CRK vs The Knife World

Aidansdaddy17

Aidansdaddy17

Joined
Mar 30, 2012
Messages
1,413
Unhappy with all of these $80-$150 dollar knives that I buy...having to send them back here and there with F&F/QC issues. Blade play, sticky locks, dull blades, off centering. I love Spyderco and Benchmade....and things happen. I even bought a Bradley Alias II. Horrible sticky lock, hurt my thumb to close! (I am not that weak, come on!) So all of these issues add up over time. Why not just buy a Chris Reeve? So many haters complain about price. We will spend hundreds on collecting, which is great. We all have a grail knife or two that we want. All in all we want that one knife, be it a PM2, Hinderer or Reeve, there is one that will get the most EDC time. I'm trying to find it as a newer collector. Hopefully I can meet some cool people on here and get pointed in the right direction. I'm thinking a CRK small Sebenza Insingo will do it for me for now or a while. Looking for a used/user model. Why settle when you can get something that is perfect everytime?
 
I have the Sage 1, 2, and 3. Very awesome knives. The 1&2 take up my pocket time currently. The Sage 1 is light and smooth like butter. Amazing ball detent. the Sage 2 is great. A little rough ball detent that I have to keep putting some CLP on so it doesn't drag or scrap along the tang when opening and closing. Otherwise I get it now why titanium/integral lock's are awesome. I feel with the Sage 2 that I am close, yet so far. Something is still missing though...;-)

Even considering waiting to buy a ZT 0560-0561. I heard they are amazing....but so big for an EDC!
 
The Sebenza is a very nice knife, fantastic fit and finish and comes very sharp and holds an edge for me. I like the umnuzman better just because of the blade profile and design on the scales. Its a bit larger though the small sebenza is a perfect size for everyday carry. The fixed blades are excellent too.
 
Get a large, that much more perfection in your pocket! or an Umnumzaan, which is my favorite.
 
I have the large Sebenza and three small Sebenzas, one with the Insignio blade. Honestly the small Sebenza can do 99% of the things I need to do and the Insignio blade is a great utility knife. I think you'll like the size and blade.
 
I would go with the Large 21 Sebenza. I own a large 21 with Snakewood Inlays and a plain titanium handle. Also have a Small 21 with African Blackwood Inlays. All are beautiful knives and I carry all three; but I always come back to the Large plain 21. I also would recommend Serrations if you have a need for cutting some more fiberous stuff. I think the CRK is the best I have ever owned.

As far as problems with other production knives Benchmade stands behind their product and has awesome customer service, that is worth a lot. Not to sat CRK is not top shelf either. Thing to remember is if it moves it will wear and have some maintenance issues. All tools must be properly respected to get you value out of them.

Good luck and know you won't be disappointed with any CRK you come across
 
I've been the Spyderco and Benchmade route for some long time, and they are great knives.
However, I've been looking...and the Umnumzaan has caught my interest.
Now, if I could only trade a couple of nice knives for one Umnum...
Sonny

p.s. I can't sell my good knives. And with the Umnumzaan, I'd be afraid to use it to raunch on something the way I might use my Emerson or Para2. Yikes!
 
So you want a knife with perfect FF. Believe it or not, not everyone has $400 to spend on a knife or wants a knife with such a thin tip or wants that design.
FF is not a direct parallel to performance.
 
F+F is not a direct parallel to performance, but spectacular performance IS directly parallelled with performance.
CRK wouldn't have such an insane following if both their F+F and performance weren't above and beyond.
And the higher price tag is what it's worth...of course not everyone is going to have that kind of money for knives... but those who see the value in good quality knives will find a way to pay that price.
 
I don't like to own knives that should be insured like a car,, although I do own one $220.00 knife (its a big fixed blade Greyman)...Thirty years of hunting,fishing,hiking,kayaking,camping,mountain biking and 10+ years in the military...A good old Buck and Gerber met my needs just fine...One thing I hate is cheap handguns..I must have a reliable,durable and accurate weapon...
 
I agree, everyone has what they like or dislike. I own a Springfield xd sc 9mm. Love it. Would a $2000 1911 better serve me while in a tight situation? Hmm Better have good ammo also. To each their own. Thanks for your service. And yes, F&F does not always mean great quality or performance...more so when you have a knife made with cheap parts and steel. It all goes hand in hand. Performance, quality and F&F lastly along with great QC and customer service from the dealer or company. I just want to be happy with what I spend. I would never spend over $250-300 for my grail knife. Never thought I would spend over $100. hmm Could be a problem down the line. ;) That's what makes this addiction great. I am/We are all hopefully open to suggestion.
 
