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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Is Sebenza the Best?
- Thread starter Brutus013
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Hey man, good to see you back in gold.
And I agree, sebbies are among the very best. My Grail, a small cf inlay, got here about a week ago and it hasn't left my pocket since:thumbup:
Holy resurrected threads, Batman!
It seems the sebenza argument never dies.
Oh well, I guess it's better to continue it in a single thread rather than start new ones every couple days.....
:thumbup: 6 year old thread bump! AWESOME!!
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- Feb 3, 2001
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Wow, 6 year old thread, first, I've wanted a Sebenza since they first came out over 25 years ago but like many I couldn't justify the money, then Dave held a pass around and I got to use a large 21 for a week I got it, I could see the quality but when you're playing with someone else's $450 knife you really don't put it to the test.
Last year I was able to make a trade for a small plain Jane 21 and have carried out non-stop for a year, after the first scratch and ding I was able to use it like it's namesake intended, to work with it. Well in that year I've come to appreciate all the little nuances from the chamfered edges to the tolerances and the little thing like including the hex key to disassemble the knife with.
Well here it is 1 year later, I said the day I got the first one out wouldn't be my last. Well about a month ago because of the birthday request thread in the CRK forum a member Ajack60 contacted me by pm letting me know that he had a Diamond Plate CCG small 21 with my birthday. Needless to say I wanted it and as a result of that thread I was able to trade for my second and certainly not last Sebenza or CRK knife.
To answer the OP, in it's class and for the money spent you can't buy a better knife, the only thing that even comes close in regards to QC, F&F and overall value on a production/midtech folder is a William Henry.
Second, RIP, miss you Dave I can never look at a Sebenza thread without thinking of you...
Last year I was able to make a trade for a small plain Jane 21 and have carried out non-stop for a year, after the first scratch and ding I was able to use it like it's namesake intended, to work with it. Well in that year I've come to appreciate all the little nuances from the chamfered edges to the tolerances and the little thing like including the hex key to disassemble the knife with.
Well here it is 1 year later, I said the day I got the first one out wouldn't be my last. Well about a month ago because of the birthday request thread in the CRK forum a member Ajack60 contacted me by pm letting me know that he had a Diamond Plate CCG small 21 with my birthday. Needless to say I wanted it and as a result of that thread I was able to trade for my second and certainly not last Sebenza or CRK knife.
To answer the OP, in it's class and for the money spent you can't buy a better knife, the only thing that even comes close in regards to QC, F&F and overall value on a production/midtech folder is a William Henry.
Second, RIP, miss you Dave I can never look at a Sebenza thread without thinking of you...
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I've never owned a Sebenza but I do have a Spyderco Slysz Bowie which I am very impressed with. How do they compare to each other?
Very well said. The sebenza is indeed the whole package for me when that old "if you could only have one knife for the rest of your life" question comes to mind.
rexromic
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powernoodle
Power Member
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Sebenzas may be the best among mass production knives as to fit & finish. They are among the best when it comes to owner satisfaction, though others like Busse are way up there too. They are very good at marketing, and the implementation of a premium pricing strategery and "Minimum Advertised Pricing Policy", each of which I despise because they largely removes market forces from the equation. Depending on how one measures value, they are excellent or superior if one places a premium on owner satisfaction, or very bad if one places a premium on pure utility (cutting stuff) per dollar.
So as with everything, it depends on how one defines "best". Best in fit & finish, and customer loyalty and satisfaction? Quite possibly. And that is quite an awesome achievement in a world full of knives. Best utility per dollar when it comes to the fundamental purpose of knives, which is cutting stuff? They register very poorly by this measure. Sebenzas don't cut stuff better than other knives. The titanium and close tolerances just make the owners feel better while they are cutting stuff. And who doesn't like to feel good? Not me.
I am split on Sebenzas. Part of me loves the fit & finish, the comradery of CRK owners, and the concentrated "knifeness" that exudes from a CRK that is almost impossible to articulate. The other part of me feels stupid for paying $435 for a knife. But Chris Reeve has convinced me to buy four of them, so he must be doing something right.
So as with everything, it depends on how one defines "best". Best in fit & finish, and customer loyalty and satisfaction? Quite possibly. And that is quite an awesome achievement in a world full of knives. Best utility per dollar when it comes to the fundamental purpose of knives, which is cutting stuff? They register very poorly by this measure. Sebenzas don't cut stuff better than other knives. The titanium and close tolerances just make the owners feel better while they are cutting stuff. And who doesn't like to feel good? Not me.
I am split on Sebenzas. Part of me loves the fit & finish, the comradery of CRK owners, and the concentrated "knifeness" that exudes from a CRK that is almost impossible to articulate. The other part of me feels stupid for paying $435 for a knife. But Chris Reeve has convinced me to buy four of them, so he must be doing something right.
A fair assessment, except for your dissmissal of tolerences as being only for making the owners "feel good"
They are there because they give the knife long term durability and the ability to be taken apart and put back together a million times without any issues. No tweaking, no funny tricks, no balancing this on that to turn the right screw to the right tightness before you do the others, etc etc etc. You simply put the knife back together and it's exactly how it was before you took it apart. The bushing system and tolerences are what make this possible.
In the not so distant past, I've said I would never pay over $300 for a status symbol pocket knife. But I eventually did. Bought a small Sebenza. And I feel it is worth the price. The fit and finish are superb and I like the craftsmanship involved. Again: In my opinion, the Sebenza is worth its selling price. But, also in my opinion, when it comes to functionality, it's not a better knife than one of the less than $100 model Benchmade or Spyderco models. If function is all that a person wants, there's no reason to buy a Sebenza. But knife people don't always consider functionality as the prime reason to buy, own and use their knives.
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