Im tired of people saying a sebenza is to expensive

=Voodoo= said:
after going thru 3 gators, and upgrading to benchmade and going thru a 970, 750(x2), and a mel pardue design, i upgraded again and got a sebbie. the first 7 knives were done over 6 years as a parachute rigger in the army where i use my knife hard everyday i show up to work cutting nylon cord or webbing, cotton duck, canvas, honeycomb....u name it, i cut it 8-16 hours a day 5-7 days a week. have had the sebbie going on 2 years and it is still as good as new(minus the scuffs). u all can say what u want but i use my knife everyday and i swear buy this 1. my fellow riggers with there gerbers and crkt and bucks and benchmades end up going thru knives every year. i still have my "expensive" knife and the only thing that works better for me is a pair of scissors at times ;)

if all u do is carry your knives, then maybe the price is not right for u, but for me, i find it acceptable and the pride that comes with it is priceless
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I'd be willing to bet since you have pride in the knife you take better care of it than a $30 $40 knife as well.
 
hardheart said:
...not hard to maintain a good fit when there's nothing but titanium slabs to bolt to a blade.
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You're not a machinist, are you?

These threads always seem to get a touch over heated.

Since I spend most of my money on custom knives, I don't really find the Sebenza to be all that expensive. I have owned and used one and don't find it to be overpriced at all. I also don't consider it to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination. To me it is a great knife at a reasonable price.
 
...elevator practice.
;)
 
Keith Montgomery said:
You're not a machinist, are you?
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No, but I still bet it's easier to precision fit 2 pieces of Ti than it would be to machine 2 Ti/steel liners, bolster material, handle slabs, and a separate lock mechanism and maintain this godly 'fit n finish'.
 
If they made a Sebenza with a blade size of at least 5 inches, then it would not be too expensive for me. As it stands, I have been so spoiled by my precious Cuda Max that I find smaller knives to be completely insubstantial. If they made a big senenza, then I would definitely purchase it.
 
The Sebenza seems overpriced relative to other knives in it's class. For the cost of a Sebenza, you could get a real custom knife. I wouldn't have a problem paying $350.00 for one if I thought that the price was warranted. The Sebenza is a nice knife, but it's just not my style. I would much rather have a Military and an ATR over one Sebenza.
 
I choose to wear a Rolex.
I like old S&W Revolvers.
I like Old Walther PPK's.
I like really well made mechanical devices and am willing to pay more for them.
The Rolex keeps good time.
The old Smiths are very accurate and reliable.
Old German Walther PPK's are cool.
I would not try and convince you my choices are better if you were wearing a Casio, shooting a Lorcin and cutting up your sandwich with a Pakastani Folder.
 
No, but I still bet it's easier to precision fit 2 pieces of Ti than it would be to machine 2 Ti/steel liners, bolster material, handle slabs, and a separate lock mechanism and maintain this godly 'fit n finish'.
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If that's the case then I wonder why Sal Glesser often (on forums and during the Dutch Spyderco show last march) praises Chris Reeve for his precision job on the Sebenza...

Also keep in mind the rounded indent on the back of the blade where it stops on the stop pin. I don't know any other knife maker that does that. If that is off by a couple of thousands of an inch, the lock wouldn't fit good. If you do it the normal way (flat back on a round pin), you have much less to worry about tolerances there).

sebenza1.gif


Ted
 
No, but I still bet it's easier to precision fit 2 pieces of Ti than it would be to machine 2 Ti/steel liners, bolster material, handle slabs, and a separate lock mechanism and maintain this godly 'fit n finish'.
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Yet no other production knife is "precision fit" so what are we comparing it to? The pivot bushing is the exact width to allow the user to tighten the pivot screw down on it all the way with no worry about overtightening. If you tighten the pivot screw of other production knives the action will be very stiff, a smidge less and there may be blade play. This is what people mean when they say sebenzas are precision knives.
 
I am learning quite a bit about the actual construction of a Sebenza, from this thread. I know, from ownership, that it is the best production folder I own, by far. However, I did not know some of the construction details that make up this superior knife design, until reading it on this thread.

Evidently there are many points to the construction of the Sebenza that seem much more "machine intensive" and many very close "tolerance steps" that other, less expensive production knives do not have. The end result is a knife that is far superior to other production folders, regardless of price.

I cannot compare a Sebenza to a custom because it simply is not a custom made knife. The Sebenza actually seems to be more valuable and usable than my custom knives because it is not hand made. I know that sounds odd, but it is nice to know that the knife has the smoothness and close tolerances of a custom but also has the modular, component replacement (should it be needed) ability of a production item. This is a very cool combination of traits which makes the knife a very "real world" knife with a unique combination of key features not found with other blades (either custom or production).

As an example: Last year I had a problem with a custom folder. I sent it back to the "maker" and it took 10 months to fix. I will not go thru this again. This was the last time that I will confuse a custom folder with a real world user.

Maybe this is one of the reasons the Sebenza is a constant area of discussion, and debate. It is discussed and compared to both knives of the production world and also to those of the custom world.
 
Well, I might as well jump in here. I don't have a Sebenza, I have an Umfaan. Oddly enough, made by the same company. :)

I ordered it directly from CRK with a design on the handle that I specifically wanted. It cost me $365 (Kinda makes the whole Sebenza value thing look silly as I spent way more than some folks think this knife is "worth"). Then I went and had Gary Graley make a sheath for the Umfaan. That cost $30. So my carry total for the knife is $395. I'm happy with what I spent. I've owned many knives. I collect whittlers and other slipjoints. I've spent lots of money over the last four years on my knives. I ordered the Umfaan in March 2001 and got it in June 2001. Since then, I have not had one day that I felt it was not "worth" what I paid for it. I will never sell it. When I am not travelling, it is my EDC. I don't need a reason to justify it.

Beauty and value are in the eye of the beholder. That cannot be changed.

My son once made a comment on this subject that I think is particularly apt. He said he was sick of people saying, "why did you buy that?!! For that much money you could have gotten this instead!" That is always true. In a capitalist economy we make our own decisions. Isn't that great. Instead of the thousands of dollars I've spent on knives over the last 4 years, I could have gotten a car. But then, when someone else buys a car, I always think of all the knives they could have gotten. ;)

Dean
 
Like I said in my earlier post: Either you "get" the Sebenza or you "don't get" the Sebenza. I've just about decided that trying to convince other folks of the awesomeness of the Sebbie is not worth the time. :(
 
Dr sharp said:
Im so tired of hearing people saying a sebenza is to expensive,
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How much do folks spend on watches, guns and car accessories? Japan made Citizens or Seikos for over $400, guns around the $600 and up range. Wheels and tires at crazy high prices. Now consider a versatile tool that you can carry all day on your person, made in the States....
 
Hi all!!

My oppinion is "not expensive but a lot of money"

I really like CR products like the project 1 and Green Barret, but I don't fancy Sebenza that much. The CR products is always so nice and wellmade! THEY ALWAYS FINISHED whn you get them, and I like that!!!

But when it comes to folders I will rather have my Microtech Mini Socom Elite, thats the folder for me!! the work is made "finishd" like the sebenza! I like the look more! but a sebenza is not a Bad folder!

Nicolai

www.brix-tactical.dk
 
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