Im tired of people saying a sebenza is to expensive

Ok I will not say it. The Sebenza costs too much. Yes I've tried one, it's a good knife,thats all, There customer service costs too much as well. But if you need to justify getting one to the rest of us go right ahead. I'll do another favor for those who want one I will not buy one so there is room for others.
 
Will P. said:
Folding knives overall just aren't reliable enough for some things. The Sebenza is well worth it for some knife knuts, but in the same way a fancy car is worthwhile (I am stealing the metahpor). It enhances your life, but as essentially a toy. So when I say the Sebenza isn't worth the money, I mean that that is vastly more than I, personally, would spend on any knife.

EDIt: hmm... it looks to me like everyone is saying variations on the same theme.
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I think you are very correct in that a folding knife is not always a good choice, no matter who makes it. A fixed blade would always be my first choice if it wasn't inappropriate carry most times.

However, don't let the price and fancy available handle "doo dads" fool you about the Sebenza. It is as tough (if not far tougher) than any other folder in nasty situations. I think some of the fancy decorations, that CRK makes available, takes away some of the actual serious nature of the Sebenza. In fact, some of the designs are really way to "dandy" looking for my taste. Some of the fancy designs do look make the Sebenza a bit fancy and toy like, in my humble opinion. However don't let the fancy looks fool you.

Anyway, I don't mean to belabor the subject. Most of us do seem to be saying the same thing in different ways.
 
Oh, I'm not saying it's not a serious knife. It's definately a serious knife. (Sidenote: whenever I see a folder, be it a AFCK or a Sebbie, being advertised as a "tactical knife" I want to smash some heads...) It's just that dissembly is not a big priority for me, as maintainace of a folder is pretty low on my priority list sometimes. From what I have heard, the Sebenza is fairly dirt proof due to tightness of construction. I'm just pointing out that sometimes an unusual (imperfect?) solution, like the self-cleaning AXIS lock, is more convenient.
 
I think there is not such thing as a "Too expensive" knife. My dad only carries $10 Camillus seconds, so a $40 Case would be too expensive for him- I've tried. I carry $50-100 folders, so $2-300 is a bit high for me. The Seb is surely cheap for some people, and heinously expensive for others.
 
Sebenza's are not expensive!

Striders are...

Ooh, I said it, now I need to seek shelter... ;)

Ted
 
They both cost a pretty penny... but worth every one as I am told...

Too expensive is a relative term...
 
my theory is that the reason why this discussion ever came up is that many buyers may have had too high expectations of the knife "because it cost so much". the thing is, even though it is handmade, tough, looks good and has a rock-solid self-adjusting modified framelock and can be easily disassembled for cleaning.......in the end...it's still "just a knife" when you finally have 'the precious' lying on your desk with a thinner wallet next to it . and $300 for "just a knife" is expensive, simple as that. and there's ofcourse the usual reasoning in cases like this: why buy a Benz if a Honda is also a great car? the very reason why i will never buy a Bentley, a Montblanc pen, a snake-skin $200-wallet, $600-shoes, the list goes on. but what if i could easily spare the money for such luxury items?> still no. why?> i honestly couldn't tell for sure........maybe rationalism, anti-snobbism, moral, genetics,..... :o :confused:

this very thread about Sebbie-value even existing is reason enough for me to not ever buy one, it MEANS something that this discussion exists.

funny though that i've never heard anybody say that a AMK S2K is too expensive, or a Spyderco Military, whatever other popular 'good knife'.........

am i close to the truth? :confused: :rolleyes:
 
dennis75 said:
this very thread about Sebbie-value even existing is reason enough for me to not ever buy one, it MEANS something that this discussion exists, and i think it's because of what i just wrote above.......

funny though that i've never heard anybody say that a AMK S2K is too expensive, or a Spyderco Military, Buck Strider, whatever.........

am i close to the truth? :confused: :rolleyes:
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Don't be confused. Also don't discount owning a knife that most folks think is very valuable to own, and is one of the best, simply because some people either cannot afford one or simply don't want to spend that much on a knife.

All these threads mean is that a Sebenza costs more money or is more knife than some people need. Hell, it is more knife than I certainly "need", but I like it anyway. Top notch equipment is cool even if you don't need all that it can do.

Don't forget: you never hear anyone say that the Sebenza design is flawed or has construction issues or design weaknesses. NEVER DO YOU HEAR THIS. In this competitive world of knives, that is an amazing reputation.

