A weekend with my Mnandi

[bulgron]

So a few weeks ago I bought myself a Mnandi that I intended to use for when I get all dressed up. As luck would have it, no such occaison has come my way, so my Mnandi has been stuck unused in my dresser drawer.

Now, you all know that CRKs are serious knives that are meant to be used, so it's been bothering me that I haven't even so much as carried this new knife of mine since I got it. But I have to admit that I'm addicted to my Sebenza, so there the Mnandi sat, waiting for it's turn.

Well, as it turns out it was my father-in-law's 80th birthday last weekend and there was a big to-do about it in my wife's hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Naturally we were going to fly in for the occaison, which meant checking a knife in my luggage. Being a bit nervous about that, I decided I was only going to bring one knife along. At first I was going to take the sebbie with me, but after some hemming and hawing, I decide the Mnandi was never going to get it's turn so long as the sebbie was in range for me to grab.

So I took a deep breath, stuck the Mnandi deep in my luggage, and left the Sebenza at home. Dang I hate checking expensive knives in my luggage. I'm happy to report, however, that the Mnandi made it there and back without any trouble whatsoever.

So how did the Mnandi perform? Well, truth be told I wasn't expecting to need a knife very much for the two days we were in Tucson. Still, it was interesting getting used to the new knife. I found that I can one-hand open it, but not nearly as easily as the Sebenza. The one-hand opening got easier over the two days I carried the Mnandi (as I got the "knack" of it), but it still isn't nearly as convenient as the Sebenza with it's thumb lugs.

Also, from long habit, I ended up carrying the Mnandi clipped to my right front pocket. I've never thought of the Sebenza as being particularly intrusive when carried that way, but the Mnandi was far and away less noticeable than the Sebenza. In fact, I had to keep checking that the Mnandi was still there. It's so small and light that I kept subconciously thinking that it had gone missing.

Other than that, the Mnandi handled the little bit of cutting I asked it to do like a champ. Mostly this involved opening boxes for my father-in-law (hey, it was a birthday party!), cutting stray threads off my wife's fancy dress, releasing balloons from their tethers so the kids could play with them, opening a few envelops, and other very lightweight chores. However, I did kill an hour at a local park while my kids burned off energy on the playground equipment there, and I found that the Mnandi did a satisfying job of whittling broken branches into pointy-ended branches.

In fact, it's clear that the Mnandi is quite a lot sharper than my Sebenza, which is worrisome since my Sebenza should be at least that sharp. So I guess I'd better get to work on that sebbie to bring it up to snuff!

All in all, I'd say the Mnandi was good company for a casual weekend away with the inlaws. I'd happily carry it in an office environment if I worked in one, and for a dress up occaison you can't ask for a better accessory.

So two thumbs up for the Mnandi. :thumbup: :thumbup:

But I have to admit, I still very much prefer my Sebenza. So it's back to the dresser drawer for the Mnandi since the Seb is once again taking up the ready position in my jeans pocket. Is it bad to play favorites? I guess I should work on that .... someday ....

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I usually carry my knives in sets, one large and one small. Monday I carried my large tanto Sebenza clipped to my right front pocket and my Mnandi clipped to my left shirt pocket.

The Sebenza is for normal cutting and the Mnandi for cutting smaller items or when I'm out in public.

 

[555]

i also carry daily two knives most of the time a 4" tac line lock or a lock back, 3 1/2" old style congress. and when i hit the woods (200ft away) i sometimes add a fixed blade and or multi tool.
a lot of my collection never sees day light because they don't make them anymore and i can't replace them.
now i buy one to collect and one to use, when i can.

 

[abcdef]

bulgron - you are exactly the person I have been trying to find.

I have a small sebbie and am trying to decide between buying another one or an mnandi. Since you have both, and say you "very much prefer" the sebbie, would you mind elaborating a little? I have not handled an mnandi and do not want to get one and say "dang, should have got another sebbie".

Any thoughts you can share will be most appreciated.

 

[555]

So a few weeks ago I bought myself a Mnandi that I intended to use for when I get all dressed up. As luck would have it, no such occaison has come my way, so my Mnandi has been stuck unused in my dresser drawer.

Now, you all know that CRKs are serious knives that are meant to be used, so it's been bothering me that I haven't even so much as carried this new knife of mine since I got it. But I have to admit that I'm addicted to my Sebenza, so there the Mnandi sat, waiting for it's turn.

Well, as it turns out it was my father-in-law's 80th birthday last weekend and there was a big to-do about it in my wife's hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Naturally we were going to fly in for the occaison, which meant checking a knife in my luggage. Being a bit nervous about that, I decided I was only going to bring one knife along. At first I was going to take the sebbie with me, but after some hemming and hawing, I decide the Mnandi was never going to get it's turn so long as the sebbie was in range for me to grab.

