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Chris Reeves Sabenza 31 (small)

T

Thecook5

Joined
Jul 24, 2023
Messages
27
Hello all,

I am posting to see if the CRK small sabenza is worth it? (Has been my grail knife for awhile) but wanted to see if you all had opinions/other options that are on par.

I like the idea of the large but it is a little too big for my EDC purposes.

Thank you all kind folk

The cook
 
I carry a plain small Insingo sebenza 21 probably more than any other knife. (Don't have a 31.)

The blade hits the sweet spot for most of what I need day to day, comes as lefty (mandatory for me), and is just a very nice, very well designed minimalist knife made to exceptional standards.
 
I am a huge Sebenza fan. I own 2 smalls and 6 larges. (Plus Inkosis and an Umnumzaan.) I prefer the larges, but aside from that, these are my all time favorites.
 
Large Seb is a little too large and the Small Seb is a little too small. A Medium Seb.. say 7.75-8 in OAL.. would be my goldilocks model. CRK refuses to make it because such a knife would prove so perfect as to completely disrupt the industry.. after a 12 year waiting period to obtain one, Medium Sebenza owners would never need or desire to buy another knife..

All that to say.. yes, they're worth it. Buy one.
 
ricklikesknives said:
Large Seb is a little too large and the Small Seb is a little too small. A Medium Seb.. say 7.75-8 in OAL.. would be my goldilocks model. CRK refuses to make it because such a knife would prove so perfect as to completely disrupt the industry.. after a 12 year waiting period to obtain one, Medium Sebenza owners would never need or desire to buy another knife..

All that to say.. yes, they're worth it. Buy one.
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I've never been closer to buying one.
 
ricklikesknives said:
Large Seb is a little too large and the Small Seb is a little too small. A Medium Seb.. say 7.75-8 in OAL.. would be my goldilocks model. CRK refuses to make it because such a knife would prove so perfect as to completely disrupt the industry.. after a 12 year waiting period to obtain one, Medium Sebenza owners would never need or desire to buy another knife..

All that to say.. yes, they're worth it. Buy one.
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If you want what is basically a medium Sebenza as a flipper, check out Arno Bernard and the iMamba model. South African maker, multi-generational company, and excellent pieces. Second only to CRK for me. (Although Hawk and Koenig are the remaining 2 of my knife Mt Rushmore.)
 
WedgeAntilles said:
If you want what is basically a medium Sebenza as a flipper, check out Arno Bernard and the iMamba model. South African maker, multi-generational company, and excellent pieces. Second only to CRK for me. (Although Hawk and Koenig are the remaining 2 of my knife Mt Rushmore.)
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Came here to say this, they are fantastic knives! And the newer ones can be switched from bearings to washers and vice versa
 
The Sebenza is a fantastic knife but I’ll also second the SHF too. Spartan Blades took some pointers from Chris Reeve early on in their development of the Akribis model, and it’s clear that some of that carried over to the SHF model because they’re excellent knives and on par with CRK.
 
Medieval Peasant said:
The Sebenza is a fantastic knife but I’ll also second the SHF too. Spartan Blades took some pointers from Chris Reeve early on in their development of the Akribis model, and it’s clear that some of that carried over to the SHF model because they’re excellent knives and on par with CRK.
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I like the SHF. They do some incredible graphic models. However, on fit and finish, they're not yet on par with CRK. There are a few too many non-chamfered areas, making them not as ergonomically friendly as the CRKs. Don't get me wrong, they're great, but still a half step below CRK.
 
i edc a small 21 insingo when not in scrubs. had to let it go when bills came, but glad to recover when the opportunity came. its solid, its dependable, no frills, dependable. if you watch on the f/s section sometimes you may score a deal, i was able to get my 21 insingo user under $300
 
WedgeAntilles said:
I like the SHF. They do some incredible graphic models. However, on fit and finish, they're not yet on par with CRK. There are a few too many non-chamfered areas, making them not as ergonomically friendly as the CRKs. Don't get me wrong, they're great, but still a half step below CRK.
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I would argue about the ergonomics, the SHF fits my hand better than a Sebenza and doesn’t have that sharp point on the butt that digs into your hand after prolonged use. This has been my biggest issue with the Sebenza design for years and CRK refuses to fix it. They fixed this on the Umnumzaan, but not their flagship model? Weird to me.

Chamfering? Sure, the Sebenza does have a higher level of finishing in that regard.

But let’s talk about the action for a second…. When have you ever had a Sebenza that flicks open as easily as the SHF and also drops shut under gravity? I’ve had tons of CRKs and none of them compare to the action on the SHF.

They’re both great knives and have their own pros and cons, but the Sebenza is not the end-all-be-all. Nor is the SHF

IMG-0771.jpg
 
Medieval Peasant said:
I would argue about the ergonomics, the SHF fits my hand better than a Sebenza and doesn’t have that sharp point on the butt that digs into your hand after prolonged use. This has been my biggest issue with the Sebenza design for years and CRK refuses to fix it. They fixed this on the Umnumzaan, but not their flagship model? Weird to me.

Chamfering? Sure, the Sebenza does have a higher level of finishing in that regard.

But let’s talk about the action for a second…. When have you ever had a Sebenza that flicks open as easily as the SHF and also drops shut under gravity? I’ve had tons of CRKs and none of them compare to the action on the SHF.

They’re both great knives and have their own pros and cons, but the Sebenza is not the end-all-be-all. Nor is the SHF

IMG-0771.jpg
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I've never had an issue with that part of a Sebenza, personally. Hands are different on different people.

As for action, most of my 21s open easier and close smoother than the large SHFs I've had. I had a small SHF with excellent opening action, but it was never drop shut. The large large SHFs have rarely been flickable with thumb only, and never drop shut. I moved one along. But I did keep my large all blacked out SHF with Molon Labe clip. It's not going anywhere. And the guys at Spartan are top notch, great to talk to, and have excellent service.
 
WedgeAntilles said:
I've never had an issue with that part of a Sebenza, personally. Hands are different on different people.

As for action, most of my 21s open easier and close smoother than the large SHFs I've had. I had a small SHF with excellent opening action, but it was never drop shut. The large large SHFs have rarely been flickable with thumb only, and never drop shut. I moved one along. But I did keep my large all blacked out SHF with Molon Labe clip. It's not going anywhere. And the guys at Spartan are top notch, great to talk to, and have excellent service.
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Crazy about the action on the SHF. Mine is one of the smoothest knives I own, and my buddy owns a few that are all the same way. Same with all the ones I’ve messed around with at Bladeshow.

Maybe the newer ones are more dialed in? Picked mine up at Blade last year. Absolutely love this thing :D

IMG-0442.jpg
 
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