A PSA for the Umnumzaan

J

jfowler1

Joined
Apr 18, 2017
Messages
76
Just a quick public service announcement for new owners of an Umnumzaan.

I received my knife brand new from a dealer on Monday afternoon. It was manufactured in Oct 2017. I stripped it down and applied some fresh grease.

My knife was very stiff and difficult to open, and blade centering favored the show scale ever so slightly.

Over two days, I played with it constantly through full range of motion. On Wednesday morning, I stripped it down again and removed all of the freshly worn metal. Added some more grease, and reset the pivot.

I noticed at lunch time that as I opened it, the blade would finish the last 50% of lock up on its own.

By late afternoon, I could flick it right open like you see on all of those YouTube videos.

Not only is the knife now perfectly smooth, but the centering has also corrected itself. It seemed like the detent just needed to wear itself into place.

Coming from a Sebenza, this Umnumzaan took a lot of muscle memory and mechanical break in, but it was well worth it.

So if a new owner is feeling frustrated, allow yourself a few days for your knife and thumb to break in before flipping your new Umnumzaan on the exchange. People love this knife for a reason - it is fantastic.
 
I’d imagine so. I think the pivot change was really just aesthetic. The lock interface between the blade and ceramic detent should be essentially unchanged to my model.
 
Thanks for the info. Although I don't think I'm going to use it. It's brand new. It's so collectible. Pre Idaho stamp, 08 same here the Idaho stamp came out.
 
For me, every other CRK feels odd in hand. I learned CRKs with the ‘Zaan. My example did exactly what you said and my break in was the same.

I measure all CRKs to the ‘Zaan. It’s still winning, in my book. I use the ‘Zaan very hard and wouldn’t push my Inkosi or 21 in the same regard.
 
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