Winkler: Solid Knife, worth the money!
591810
- Ergos of the knife are great. Handle fits medium sized hands perfectly. Large hands my not feel comfortable.  Sculpted maple provides a great grip. I debated between the rubber and sculpted maple. I would still like to try the rubber handle.
- Grind of the blade is superb.
Very sharp out of the box but may need some extra stropping to get a super sharp edge.
- Great sheath with good retention. Liked the optional belt configurations that come with the knife.
- No negative points that I can think of. For the past 6 months I have really enjoyed the knife.
924576
Honestly, I was dubious about this knife. I figured a knife this cheap couldn't be any good. I was wrong. It is an extremely well-made knife, sharp and flexible and with a nice handle shape.  And it looks nice, which as we all know is very important!

The only thing I am not a fan of is the weight. Like a lot of less expensive knives, it isn't as heavy or solid. That means you can't use the weight of the knife when doing your cutting, and it is all muscle power.  My wife actually prefers this. She finds my heavier knives to cumbersome to work with, and this ORBLUE has become her go-to knife in the kitchen.  I still like my beefier knives better, but this one is a definite second place. I was surprised with the quality.

Sample provided for review
4375075
This is a pretty awesome knife. I've always had a soft spot for SOG, especially since they seem to get great performance out of their materials.

The knife I ordered had that cool tiger stripe pattern on it. I love that look. It came sharp and the blade is a very practical design. It's on the thinner side but lends itself very well to slicing. Plus it looks downright cool in it's shape. It holds an edge well and is easy to sharpen.

The handle is nicely contoured and it holds well. The texturing is on the aggressive side but there's nothing wrong with that. The addition of the belt cutter works, I guess. I'm fond of the lock feature since this knife deploys swiftly and smartly!

My star deduction is for the lock up. The lock isn't easy to manipulate, and mine developed some serious blade play over time. I'm not sure if I received a defective knife, which may be possible since it's unusual for a SOG. I only took off one star as to try and not be overly critical, since I've always had good luck with this company. This would have been much more concerning with another company.

Overall, despite the lock up issue, this is a great knife if you're looking for a large One!
1640689
What a nice knife! Good balance and very sharp out of the box. It is somewhat thinner than the German chef's knives which makes veggie chopping a breeze. The price point for this quality is attractive. If there was a shorter size I would be ordering a mate.
2242323
This is a very nice heavy duty knife. I've put it through a lot of abuse and it still has a good edge without any chipping or warping. It's very rigid and a little on the heavy side, but it has very good balance. The pommel helps to get a choke on the lower handle, which is great for chopping wood because you get a larger radius for the swing. The finger choil helps with finer tasks, although the blade is a bit big for feathering small sticks and several other things. The sheathe is good, same for the sharpening stone and ferro rod, but neither is particularly great about them. Overall I'd say its a great knife, and at under $40, I'd be willing to say any survivalist or knife enthusiast should purchase this. Definitely would buy again.
2738065
Canadian belt knives just fit perfectly in your hand and make great all around utility knifes.  This knife is a great deal for the price, thus the five stars.  We use ours primarily in the kitchen and garden.  I have also given these to the kids to use on the trail / bush.

The Grohmann original is the knife that these are patterned after.  If you like the Cold Steel knife I recommend that you save up and get the full tang original or the Grohmann boat knife which has more of a point.  They both are quality knives which take the design and utility of the the Cold Steel Canadian Belt knife to a much higher level but cost $50 - $65. I have both and I do not think that you will regret the investment in either.
2580496
I've had the super knife for a couple of months now and have to say it's been great.  The replaceable generic blade has worked great since it's razor sharp when I need it, but remember you'll need a screwdriver to change it.  The anvil is made of soft plastic which gets cut into slightly when doing lots of cutting, but this has not been an issue for me.  The overall construction is sturdy, the metal is laminated sheet steel which is plenty strong and the plastic handle covers have taken a few good blows and are no worse for the wear.

