Is Sebenza the Best?

Status
Not open for further replies.
udtjim said:
No. They are good knives but to be the best, you have to be the best at everything and they are not worth the price. There are many tougher than hell folders out there and most of them offer a better bang for the buck.
Click to expand...

I would disagree. Lets use a simple analogy. Take a decathlete. He/she does not have to win at all 10 disciplines to win the event. He/she may even win none of the 10 but be better on average than everyone else and still win.

I don't think the Sebenza is the best in all categories, but overall is still my favorite in my folder collection. Please note that I do not state it is the best as "best" is hard to define. I am merely stating it is my favorite based on criteria that are important to me, which will be different for every person.

Whether it is worth the price or not is a decision each buyer makes for himself. For you it may not be - for me, it is a bargain.
 
Last edited:
To me this is in a way a lot like asking is Rolex the best watch.Some people will say " Oh yeah they're great definitely worth it!" or "I got a seiko that will do everything a Rolex does and more and it looks better too.". It's all a matter of perspective for the most part. I personally think it's the best for a number of reasons as I said before.
 
As many said before, Sebenza is a great knife. "Best" is not the right definition to describe it. One should decide for himself what is the best for Him.

I like Sebenza a lot, but it really bugs me, when discussions about sebenza and other knives come down to "you should get a sebenza and forget about the rest. It is the best thing... blah ... blah ... blah ... " Same with Strider, Military and bunch of others. I think many people do not realize that what is best for one is not necessary good for the other. I know, a lot of people pointed it out before me, and I hope others reading this, will try to keep an open mind, to avoid trolling and such...

Preferring one knife over another and letting people know about it is good. But trying to convince somebody that one knife is better or worse than another, is pointless (Too many variables to consider).
 
I think the sebenza was everyones first high end knife. I was so into them 10 years ago.
 
Is the Sebenza the best folding knife? Yes. Take two boxes of equal size and weight and cut them up, using a Sebenza on one and another knife on the other. The Sebenza will always do a much better job. It'll last longer, too -- about four times as long as any $125 knife. It also almost never needs sharpening, which is another plus.

If you've been thinking about buying a nice handgun, forget it and buy a Sebenza instead. Ammo's not available anyway.
 
Confederate said:
Is the Sebenza the best folding knife? Yes. Take two boxes of equal size and weight and cut them up, using a Sebenza on one and another knife on the other. The Sebenza will always do a much better job. It'll last longer, too -- about four times as long as any $125 knife. It also almost never needs sharpening, which is another plus.

If you've been thinking about buying a nice handgun, forget it and buy a Sebenza instead. Ammo's not available anyway.
Click to expand...

Here we go again.... Now somebody will say that his Military (or whatever else) will do the job better and it will start all over again....
 
I agree with many posters here that there is no "best" knife. Best means something different to everybody.

The only way we could define a best knife would be for everybody to agree on all the criteria that a knife would be evaluated on, agree on the relative contribution of each criteria to the overall score, agree on each knife's actual score, then total that up and declare best. Good luck on agreeing on any of the above, especially on qualitative / subjective criteria like ergonomics, "visual appeal" etc. So anybody that would declare "this is the best knife" is actually stating their subjective "favorite / best" according to their personal criteria and preferences within the subset of knives that they have experience with. That is perfectly valid but as others have noted here, it is myopic and just a little arrogant to dismiss another's opinions and to declare one knife, Sebenza or not as the one and only.

I own Sebenza's and they are my favorite folders but despite owning almost 100 folders I keep buying more because each knife has its own appeal.

Nobody can really make a general statement like "buy this knife and forget the rest" or "buy that this knife and you will not be sorry" without asking and understanding what criteria are important to the other person.

I suspect that simple questions like "is this knife the best" are often asked by newcomers who want to buy the ultimate knife without really understanding what they are asking. I asked the same question when I started collecting recently. I bought most of my knives without ever handling them purely through researching them on forums like these. The approach I took was to add more weight to clearly articulated and credible opinions. I mostly ignored the one liner responses or opinions, except if they were posted by posters that were clearly knowledgeable (based on other responses that they posted) or if the vast majority of one liners clearly pointed out a few contenders. For example, it became clear that the Sebenza fit & finish is generally (not unanimously) accepted as very good. Hinderer XM-18 is very robust. Spyderco Military is a good cutter / slicer. None of those opinions are unanimous but was "beyond a reasonable doubt" for me. Some are very contentious, like Busse, Cold Steel, Emerson - for totally different reasons e.g. value for money vs originality of design, (in)consistency of quality etc. By focusing on what is important to me in a knife and evaluating each according to specific criteria, I built a collection of 150+ knives, of which I was disappointed in only 3 - strangely, I knew I would be disappointed in 2 of the 3 but just wanted to test my approach and expand my horizons into other criteria when I bought them. The 3rd, I am convinced was just a lemon because its seems to have a good reputation "beyond a reasonable doubt" for me.

