A Hands-On Review of the Sencut Sachse Button Lock Pocketknife
The Sachse is an intriguing offering from Sencut; Sencut being the budget version of Civivi, which is the budget version of We Knife. All three brands are part of the same company and, if my understanding is correct, made in the same production facility in China.
One of the big shakeups in the knife biz in the last couple of years has been the rise and expansion of We/Civivi/Sencut knives. These three brands have been putting out new releases at a breakneck pace—Civivi knives in particular have become inescapable, especially if you shop knives on Amazon—but their omnipresence is not, in and of itself, the only reason the industry has taken notice.
The real head-turner is that these knives are actually good. And if a Chinese company can make knives that are competitively priced and high enough quality to play with the big boys, there’s no reason they shouldn’t deserve a place at the table. That’s the free market, baby.
But today we’re here to talk about one knife in particular: the Sencut Sachse. I’ve heard some chatter about the Sachse being one of the best new pocket folders under $50, so let’s see how it holds up on its own merit.
Sencut Sachse: First Impressions
Okay Sencut, I see you. A thumb stud, flipper tab and a button lock? And a ceramic ball bearing too? Not bad.
This thing is super smooth, really easy to carry, comfortable in my hand, substantial but not bulky, and has a beautiful blade shape. If you’re a fidgeter, you’ll have a hard time putting this down. It’s easy to see why it stands out at $46.
It’s also easy to see that Sencut and Civivi are made by the same company. The Sachse shares a lot of DNA with several knives in the Civivi lineup (the Conspirator I reviewed is probably the closest comparison, but I think the Sachse is a much better value) with the main difference being that Sencuts are made with somewhat more budget-conscious materials.
Oh, one more thing. Sachse is pronounced “sack-see” apparently, not “sash,” which I’m pretty sure I’m never going to get right.
Measurements & Specs
Here are the basics: the Sachse has a 3.47” long, 0.12″ thick drop point blade made of 9Cr18MoV stainless steel. The knife has an overall length of 7.81″ and a closed length of 4.34″. Closed width in the pocket is 1.6”, and it weighs 3.9 oz.
As a hybrid thumb flipper with a button lock you have multiple deployment methods. Inside the pivot is a brass-caged ceramic ball bearing.The liners are highly skeletonized and made of stainless steel; over top of that you have various scale options. The version I’m playing with has tan-colored Micarta scales, but G10 and wood are also available for about the same price, give or take a couple bucks.
Blade Shape & Steel
I’m truly a big fan of the Sencut Sachse’s blade. Though it’s usually described as a drop-point, I think it would be more accurate to call it a spear point blade since the tip is in line with the pivot. It has a super fine point that makes it a great blade for piercing, and is also a formidable slicer with just the right amount of belly.
The Sachse has a beautifully executed flat grind (the evenness of the grind is one of the details that makes this knife stand out in its price range). There’s some nice jimping at the rear of the spine that provides some thumb texture if you’re using the knife with a saber grip, and also on the flipper tab, which becomes part of the finger choil when the knife is open.
As for the steel, 9Cr18MoV is pretty decent budget stainless steel, and it can be taken to the next level with good heat treatment, which seems to be the case here. It has a very high carbon content, and both Civivi and Sencut seem to do a really good job with 9Cr18MoV.
The steel has excellent hardness and corrosion resistance. The edge retention didn’t blow me away, but it is better than most low-end stainless steels. Mine came very sharp from the factory, and after the usual battery of testing—cutting paper, cardboard, rope, rubber tubing and wood—it had noticeably dulled but still had a decent edge.
Deployment & Lockup
Man, the Sachse is smoooooth. The flipper tab works like a light switch, and the thumb stud makes it easy to either flick or slow-roll the blade into the open position. Once there, it’s locked in tight. There’s just the tiniest bit of side-to-side play in the blade, but none up-and-down.
The button lock provides quick and smooth release, with no sticking that I can detect. You can also deploy the knife by pressing the lock button and swinging the blade open. The thumb studs are smooth and comfortable, and the flipper tab is easy to engage. All of the above works equally well right- or left-handed.
I’d have to say that the Sencut Sachse strikes just the right balance between deploying in the blink of an eye while also closing with enough security that the risk of unintentional deployment feels nonexistent. I’ve bought flipper knives way more expensive than this that didn’t work nearly as flawlessly.
Comfort & Carry
The Sencut Sachse is very comfortable in my hand and in my pocket. It has a reversible pocket clip for ambidextrous tip-up carry. It’s a good-quality stainless steel clip, identical to what I’ve seen on some other Sencut and Civivi knives.
The clip is perfectly placed on the knife for excellent deep-pocket carry. It’s also good and tight without feeling like it’s going to wear through my jeans. If I were feeling nit-picky, I might suggest that a recessed pocket clip would be nice, but it’s such a small concern that it barely warrants mentioning.
Fit & Finish
Nobody should expect an under-$50 knife to be flawless, but the fit and finish of the Sachse is really impressive. Nothing about this knife looks or feels cheap. From the blade’s satin finish, excellent grind and perfect centering to the rounded liner edges and absence of marks and scuffs, this is just really well done. The knife is also well-balanced, with the balance point just behind the center of the finger choil. Only the spine jimping feels a little sharp, but it doesn’t bug me much.
The scales are also nicely aligned with the liners, though with both having rounded-off edges, microscopic precision isn’t really required in that area. Speaking of which, let’s talk about the scales.
I chose Micarta over the G10 and wood options, and I’m happy with that choice. Sencut has used a nice, soft, Micarta that provides phenomenal grip texture. It stays in my palm firmly, no questions asked, and also has a distressed appearance that looks good right out of the box, but also hides wear nicely.
Maybe it’s because I got the tan-colored Micarta, but I half expected the scales to disintegrate like a wad of wet paper towels upon contact with water. Obviously, that isn’t the case. The Micarta is every bit as water-resistant as it’s supposed to be.
Final Thoughts on the Sencut Sachse
We live in a time when the market is absolutely flooded with budget knives, even as good knives are becoming more and more expensive. That makes it, paradoxically perhaps, harder than ever to find a really good knife that doesn’t cost a lot of money.
That said, I’ve found very few knives in the $40-$50 range that can beat the Sencut Sachse. Lower-end steel is the only thing that gives this knife away as a budget offering; everything else about it looks and feels like a much pricier knife than it actually is.
Yes, you can spend more and get a better knife. Of course. But I can think of no better entry-level button lock, and that alone makes this a great option if you’re interested in that style (I will say, for the record, that button locks are not my favorite locks because they’re more likely to fail in the long run than say, a good quality frame lock).
Ultimately, the Sencut Sachse more than earns its place among the best budget EDC knives. It’s comfortable to carry, operates smoothly, and has a jack-of-all-trades blade shape that can do pretty much any task. At this price point, the Sachse meets or beats all of my expectations.
Blair Witkowski is an avid watch nut, loves pocket knives and flashlights, and when he is not trying to be a good dad to his nine kids, you will find him running or posting pics on Instagram. Besides writing articles for Tech Writer EDC he is also the founder of Lowcountry Style & Living. In addition to writing, he is focused on improving his client’s websites for his other passion, Search Engine Optimization. His wife Jennifer and he live in coastal South Carolina.
