I recently purchased a Bestech Warwolf from an offering on Massdrop. Yes, Massdrop feeds my accumulation disposition. But I generally buy only items that I’m really interested in and are at a favorable price. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was tempted by a couple of the Bestech knives over the last six months.
My first Bestech is the Swordfish. I’ll have to make a couple of photographs of it and post them, along with some comments, later. It’s on my list of things to do…
The Swordfish is about a half-inch longer than the Warwolf. I’d call the Warwolf a 3-1/2-inch blade. This is a very comfortable length for me to pocket carry and the Warwolf carries a bit better than the Swordfish. So the Warwolf is often carried.
The blade is D2 tool steel. This is a good steel for knives, not the best, but far from the worst. It’s strong and tough and holds an edge reasonable well. It’s also a carbon steel and requires some care (a little oil regularly).
The scales are G10. I love G10 for scales. It is warm, reasonably grippy, tough, and looks good. The frame is also steel and is chamfered so there are no sharp edges. The scales are fit well to the frame. The lockup is solid and relatively easy to release one-handed. The blade deploys via a flipper. The blade is fitted on a bearing that is very smooth and the blade is smooth in the frame but there is not detectable play. A really nice feature is a detent when the blade is closed that prevents it from falling open when handled.
These knives are part of Bestech’s value line. The MSRP is in the $65 range, but they can be bought for about $40. That is an excellent value. As much as I love my Kershaw Blurs, I think this blade is a step up from them. It has much of the character of a more expensive blade but at an excellent price point.
They are Chinese made. When I learned this, I was surprised. It made me recall the stigma of Japanese-produced goods when I was a child. The reputation is that Chinese-made goods are of inferior quality. That is not my experience with Bestech knives.
My only issue with my instance was a small error in the factory grind. I found a small area just toward the tip of the blade that was not as sharp as the remainder of the edge. The fix was relatively easy — I put the blade in my KME sharpener and rebeveled the forward portion of the edge. (I also sharpened the remaining edge to be consistent with my fix.) I’m not completely satisfied with my result and will probably adjust the bevel on my next honing session for this blade. But I now have a very sharp Warwolf with nearly a mirror edge.
I would recommend a Bestech knife without reservation. They are a very good blade at the price point. I expect there will be another Bestech knife in my collection before too many months pass.