I didn't really know what I needed it for when I bought it, but I keep it in the kitchen and it's been great for everything from rope, tubing, thick plastic matting, wooden skewers, flowers, and any other precision tasks which could be preformed with a razor sharp shear.  Be careful grabbing it out of the drawer though, because it is easy to not snap the locking mechanism securely and it will spring open when you expect it least.

I'd buy it again!
3998783
I own a lot of knives, as I imagine many of the readers of this review do. Some name brand, some custom, some beaters. Of my dozen of so 'big' blades, I can't keep myself from using this one.

Yes, I'd like to have the Cold Steel Trail Master San Mai III, but find it hard to justify the expense, when this solidly built knife does a heck of a job for around $20. It came well packaged, with a crappy sheath. I replaced the sheath with another I had immediately, so I won't review the sheath. I never used it.

I'm not sure if it's quality control, after reading some of the other reviews, but this knife was dead-on straight, with a nice machine edge. Really a good looking knife, with no issues out of the box. Sharp from the factory, and sharper after about 15 minutes of attention. The blade grind was even, and the tip was clean. The 440A steel may not be that great, but I haven't had any issue with chipping so far, and I don't mind the effort it takes to keep it sharp. Zero rust so far, this blade seems to be extremely rust resistant, even when kept in its sheath for long periods of time.

In the field it's a beast. If I don't have an ax or Kukri along, this thing will eat up medium logs (5-6") as well or better than any other big blade I own. It's nice thick (1/4") design makes for great batoning, and the length, allows me to use it comfortably on logs up to 6" in width. And at its bargain price, I don't mind beating the hell out of it. I typically wrap my handles in hockey tape, or tennis tape, but this one is pretty grippy and feels great in my hand. Your mileage may vary.

One of my two favorite "beater" knives, along with my Cold Steel Bushman.
309349
Of the dozens of knives in my kitchen, this one is second only to a Wusthof Classic Icon hollow ground 8" chef knife. But that knife cost me over a hundred bucks more! Blade is embossed or etched to appear as a Damascus blade, which looks kinda cheesy. But it's a quality piece of stainless. Perfect profile with a nice rocking curve. A great knife with good heft, nicely balanced. Comfortable handle. I might buy a back-up. Comes in a nice gift box, and has a rugged plastic sheath for the very sharp blade. Excellent value.
1384833
As above stated, this knife is SHARP. Comes sharp, and the AUS-8A steel keeps it sharp; it holds an edge very well. I have no doubts that this knife would gut someone in a self defense situation. The six inch blade is perfect for everyday cutting tasks, and the balance is superb. To some, this knife might be too long, or too heavy, but it keeps a very low profile in the pocket. I take it to work a lot and no one ever notices. My only complaint about the knife is that the pocket clip is super stiff, and the part of the blade that allows for the pocket drag opening is very abrasive; it shreds the pockets on some pants. (Poor construction on the part of the pants, not the knife.)

