Hinderer or CRK?

atony said:
Why would you have to use a Sharpie in order to put the 25 back together. Never heard this one?
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He was talking about the assymetrical stop pin. If you take it all the way off you have to make sure it goes back on the same way so that the blade clears it when opening and closing. Removing it however is completely unnecessary as you only have to remove the screw from the non lock side when you disassemble. Clean it with a q-tip dipped in alcohol, lube the washers/blade, loctite the pivot screw, slap it back together. No need to move the stop pin at all. I feel its slightly easier to disassemble/reassemble the 25 than the 21.
 
Has Lou Lasher chimed in yet? He's a fireman too and had / has both. He's been running around for ages looking for a perfect duty knife lol. That or he's just doing the usual knife nutty thing.

I've only had a CRK since Christmas. There's something very screwed up and crack-head-ish about the knife. Once you get over your general excitement about having it. You pick it up and say to yourself... Well... So that's it? Yup. That's it.

Its a very basic no frills knife, done right. If it happens to be around I'm very grab ass with it lol. But it gives me that same feeling like when I was a kid and my mom would cook or get me a favorite snack. It's just a very satisfying knife.

In all honesty I probably like my Elmax Blur a tad more. But it doesn't take away the fact that the crk isn't awesome. End of the day I'm still going to go buy more knives though.
 
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I have a XM 18 3 and 3.5 both slicer and large and small sebenza 21s. If you don't want a flipper you should definitely buy a CRK in the situation you describe. CRKs are better cutters due to the geometry and are much more compact.

I personally carry my XMs more because I like flippers but if I was forced to carry one knife only it would likely be a large sebenza.
 
The sebbie feels like a Delica is clipped to your pocket. You forget it's even there.
 
johnnytoxin said:
He was talking about the assymetrical stop pin. If you take it all the way off you have to make sure it goes back on the same way so that the blade clears it when opening and closing. Removing it however is completely unnecessary as you only have to remove the screw from the non lock side when you disassemble. Clean it with a q-tip dipped in alcohol, lube the washers/blade, loctite the pivot screw, slap it back together. No need to move the stop pin at all. I feel its slightly easier to disassemble/reassemble the 25 than the 21.
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I think I know what he is talking about, just never heard of someone using a sharpie for it. Even if you take the pin out, assemble the components on the lock side then put the blade on the female portion of the pivot and cycle it open and close, then tighten screw on lock side for the stop pin. I assume he is marking the location? Thanks for your response though johnnytoxin, and I agree no need to take it all the way down.

To the Op you have made a great choice the 25 is a great knife.
 
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Both of the knives are great. Ive owned 4 crks and 2 hinderers....spanto and slicer grinds. I have been a professional firefighter and a paramedic for just over 9 years and am a little partial to the hinderer. They are a tough knife with a huge variety of upgradable options....new standoffs, scales, pivots, etc....its cool to be able to switch a scale and feel like you have a new knife. With that being said, i carry a leatherman pst on my belt and a spyderco saver salt. I would cry if i ever lost a crk or hinderer.....especially doing something at work. I trust both knives with any task you can throw at them. If given the chance to own a hinderer at direct cost...to me its a No brainer. Crks are much more readily available, but hinderer does give you a more "grail" knife feeling.......please dont kill me for saying that, its just my honest opinion. At the end of the day i like them both........so....if you can own both then do that.
 
CRK no question, especially since you already have a 0562 which is very close to the Hinderer already.
 
I have a large regular seb and a 3.5 inch Hinderer slicer. IMO the CRK is much more "sexy" and fun to play with, but it's so nice I would hesitate to be hard on it (for aesthetic reasons). It's just so pretty. However, the Hinderer, though it doesn't really give me any joy, is a user. Wouldn't bother me a bit to hack on something or scratch the blade up. So I'm keeping it too.
 
CRK all the way, you will prob end up with both anyway. Def try Large Seb 21, Regular and Umnumzaan - love em, would carry everyday but overkill for my tasks
 
cchu518 said:
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I've only had a CRK since Christmas. There's something very screwed up and crack-head-ish about the knife. Once you get over your general excitement about having it. You pick it up and say to yourself... Well... So that's it? Yup. That's it.
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I've been eyeing up the small Insigno for ages now, but worry that's exactly the feeling I would have after the first week.

Dangit, it's like you read my mind.
 
Large CRK in one's choice of grind. XMs are great but like my CRK more even though it's not a flipper.
 
Get an xm-18. Ive owned a small sebenza in the past and just bought my first 2 hinderers not too long ago and i would deffinately choose the xm. I think they are worth every penny. If your guna do more slicing, food prep etc i would go with the slicer grind. If your guna be using it for hardcore stuff like prying then i would go with the spanto. Either way they are both great. I love my 3inch spanto flipper. You have more options with the xm as far as customizing without having it done by a "pimper". Get the xm i gurantee you wont be disappointed. Think about buying the flipper though.
 
Oh that comment was in no way meant to discourage you from getting one. I was just trying to indicate that in my hand. The CRK just feels absolutely correct. There isn't much more to say about it. It's like slipping into a familiar pair of jeans or your favorite chair. I would have thought that I would be more excited about it for longer, but rather after that first week, it felt like I have known and had that CRK forever and that it has the best qualities that a knife could have.

If you love knives I don't think any knife is the be all end all. I love my Starbenza though, I really do. I handle it all the time while watching TV and can't wait to use it more in the spring for yardwork, camping, hiking (I like to clean up the difficult and less hiked portions of the Appalachian trail that I like to hike in the summers as I hike them). And will certainly rotate the Sebenza into that task. It's a fairly expensive user knife that you really need to experience, it puts all your other knives into context in terms of blade to handle ratio, weight, fit and finish etc...etc...! PS a Mnandi or a small micarta Insingo would be my next CRK purchase when I get there!

Gratuitous shot of my two favorite one handers
 
atony said:
I think I know what he is talking about, just never heard of someone using a sharpie for it. Even if you take the pin out, assemble the components on the lock side then put the blade on the female portion of the pivot and cycle it open and close, then tighten screw on lock side for the stop pin. I assume he is marking the location? Thanks for your response though johnnytoxin, and I agree no need to take it all the way down.

To the Op you have made a great choice the 25 is a great knife.
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Yeah, I took it completely apart and had a really tough time getting it back together, due to the asymmetrical stop pin. I didn't pay attention and didn't notice that it had a flat portion. My own fault, but sold it anyway. Someone on the forums mentioned that they like to mark the pin so they know the exact placement when they do break it completely down.

That being said, there isn't really a need to take it completely apart. The knife is great and I am sure you will love it. Congratulations on a great purchase!
 
Hinderer Eklipse? From my personal experience if I have to choose one knife from any of the CRK's and Hinderers this is the one I would go for.

If you really want something special for this kind of money the André De Villiers Butcher is the way to go. It is crazy awesome.

IM0UVyIN
 
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CRK all the way. A much more refined knife that is still up for any task. I briefly had a 3" Hinderer and for the life of me could not figure out what all the hype was about.
 
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