So I took a deep breath, stuck the Mnandi deep in my luggage, and left the Sebenza at home. Dang I hate checking expensive knives in my luggage. I'm happy to report, however, that the Mnandi made it there and back without any trouble whatsoever.

So how did the Mnandi perform? Well, truth be told I wasn't expecting to need a knife very much for the two days we were in Tucson. Still, it was interesting getting used to the new knife. I found that I can one-hand open it, but not nearly as easily as the Sebenza. The one-hand opening got easier over the two days I carried the Mnandi (as I got the "knack" of it), but it still isn't nearly as convenient as the Sebenza with it's thumb lugs.

Also, from long habit, I ended up carrying the Mnandi clipped to my right front pocket. I've never thought of the Sebenza as being particularly intrusive when carried that way, but the Mnandi was far and away less noticeable than the Sebenza. In fact, I had to keep checking that the Mnandi was still there. It's so small and light that I kept subconciously thinking that it had gone missing.

Other than that, the Mnandi handled the little bit of cutting I asked it to do like a champ. Mostly this involved opening boxes for my father-in-law (hey, it was a birthday party!), cutting stray threads off my wife's fancy dress, releasing balloons from their tethers so the kids could play with them, opening a few envelops, and other very lightweight chores. However, I did kill an hour at a local park while my kids burned off energy on the playground equipment there, and I found that the Mnandi did a satisfying job of whittling broken branches into pointy-ended branches.

In fact, it's clear that the Mnandi is quite a lot sharper than my Sebenza, which is worrisome since my Sebenza should be at least that sharp. So I guess I'd better get to work on that sebbie to bring it up to snuff!

All in all, I'd say the Mnandi was good company for a casual weekend away with the inlaws. I'd happily carry it in an office environment if I worked in one, and for a dress up occaison you can't ask for a better accessory.

So two thumbs up for the Mnandi. :thumbup: :thumbup:

But I have to admit, I still very much prefer my Sebenza. So it's back to the dresser drawer for the Mnandi since the Seb is once again taking up the ready position in my jeans pocket. Is it bad to play favorites? I guess I should work on that .... someday ....

i know this the wrong thread but that never stopped me before.

on another post you got me looking into the leatherman charge for my next buy. and you know half the fun of buying a new knife is the hunt. do you own one yet? what i like about these is the weight and the pocket clip instead of hanging off my belt. as in my cell phone that fell off and got steped on into the snow when i was burning brush early january and the only way i found it was that the dog was standing on it, looking down with that what the heck is that look, with it ringing other wise it would have been spring till i found it. now that the weather has changed here i've been working outside a lot more. and too many things to do before the snow flys again.
anyway tools on a belt get in the way when i work (non office).
i was looking at Titanium and started to see close out pricing from about $77.00.

do you own a TTi and do all tools lock and how do you like it?

 

[iamsmiling]

All in all, I'd say the Mnandi was good company for a casual weekend away with the inlaws. I'd happily carry it in an office environment if I worked in one, and for a dress up occaison you can't ask for a better accessory.

So two thumbs up for the Mnandi. :thumbup: :thumbup:

But I have to admit, I still very much prefer my Sebenza. So it's back to the dresser drawer for the Mnandi since the Seb is once again taking up the ready position in my jeans pocket. Is it bad to play favorites? I guess I should work on that .... someday ....

I think the operative point here is the small Sebenza is a real tool capable of a lot more than the Mnandi. I love my Mnandi and carry it when I'm wearing slacks but I switch to my small Sebenza at the earliest opportunity on weekends and after hours.

The Mnandi is a "gentleman's knife" with a thin, hollow ground blade designed for little more than slicing. The Chris Reeve Mnandi is, in my estimation, the simple definition of what such a knife should be when it grows up.

But the Sebenza, no matter how you inlay or decorate it, is still at heart a tool. The blade is heavier with a thick spine and the handle is large enough to give you a firm grip in any position and wide enough to allow you to apply a lot of torque if necessary.

Two different knives for two different uses, exemplars of their kind.

 

[Nukemkb]

bulgron - nice story with a happy ending...how much nicer can it get! Thanks for sharing!

 

[bulgron]

bulgron - you are exactly the person I have been trying to find.

I have a small sebbie and am trying to decide between buying another one or an mnandi. Since you have both, and say you "very much prefer" the sebbie, would you mind elaborating a little? I have not handled an mnandi and do not want to get one and say "dang, should have got another sebbie".

