A real Umnumzaan owners review!

O

OD-SnG

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Ok, I have been playing with my new Um-nun for the past three hours and I think that that is enough time to give it a true, honest, fair review. In my opinion as the owner of multiple Sebenzas, it feels to me that this is a Sebenza that has been taken to the next level. First off...lets start with the blade shape that everyone has been talking about, its not just for looks, it actually serves a purpose. The unusual blade shapes purpose, I have noticed upon closing that your thumb actually rides in the smooth curve on the top side of the blade.
Now lets talk about the rubber O-ring washers around the thumb stud. They are not there only for their good looks, they actually serve a purpose...the puprose is ultra soft cushion upon opening and a silky soft stop upon closing which I have found not be be a gimmick but an actual technological advancement. Lets for a moment talk about the glass breaker. It in and of itself can break glass, yes-but after looking it over for some time in my opnion, it can make a handy self defense tool. Also in the closed position, it is so slight that it is bearly noticable.
Now for the lockbar, on a typical sebenza the actual titanium rides on the tang of the blade. On this knife it is not the case, yes it still has the titanium lockbar, but now the lockface has an actual ceramic detent ball imbedded so IT is the only thing that makes contact with the blade tang thus reducing any possible wear to the lockface. Another amazing innovation by Chris Reeve while we are the subject of lockbar... the titanium frame has another imbedded ceramic detent ball underneath the actual lockbar in case of accidental downward pressure the lockbar rides smoothly to its full open position which is another great feature.
On to the checkered handle, the handle is not only just for a pretty design it actually serves as a unique feature for a tenacious grip in ones hand. Next, lets review the oversized pivot, as with most things in life, bigger is better and this is certainly the case on the Um-Nun! Upon inital opening it is actually the smoothest knife I have ever felt even above and beyong my sebenzas. Overall I am extrmely happy with all the wonderful features the Um-Nun has. Pictures truely cannot do this beauty justice. Especially to understand the extremely well balanced feel of the UM-NUN!
In my personal opinion Chris Reeve has now just raised the bar even higher in the knife world. There is a definate reason why the Um-Nun has won the prestigious knife of the year award. Hats off to Chris Reeve and everyone at the Chris Reeves shop for yet another great work of art and one hell of a knife! ---P.s This is the protype with a price north of 1000.00 the regular production knife should be less. If you are looking for one ive seen one at plaza cutlery and one at true north knives.
 
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From what i hear the take down tool will be avail soon. The one thing i forgot was, the umnum feels like a large sebenza in your pocket, and it feels like a small sebenza when using the clip. If anyone has questions id love to help as best i can.
 
Terrific review! Thanks so much! Now I can't wait to get one even more. I just wish we didn't have to wait so long.
 
Sounds like it's a heck of a knife &, typical of CRKs, it needs to be handled to really understand how good it is. BTW, does anyone know what the projected price will be?
 
Thanks for the next level review OD. I'm in complete agreement that this folder has raised the bar, hence the Overall Knife of the Year award. A full size knife, yes. I honestly can't think of any "tactical" folder on the open market that compares with the fit, finish, and stoutness of the Numzaan. I know prototypes are meant to collect, but I'm carrying mine and will be in the field w/me this summer and fall camping trips!
:thumbup:
 
