if you could only have one, small seb or mnandi

M

Mathew J

Joined
Apr 7, 2002
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110
As the title suggests, this would be your do everything knife...mostly light duty office style work.

Like the Mnandi but the Seb seems more "classic"

Thanks
 
If I had to choose between those two I'd get the mnandi, probably all you need for office style work and it looks more like a gentlemans knife.
 
Small Sebenza. While I like the look and the feel of the Mnandi, I just never purchased one. I guess I've always been partial to the Small Seb between the two.
 
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I have both. For just light office work get the Mnandi. I absolutely love that knife. Now, if this were me and I had to choose between the two then I would get the small. I own 2 businesses and di office work and the small sebbie does light work effortlessly. In other words it's not too big for light work bit big enough for larger task outside of the office. That's why I like the small sebbie. It does larger task outside of work great.
 
If I wanted one, and only one, do come close to doing it all, I'd buy an inlay small Seb. Better all around versatility for cutting, and a more refined appearance for "dressier" occasions.
 
I have a small micarta Sebenza and had an ironwood Mnandi. I sold the Mnandi 'cause it was a little too small and the Sebenza didn't take up more more pocket space.

One Mnandi advantage, though, is the clip. It looks like a pen clip, not a knife clip, which is nice for office duty.
 
If I had to pick between the two, it would be the Sebbie (Insingo, with Micarta Inlay), simply because you don't need both hands to open it. Having to use two hands to open a knife is so 1980's... ;) Mnandi is a nice looking knife. Just wish it had a thumb stud instead of a nail groove.
 
Medic1210 said:
If I had to pick between the two, it would be the Sebbie (Insingo, with Micarta Inlay), simply because you don't need both hands to open it. Having to use two hands to open a knife is so 1980's... ;) Mnandi is a nice looking knife. Just wish it had a thumb stud instead of a nail groove.
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Yeah really wish the mnandi had that as well and one of the bigger selling points for me with the sebenza.
 
The Mnandi CAN be opened one handed. I have done it myself, when I had one. For the office, I would say Mnandi.
 
Medic1210 said:
If I had to pick between the two, it would be the Sebbie (Insingo, with Micarta Inlay), simply because you don't need both hands to open it. Having to use two hands to open a knife is so 1980's... ;) Mnandi is a nice looking knife. Just wish it had a thumb stud instead of a nail groove.
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Mathew J said:
Yeah really wish the mnandi had that as well and one of the bigger selling points for me with the sebenza.
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Just to let you guys know, the Mnandi opens very easily one handed. The opening notch isn't really a nail nick. Actually, that is the one thing I prefer about the Mnandi. The opening notch is much more comfortable to use than the standard CRK thumbstud in my opinion.
 
Tony8179 said:
Just to let you guys know, the Mnandi opens very easily one handed. The opening notch isn't really a nail nick. Actually, that is the one thing I prefer about the Mnandi. The opening notch is much more comfortable to use than the standard CRK thumbstud in my opinion.
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Learn somethin' new every day I guess. Maybe I'll give the Mnandi a better second look. So, is it one of those 'pinch the blade with thumb and middle finger to get it started' openings, or can you open it completely with the thumb?
 
Medic1210 said:
Learn somethin' new every day I guess. Maybe I'll give the Mnandi a better second look. So, is it one of those 'pinch the blade with thumb and middle finger to get it started' openings, or can you open it completely with the thumb?
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Completely with the thumb. Very smooth and easy opening.
 
Cool. I may put the Mnandi on my list of future acquisitions. I'd definitely need to see and hold one in person to see how it fits my hand.
 
Medic1210 said:
Cool. I may put the Mnandi on my list of future acquisitions. I'd definitely need to see and hold one in person to see how it fits my hand.
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Smaller than the Small Sebenza in every way. Thinner, lighter, shorter, narrower blade, doesn't fill the hand as well as the Small Seb.
 
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Tony8179 said:
Smaller than the Small Sebenza in every way. Thinner, lighter, shorter, narrower, doesn't fill the hand as well as the Small Seb.
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Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking. I think the Small Seb is about as small as I can comfortably go for anything other than just opening an envelope or box.
 
I have both, but if I had to have just one, the small Sebbie. Just a more versatile knife.
 
Medic1210 said:
Learn somethin' new every day I guess. Maybe I'll give the Mnandi a better second look. So, is it one of those 'pinch the blade with thumb and middle finger to get it started' openings, or can you open it completely with the thumb?
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I can do it pretty easily with just the thumb. The nick is generously sized, quite deep and has a usefully "sharp" top edge that catches your thumb.
 
I've owned both and now just have the small Insingo Sebe...for dress and office you could get a small Sebe with some nice sheeple friendly wood inlays.
That being said I still do love the Mnandi and it's on my short list. For a small knife I can get a four finger grip..and while it is a gents knife it can do many tasks a small Sebe can.

Dave
 
I have both a African Blackwood Mnandi and a African Blackwood small Sebenza. The Mnandi is my favorite knife and does everything that I have actually needed the knife to do in my daily course of life.

However, I would have to agree that the small Sebenza would be up to heavier duty chores if you needed to them and this would make it more versatile. But, I have yet to come into anything that the Mnandi has not been able to handle.

The Mnandi is totally a one handed knife and opens much more easily than a Sebenza. It does not need the studs because the thumb nick works great.
 
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