Any thoughts you can share will be most appreciated.

I think iamsmiling answered this question very well. The Sebenza is simply a stronger, more solid tool. The Mnandi, however, is a gentleman's knife. It is therefore lighter weight than the Sebenza, slimmer, and does not give the impression of durability in the way that the Sebenza does. However, the Mnandi does an excellent job in situations where a strong pocket knife may not be required. These include days at the office, evenings out on the town, and other "I'm not going to get my hands dirty today" types of situations.

I suppose you could think of it this way: if these knives were shoes, then the Sebenza would be a hiking boot while the Mnandi is a really good dancing shoe. Both have their purposes and their place. However, I go hiking way more often than I go dancing.

I find a single Mnandi is undoubtable more than enough for the ebbs and tides of my lifestyle. The single small sebenza that I own, is also probably enough, but I can't help but think that there's times when a large sebbie would be appropriate. So that'll be my next purchase, when I can afford it.

I hope this helps.

 

[bulgron]

i know this the wrong thread but that never stopped me before.

on another post you got me looking into the leatherman charge for my next buy. and you know half the fun of buying a new knife is the hunt. do you own one yet? what i like about these is the weight and the pocket clip instead of hanging off my belt. as in my cell phone that fell off and got steped on into the snow when i was burning brush early january and the only way i found it was that the dog was standing on it, looking down with that what the heck is that look, with it ringing other wise it would have been spring till i found it. now that the weather has changed here i've been working outside a lot more. and too many things to do before the snow flys again.
anyway tools on a belt get in the way when i work (non office).
i was looking at Titanium and started to see close out pricing from about $77.00.

do you own a TTi and do all tools lock and how do you like it?

Yes, I've owned a leatherman charge XTi for well over a year now. Mostly I have it for the pliers and other tools, but I do deploy the blade from time to time.

When I carry it, I do so in the belt pouch that it came with instead of using the optional pocket clip. I think the tool is simply too thick for pants pockets. However, I know for a fact that there are many others who disagree with me on that.

All tools on the Charge lock, except for the pliers. There are 4 tools that can be access without opening the Charge: the straight blade, the rough blade (I'd hate to call it "serrated"), the saw and the file. Both the straight and rough blades can be opened one-handed. Leatherman even cleverly marks the outside of the tool so you can tell by touch which blade is which before opening it.

I think the leatherman is an outstanding tool. I've made heavy use on it in a never-ending home remodel in which I'm currently engaged, and I've never once had reason to be concerned about the tool's quality or durability. It is also one of the pieces of gear that I absolutely hate to go into the woods without.

I hope this helps.

I return you now to our regularly-scheduled Chris Reeve knife lust-fest.

 

[555]

Yes, I've owned a leatherman charge XTi for well over a year now. Mostly I have it for the pliers and other tools, but I do deploy the blade from time to time.

When I carry it, I do so in the belt pouch that it came with instead of using the optional pocket clip. I think the tool is simply too thick for pants pockets. However, I know for a fact that there are many others who disagree with me on that.

All tools on the Charge lock, except for the pliers. There are 4 tools that can be access without opening the Charge: the straight blade, the rough blade (I'd hate to call it "serrated"), the saw and the file. Both the straight and rough blades can be opened one-handed. Leatherman even cleverly marks the outside of the tool so you can tell by touch which blade is which before opening it.

I think the leatherman is an outstanding tool. I've made heavy use on it in a never-ending home remodel in which I'm currently engaged, and I've never once had reason to be concerned about the tool's quality or durability. It is also one of the pieces of gear that I absolutely hate to go into the woods without.

I hope this helps.

I return you now to our regularly-scheduled Chris Reeve knife lust-fest.

thanks for the reply. and thanks for your opinion.
i like locking tools on a muti tool. i use less band aides this way.
and my order for one will not be to far away.


on the house remodeling, i just built a year and and a half ago and are always changing something already.

BTW my grandparents lived in the same house for 72 years of their 77 years of marriage.
and the remodeling and building on did not stop till they did. (at 95 and 101)
i sent as much time with them as i did with my own parents.
which gave me some really old values.

so you have your work cut out for you. and so do i. at least working on your own house is the fun kind of work.:thumbup:

 

[555]

you guys won't believe this, but i can smell bear in my office.
that dog went for a stroll or i should say a roll again.
and not in a good way ether.
and i just gave those dogs baths this afternoon too.

thats outdoors live with 555.

 

[xaman]

Great report! I don't have a Mnandi yet, but keep thinking it would be better than clipping my large sebbie onto my suit pants (which i do once a week or so...)