Got my Umnum Today!

safetyman

safetyman

Joined
Sep 8, 2008
Messages
3,766
Well, the Postman brought a present for me in the form of an Umnumzaan. I got to handle an Umnum at BladeWest but never pulled the trigger. Ever since then I have had it on my mind. So, after a month or so I finally picked one up.

I have to say that it's a bit smoother than my Sebbies. Probably a result of the ceramic ball on the lock bar and the polyurethane washers. I'm not really into swedges and I thought that it might turn me off but it's not sharpened so it's fine with me. I need to pick up the take-down tool from New Graham soon, I really want to see what's going on inside that HUGE pivot.

All in all it's a very nice knife, as all CRK's are. It's going to have to compete with the other two for pocket time. I don't see it having any problem competing because I like it a lot so far...the only downside is that it doesn't keep up with the "All American" theme I have going on (only kidding).


Here are some pics that show how it compares to my Sebbies:

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I always thought the Umnumzaan was larger than the large sebenza ? In the pics it looks to be the same size as the large sebenza, thats cool because I love the size of my large regular, I can already see it being right at home ! Can't wait to get mine.
 
It is actually quite a bit bigger buddy, but carries just as well as the large.
 
Congrats on the new knife. Nice collection you have there. I am sure that the Umnum will find its way into your pocket even w/out the "All American" markings.
 
The washers are FB, not Poly. They are perforated which helps hold the grease. I believe that contributes to the 'hydraulic' feel of the action.

The ceramic ball on the lockbar face is awesome. No other Ti framelock compares to this system. I wish my Sng had this feature.

The pivot is bigger than a Seb, as I recall, but not quite as big as a Strider pivot.

When you take it apart and reasemble, you will find it extremly easy to adjust the pivot. You simply tighten the pivot until you like the action, and you're done. There will be no blade play.

The first time I did it, I realized the the tollerances were so close that I didn't have to re-adjust two or three times like I might do on another folder.

Pivot adjustments on knives isn't rocket science anyway, but this is so easy, a monkey could do it.
 
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I just pulled the trigger and ordered an Umnumzaan too! for a while I was leaning toward a large sebenza, but I'm sure that'll come eventually too
 
bearcut said:
The washers are FB, not Poly. They are perforated which helps hold the grease. I believe that contributes to the 'hydraulic' feel of the action. The ceramic ball on the lockbar face is awesome. No other Ti framelock compares to this system. I wish my Sng had this feature.
Click to expand...

I mixed things up here Bear. I meant that the O-rings on the thumbstud are polyurethane (aren't they?). I called them washers which was technically incorrect. The phosphor-bronze washers in the pivot have a lot to do with the smoothness too though...
 
All American ? I count 13 full squares on the front there, designating the 13 original states. ;)

Congratulations.
 
safetyman said:
I mixed things up here Bear. I meant that the O-rings on the thumbstud are polyurethane (aren't they?). I called them washers which was technically incorrect. The phosphor-bronze washers in the pivot have a lot to do with the smoothness too though...
Click to expand...
Cool.

I thought it was strange that you made that statement. Usually 'zaan owners are pretty knowledgeable about their knives.

You know something else that is great about the 'zaan, when you put it back together, the blade is always centered! No screwing around with too many parts, trying to figure out whats wrong. :D
 
bearcut said:
Cool.

I thought it was strange that you made that statement. Usually 'zaan owners are pretty knowledgeable about their knives.

You know something else that is great about the 'zaan, when you put it back together, the blade is always centered! No screwing around with too many parts, trying to figure out whats wrong. :D
Click to expand...

And when I say that the o-rings add to the smoothness I mean that the Umnum doesn't make that usual 'click' when I close it like Sebenzas. So, overall the knife opens and closes quieter.
 
Roger that.

When I first got the knife, the whole mechanism was so smooth and quiet that I kept checking to see if the blade had fully locked up. It was just totaly different than anything else I had experienced before.

I like the design with the O-rings. I haven't seen any wear on them at all.
It appears as though the metal bar contacts the Ti frame before the O-ring gets too compressed.

I really didn't care too much for the knife at first. I liked it better than Sebenza's, but I wasn't smitten or anything.

After almost a year, I am really starting to appreciate the design.

BTW, it has been a couple of weeks since I put a satin finish on my 'zaan via scotchbrite type pads.
No regrets. I like it even better now.
 
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Safetyman thanx for the great pics. Im going to pull the trigger on a zaan next week.

I dont have a b& m store anywhere near me --- your pics really did help me decide!!
 
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