A real Umnumzaan owners review!

Dealers are selling the "prototype" for $1,600. It's called a "markup." :D


Ken44 said:
I was told at the Blade Booth that it would be about the same price of large sebenza.
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I was told the same thing.



Django606. . . .mighty strong words. Have you handed one of the new knives ? Have you looked at the guts of the knife ? How many times have you heard of CRK making an inferior product ? How many times has CRK received the "Manufacturing Quality Award ?"

Take a look at where Chris Reeve / CRK has been. . . .you'll quickly see they have continually released new and innovative products over the years. This knife is no different.




CRK has never. . . .ever let me down. I'm looking forward to the release of this new knife.
 
I don't think CRK is about to offer less for more in this day and age.

Naysayers, you may be right and you're probably wrong, but you haven't spent a dime to date as far as I can tell, so maybe reserve judgement until they're in regular production and we all can see what all the fuss is about?

To date, CRK has provided me the best pocketknife ever, so I've got faith.

Professor.
 
I'm disappointed to hear that there won't be a pivot bushing.

However, if the female part is long enough to allow the knife to be tightened down without the need for loctite it may not be so bad. Hope this will be the case.
 
I would like to hear some thoughts from someone at the CR factory as to why they designed the knife the way it is.
 
So-Lo said:
Good luck with that.
:rolleyes:
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I bet that hearing from someone knowledgable at the factory would make all the difference to the current feeling and theme of this thread.

It's disappointing to know that someone at CRK could not / will not take a little time to join the debate and give us an informed comment from their perspective.

I love my sebbies and will more than likely buy one or two more for safe keeping or a rainy day :D. This debate won't change that one way or the other, but I won't be rushing out to buy an um nunnie just yet until I see how this all pans out.
 
tsiloics said:
The idea is to make critical comments before they go into production. It's called being constructive.
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Unfortunately, most of us have only seen a few photos of the new CR folder. Sometimes I've been surprised by how much
my opinion of a knife changes once I'm actually able to handle it.

Rich
 
Professor I think you're right. I have faith too. CRK doesn't have the time to justify everything they do. They let the products speak for themselves. A bushing won't keep the pivot from loosening and it's only one part of the knife design. AFAIK the 21 and Mnandi will still be made with the bushing so if that is a make or break thing for a customer, that will be an option. There also plenty of Sebs out there on the aftermarket that can be had if the bushing thing is the defining criteria for purchase. I would be interested if any of the new Um Num owners would take apart their knives and let us know what the story is. Chris takes every part of the knives he designs very seriously and would not offer a folder for sale that didn't meet his very high standards.:thumbup:;):cool::)
 
Chris takes every part of the knives he designs very seriously and would not offer a folder for sale that didn't meet his very high standards.
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No offense Scott, but with the GB failure it's not clear to me that real research and or testing is being done before products are released.

Given other past history that I have already commented upon, I will no longer take their word without a healthy dose of skepticism.
 
Rich357 said:
Unfortunately, most of us have only seen a few photos of the new CR folder. Sometimes I've been surprised by how much
my opinion of a knife changes once I'm actually able to handle it.

Rich
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I agree, no doubt about it. :)

The process of design is about representative dialog, though. One typically uses some sort of abstract medium... drawings, models, photos, etc. as a shorthand to represent ideas.

This is a situation where a number of ideas have been proposed in the form of a prototype - really a limited production run. Some of us have handled the actual objects, and some of us have only seen photographs, but we all have opinions to offer.

Many of the individuals on here have used CRK products for quite some time, and obviously that informs their critical insight. It would be presumptuous of CRK or any other designer, to think that he was above the critical observations of his market. This is something one learns as a professional designer.

It really is not all that informative or productive to simply log on and cheer-lead. Everyone knows CRK makes a superior product, and presumably most of us are here because we appreciate that. One of the opportunities afforded by the pre-production run is for users to offer comments back to CRK, and that is ultimately of mutual benefit.

