Got my first CRK Sebenza yesterday. The Emperor's new knife.

[SmedleyButler]

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.

Hard to argue with your excellent logic and thoughts. I appreciate what you've said here and acknowledge that it all makes sense and that I am not speaking from experience but rather from my initial impressions. Cool comments from lots of folks.

 

[whp]

Interesting discussion. I have a Sebenza 25 that is undoubtedly one of my best knives for f and f. Does it seem to be a better knife than my Spyderco Gayle Bradley? Hmm. Better handle material, worse blade steel. F and f on the Bradley is also superb. Could it be taken down and reassembled as easily as the Sebenza. Don t know. I ve never done this with either one. Which is the stonger knife? Toss up.
Could the Bradley sell for 2-3x as much with different marketing? Very possibly. If I had to keep only one of the two , which would I keep? The 25. Am I a victim of marketing? Maybe.
When a discussion regarding the value of a Sebenza for the money spent is undertaken, both sides have a reasonable point of view. Good thread.

 

[Charr]

Hard to argue with your excellent logic and thoughts. I appreciate what you've said here and acknowledge that it all makes sense and that I am not speaking from experience but rather from my initial impressions. Cool comments from lots of folks.

Thank you for the compliment man

Like I said, it's one that takes time to appreciate in my experience.
What you do is up to you though, as long as you think it's what you want, go for it. Just don't have any regrets one way or another

The Sebenza is one of those knives that gets a lot of people's attention that's for sure. Some people are very apssionate about them one way or another, and I get why. For me, it's a very important part of my collection, but it's like that good old work vehichle in the garage. It might not be the best at doing one thing, and some of the better features make it cost quite a bit, but when it comes down to brass tacks, you pull it out and it gets the job done better than your sports car you take everyday

People gave my family crap about buying a heavy-tow SUV with the works several years ago. And then we were pulling them out of ditches in the snow, towing the boat to family vacations, and hauling everything they ever needed moved. They were much more apreciative of it then

 

[whp]

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.

Nice discussion. I agree that the longer I ve had my Sebenza 25, the more I ve come to appreciate it.
It is a great user knife.

 

[Charr]

Interesting discussion. I have a Sebenza 25 that is undoubtedly one of my best knives for f and f. Does it seem to be a better knife than my Spyderco Gayle Bradley? Hmm. Better handle material, worse blade steel. F and f on the Bradley is also superb. Could it be taken down and reassembled as easily as the Sebenza. Don t know. I ve never done this with either one. Which is the stonger knife? Toss up.
Could the Bradley sell for 2-3x as much with different marketing? Very possibly. If I had to keep only one of the two , which would I keep? The 25. Am I a victim of marketing? Maybe.
When a discussion regarding the value of a Sebenza for the money spent is undertaken, both sides have a reasonable point of view. Good thread.

I think you have good points. The GB is a great knife, but it is for different needs to me. M4 rusts really easily, S35VN does not. M4 holds an edge way better than S35VN. M4 is much harder to sharpen than S35VN. M4 is also much more prone to chipping than S35VN. I'm not a huge fan of CRK S35VN, trust me, but I definitely understand the good points of it from experience. I prefer M390 over it most of the times, but M390 is not something that can be sharpened in the field or repaired nearly as easily if the edge is damaged. Just a personal thing for what you need vs. what you want in my opinion, as most discussions of steel are really.

Would the GB be as easy to take apart? From my experience, no. You may have a different experience though I don't know. I do with a very good amount of certainty that your experience with your 25 should be very much like mine thouhg, and that's a big plus to the Sebenza as a whole

Strength is a weird thing to me. People don't need a knife that can take abuse at the end of the day. I find that most people over-estimate what a knife ever needs to handle (not saying you are, just an observation in general since you mentioned it).
Neptuneknives was a great example of over-estimating needs for strength. He spine-whacked a sebenza and was upset that it failed...duh? Why would you ever need to spine-whack a Sebenza (or any knife for that matter)? I've taken it hunting, hiking, and camping...never needed to do that, ever.

You do have a point about marketing though. The Sebenza has been around for 25+ years at this point, and there's good reasons for it, but it also has one of the most devoted following in the knife community and has a really active marketing built-in for the community and retailers. Are we a victim of this? Probably. Do we need to worry about that? Only if you can't afford to spend on a Sebenza and do anyway if you ask me.