In a nutshell, this is a super strong manual liner lock stiletto with very good handle construction. When closed, the handle is tough enough to be used as an improvised kubotan. If you like overbuilt or over sized pocket knives, and/or you like the stiletto style, like me, then this is the knife for you. If the six inch blade is too much for you, check out the Ti-Lite IV(4).
2776409
Received this item two days ago and can say from initially opening the package, I was impressed.  The knife is stout and sturdy with excellent edges (30 degree double grind).  The sheath is nice but a tad short for a drop leg attachment but it will work (note:  no leg strap was included in my packaging making it hard to unsheath one handed) with moderate comfort.  My dissapoinment is in the finishing.  The coating comes off extremely easy.  I have removed from the sheath 3 times now and is a good inch of worth of area that has worn off on both sides of the blade.  Additionally, I have only assembled the wire cutter/sheath combo one time and that area also has worn off.  If you are wanting a workhorse attachment, this is your piece, but if you are expecting it to stay in mint condition with any usage you will want to look for a different (most likely more expensive) model.
657836
I ordered yesterday and received this morning. I have the 5" tomato knife and the 3 1/2" parring knife. The fit and finish on these knives is great. The handles seem to be made of solid derlin plastic, and not hollow molded like other inexpensive brands. I have larger medium sized hands, and the handles are just large enough for me, but these are smaller knives comparably to a chefs/santoku. All you ladies will like the size and shape. The parring knife is very handy,very maneuverable, and very comfortable. I use the tomato knife as a bread/bagel knife, and 5" is plenty for me.
  These knives are commercial grade NSF approved cutlery, and should do just fine in any home kitchen. These are very comparable to other well known high priced German knives, without the name. Actually if you took these and expensive german knives and removed the branding you would be hard pressed to tell them apart. Long ago when I worked in the food industry, most were using either Mercer or Dexter-Russel. I prefer the mercer handle to others. If you want quality culinary industry grade tools, that won't break the bank, then Mercer is probably the best you can get.
This is the equipment you would see as "house" or "supplied" in any industry kitchen. As far as a first set goes, this is a good way to go. If you have a student in the family, or you yourself is wanting to learn more in the kitchen, then these tools will be of great interest to you. All you need is a Chefs,Parring,Slicer/Carver,and wavey/serrated knife 10" or so, at home a 5" is good for me.
614510
I've been intently eying the Kizylar knives for the past year and, although I'm positively struck by their appearance and design, I've been hesitant to dive in and buy a moderately pricey knife with little to no background. Well, in the meantime, the online reviews, YouTube videos and miscellaneous bits of relevant data have trickled in and, things be largely positive, I recently purchased the "Aggressor" in AUS8. To begin with, I was immediately pleased with the fit and finish. Edges are clean, no odd milling marks and the handles scales are aligned perfectly. Even the false edge on the blades back is skillfully executed. The only things I could citique in this regard are the blades sharpness (it just needed a little final honing) and the sheaths strap button left a faint imprint on the kraton handle. Not at all serious but it's all I could find. Blade: a beefy tanto with false back edge (could be easily sharpened further but that's not my plan) which keeps it's full thickness until about .75" from the tip. About 1.5" of effective jimping on the back and a small guard in front. The handle is great. Full tang with the scales revealing it completely. You can't see the ABS underlay but it lends a certain stiffness to the kraton surface which makes it solid and grippy, too. Two lengthwise chanels add to your holding power as does the divot around the index finger which allows the sheath to snap in. The sheath is among the better of the type with a stiff gfn liner and rugged nylon fabric outer. The gfn liner has 2 clip points that snap onto both sides of the handle when the knife is fully placed within for a very firm hold. Furthermore, there are 2 small (unseen) slots inside the sheath that engage with both sides of the blade to reduce rattling. That said, there is very minor movement of the blade but the sheath grips it so well that I couldn't shake it free. The sheath can hang by either a sturdy belt loop or 2 velcro & snap molle straps. There's even molle webbing down the center/back in what seems to allow for a 3-point molle attachment in conjunction with the straps. It also has molle webbing down the front to attach accessories. In total, I'm very impressed at this point. It's plainly a combat/fighting knife (pass-times which i don't often pursue) so this will likely serve me as just an occasional "feeling tough around the trail and campsite" knife. Given that I found this on ebay for about $99 I'm not going to feel cheated if I have this piece of well designed tactical hardware around. Furthermore, I like this Kizlyar so much that I just ordered the Delta model in D2 steel for a more rugged and bush-ready version that I can more effectively put through its paces soon...
4771834
I have purchased two of these knives, that's how impressed I am with them. One is my primary EDC knife, the other I purchased for my thirteen year old son to use in Scouting. Both are black handled but mine has the black coated blade so we can tell them apart. About the coating, yes, it is flaking off, though not as bad as some other reviewers seem to be doing.

