- Joined
- Dec 3, 2009
- Messages
- 121
Last week I ordered a customized Seb directly from Chris Reeve Knives (Christmas gift for my father), and in the email process I asked Heather at CRK about wrist flicking. Here's an excerpt of the email containing her response:
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As for the flicking issue, what we discourage is the continuous (almost obsessive) wrist flicking that a few knife owners do over long periods of time. An example of this is wrist flicking the knife continuously while watching NASCAR every Sunday. Chris actually encourages a bit of wrist flicking especially when the knife is new or newly cleaned. It helps the lock settle. The reason the above mentioned flicking is discouraged is because it is unnecessary and will ruin your lock. The S30V of the blade is harder than the titanium lock and the constant banging of the two will cause the titanium to wear away.
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So there's your answer. Not quite a contradiction of the FAQ on their site, but I'll take Heather at her word. Flick your Sebenza once in a while if you like, and if you're in a hurry and need to get that blade out now, go ahead and flick away- just don't do it all the time.
And you've all probably heard this before, but CRK customer service is in a class of its own. Heather was courteous, prompt, helpful, and knowledgeable. She answered all my questions patiently (I had not ordered directly from them before) and expertly, and other than the Thanksgiving holiday, she was never more than a day behind my emails. Today, as I was out of the house, she kept my BlackBerry busy all morning confirming the details of my special shipping request. You may be able to find Chris Reeve pieces cheaper online, but if you can afford to pay full price, I highly recommend buying directly from CRK- if only to experience some of the friendliest and most professional customer service I've had yet.
ETA: In my opinion, I do not consider this an unreasonable restriction, or a cop-out on their warranty. By all accounts I've heard only good things from people who have sent their Sebenzas (or other knives) back to CRK for warranty service. This is merely CRK putting out in the open something that other makers prefer not to say out loud: hard use (or abuse) will wear down any knife, even a handmade titanium/S30V semi-custom masterpiece. The degree to which it wears down is the only difference, and as we've heard from many flick-happy Seb owners, CRK knives do stand up remarkably well to most kinds of hard use. This is just CRK covering their bases, and you should not take it as either a standoffish defense from Chris Reeve or an invitation to beat on your knife unnecessarily. Even Ernie Emerson, in his outright approval of wrist flicking, stated clearly that doing so will wear down the lock more quickly.
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As for the flicking issue, what we discourage is the continuous (almost obsessive) wrist flicking that a few knife owners do over long periods of time. An example of this is wrist flicking the knife continuously while watching NASCAR every Sunday. Chris actually encourages a bit of wrist flicking especially when the knife is new or newly cleaned. It helps the lock settle. The reason the above mentioned flicking is discouraged is because it is unnecessary and will ruin your lock. The S30V of the blade is harder than the titanium lock and the constant banging of the two will cause the titanium to wear away.
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So there's your answer. Not quite a contradiction of the FAQ on their site, but I'll take Heather at her word. Flick your Sebenza once in a while if you like, and if you're in a hurry and need to get that blade out now, go ahead and flick away- just don't do it all the time.
And you've all probably heard this before, but CRK customer service is in a class of its own. Heather was courteous, prompt, helpful, and knowledgeable. She answered all my questions patiently (I had not ordered directly from them before) and expertly, and other than the Thanksgiving holiday, she was never more than a day behind my emails. Today, as I was out of the house, she kept my BlackBerry busy all morning confirming the details of my special shipping request. You may be able to find Chris Reeve pieces cheaper online, but if you can afford to pay full price, I highly recommend buying directly from CRK- if only to experience some of the friendliest and most professional customer service I've had yet.
ETA: In my opinion, I do not consider this an unreasonable restriction, or a cop-out on their warranty. By all accounts I've heard only good things from people who have sent their Sebenzas (or other knives) back to CRK for warranty service. This is merely CRK putting out in the open something that other makers prefer not to say out loud: hard use (or abuse) will wear down any knife, even a handmade titanium/S30V semi-custom masterpiece. The degree to which it wears down is the only difference, and as we've heard from many flick-happy Seb owners, CRK knives do stand up remarkably well to most kinds of hard use. This is just CRK covering their bases, and you should not take it as either a standoffish defense from Chris Reeve or an invitation to beat on your knife unnecessarily. Even Ernie Emerson, in his outright approval of wrist flicking, stated clearly that doing so will wear down the lock more quickly.
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