I certainly do not think observations based only on photographs are invalid.
 
LOL Dave no offense taken. Blind believers like me and skeptics like you all have their place here.:cool:
 
I got mine today and have to say that I like my large regular better. The Umnumzaan is a hair longer and has thicker blade but not the same robust feeling as the Sebbie. I guess that the rubber on the lugs make it flexible. Nothing like blade play but there are not the fixed blade feeling when it is open.

The glass breaker doesn´t snag the pocket. It is ok with me. Maybe a life saver.

The sharp swedge is pretty unique. It gives more blade and it is possible to cut with it the way you do with a sheep blade. But there are a big problem in my eyes. Half the sharp swedge is not covered when the knife is closed. Well, it is not as sharp as the real edge but it is sharper than a false edge. It is easy to cut the fingers. Strange!

The blade is off center. Not very much and I know that the company will correct it. But it is one of 20 prototypes, put together by hand and not the cheapest knife in town. It is not attractive to send it back (from Europe).

I am also confused about the lock bar – it travels more than 75 %. Maybe is it the way they work on Umnumzaans. But on my knife is it not far from touching the other side.

I can also say that you pretty soon have to buy new jeans if you EDC the Umnumzaan. But I guess that it is impossible to loose the knife.
 
SWE, why do you say that you will need new jeans if you EDC the Um Num? Is it the clip or the groves on the handle?

The production Um Num will have the swedge more reccessed in to the handle. The purpose of the protoypes were to get them in the hands of customers and see how they work in real life. The production models should have improvements and should also be more EDC friendly.
 
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Hi Scott Dog,

Because of the groves. They make an excellent grip but are very rough against the pocket. I actually have to bend out the clip to release the knife. But you will not drop it by accident ...
 
I guess that the production knives will have less aggressive groves. It will be very interesting to see the differences. Maybe will mr Reeve also make them without o rings on the lugs. I do not understand the function of them. On a flipper yes, on this knife no.

I think I have to really use the knife before I can say how it works. The waves on the back of the blade for example. They look strange but give a lot of ways to use the knife.
 
SWE:
That's what I was afraid of and the only negative thing I can think of about this knife. Have you experienced any pocket wear yet? I want to EDC it but I don't want to be buying jeans every couple weeks.:eek:

When I handled the knife at Plaza I put it in and out of my right pocket a couple times and didn't think that the grooves would be such a problem but I may be wrong. Chris and Dave from CRK have been EDCing this knife and could probably give more incite into this situation.
 
Actually I have had pocket wear, but on jeans with already pretty knife used pockets. The Umnumzaan made them worse at once. Then I tried with my Sebbie and found out that it is a big difference.
 
For my purposes, excessive pocket wear would be a real deal killer for me. I'm short and getting jeans in my size is no easy task. I still intend to buy and use a Num Mum, but if it wore my pockets out quick it would stay in my knife drawer. I can't stand to have a knife on my belt.:eek:
 
tsiloics said:
I agree, no doubt about it. :)

The process of design is about representative dialog, though. One typically uses some sort of abstract medium... drawings, models, photos, etc. as a shorthand to represent ideas.

This is a situation where a number of ideas have been proposed in the form of a prototype - really a limited production run. Some of us have handled the actual objects, and some of us have only seen photographs, but we all have opinions to offer.

Many of the individuals on here have used CRK products for quite some time, and obviously that informs their critical insight. It would be presumptuous of CRK or any other designer, to think that he was above the critical observations of his market. This is something one learns as a professional designer.

It really is not all that informative or productive to simply log on and cheer-lead. Everyone knows CRK makes a superior product, and presumably most of us are here because we appreciate that. One of the opportunities afforded by the pre-production run is for users to offer comments back to CRK, and that is ultimately of mutual benefit.

I certainly do not think observations based only on photographs are invalid.
Click to expand...

My point was, if we haven't handled the new folder I don't think our comments are very useful.

Rich
 
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