About the knife itself let me say that this is simply the best designed folding knife I have ever owned. I have knives from Spyderco, Buck, KaBar, Schrade and Gerber and this knife is my favorite (though the KaBar Dozier is a very close second). The handle is unrivaled comfort-wise amongst my folders and even bests many of my fixed blade knives. The full flat grind AUS8 blade takes a wicked sharp edge easily and holds it very well. My blade is perfectly centered when closed and has zero play in it when open. Opening this blade with one hand is easy and as quick as any assisted opening blade I have used.

If I were to pick nits (and I will) the only issues I have with the knife are: 1, it could be just a touch less heavy. At five ounces it is certainly noticeable in the pocket. 2, the liner lock on my example is at about 75% when the blade is open. This is not a 'problem' per se, but a concern. Hopefully as the knife ages the lock bar doesn't continue to move further out towards the far side of the blade, as this could potentially decrease it's ability to effectively lock open the blade. However, this is an issue I have only with the black coated blade, the un-coated bladed knife I gave to my son doesn't do this, and the lock bar is set at just under 50% of the blade.

All in all whenever anybody asks me to recommend a quality and affordable folding knife (I have a bit of a reputation as a "knife geek" among my friends), this is the knife I recommend. Certainly one can spend more money on a good folder, but the return on your dollars is a diminishing one. The materials, design and fit and finish on this knife are excellent. My own experience is that properly treated AUS8 steel performs very comparably to the far more expensive VG10 used in much more expensive knives like Spydercos.

Really, for under thirty bucks you get a knife that can go head-to-head with pretty much any 100$ folder. Why not get one?
4943562
This is the first ZT knife I've purchased, but just hours after receiving it, I can already tell you it certainly won't be the last.  The knife is light enough to carry in your pocket on an everyday basis, but it's still very sturdy feeling.  The shape of the blade is aesthetically pleasing, & it is sharp enough to shave hairs off your arm right out of the box.  A bonus for many folks, this blade comes with free sharpening for life (you just pay to ship it to Tualitin, OR) which is a great deal for someone like me who has little to no skill with a whet stone.  My favorite aspect of it, though is the flipper mechanism on the backside of the handle, which makes opening this knife feel almost like you're whipping open a switchblade.  It's highly functional without being obtrusive- a brilliant design.  I also like that there is noticeable resistance when you close it, right around the halfway mark.  You'd have to be pretty intentional or pretty drunk to close this on one of your fingers.  I can't believe I have never heard of this great company that is located in my former home state of Oregon.  Very glad to support any high quality product made in the USA; this is a knife I would recommend to all my friends.  Buy it; you will not be disappointed.
822232
After chopping, slicing and otherwise managing just fine in my kitchen, I recently took a course in knife skills where I was told that a utility knife such as this was invaluable in preserving the sharpness of your chef's knife.  This type of knife is terrific for tackling the tasks requiring cutting through skins, whether onions, tomatoes or citrus.  Then pull up your chef's knife and slice or whatever from the soft portion to the skin.

But why This knife?  After decades of periodically upgrading my knives, these Cronidur knives by Zwilling look to be the ultimate.  The steel is reputed to be virtually totally corrosion resistant.  More important to me is that this knife stays sharp far longer than any other I've had before.  I'm very fond of the way the blade connects to the non-slip handle.  Its shape encourages you to use a grip that won't tire you out but is quite secure.  The balance is also excellent.  Doesn't hurt that it's quite handsome.

I've used this now for several months and cannot recommend it highly enough.  Given the price of these knives, I'd buy the 8" chef's blade first, then either this or the bread slicer, finally the paring knife unless that's a blade you use more frequently than I do.  You'll love these knives.
697478
To be clear, this review is based on what you get for the $$.  I paid about $11 for this, I see it now on Amazon for $9.50.  With free shipping, this is an awesome deal.  Yes, the edge is not perfect, I can detect a slight burr near the tip.  Yes the spine on mine is pretty uneven, I plan to file it to a sharp 90 degree angle.  And, yes, it's not stainless steel (duh, you need to keep it oiled).  But come on, it's 11 freak'n dollars for a Swiss blade!!  For that money, you still get a very solid, beefy knife with an edge out of the box you can shave with.  Nothing for the money comes close.