I spoke to Anne today and learned a couple things about the UM-Nun. There is no bushing. At first I thought that was a negative but the more I thought about it the more I realized that it wasn't all that much of a negative and actually believe that it is more of a positive. The tolerances won't be as tight but I bet they will still be impressive. It will be possible to crank down the pivot to make the blade harder to open, but I believe that it will still be snug. The pivot will be adjusted at the factory and fixed with a mild loctite to prevent the pivot from working loose. The problem with the bushing system is that the tolerances are so tight that if the knife is not assembled in the exact correct way, it will not work properly. This makes it harder for the workers at CRK to get it just right and may be the reason that recently so many people complain that their new sebbies are initially tough to open and require a break in period. I have personally experienced this. I have taken apart many a Seb and can attest to the fact that if not done exactly correctly, reassembly can be a real bear, even with a decent amount of experience. It can be very frustrating and require a number of attempts to get it right. I can imagine that many people who buy Sebs that come with the takedown tool will disassemble the knife, have great difficulty in re-assembly and send the knife back to CRK claiming the knife is defective. The Um-Nun, with its large pivot and larger washers with holes to hold more and longer lasting lubricant, will arrive to customers silky smooth thus negating the impulse of customers who have spent a good deal of money on a folder (with the reputation of being the best in the business) who receive a knife that is less than smooth when they first get it, to take it apart and to correct the situation themselves. When they take it apart and have difficulty getting it to work better with a lube and re-assembly, the natural conclusion is that they got a "bum knife" and back it goes to CRK. The new pivot should eliminate this, make for a happier customer and save CRK the hassle and expense of putting back together a knife that is properly speced but not properly re-assembled. The idea of having a folder that can be broken down, thoroughly cleaned and lubed and put back together is very appealling and is an atribute that motivates many to buy a CRK folder. This new system will make dissasembely a much less frequent requirement. I have used a Mnandi at work daily for some pretty nasty work for at least three years and have only openned it and cleaned it once. I don't baby this knife at all and it sees more than its fair share of blood, tape adhesive and snot (I use it when I work in the intensive care unit to cut off patients clothes in an emergency and I find it indespensible in cutting tape and oxygen tubing that gets wrapped around patients necks as they tend to thrash around quite a bit when they are dying). It still works very smooth. The new pivot system should more or less eliminate the need for breaking the knife down. And when reassembly is wanted or needed buy the owner, the likelyhood of it being reassembled properly is highly increased. The more I think about it, it is a win win situation for both CRK and their customers. The other thing I learned is that openning the folder will require more of a "push out" motion rather the the typical "push up" motion of the SEb that we all know and love. This is due to the realtionship between the distance between the pivot center and the thumblug as compared to that of the traditional Seb. That is why I had such a hard time openning the Num nun I handled at Plaza Cutlery with my left hand. My left thumb is so used to pushing up rather than out. My right thumb (which doesn't work well due a defect that I was born with), seemed to naturally push out which is why I could open it relatively easily with my right (nondominate) versus my left (dominate). Also it appears that a small Un Nun isn't currently part of the game plan. And lastly and sadly, the right hand versions will be produced first and the left hand ones will folow. The bummer part is that I ( and all my southpaw brothers;)) will have to wait a little ponger to get one. The upside of course is that I will have a longer time to save up for one as I am determined to free myself from the credit card monkey on my back.:eek:

The many cool features of this knife far outweigh the negatives (if any) and I remain enthusiastic and have no doubts that I will really really like this knife.:thumbup:
 
I keep hearing about all these ceramic ball bearings in the lockbar (there are two? three? twenty?) on the Om Nom Nom and I can't wrap my head around it. Can you draw or photograph the lockbar?
 
@Scott Dog:
I still dont get it. I have 5 CR folders right now and none of them had problems with the way the blade moves or opens even after taking them apart several times. And imho the bushing concept with its tight tolerances established by CRK stands above all others in this business. Why sacrifice such a unique feature.
And sorry, no sweet talk about bigger washers and loctite in the pivot will convince me that this is the better solution. Especially after taking it apart for cleaning it will be much mor difficult to get it just right.
There certainly are a lot of new and interesting features build into the new folder, but dropping the bushing certainly isn`t one of them.
 
I'm calling BS in that whole "explanation".

If CRK had taken a little more time to ship sebenzas with a clean pivot, and proper pocket clip tension, and sharp then users wouldn't think they got bum knives. Something we've mentioned here for years but they never did anything about.

So they junked the bushing because it was too smart for users, great. They've loosened up tolerances great.

Maybe the lock bar changes and the holey washers are good ideas. I hope they take those innovations back to the sebenza.
 
