Firebird FH31-BK

Fantastic knife for the money! It lacks jimping on the spine of the blade but I added it myself. It's a little heavy for its size due to the blade thickness and having solid (non-skeletonized) liners, it's a medium-sized heavy-duty knife. It's an attractive (aesthetically pleasing) knife with great fit and finish, doesn't look cheap at all. The action is smooth and lockup is tight. Ganzo Firebird knives are a great value. They're quality knives that are inexpensive enough to not worry about using, or losing. They would make great inexpensive gifts, why give a crappy gift when you can give a nice knife for around $25?

I first came to appreciate the practicality of this relatively straight cutting edge style blade from carrying the slightly smaller and sleeker Ganzo FH51 (now hard to find). Like that model, this knife has the feel of a quality tool — built to exacting tolerances, with a low friction bearing and finger flick opening ergonomics. No pretensions, no sharp edges. Just the right design that’s easy on your pocket — and your pocketbook.

Overall, very nice for the price. I have several Ganzo and Firebird knives, and I think even though the Firbird brand is made by Ganzo, the Firebirds are just slightly cheaper quality. The first things I noticed with this knife was that the machined-edges on the scales and the back of the blade did not have an edge-break or radius. They were machined to sharp corners. This is not a big deal because I can smooth them out with Scotch-brite myself, but it was noticeable that the components had not been hand-finished very thoroughly. The other thing was that the blade edge was very smooth and reasonably sharp, but it could be sharper. It did not shave my arm-hair and the paper test was just "ok" in my opinion. The action flips open smoothly and the bearings don't wiggle or feel loose. The fitment of all the parts is pretty nice. All in all, quite a nice little knife for the value. I'm very happy with it.

When I ordered this knife, I read through reviews that said they had Rockwell tested the blade and verified it was the hardness of D2 steel, which is what it's advertised as and what stamped on the blade. For the price point, that already makes this a deal. The other features I was looking for were the cleaver style of blade, assisted open, and the location of the pocket clip. I had no huge expectations above and beyond that. This far exceeded my expectations. The assisted open is very smooth, and it locks firmly in place with no wobble horizontally. It is also SUPER sharp. Out of the box, this was sharp enough to shave my arm and cut through the Amazon package it came in with no more than the weight of the blade itself. There was no resistance at all. Next, I cut through coconut fiber mat with very little resistance by puncturing the inside of the mat. From the edge, there was a little more resistance, but that's really a testament to how sharp this is. I can't speak on the subject of edge retention yet, but color me impressed so far. I expected to hold an edge fairly well just being that it's made from D2 steel. The card that came with it advertised it as laser sharpened, which I don't remember being a selling point when I was going through the product information, but something worth noting

Pros: The knife seems well made. The blade is material is decent and comes pretty sharp. It comes with a deep pocket clip that is ambidextrous. Overall, it looks and feels good with some minor issues. Cons: The knife I received did not have the blue anodized pin as shown in the pictures. I know that is a small detail, but it was something liked about the knife so it's disappointing. The action is pretty stiff, and the blade won't open all the way to a locking position without using some wrist action. If it had a thumb stud to help open it all the way, it wouldn't matter as much but this knife does not have one. The carbon fiber looks great but be aware that it's really smooth and offers zero grip. I haven't decided if I'm going to return it because I'm lazy and I don't hate the knife...

I love the blade design. D2 steel. Hair shaving sharp. Smooth action but not as smooth as my FH41. The carbon fiber is not as grippy as G10 and looks a little "mall ninja". I wish I got the G10 version instead but I'm keeping it because I don't have another knife in carbon fiber. One thing I had to do was file the jimping down. It is in a unnecessary position and your finger hits it when you flick the knife open. This becomes uncomfortable when you are flicking this thing for hours like I did. Overall great knife but I would recommend it in G10 over carbon fiber and I like the Ganzo FH41 better. Ganzo's are the best value for the money, so no regrets.

This is my fifth Ganzo. For the price you can't beat the quality and craftsmanship. The D2 tool steel keeps an edge for a good while. The ceramic caged bearing pivot makes the action smooth as silk and the lock is tight, no wiggle up and down or left and right. All the men in my family are getting Ganzo's for Christmas this year.

My Comments • This is a medium size, thin and light pocket folder knife. It feels very thin yet is sturdy in the hand due to the stainless steel liners and 0.160” thick G-10 scales construction. The handle scales are flat sided, Green G-10 fiberglass with slight texturing which mimics micarta. • The blade spine is flat with profoundly squared off corner edges that feel un-comfortable. No thumb jimping on the spine but both liners are jimped just behind the pivot and blade spine. • Blade can only be opened using the finger flipper tab on the blade spine. No thumb studs provided. • Very crisp detents. The blade snaps open. Blade will drop shut and is very smooth. • The frame lock spring tension is quite stiff when attempting to unlock it. Not dragging, just stiff.