I definitely don't disagree with you, just presenting some information as much as I can.

 

[Charr]

Nice discussion. I agree that the longer I ve had my Sebenza 25, the more I ve come to appreciate it.
It is a great user knife.

It took me quite a while to get up the courage to take it on that hunting trip though
Was worth it for sure, but it was a big step. Now, there isn't another folder I would ever take for my backup on an outdoor trip.
It also lead to me being able to carry a lot of the much more expensive knives that I carry routinely. I never would have been able to get the courage to pull the trigger on many of my favorite knives without my ecperience with the Sebenza!

 

[SBXT]

I looked at Sebenzas for a long time, and handled them several times before buying. Each time, I walked away underwhelmed. Eventually, I bought one anyway (no logic here!).

I committed to carry it exclusively for two weeks. At the end of two weeks, I was much more fond of the Sebenza, for intangible reasons. Does it cut better than my much less expensive knives? Not really. But I found that I really enjoyed having it in my pocket, and nearly every aspect of the knife and it's construction was pleasing to me. It just took me a while to appreciate it. I'm glad I gave it a chance.

If you don't like it, or don't see the value in it, definitely sell it. There are many people who agree with you. It's too expensive, and there are too many good knives out there to carry something that doesn't make you happy.

Just remember that "not worth the hype" is not the same as "not worth the hype to you". :thumbup:

 

[K.O.D.]

To the OP, I understand. I have long considered it, but something else always ended up in my pocket.

To some, simplicity, aesthetics, and f&f are just as or more important than the actual cutting ability. The sebenza is a timeless classic. I can see the value in that, but at my stage in the game, I prefer something more modern. What really does it for me are spydie holes and flippers.

Since I joined BF, there have been three times in which I was in the market to buy something in the sebenza price range. Each time I chose something different. I sold the first two, the most recent one (this past August) was the TSF Beast. I like the design, though still simple, but as a small business owner I like to support my fellow small businessmen.

I think maybe as I age more, move from the mid thirties to my forties or so, I will come to appreciate a knife like the sebenza more. For now I still have that childish streak that wants something to play with. Which explains why I have four flippers and four spydies.

 

[Hawk45]

It's a knife. It cuts stuff, has amazing fit/finish, looks and ergos. Carries amazing. Butter smooth opening. It cuts just like my $100 knives. That's it.
Make your decision based on that. If you base it on anything else, you will be disappointed. And if you buy into hype, that's on you. But I suggest everyone try one for themselves as we all have different needs/wants/appreciations.

Go watch the Chris Reeve shop tour videos and then tell me if other USA made knives got through that process and are less than the CRKs. If you don't appreciate the tolerances, you probably won't appreciate the knife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QiEnhA3n0A

 

[MatthewSB]

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.

Great points, that can't be seen or understood unless one has actually used their Sebenza. I'm guessing that there are a lot of people have bought a Sebenza due to the perceived 'hype', then let it sit in a drawer, or sold it at a slight loss, because they didn't actually use the knife and therefore weren't able to fully appreciate it.

 

[Charr]

Great points, that can't be seen or understood unless one has actually used their Sebenza. I'm guessing that there are a lot of people have bought a Sebenza due to the perceived 'hype', then let it sit in a drawer, or sold it at a slight loss, because they didn't actually use the knife and therefore weren't able to fully appreciate it.

Probably very true. I think people have the right to do whatever they want with the things they buy, but not using the sebenza and leaving it sitting there is a sad affair indeed for me
I know people who prefer to keep their knives safe queens. Nothing wrong with that. Doesn't reallu sit well with me, but nothing wrong with it, and I appreciate why. I think that anything besides maybe the unique Graphic sebenzas though just doesn't get the chance to live up to its potential that way. Just me.

It's a knife. It cuts stuff, has amazing fit/finish, looks and ergos. Carries amazing. Butter smooth opening. It cuts just like my $100 knives. That's it.
Make your decision based on that. If you base it on anything else, you will be disappointed. And if you buy into hype, that's on you. But I suggest everyone try one for themselves as we all have different needs/wants/appreciations.

Go watch the Chris Reeve shop tour videos and then tell me if other USA made knives got through that process and are less than the CRKs. If you don't appreciate the tolerances, you probably won't appreciate the knife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QiEnhA3n0A

At first, I disagreed with you, but you really have a very valid point once I read the whole thing, that's for sure.

