Eafengrow EF11 Folding Knife D2 Steel Blade Knife with Wood Handle Pocket Knives

Update 12/23: Sharpened this bad boy just once, and after cutting through countless boxes (100s), the blade is still scary sharp. I'm no metallurgist, but starting to think this may actually be a D2 blade. At any rate the edge retention "feels" like what one would expect from D2 steel, and is certainly not some cheap random stainless steel. Few other points worth mentioning. The wood is very attractive, and can be kept in good shape by applying some mineral / butcher's block oil every one in a while. Also for those reviewers who are taking stars off because they don't understand this is not a locking knife, well, one just wishes our schools taught folks to read better. Takes some getting used to, but once you have the hang of it, using your thumb as the "locking device" is both fun and easy for light cutting work. Will definitely keep Eafengrow in mind for future budget knives. Original 10/23: Even if it's not D2, buy it you won't regret it. Very attractive desk knife (do not use as pocket knife, way too dangerous). Also, highly recommend you adjust the screws for a more snug (and safe) operation. Other than that a nice chubby knife with an old school design.

This knife is a little beauty.It's an old-style farmer's work knife.The scales look like redwood so I will assume they are. They are well finished and shaped. The blade says D2 on it (I am not a metallurgist} and came shaving sharp. My four fingers are 3.25 " wide and they all fit on the handle nicely. l did notice that some people were very concerned about losing fingers and slashing thighs. 1. If you are slicing with the edge of the blade it is impossible for the blade to close. If you are stabbing keep your thumb on the tang, but this knife is not a stabber it's a slicer and a slasher. 2.I really can't see the knife opening in your pocket unless you do not have the pivot tightened properly or get a leather slip for it. BE AWARE. It does not have a blade lock.I love this knife and for the price it's unbeatable.It's like any other tool. Use it improperly, get hurt

It's hard not to feel a little guilty buying a brand that has so blatantly making it's mark by copying the designs of others on the cheap, even more so when some have reported having the steel in their Eafengrow knives professionally tested with results that called into question whether the brand is really using D2 or boasting so fraudulently. That said, while I can sometimes (barely) justify spending a couple hundred on a fixed blade, I can't begin to justify that kind of money on a limited use, hinged folder that can’t be subjected to near the workload or abuse, regardless of the quality of steel. You’ve got well made full-length swords selling for far less than some pocket knives today! That’s just crazy! Even most small fixed blades have more steel in them than a large folder. As someone who uses his edged tools for more than show and tell and opening packages from amazon, $100+ for pocket carry isn’t something I’ll likely ever be in the market for. The design of this knife fit a niche I just couldn’t resist, a folder that seemingly replaces disposable razor knives and snap-offs, and an extremely hefty make at that. Regardless of whether it's actual tool steel or a feasibly unenforceable design infringement (I’m not sure which brand they might be copying with this design, but they’re not the only one’s selling this exact knife at a budget price on amazon), the price was too low to pass up. And for all I know they could be coming from the same factory in China, just with lower quality parts. I don't know if this blade is tool steel, nor is it cost effective to find out, if you don’t know someone who works in that type of lab. The blade hasn’t needed resharpening yet, after a couple weeks of light use. If it's not D2, that wouldn't deter me from buying this knife again. Not in the slightest. In fact, the quality I’m seeing with this knife has me almost eager to try out some other Eafengrow folders. The notion that the manufacturer might willfully misrepresent their product is FAR more of a deterrent than the type of steel in this case, as it makes you question every aspect of the design. I debated gambling on Eafengrow for weeks, since so many of their positive knife reviews were clearly graded based on the customer’s trust that what they'd bought was genuine D2. It’s important to know exactly what kind of steel you’re using, to better take care of it and know what the material can reasonably be subjected to. The knife's fit and finish is quite good. Not polished like a showpiece. It looks and feels made to be used, but still mighty handsome. And you won't find a sharper factory edge on anything shy of a straight razor built for shaving. The hollow grind makes for a great cutter and it’s tipped sharply, making the knife ideally suited for box-cutter or razor knife oriented tasks, especially those where the thinness of a disposable blade might cause it to break. I wanted it specifically for cutting leather and couldn't be happier with it’s performance in that regard. A beefy knife, with classical styling. The metal liners are almost as robust as the full 1/8 inch thick blade. The action is smooth, just enough tension not to be too loose or too stiff to be the cause of an accident. But, those carrying in loose pockets, might need to tighten the pivot screw a bit to avoid accidental opening, depending on how active you are. The knife doesn’t open easily when shaken, but if you shake it hard AND in right direction (toward the lever), it will open, not to mention something could inadvertently catch the protruding lever itself. Of course there’s no lockup on this folder. Considering the blade geometry, the blade shouldn’t ever close on you when cutting or piercing. But, in case anybody from Eafengrow is reading, pivoting bars could have been added at key points to better secure the blade both open and closed. If the use of D2 is critical to you, there's reason to be leery with the Eafengrow line, maybe even more so with this model considering the price point. Though we have seen more credible brands use D2 in the 20-30 dollar range, so who knows... If you're looking for a classic style folder with as hair popping edge this definitely fits the bill. Update: pictures added.

