an Emerson Opener, good frame lock, opens extremely smoothly, FAST from the pocket and the fit and finish is decent. The dings are the steel, slight blade play and made in China. If you can live with the small dings against it, I think it's a pretty good little knife. You won't find a better looking, faster opening or useful knife in the $30 price range. If this is your price range, get one! You won't regret it. It makes very good gift knife which is what I eventually used it for.
You can't find a more useful or better looking knife at the same price..get one!