I hear you. I do suppose I am griping but that wasn't really my intent. I'm a pretty avid collector and this knife fits just fine in my collection. It's just that the Sebenza gets treated with a reverence that I just don't think is deserved. I have many knives that I think are just as solid, just as elegant, etc. There is soooo much hype with the Sebenzas, I just wanted to let people who are 'on the fence' know that IMO the hype isn't deserved.
Even among all of the hype about them, I often hear people saying that they are not for everyone, and I cetrianly agree with that sentiment.
I have many knives that do certain things better than the sebenza. Better edge retention, better slicing performance, faster action, etc., but all of those knives have still fallen short of the Sebenza on a few major things (I use a Sebenza 25):
1. The Sebenza is not only made to be able to be taken apart, but is encouraged to be for service and maintenance.
2. The Sebenza is one of the easiest knives to sharpen I own. It does not hold an edge forever, but it holds an edge MUCH longer than any other knife that is nearly as field-serviceable.
3. The Sebenza is perfectly easy to maintain and clean. I have used my Sebenza as a backup to my field knife for hunting and it has performed better than I could have thought. Then it comes apart and is completely cleaned out in less than 30 mins. In a tent...you don't get many knives that pull that off.
Now, is that the "perfect" knife? Nope. There isn't one.
Is it my prefered EDC? Nope. I carry may Shirogorov 95T WAY more than I carry my Sebenza. That's just my preference though, and this is just yours. Nothing wrong with it, but I'm trying to be fair because I don't think that the value and the good points of the Sebenza can be seen right away.
While I think you are fully entitled to your opinion, the use and longevity of the Sebenza is its true value and why it has the hype. I would easily wager that with equal amounts of use, my Sebenza will outlast my 95T, and most if not all of my other knives. It was built that way, and that is why I have confidence in it. There are many many reasons that the Sebenza is a great knife, but it needs to be used and put to what it is meant to be put to in order for the knife to be worth the money in my opinion.
I didn't really feel the hype was warranted at first too. I felt immediately the immense precision with which the knife was made, but at first I didn't really apreciate that or what it means, and I was a little underwhelmed too. Then I took the knife on a hunting trip on a whim (first time I had really used it), and I found out how great of a knife it really is. I have a lot of expensive knives go through my hands, and this one is the only one that I can take with a pack, and only need the takedown tools, a small ceramic fine stone, and a small strop, and be set for a month or more if I need to for using it.
Just my counter to your argument. I think if it doesn't fit you then that's it, and there's really nothing wrong with that, but I would give it more of a chance because I think you can't appreciate a Sebenza truly until you have had it for a while.