This is a crazy good value for 9 dollars on sale or 12 normal price. It's actually hard to believe they can make a knife this good and sell it for around ten bucks and actually make anything. The quality is shockingly good considering the price. Fit and finish is pretty good and overall build quality is solid as a rock. Call me impressed! Now out the package mine was WAY to free and would open and close with no friction basically so I simply tightened it up until it because stiff enough to open that I knew it wouldn't just open in my pocket so thats no problem really and mine had a pretty dull factory edge. Not really a problem at all for me because I'm a professional sharpener so it's getting my edge anyhow. While the factory edge was pretty well dull (what is dull to me would be considered very sharp to most people) but the edge bevel was consistent so that made it of no issue, the factory edge bevel started at the heel at about 22 degrees per side and tapered off to about 20 degrees per side at the tip so fairly consistent for a factory edge and of no issue for me beings I was going to drop it down to 15 degrees per side anyhow. My knife came at about 13-14 thousandths of an inch behind the edge so nice and thin and slicey and once knocked down to 15 degrees per side it's like a little laser beam slicer. Now for what makes it loose two stars. Eafengrow has been caught before with saying knives was in D2 steel only to be caught that it was actually 8cr14mov on most and a couple even tested at 5cr15mov. Now the new owners said that they guaranteed any knives stated to be D2 would be and I'm here to say that this knife is absolutely 100% not D2. Now I still think it's a great deal because it's a cool and useful little knife that is only 12 bucks normal price on prime and it's awesome for that price. But why not be honest and state the correct steel on the blade and in the listing rather than saying it's D2 and etching D2 on the blade when it's most definitely not D2. How do I know it's not D2? Because when I sharpened it it's no where near wear resistant enough to be D2 and in the cut test I did it scored right in the middle of where 5cr scores and it sharpened exactly how low alloy simply stainless steels sharpen telling me that it's either 5cr or 7cr and it's also very soft as can easiky be felt on the sharpening stones as well, soft as it 56-57hrc range and that's way to soft for D2 but it's in the range on where 5cr should be so I'm willing to bet that it's 5cr and gonna do a PMI scan on it in the work shop here shortly (I have access to a PMI Xray scanner to check steel compositions) and poke it with the HRC tester to see where it is hardness wise. Now for 10 bucks or so the edge retention is perfectly fine and will do great for light work like opening boxes and breaking down boxes and will be easy for anyone to keep sharp on any abrasive they have. They just shouldn't lie about it, they got caught the first time about 4 years ago and then caught a whole bunch more times and swore up and down that it would be fixed when the new owners took over and it would never happen again and guess what? It's happened again and that's unacceptable. I'm gonna keep the knife because it's a cool little piece and the price makes it not even worth returning. I really wish Eafengrow would stop making clone designs and would stop lying about steel and they would be a much more popular brand in the budget knife Community but as is we aren't a group that puts up to much with china companies that clone US knives and sell them and we aren't OK with companies that lie about the steel composition of the knife. They do make some really well built and good quality budget knives and a lot of them have been PMI tested and are the steel that's stated but there are still some that aren't and that's just wrong and they need to stop, just like they need to stop selling clones. Them closing Strider knives is just lame and is what makes me not even consider buying from them (this was an exception because of the price and I really like Russlock style knives) 99.9% of the time. I'll update this with what steel it test as and what the Hrc is with a Pic of the PMI scan and a pic of the hrc. Now with that sakd if the knife is in 5cr at 55-57rc it's still sell well sort 9-12bucks as it's a cool design and it will cut well as it's a fairly thin hollow grind so if they listed the steel correctly this is a 5 star knife for the price all day long BUT with them lying about the steel that forces me to remove two stars just because it's foolish and it's a case of China companies doing what China companies do and what drives people away from wanting to support China knife companies. Just price the knife right, run it at a reasonable hardness for that composition of steel and be honest about the steel (and stop cloning US knife designs) and all would be good. But no stay stubborn and keep on lying about the steels and driving people away because they can't trust the brand to be honest.

