The $50 Knife That Will Do Just About Anything: SENCUT Traxler Knife Review

“Once in a while, you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right” — was the Grateful Dead thinking of the 2024 blade market when the band wrote Scarlet Begonias? Certainly not; but that timeless lyric pretty much sums up the wave of affordable options that is taking over the world of knives today.

Whereas a few years ago, no one who relied on a knife would consider paying less than $100 for an EDC, now — thanks to a few growing brands — it happens all the time.

Two of those brands are WE Knife Co. and CIVIVI. Sister companies, both have continued to offer up banger after banger — folding and fixed-blade knives that go toe-to-toe with brands like Benchmade and Spyderco, for a lower price. The brands have even made it a point to include ball bearings around the pivots of their folding knives, a premium feature found in blades twice the price.

In 2020, the portfolio expanded to include SENCUT. This third brand was developed to be the budget brand. So, it’s all a bit of a hierarchy, and it’s trending. Just like WE Knife started to pick up market share, so did CIVIVI.

There’s no doubt in my mind that SENCUT will begin to fill in the blanks in its market segment as well. If I had any doubts about the SENCUT brand, they went out the window once I started to mess around with the Traxler, a $50 full-size flipper with a high-ground stainless steel, sheepsfoot blade.

In short: WE Knife’s budget brand proves that you don’t have to pay high prices to get a reliable knife. The SENCUT Traxler is a high-performing, dependable EDC for less than $50. There are some subtle things, like the liner lock, that seem less refined than a WE or CIVIVI knife, but for $47, I am very impressed with both the form and function of this knife.

SENCUT Traxler Knife Review

We Knife, CIVIVI, SENCUT Difference

In the company structure, WE Knife stands as the premium brand in the lineup, CIVIVI serves the everyday market, and SENCUT targets affordable options. All three brands produce quality, reliable knives from dependable materials, but there are differences.

You can buy a WE Knife with an S35VN blade, where the highest-rated steel at CIVIVI may be 14C28N. These are both comparable stainless knife steels, but S35VN is considered a premium steel and has better edge retention than 14C28N. SENCUT’s top knife steel, meanwhile, is 9Cr18MoV. It’s also stainless, but doesn’t hold an edge as well and isn’t as abrasion-resistant as 14C28N.

Design & Features

At 8.09 inches, the SENCUT Traxler is a full-sized folding flipper knife. Built off of stainless steel liners and G10 handle scales, the Traxler sports a 3.49-inch, satin-finished 9Cr18MoV stainless steel sheepsfoot blade. Like most flippers that don’t use a crossbar-style lock, the Traxler employs a low-profile liner lock to keep the blade locked up tight.

One surprising feature that I always welcome on a flipper is the inclusion of ceramic ball bearings around the pivot. These offer silky-smooth deployment. As I said earlier, WE Knife made it a point to bake this premium feature into all the brand’s knives. I was happy to see it trickle down to CIVIVI, and now it’s awesome to have it on the $47 SENCUT Traxler.

So, what’s missing, then? What makes this knife a $47 knife when it has materials and features that grace other $100 options? Part of it is the steel. Is it good steel? Yes, 9Cr18MoV is a great stainless steel.

But it is less abrasion-resistant than a steel like 14C28N and provides less edge retention. That translates to a knife blade that will show more wear and tear and need to be sharpened more regularly.

Another point I noticed as part of the unboxing, was the liner lock. Though fully functional and very effective, it has some serious resistance in it. At this point, I don’t know if it will inhibit function (being able to depress it), but I will keep an eye on it throughout further testing and will update this review with any issues I notice.

First Impressions

I have become a big fan of both WE Knife and CIVIVI knives over the last couple of years. So I was excited to get my hands on a SENCUT knife. I see a lot of knives in my line of work. I have developed an eye and a feel when things are off.

So here’s the problem with the Traxler: nothing is really off about it. This leads me to believe I should find something. Instead of looking for problems, I try to let them reveal themselves to me. I identified the liner lock as being a bit of a bear to depress. But I’ve had that happen on $200 knives, too.

Beyond that, how can you go wrong with G10 and stainless steel? Maybe WE Knife found a way to make sure all of its brands produce great knives and only years down the road, after extended use and abuse, do they start to break down.

From the start, the flipper action on the Traxler remained smooth and the lock-up significant. I assumed I might have to throw a little grease in the wheel to make this sucker deploy so well. But I’m glad to be wrong.

Also, the balance feels really nice on this knife. I can hold it up with one finger and let it level off right behind the pivot screw. This means the Traxler has the ability to perform like a scalpel. For a budget steel, the 9Cr18MoV is razor sharp. I have a feeling that not only will this knife make a worthy EDC, but also a solid work knife.

In the Field

I don’t shift my approach to a knife because of its price tag. So, I didn’t pull any punches with the Traxler. In fact, if anything, I might have been a little more extreme with it than I expected due to sheer timing. From May through September, I’m usually outside in my gardens, building or repairing something — on top of being out and about in the outdoors testing other gear.

My field experience with the Traxler started with cutting up root balls to plant new plants and bushes. I had a real hankering for a new Mountain Laurel at the top of the yard.

The sheepsfoot blade on the Traxler came in handy to get some roots out of the way, and to prune back some surrounding flora. It also worked great for scoring compacted soil to loosen it up, and to break up and mix soil for some new houseplants.

The real test came when I had to replace a couple of rotted wooden steps down to the house. I used the Traxler to pry up a couple of the boards where I couldn’t get my hands around them. I don’t recommend prying stuff with a knife to anyone. However, if you’re going to pry with your knife, a sheepsfoot blade is the way to go — especially one that has a reinforced tip like the Traxler.

When it came to carrying the Traxler as an EDC, it went unnoticed in my back pocket whenever it was there. The knife is thin and long, which helps give it such a great handhold and offers excellent control over the blade.

Its ergonomics also keep your hand from getting tired. That said, the Traxler slides down and tucks nicely into the corner of your pocket.

In Conclusion

My professional experience with knives and knife materials aside, I had no idea that I would be digging in the dirt with the Traxler, but would I have done it with a $350 knife? Sure as heck. We covet things that cost us more money. But we also think those things are automatically going to perform better because they cost more money.

So, as the Grateful Dead so presciently noted, once in a while we get shown the light in the strangest of places. Who knew that would take the form of a $50 knife doing all of the work around the house? Sometimes you need to look beyond the names and the popularity aspect, and consider what you’re going to do with the knife you’re looking for.

The Traxler’s 9Cr18MoV is a great stainless steel. You also know that the trade-off, at least with the Traxler, is that the liner lock is a little hard to use. But after a month, I can’t find anything else to say about this knife that isn’t complimentary.

WE Knife is now a household name in the knife world, and if CIVIVI isn’t, it’s not far behind. But don’t sleep on SENCUT. If the Traxler is an example of what you can expect from this value brand, then there’s no need to lower your standards. This knife will do anything most of us need it to do.