All this sebenza hype....

I have had a Sebenza the past 5 years. I like the handle, lock, pivot mechanism and ease of disassembly / assembly. What I would like improved would be the edge and edgeholding. somehow, my spydercos are sharper and the edgeholding is better also. And I'm only referring to the VG10 blades.

Will continue to own one, FWIW. It is one of the must-haves knives in a lifetime, I feel.
 
spyken said:
I have had a Sebenza the past 5 years. I like the handle, lock, pivot mechanism and ease of disassembly / assembly. What I would like improved would be the edge and edgeholding. somehow, my spydercos are sharper and the edgeholding is better also. And I'm only referring to the VG10 blades.

Will continue to own one, FWIW. It is one of the must-haves knives in a lifetime, I feel.
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I like the convex edge grind even though it has to be sharpened differently and I've never experienced any edgeholding problems with any of my four CRKs. Of course, my EDC gets only light use.

Different knifemakers have different design philosophies. From what I gather, CRK's is a slightly softer edge that can be more easily reworked in the field as opposed to a harder edge . . . a dull knife is better than a broken one.
 
spyken said:
I have had a Sebenza the past 5 years. I like the handle, lock, pivot mechanism and ease of disassembly / assembly. What I would like improved would be the edge and edgeholding. somehow, my spydercos are sharper and the edgeholding is better also. And I'm only referring to the VG10 blades.

Will continue to own one, FWIW. It is one of the must-haves knives in a lifetime, I feel.
Click to expand...

My experience has been similar in comparison to my Spydies. In truth, I'd probably get rid of my Seb due to its' shortcomings in performance based on my experiences, but I don't want to sell it only to want to buy another in the future. Great execution, but far from my best real-world cutter.
 
J85909266 said:
My first Sebenza arrived today as well, large Micarta Classic. I won't be redundant and make a thread repeating all the well-earned praise; I'll just say this: I get it. My next knife will be an ebony Mnandi.
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Very well said, couldn't have said it better.

The ebony classic that blackend posted has me saving for that knife exactly. Thanks. I think.....:D
 
I just took two sebbies out of the safe that Chris did special gold, purple and blue graphics on, born 11/94, both are "P" knives, one large and one small. Any idea what I should ask for 'em if I sell? They went into the safe the day after I got 'em and just came out of the safe last week. Everything's there, new as can be. Thanks for the help.
 
So they are ATS-34, "P" models with unique graphics. Just a guess as something like that doesn't come up very often, but probably $400 to $550. Probably will depend on the graphic too.
 
Here are images of both the large and small. Yes, they are ATS-34. Sure do appreciate the help on these. One is 10/94 and the other 11/94.
 
Thanks for kinda reinforcing what I was thinking. I had not seen these babies in 14 years until a week ago. Chris made them up at my request that more than just one or two colors be used, and did it in his spare time. I had not given a thought about them until I started selling off 90% of the knives I had laid back in the safes. When I ran across them, I had no idea as to value. I am crossways as to whether to keep them (I think they are beauties, too) or sell them. It's just that I have no idea how to value them. I may just keep them, hard to tell. I am in a downsizing mode, so at least they are small!!
 
Actually, if I ever do sell them, I think I will just do it as a pair, that way they will be harder to sell and probably cause me to keep them longer, get a bit of enjoyment out of them now that they are in the daylight!
 
I think you should keep them.

But if you sell them here start with a high price and come down as needed, or use an auction site.
 
Thanks, DaveH. I am beginning to think that they are so nice that I would be foolish to sell them. My edc is a small sebbie, all beat up, but still a rock, so I have a bias to these. I still want to get an idea of value, but the more I type here, the less I wanna sell 'em. The pics actually came out looking exactly like the knives. Nothing beats an overcast day for taking images. Should I start a new thread about this, do you think, or do enough sebbie enthusiasts visit this one?
 
blackend said:
Here's a pic of what your new Sebenza looks like...
ebseb.jpg
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Congrats and a great pick on the knife.:cool:

I really like the likes of this knife.

I too, intend to join the Sebenza Club soon.
 
funny!
I have a VERY similar experience. I himmed and hawed for several months, almost a year to be exact, until I finally picked one up in a knife store here in OK.
Actually, I met a JD member that day as he was visiting from Idaho. He bragged and bragged on the small sebenza he had.
I went back a couple days later and bought one. I FREAKING LOVE IT.

I am now trying to decide on my next.

Thanks,
Brett
 
I have also been curious for years about the Sebenza and came close to taking the plunge on a classic just recently. But my cautious nature restrained me and now I am seriously researching this knife (as a fellow South African and knife nut, I feel almost obliged to own one).

I have heard many positive comments from Sebbie owners, but the repeated references to edge-holding issues bothers me...

Is this not the primary function of the knife? I appreciate attention to detail and over-engineering as much as the next guy, but if the knife cannot take and hold an edge it is useless to me.

My Chinook II of S30V is sharp as a razor out of the box. So is my Tomcat III of VG-10. Both of these knives cost less than half the price of a Sebenza and they are built like tanks. I cannot justify spending $400 + on a knife if it cannot hold an edge.

What exactly is the problem with the sharpness of the knife? As I understand it, a knife can be shaving sharp (good for impressing people) or field sharp (good for everything else). Is the issue that the knife will not shave hair, because this is just a party trick IMO and not really an issue...

If, however, it gets dull after whittling a piece of hard wood, for example, then I am concerned...

I have a CRK Project I and that is extremely sharp. But it is A2 steel, not stainless, so holds an edge better...

I am truly puzzled by this dilemma.

Mark

flipe8 said:
My experience has been similar in comparison to my Spydies. In truth, I'd probably get rid of my Seb due to its' shortcomings in performance based on my experiences, but I don't want to sell it only to want to buy another in the future. Great execution, but far from my best real-world cutter.
Click to expand...
 
There are at least three things going on in regards to sharpness and it helps to consider them separately.

Out-of-box-new sharpness of a sebenza is not that good, as compared to most any spyderco and even more less so then something sharpened by Tom Krein.

New sebs that I have received have had greater edge angles then 20 degrees per side which makes sharpening on a sharpmaker a tedious tedious process.

Edge holding seems fine, on par with other knives as far as I'm concerned.

I think the only issue is what are your expectations of sharpness for a new knife, and do you feel OK if you have to resharpen it when new.
 
The edge retention is the same or better than any VG-10 Spyderco I have used. Edge retention is not an issue.

The factory edge is convex and a bit thick, however, for a folder. I intend to reprofile the edge when I get the chance, but it's a fine worker, as it is.
 
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