My thoughts on a Chris Reeve verses a Rick Hinderer

[elasmonut]

cofade2black I agree I think the sebenza and the hinederer are very different knives with the edge geometry being the biggest difference I've handled botn and the sebenza is designed to cut, the hinderer is designed to be hard core, whatever that is.

[kaosu04]

When rick thought about a new knife idea he must have been envisioning a situation where Godzilla attacks and wanted a pocket knife capable of skinning him. Thus the xm was born

[stevekolt]

When rick thought about a new knife idea he must have been envisioning a situation where Godzilla attacks and wanted a pocket knife capable of skinning him. Thus the xm was born

Great!!!

I own a number of both Chris and Rick's knives. Love 'em all. That said, one thing that Chris has over all the other makers that I'm aware of, is that he offers his designs in a dedicated left hand version. As a lefty, it is nice to see a manufacturer taking that into consideration.

[emel]

This is like the ever ongoing discussion what car brand is the better one, BMW, Mercedes or Audi...all are awesome in their own way and are great quality cars, its just a matter of taste.

And in one way I think its good some of us prefer CRK to Hinderer, otherwise the secondary market prices would be even higher, and it also leaves more knives available for me to buy

[kaosu04]

i have the 3.5 inch xm18. it really makes me wonder how much smaller the 3 inch is. sometimea you just can't tell until you hold both

[chili77]

...and it also leaves more knives available for me to buy

Don't you already own all!!! Hinderers out there?!?!

[chris975d]

I have all the mentioned knives and a lot of them. I also have the newer Striders, which I am VERY IMPRESSED with their new lock face and increased QC. IMHO, Strider rivals Hinderer now.
XM's and Sebenza's are different animals. It all depends on what your use will be and that will determine which knife is the best. I don't need the stoutness of my Striders or Hinderers but I greatly appreciate their quality and design. if my finances hit a cliff and I had to sell off most of my collection, my CRK's would stay with me.
Now, that's not to say that the Sebenza is the best but it is the most practical of the bunch, carries extremely well and the design is easily serviceable. I do hate the secondary market price of the XM's but if CR would just build a knife with better steel with sprint runs, I guarantee that the Sebenza secondary market price would climb. Let's say CR did sprint runs of about 200 "regular Sebenza's using better steels that did't dull sitting in your pocket, everyone would be talking more about CRK. We will never get it as I feel CR is winding down and no successor in position.

I agree with BBQ Boy (as well as the others in the thread) that have stated that comparing XMs vs. Sebenzas isn't really a valid comparison. The usage scenario of each knife as envisioned by the actual makers is totally different. Sure, they are both folding knives, but that's about like comparing a Hummer to a Porsche because they both are automobiles.

XMs are designed primarily for the people Mr. Hinderer sells direct to...first responders, active military, etc. People that need a folding knife that can stand up to a serious beating and still perform. It's designed as an EDC for THEM, not really for the average person. Sure, the "average person" can carry one, and it'll handle their cutting tasks, but I'd venture to say it's "overbuilt" for the vast majority of non "first responders/active duty" people that carry them. And that's fine. Many people like having the peace of mind knowing that there's virtually no way they can tear up their tools, even if they will never push it to even 50% of its limit.

CRK Sebenzas seem to be designed more as a really good, all-purpose, medium duty EDC with a more traditional design/profile. Nothing wrong with that, either. I'd say (my opinion) that it actually fits the usage pattern of the "average Joe" better than a "hard use" folder. In general, it's going to be a better "slicer", which seems to be what most "average Joes" need day in, day out. But it might not take the severe punishment of a heavy batoning session or prying the door of a car open. That's the trade off.

TL;DR...I don't think you can compare the two (XM vs. CRK) in terms of intended usages. They are totally different. You've got a hard use knife compared to a "general use" knife. I own multiple knives from both makers, but would never compare them on usage. A more valid comparsion would be within their own categories...XMs to SnGs, SMFs, and CRKs more to the likes of Mayos, maybe most of JW Smith's work, etc (aka, "moderate/general" duty use).