I purchased this with some doubt about the quality and was totally surprised at the level of fit and finish the knife has. This is a FRICTION Joint knife and as such has NO LOCK whatsoever for the blade. It is an old design that has been used for centuries on knives of this sort. It is not common in America, but in most of the world its not uncommon. I personally like Friction Joint knives because I use them as they intended to be used. Too many people buy a knife and try to pry things with it, drive screws and nails with it, cut stone, split steel bands, etc... basically most folks use a knife for everything that a knife should not be used for. Well if you do that with this knife your going to end up with a few less digits than you started with, LOL. If on the other hand you want a high quality well made straight edge knife that does what a knife should then this is the knife for you! It is made of genuine stainless steel of some sort that is very well hardened and tempered. The edge hold ability is equal to or better that that of several brand name knives that I paid way too much for. Is it actually D2 tool steel? I doubt it because most of the D2 I have seen will rust worse than cast iron in salt water when touched. And this steel definitely doesn't exhibit that quality at all. It is a very good steel that as I said hold an edge very well and is fairly easy to sharpen. For the price I paid $11 it is a fantastic bargain. YMMV

I don't normally write reviews BUT I read them for the negative comments to determine if I can live w/the problems before I purchase. That said, this knife is a very nice piece of craftsmanship, well made, wood is beautiful. The problem is that I purchased it anticipating that it would be used as a pocket knife. What I found was that it is extremely dangerous as a pocket knife because of it's construction. The blade has a short tang that extends beyond the body of the knife and it is possible (can show you cuts) to drop it into your pocket and the tang will open the blade slightly and you can cut yourself reaching in your pocket to extract the knife. In addition, the blade when fully opened, does not have a lock to maintain it in the open position. I now keep the knife on a workbench where it will be used. That said I would purchase the knife again (even at a higher Price) with the deficiency corrected.

This must be the best cheap knife in the world! Wow! This knife is super sharp. I ripped through some boxes and shaved some hair afterwards. I'm pretty impressed. The blade is centered, beefy, it's D2, the redwood is attractive, and the edge is lethal. It opens smoothly and has a satisfying click. It doesn't appear to be a good knife to keep in your pocket. I can see the blade working itself free and slashing a deep cut in your thigh. I'm very happy with the blade and think this is a fine knife. I'd be careful to keep your thumb planted on the back side while using it. It's a blade that you have to pay attention to. EDIT: I still like this knife. It has dept it's razor edge after some more box cutting work. The thing that I wanted to add is when your thumb slips off the hold, that super sharp blade right in line to chop your index finger. I know it's a classic peasant knife with a wharncliffe blade, but someone is going to get a real nasty cut when the blade breaks back on them. I still love this knife and find all the components to be high quality. I would like to see a better system to help secure the blade, even if it was like a twisting bolster on an Opinel.

I dare you to find a friction folder of this quality under 200$. I work for an abrasives company that caters to custom knife makers and also does heat treating. So I see, feel, and handle custom knives all day. Just to name a few models I own.. Benchmade Sibert Adamas 275, Zero Tolerance Sinkevich design 0456 in cts204p, Zero Tolerance Les George design 0920 in cmp20cv, as well as several Kizers. Please don't let the made in China deter you. This knife is of as good quality as many customs you can buy at over 100$ more. I would and probably will buy more eafengow products. I've spent more on a freaking hdmi cable for crying out loud lol!!! On to the knife it's self.. it is a classic friction folder. It came razor sharp and costs less than a good Home Depot box cutter. The rosewood scales are very classy and beautiful. These are true burl scales. The D2 steel is very good so far and FYI D2 is a very tough steel. The knife will need a little tightening on the pivot, but that's fine. If I had to compare this company to something, I'd say they are comparable to condor knife and tool, just a bit better than Condor actually.