Thanks for your input Scott. I would like to mention a couple things that I've noticed and in talking with guys at CR that put this thing together. First after having the knife in hand for a few days, I can't see any tolerence difference than that of my Sebenza's. In fact I would say the Numzaan is tighter. The lock bar, for one whatever reason, seems "tuned" better. What I mean is that because of the detent ball(and there are 3), and the angle of the bottom blade cut, the lock can't move all the way to the opposite side of the handle.

The other thing, and not to step on Heather's toes; In speaking with the shop foreman at CRK, he didn't mention anything about loc-tite. In fact told me the pivot would be user friendly and that the owner would indeed be able to take the knife down for cleaning like the Sebenza. I just can't imagne Chris using loc-tite on a knife, but things do change.

I can't go into it right now but I "know" of certain changes that will be made on the final production Umnumzaan. I'm sure before the knives are released to the general public for use, any and all bugs will be worked out and up to Chris Reeve standard for hard use!
:)
 
Dave that's just my opinion and I was just hypothesizing. Give me a break. If you don't like it don't buy it.:eek::p

My point was that for the bushings the tolerances need to be insanely close and that's hard to maintain in a production folder. The new one should and will be user friendly. Maybe the tolerances won't be as tight but they will not by any means be "sloppy".The loctite will be the mild one not the permanent one. Another point is that it shoudn't need to be taken apart as often and as I explained in my example, even with the bushing it's not necessary to break down the knife often. It was my explaination and definately not CRK's. Lets all just wait and see how things work out. I still think the positives on this knife far outweigh the negatives (if any). Dave they will still make the 21 so that you can still have something to cry about so don't get your panties in a wad. Just because there are no bushings doesn't mean the knife will be any less in the quality department. Calling my opinion BS is really chickenshit on your part. I'm sure you'll find something else to complain about.
 
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I've been indifferent about the bushing system, as 2 of the 4 Sebs I've owned have had the slightest hint of play as result of the tolerances being just off a bit. With this in mind, though, it would seem that CRK opted for a more simple system a-la Strider with over-sized pivot. That's cool with me as well 'cause I like Striders. Being in the fire service, I don't mind the idea of a glass-breaker being built into the knife. That said, I'll reach for the window-punch($15) in my bunker gear or one from the truck(free) before I opt to use a $400 knife in real life. But it certainly doesn't bother me in the least to have the tool on me.
I just don't understand why CRK has decided to ignore many potential buyers by not offering this knife in a Small version:confused::( .I also agree with Dave H in that many issues that have been brought up concerning the Seb in the past were pretty much ignored.
Oh well...
 
While this is totally my opinion, I feel CRK has missed the mark(at this point) with this "hard-use" knife. It would seem that CRK has decided to go after another kind of buyer with this knife. I'm thinking Strider or Hinderer. But until the warranty is on par(you break it/we fix it), it falls short , even if it is better built. If I'm going to spend $400 for a knife with the intent of using it for some very harsh use bordering on abuse, I want to know the knife will be covered. If it's not, it shouldn't be touted as such.
 
Calling my opinion BS is really chickenshit on your part.
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Well, I feel just the opposite. Chickenshit would be to accept an explanation without critique and careful questioning. If it turns out I'm ultimately wrong then I will give a full and sincere apology.

I'm sure you'll find something else to complain about.
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You betcha, that's just me! ;)

On a more serious note I have been disappointed in the style of communication offered lately. I have three specific examples:

1) When the dull knife and scrunchy pivot issue came up. I would expect an upfront "We accept this as a concern and let's look into this issue and fix it." What we got instead was more along the lines of "There's no problem, etc. etc." and essentially blown off.

2) Questions about the real strength of the GB. There was no. "That's a problem and we'll look into it". It was more like "there's no problem here just move along"

3) I can appreciate keeping a new knife under wraps before debut, but it would have been nice if someone could have come and filled us in and answered our questions.

Reality or not my perception is CRK has decided the concerns of their most valuable customers can be ignored and blown off. Maybe it's just Dave's communication style, but I think it just plain sucks.
 
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