[emel]

Don't you already own all!!! Hinderers out there?!?!

Not quite yet

i have the 3.5 inch xm18. it really makes me wonder how much smaller the 3 inch is. sometimea you just can't tell until you hold both

The 3" is a lot smaller in every way, its completely downscaled except for the pocket clip. Here are some comparison shots XM-18 3" and 3.5" and 4" XM-24.

[Ken44]

I got to try out an XM18 in a pass around, and I prefer the Sebenza myself.
The XM was a very well made knife, and was a tank of a folder. I just don't like a knife with that much handle drop, and prefer the straight handle of the Sebenza.

[kaosu04]

its odd that no one compares it to the umnumzan, which is crk's hard use folder

[lisantica]

I think the nice thing about both Chris Reeve knives, and Hinderer's are their resale value. You can use them and there is always a market of buyers waiting to purchase them second-hand....and the icing on the cake is they retain their value fairly well, increase in value sometimes.

[김원진]

But you always buy the good CRK's first

I think the nice thing about both Chris Reeve knives, and Hinderer's are their resale value. You can use them and there is always a market of buyers waiting to purchase them second-hand....and the icing on the cake is they retain their value fairly well, increase in value sometimes.

[lisantica]

True, I am one of the "market buyers"

[roughneckrob]

I have a few Sebenzas and other Chris Reeve knives and they are IMO the greatest folding knife on earth. I have never even held a Hinderer but if I were going to the battle field I would trade all my Sebenzas in for one XM24 and vies versa. I also feel that Strider could meet a Hinderer head to head in the military application as well, I have a Strider SNG and it is a very robust and fit and finish is great on mine. In the end I am a Canadian Civilian and my Sebenza is perfect in every way.

[Jfoley4]

after reading this whole thread there are a couple things that stand out.

both makers have many fans and followers, hence they are some of the biggest names in the knife world. You like what you like its part of the hobby. I just dont get why people get upset about things when they buy something, find out they dont like it, sell it for what they paid.

If you dont understand the hinderer pricing and secondary mark up you are living in a production world. Getting a knife at the makers table price is a privilege. if the demand is higher than the supply this happens.

crk obviously makes more knives, they are available on many websites as we speak.

[Seven1Niner]

^^ If the Chinese are copying them indeed Hinderer and CRK have many fans and followers.

[jasonp]

Like many other have said, apples and oranges. The XM-18 is a beast of a knife designed to go through hell and back while a Sebenze is designed to be more of a gentleman's folder IMO. While the CRK can be used for hard use, it is not in the ball park of a hinderer for taking a beating. You are correct though, my sebenza is better at delicate tasks like peeling apples, food prep, opening envelopes, etc. Both are great knives but it really depends on what your looking for.

[dextertron]

Interesting why Strider doesn't come up on this debate as often as I anticipated. Is there something political going on? I agree with the folks that say CRK has a higher level of build quality than most knives but I can't say it's any better than a Hinderer because I've never held one... but I have a feeling it is. It's not like I expect it to be any better either when considering Rick's MSRP. Obviously the hinderer is tougher/more robust than the CRK (at least the sebenza but probably the zaan as well) but still... what about STRIDER? The warantee on a strider begs the knife to be used in prying a door open. What happens if you break a Hinderer? Honestly, I don't know enough about Hinderer knives to go any further with this at all--because I can't afford to even consider one.

[김원진]

where did these orange ones come from!? unless you just switched scales, if you didn't then.....

soon enough we'll see a thread for comparing striders,, if we're lucky we'll get a video from nutnfancy doing comparisons

Interesting why Strider doesn't come up on this debate as often as I anticipated. Is there something political going on?

[tomsch]

No comparison at all. CRK quality is so much higher that I'm suprised that this is even in this forum. I sold my Gen3 3.5" Hinderer because it had blade rub, and more importantly, a detent that was so weak that it would open in the pocket.