Sounds like you need a Sebenza my friend, after acquiring my small 21 Ive sold off the majority of my collection to acquire a small regular...as much as I love other knives, I just cant replace the seb on my side ;-)
 
Not all Bradleys have sticky lockbars.
But sometimes they fit the hand of the user better than the Sebenza does, because of the handle shape.
In my case, I prefer the Bradley.
 
Think about it like that: You could have 10 100$ watches that break every year, or you could have 1 1000$ watch for the ten years that has lifetime warranty and service.
 
Personally, I like to have options to pick from. I think CRK makes some amazing folders, but I love to try out new steels, new lock mechanisms, different blade shapes and handle materials, etc. At this point I've pretty much accepted the fact that some day I will lay down the money for a CRK, but right now I strongly suspect that I wouldn't really appreciate it so I'm holding off. A CRK might kick everything else out of ny pocket and, for right now, that's not a good thing to me.
 
Lol you sound exactly like me, I was always unhappy with the fit and finish on alot of knives I was buying finally I said screw it and forked over the dough for a Lg 21 sebenza, needless to say it was a great decision and I'm only mad I didn't get one sooner! Nothing I've come across matches them or even comes close to CRK's tolerances. I also bought an Alias2 that I had to send back :(for various reasons, that one went back 4 a Sage2 which is a great knife for the $. Only one thing is cancel your debit card now or you'll be fighting yourself constantly, and one more thing to hopefully answer your ? If I personally buy any more folding knives u can bet I'll be buying more CRK's, I'm not into a whole lot of features as some would say I like a clean simple funtional, well thought out design over anything. I also love how simple they are to clean and take apart and put back together, hell most companies void the warranty if u take the knife apart, CRK encourages it enough ranting words can't do them justice anyway and good luck with your Insingo:D
 
Hilarious. Yes, I just bought a Sage 1 and then a Sage 2 that I have had for two weeks now. It's awesome in every way. Ball detent kind of makes noise gliding or grooving up and down the blade tand when you open and close it. Some CLP works, but it's that noise you can hear. Ha...Almost 90% perfect blade for the money. You get what I am trying to say. I have all of the first three Sage's. Adding up those alone: $113, $95 and $145=Insingo! Dang it!! I shoulda, coulda, woulda, shoulda....tear
 
Art_Vandeley said:
Think about it like that: You could have 10 100$ watches that break every year, or you could have 1 1000$ watch for the ten years that has lifetime warranty and service.
Click to expand...

What if you work construction or some other type of job where your watch gets banged up and filthy every day. Would you wear a $1000 watch to lay a cement floor or demo a brick wall or dig a trench? No matter how good a warranty is, they don't cover everything.

The Sebenza is a great knife. But I wonder how many people who own them actually use them. If they use them, I wonder what they use them for. Would you use one to cut open bags of cement mix or shave the edge off a slab of sheetrock? Would you pull it out and use it knowing that it's deffinitely going to get filled with dust and dirt? Would you use it to cut things if you knew that the edge would get ruined? Would you use it to open bags of lawn fertalizer or to scrape manure off your boots?

I wonder how many Sebenza owners regularly say "Hmm, no, I won't use my $450 Sebenza to cut THAT". I wonder how many Sebenza owners carry a less expensive knife for "dirty" jobs?

$450 is a lot to pay for a letter opener.
 
killgar said:
What if you work construction or some other type of job where your watch gets banged up and filthy every day. Would you wear a $1000 watch to lay a cement floor or demo a brick wall or dig a trench? No matter how good a warranty is, they don't cover everything.

The Sebenza is a great knife. But I wonder how many people who own them actually use them. If they use them, I wonder what they use them for. Would you use one to cut open bags of cement mix or shave the edge off a slab of sheetrock? Would you pull it out and use it knowing that it's deffinitely going to get filled with dust and dirt? Would you use it to cut things if you knew that the edge would get ruined? Would you use it to open bags of lawn fertalizer or to scrape manure off your boots?

I wonder how many Sebenza owners regularly say "Hmm, no, I won't use my $450 Sebenza to cut THAT". I wonder how many Sebenza owners carry a less expensive knife for "dirty" jobs?

$450 is a lot to pay for a letter opener.
Click to expand...

Well, this one's been used to cut sheetrock & fiberglass strapping, open bags of cement & mulch, pried with:o, dropped, had the edge chipped, etc.

IMG_1723.jpg


IMG_1721.jpg
 
I've used mine to cut rope, plastic and even light metal in an emergency. I've had to resharpened destroyed edges many times.

Having said that, I can understand the reluctance to take a chance on something you've had to save for for many months. I think you should buy the best you can afford and still afford to damage without losing sleep over it. I just happen to feel that way about my Sebenzas but I don't have decorated ones.
 
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