Excellent video as well. I've seen several videos on CRK's shop, and they have openly invited a lot of different people to it to film and look at how they do everything. That is one really big selling point to me. Someone willing to show you everything has got tobe doing something right.
Same as when I go to a fine restaraunt that displays their kitchen to the open dining room or to the poeple as they come in. It lets you know that they ahve absolutely nothing to hide.

 

[d0nut]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I enjoy reading the back & forth from both sides and the arguments given.

I've only fondled a Sebenza in a local knife store and felt very underwhelmed. It just didn't feel worth the outrageous price tag, not when I think about all the other combinations of knives I could get for the same money. Maybe things change after one takes ownership and uses it, but I'll probably never know.

I do enjoy looking at people's pictures of their Sebenzas, so post away

 

[Jesse B.]

With the Sebenza, I feel ~90% of what you're paying for is the knife, and ~10% is the name. The Sebenza has been widely regarded as the ne plus ultra of modern production folding knives for many years, so its reputation sets the bar very high in terms of people's expectations. If people are expecting more than a simple, effective, superbly designed framelock with consistently perfect fit and finish, they're bound to be at least a little disappointed. The market is also saturated with titanium framelocks these days, unlike when Chris Reeve created the mechanism 25 years ago.

 

[Ankerson]

Here is my take on Chris Reeve knives, the folders based on my own experiences over the years.

1. If someone thinks they are going to be blown away when they 1st open the box they will be disappointed unless it's one of the more ornate ones.
2. They are very well designed, very understated without a lot of what I call over designed things like pocket shredding handles and blade geometry that doesn't cut worth a damn.
3. A person really needs to have one for awhile and use it to be able to start to really appreciate what all goes into making the knife.
4. They are ment to be used, yes a $400+ knife that is really ment to be used, doesn't need to be babied and is generally a hard working tool.
5. With the highest tolerances in the industry, in the .0001 range they aren't going to be inexpensive to produce.

 

[Screwdriver]

It happened

Problem is that Beta-QR......

 

[timberweasel]

The Sebenza isn't for everyone.

I think a lot of people get sucked into the hype more than by the knife itself. I strongly urge anyone who is considering buying a Sebenza to pay attention to what the knife actually offers and decide if it is a knife they'd want to own. Forget prestige and ignore the legend--look at the knife. Is it something you want to own? Do you like the aesthetic and design? Do the materials meet your standards/needs/wants? Are you satisfied by the warranty offered? Do you feel the price is reasonable for what is offered? If the answer is no, then look elsewhere: there are plenty of other fine knives to choose from.

It's ok to admit that the Sebenza isn't your cup o' tea. Maybe you just prefer the fast, flicky smoothness of a ball-bearing pivot flipper. A Sebenza won't magically fulfill all of one's desires in a knife. It is what it is: a very nicely made, high quality, titanium framelock... and that's it. Anyone who wants to own a hornless unicorn should just buy a horse, imo.

Anyway, just my 2¢...

-Brett

 

[rexromic]

Fit and finish,simplicity,longevity,parts quality,ease of maintenance,good looks.....Great knives...

 

[calc]

It is not a $450 knife or a $400 knife or even a $300 knife.

I would disagree with you there. If you paid $400 for it, it's a $400 knife. That "insane hype" that you mentioned certainly adds into the price, it's a very real thing, just as much so as the steel choice, tolerances, etc.

Semantics aside, for my personal tastes and lifestyle, I agree that it's overpriced. I don't personally care to pay a couple hundred extra for a specific brand, for tolerances past a certain point, etc.

But then again, I know a few people that carry a SAK or a Buck every day that think whatever Spyderco I'm carrying is overpriced. And for their personal tastes and lifestyles, maybe it is.

So it all depends. In fact, I might change my mind about the Sebenza a few years down the line and give it a whirl. Who knows.

 

[longbow]

Never mind. Sell it to me for 220 bucks and be done with it. keepem sharp

 

[Screwdriver]

Well, got mine from UPS about an hour ago....and I am impressed. F&F is flawless....smooth, zero blade play and lockup is where I like it. It is very understated in the looks, but the quality is over the top.

But I can totally see how people have a love/hate relationship with them.

Here is a pic.