Anyone Using an ATS-34 Sebenza

[Evany]

Are the knives with this steel still considered good users? Or are they more of a collectable these days? I really miss the blade shape and grind on my 1993 Sebenza that I sold a couple of years ago. Something about the heft and solidity of the handle seems, at least in my memory, to be superior to the current 21s. Was wondering if the ATS-34 steel holds up to the more modern stuff CRK uses these days.

 

[APerna]

NO but I own a BNIB lg seb BG 42 that I bought new in May 1997 that's still Brand new! All original and never used!

 

[Hkk]

I Edc a reg bg42

 

[dinokay]

I couldn't tell you how ats-34 holds up to hard use but normal use is fine, even after 18 yrs and it'll go another 18 with no problem. Did you have problems with your 93, why did you sell it? I totally agree with you on how special the ats-34's are, nothing even comes close IMHO.

 

[Evany]

I couldn't tell you how ats-34 holds up to hard use but normal use is fine, even after 18 yrs and it'll go another 18 with no problem. Did you have problems with your 93, why did you sell it? I totally agree with you on how special the ats-34's are, nothing even comes close IMHO.

My '93 was probably the nicest knife I ever owned. It was my only folder for about 15 years and I carried it pretty much every day. When the powdered steels started getting a lot of attention I began to think maybe I was somehow missing out so I sold it to fund something in S30V. After that I began buying and selling folder after folder, mostly Spydercos, a few Benchmades, etc. in search of that perfect EDC. Eventually I realized I had to get back to a CRK. Bought a large and a small 21 and realized how much I miss my original Sebenza. Still do. Now I have a small BG-42 reg which is my most frequent EDC and a large 21. Still miss that first Sebenza so I was thinking of hunting one down. Just wondering if I'll find the steel to be a limitation after a few years of using the modern stuff like S90V, M390 and even S30V. My BG-42 knife does not disappoint in any way, so probably I'll be fine with ATS-34 as well.

 

[Mad_Maxx]

ATS-34 on par with 154cm, andi it's moderns counterparts CPM-154 and Rwl34 is a very good Stainless steel
a ATS-34 user...I's USE it and be proud!

 

[Steel_Addiction]

I used my 94 ATS P (avatar pic) for a few months with medium use, right after using some s30v and s35vn crks and the difference is subtle. I even got a s35v blade made up for it since I thought that the ATS would be underwhelming, but it works swell!

They are all about the same in real world use (to me anyways ymmv) as long as you arn't trying to cut down a tree or some emt or something silly like that.

I use mine as an electrical contractor in mostly agricultural settings so my blade gets a nice workout. And I always sharpen my blades the exact same way which might help?

 

[Easyrider]

Boy are people sometimes fickle beings. I remember when ATS-34 and 154CM WERE the hots steels! Now I see threads, about a new Benchmade knife, that has 154CM steel and they claim how it is only so-so steel.

There is nothing wrong with ATS-34 so go find a Sebenza with that blade steel and be happy.

 

[Fooj]

After 12 years of EDC use (and a heck of a lot of sharpening) on this ATS-34 large Sebenza (top):

Thanks to the great hollow ground blade (try to get that much use out of a flat ground!), this still had years of use left. I, however, had CRK fit an S30V blade to it just to give it a shot. I'm sure the S30V was incrementally better, but to be totally honest, I didn't notice a difference from day to day. ATS-34's great stuff.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

Boy are people sometimes fickle beings. I remember when ATS-34 and 154CM WERE the hots steels! Now I see threads, about a new Benchmade knife, that has 154CM steel and they claim how it is only so-so steel.

There is nothing wrong with ATS-34 so go find a Sebenza with that blade steel and be happy.

Maybe it's a case of it was the best thing going then, but steel technology has surpassed it.

To answer the OP's question, I don't have any ATS-34 knives, but wouldn't mind trying one out.

 

[JAB]

When I bought mine, ATS-34 was the absolute shizz as far as stain-resistant steels went and it seemed pretty much all the custom and higher end factory knifemakers were using it (many of which I also owned and used). One thing I remember from when it was new was that it really seemed to bite deep into whatever was being cut (esp. fibrous materials). The only minor complaint I ever had with it was that the edge did seem to be just a little bit on the brittle side and I did manage to take a pretty big chip out of the blade at one point when I unknowingly hit one of those big staples while breaking down a shipping carton. Of course, to be fair, I doubt any of the other blade steels since offered on the Sebenza would've faired much better - who knows?. I think it's actually the only knife I have left in that steel and I'll still carry it on occasion (and it still performs very, very well).