I own a both a SERE, and a Military (sorry, but I don't own a Buck Strider). The Military actually is one of my favorites, due to price, sharpness, light weight and simplicity. Both get carried regularly, but they are not nearly what the Sebenza is in quality. My ATR comes somewhat closer to the Sebenza in toughness and materials.
 
jayharley said:
Top notch equipment is cool even if you don't need all that it can do.
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true, i agree it's partially a coolness/gadget-factor. i see a comparison with wristwatches here: everyone could do just fine with a $10 quartz watch, yet many people wear mechanical diving watches that can go as deep as 3000m, but also cost around 3000. the actual joy of having a quality high-end product with features you may never even need is satisfying in a strange way. i should know, because i'm one of those watch-freaks too..... :rolleyes:

one statement i once made i still stand behind though: "the Al Mar SERE 2000 is the poor man's Sebenza". why does nobody SEE that that knife rocks in quality! :) :cool:
 
dennis75 said:
true, i agree it's partially a coolness/gadget-factor. i see a comparison with wristwatches here: everyone could do just fine with a $10 quartz watch, yet many people wear mechanical diving watches that can go as deep as 3000m, but also cost around 3000. the actual joy of having a quality high-end product with features you may never even need is satisfying in a strange way. i should know, because i'm one of those watch-freaks too..... :rolleyes:

one statement i once made i still stand behind though: "the Al Mar SERE 2000 is the poor man's Sebenza". why does nobody SEE that that knife rocks in quality! :) :cool:
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Now you got me!! I wear a Timex simply because most expensive watches are "more than I want to spend for a watch". Plus the Timex does everything, and much more than I need. You have caught me using my own tactics and logic! ha ha.

The SERE 2000 is really a cool knife with remarkable custom quality finishing. I think the SERE did get a bit beat up, a while back, with a number of compaints about lock up failures (spine whack issues). Mine has always been great, but it doesn't see much heavy use.

I have never, never, ever, ever heard of a Sebenza lock becoming loose or failing under any conditions. Another remarkable reputation. Don't forget that CRK has won numerous Blade Show awards for Blade Magazine’s Manufacturing Quality Award. He has won this award 3 out of 4 years. That means "the best" production knives. You cannot get any better than "the best".
 
I've had this discussion with my father many times, about other things. He doesn't see what makes something valuable to another person. Collectibles and other such stuff. I've told him, more than once, that what makes something worth whatever amount of money is the person who's willing to pay that much to own it. Which is really just my version of what's already been said a couple of times here by other people. I have New Jersey by Bon Jovi on vinyl (actually, I've got a pretty good stack of 80s music on vinyl and it scares me). Is it worth anything at this point? Maybe not to anyone here, but if you're some kind of BoJo fanatic who's just got to have that album on vinyl and are willing to pay me some obscene amount of money to get it, who am I to tell you it's not worth it? :)
 
The only recent Al Mar I've handled was a shrike. It was OK, but I didn't think it was that great. Maybe someone with an extra should do a passaround with it.

;)
 
I also don't really like it when people say things about my favorite, but there's nothing we can do about it. If you want to hear mostly positive things about the Sebbie, stick to CR forum, you'll hear lots of praise and good info there.
 
Walking Man said:
I also don't really like it when people say things about my favorite, but there's nothing we can do about it. If you want to hear mostly positive things about the Sebbie, stick to CR forum, you'll hear lots of praise and good info there.
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I don't know about anyone else's opinion, but we are sharing ideas about knives and prices. If you don't want to follow this thread, that is your choice. I, for one, like this type of healthy banter, and so far no one else has asked to have it moved to another forum. If we all were going to agree on this type of subject, there would be less of a need for this web site.
 
The sebenza is too expensive to me in that the feature that increases the cost, the hand fitting, does absolutely nothing to increase the utility or value of it. Only so much precision is needed for solid lockup. As for finish, it's one of the plainest knives produced today, not hard to maintain a good fit when there's nothing but titanium slabs to bolt to a blade.
 
I honestly doubt there are many (if any) folks on this forum who could not scrape up enough money to buy a brand new Sebenza. So yes, the average Joe can afford one.

But yes, they are too expensive for what you get.

It's not magic and it's not perfection either IMO:

Even though it's a frame-lock, it still has some of the same problems as any liner-lock:
As the blade wears, the tang-to-locking-bar geometry will change.
It relies on a small ball-detent to hold the blade closed.
It is not "lefty friendly".

And the pocket-clip is'nt that great since I prefer tip-down carry.
It weighs over 4 oz.
It does'nt have much of a foreward integrated guard.
The handle does not have texturing for grip.

And it cost too much.

Just my 2 cents worth,
Allen.
 
Ookpik said:
Sebenzas are underpriced. The several months order backlog proves it.
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Not necessarily, because there are so many dealers with the Sebenza in stock, the backlog isn't as clear an indicator of supply/demand/price. However, given that there is a backlog at the factory and stock availability at dealers shows that the price is fair .

If it were overpriced, there'd be tons of stock available (not the case) and if it were underpriced (and a good product) there'd be a shortage. Therefore, the price seems dead on fair to me.
 
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