I’ve been pushing to clear a backlog of reviews, so here is a review for the Ganzo G704, provided by a shady company I no longer have dealings with.
This is such a popular knife, and there are so many good reviews out there, that my review almost seems redundant. But hey, they did send it to me for review, so I’ll do my best. You can catch my full review here on my blog. This one is $12.99 if the coupon is still good.
Product Description
This is an EDC style pocket knife that seems designed from the “ground up” to appeal to pocket knife enthusiasts like myself. It seems like everything about this knife is made to be appealing. It has striking looks, but it would be a short review if were all looks. This is a serious knife.
- Drop point blade
- 440C Chinese steel
- Axis style lock
- G10 Scales
- Tip-up deep carry clip
First Impressions
They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but this one didn’t really speak to me at first. I thought it was a little bulky for EDC, and I wasn’t sure I liked the color. Someone told me “you can find where you drop it if it’s orange!” but I don’t drop my pocket knives.
So it sat there, unloved, last in line for review. But it started growing on me—even the color. And it carries very well for its bulk just because the clip is so good. The more time I spent with this knife, the more I appreciated it and understood why it’s so popular.
Build Quality
This is a well made knife. Ganzo hears the people. I see that with almost every aspect of this knife. I hate the case screws, but I pretty much hate all case screws on all knives. At least they are chromed, though as always, I wish they just spent the .00000001 of a cent to put decent screws in it.
Other than a few of the screws, the build quality is a fantastic execution of a good design. And they are liberal with the steel and with the G10. Sorry, I botched a couple of the photos below and the scales look off color. The orange is perfect in person. I would normally retake the bad photos but the new owner of the knife looks at it like it’s his precious, so I just said “Yeah, keep it.”
Fit And Finish
An enthusiast’s knife with a dull blade out of the box. It’s OK, I’m used to it. Enthusiasts can sharpen their knives, but it’s still a little annoying, especially given how good the rest of the knife is. And the rest of the knife is good. The machining, G10, axis style lock; it’s all there.
Blade
The blade uses the slightly harder 440C, so that’s a nice step up from the usual 8Cr13MoV, which I get tired of typing, so that’s good. Hollow grind—check. Good geometry—check. Liberal jimping on spine—check. Perfect centering—check. Uniform edge—oops. The blade also has a lot of belly, which I like for EDC.
I hold no illusions that Chinese steel is well suited for ultra-hard use, as witnessed by the martial arts knife strike to a wooden post my friend did with the G720 that rolled the edge. But I predict it will stand to just about anything short of that. That’s why I’ve been a big fan of Chinese knives: If you can tell the difference between a budget knife and one with high end steel, then most of the time you are using it wrong. This blade is very suited to EDC use. It’s “swedged” on top making it more of a spear point style. It’s probably Ok for self defense if you have an interest in that sort of thing, though I don’t personally think that knives make good self defense weapons. But it’s another plus if you do.
Handle
The orange G10 has grown on me. I think it’s beautiful. I botched a few of the photos of it, but it really comes out in a couple of the photos. It looks good, it’s cut perfectly and it has texturing similar to a couple of my classic EDC favorites like the Kearshaw Skyline. It’s about as good as I’ve seen done on a budget knife.
Locking Mechanism
This model uses an axis style lock. It’s too tight for me, but I hear it loosens up over time. It’s loosened up a little, but it’s still too tight. But they did a good job on it. The knife deploys smooth and locks up like a boss. One thing the friend I gave this knife to specifically liked was the fact that this type of lock holds the blade closed, too.
Deep Carry Clip
The clip comes configured out of the box for tip-up, right-handed carry. It can be moved for lefties, but not for tip down, which is fine by me. Normally I hate every clip on every pocket knife, but this one gets my respect. Tip-up, deep carry— most have that. But this clip is well built. It’s even chromed! The shape is almost perfect. It’s a little tight, but it’s not ridiculous tight like a couple of my Kershaws that have ripped my pants taking my knife out to open a package.
Usability
It carries well, deploys smoothly and looks good. That’s pretty much a wrap for what I look for in a pocket knife. It’s a little heavy to replace my precious Delica, which weighs 2.3 ounces, or the Native at 2.6 ounces (with S30V steel!) but it carries extremely well for its weight. People who like more beefy, heavy knives will like the G704. The weight is also the price you pay for how robust it is, which is what I like about the Tenacious, in one of the above photos.
Weights And Measures
It’s not a petite knife, but it’s not ridiculous, either. The way it carries with the deep carry clip makes it feel a little lighter than it is.
Conclusions
Just like with the G720, a friend who uses a pocket knife as part of his job was instantly fixated on it and said “DUDE THAT’S MY PERFECT KNIFE” and so I gave it to him. Knives that come dull are one of my pet peeves. Yeah I can sharpen it, but that’s like giving me dishes where I have fire in kiln before using them.
But it’s hard to stay mad at Ganzo, because they seemed to be giving most enthusiasts every single thing they are looking for, from the plush G10 to the “axis” lock, to the chromed, tip-up clip. All that for thirteen bucks. See that’s the thing. I’ve got some decent knives, but there’s a couple brands like Sanrenmu and Ganzo that give you such a good value.