I know that I am stating the obvious but it appears that so many miss the obvious.
 
Last edited:
babakanoosh45 said:
I have to tell ya "jimmie" If you haven't owned one ~CRK Sebenza~ and used it for any length of time you have NO right commenting beyond "it's too expensive for a paperboy salary". You do seem to be a troll and say a boatload of stupid if not outright moronic crap. Just sayin....;)
Click to expand...

Maybe so "kevvie", I plan to inspect one next year at the Atlanta blade show when I attend to see if I can feel this ineffable quality that everyone raves about.

I wouldn't mind having a Sebenza obviously, I just don't think it's quite worth the price from what I've seen so far. If I had $400 to spend on knives I'd rather get two less expensive but still high-end production knives than one Sebenza.
 
I agree. When I say it's the best I mean it's the best in my opinion fully understanding that opinions will differ. But they don't win the Quality Manafacturer award time After time because one peson thinks they're the highest quality knife manufacturer.My understanding is there is a vote by people in the industry. Does that mean the Sebenza is the best knife? No. But it means it's one of the highest quality knives according to people in the industry since it came from CRK.
 
8 pages and no user manual ??

This thread needs this :
sebdum.jpg



;)
 
James0723 said:
I've seen this quote before. It seems like Glesser is saying that unless you're a manufacturer very knowledgeable about knives you won't be able to notice a difference.

I feel a little hesitant to say anything negative about the Sebenza now, since I have been labeled a troll for it and people are trying to intimidate me into silence, but from other things I've seen and read I get the impression that the s30v on the Sebenzas does not have quite the cutting ability or edge retention of most other s30v used in normal production knives.
Click to expand...

You say Sebenza's S30v in your impression doesn't have the cutting ability or edge retention of other knives with S30V. What do you mean? You didn't answer last time I asked and I have a feeling that you don't even know what would be the causes and conditions of this claim your making.In other words I think you might not know what you're talking about. Not that it would be a first for you.
 
Take this for what it's worth keeping in mind that I've never owned or handled a Sebenza, but my personal belief is that the Spyderco Para Military is the best production folder out there. I would rather buy three of those for $125 or so apiece than one Sebenza for the same. The steel is the same, I prefer the Spyderhole over thumb studs, and I prefer G10 handles over metal, including titanium. I've also grown to love the compression lock of the Para. The Para's action is smooth as silk, it stays razor sharp, has a great warranty, and is made in the USA.

To me, the Sebenza doesn't beat the Para. Just my $.02.
 
einsteinjon said:
Take this for what it's worth keeping in mind that I've never owned or handled a Sebenza
......
The Para's action is smooth as silk, it stays razor sharp, has a great warranty, and is made in the USA.

To me, the Sebenza doesn't beat the Para. Just my $.02.
Click to expand...

I think what you are trying to say is that the Para is already perfect for you so you cannot imagine how anything could be better. That's a reasonable thing to believe and for some (most?) knife knerds, the two to three knives-worth of difference that they see between the cost of three cutting tools vs. the cost of one Sebenza can never be justified in concept.

However, I submit it to you that you can never KNOW this conjecture of yours to be true without first trying a Sebbie. Only then will you know whether or not it's truly your cup of tea. If you're one of the unlucky ones (like me) you'll realize that the higher quality of a Sebenza (or any other high-end knife) actually *is* worth it to you and then...well, then you're screwed :D
 
I would rather have 40 SAK Classics than 1 Sebenza. I would stuff all my pockets with them in the morning.




.....
Wait a minute, I take that back. That would be kind of stupid :o
 
theonew said:
I would rather have 40 SAK Classics than 1 Sebenza. I would stuff all my pockets with them in the morning.




.....
Wait a minute, I take that back. That would be kind of stupid :o
Click to expand...

HAH! I just bought 6 SAK's 2 days ago - not Classic's mind you but Pioneer Harvesters and Farmers in Alox - to supplement the ones I already have. That too seems stoopid but who the hell cares - I just want them coz I want them.

Very little of what we do is rational at this point.

On second thoughts - I think I need them all because the red ones are better cutters than the silver ones but the silver ones are more corrosion resistant than the blue ones but the blue ones have better edge retention than the red ones. Now if only they would make the Pioneer Harvesters and Farmers in black Alox.

BTW - I am not off topic here because I carry the SAKs along with the Sebenza. Until the Sebenza comes out with a saw blade that is.
 
Last edited:
ExMachina said:
I think what you are trying to say is that the Para is already perfect for you so you cannot imagine how anything could be better. That's a reasonable thing to believe and for some (most?) knife knerds, the two to three knives-worth of difference that they see between the cost of three cutting tools vs. the cost of one Sebenza can never be justified in concept.

However, I submit it to you that you can never KNOW this conjecture of yours to be true without first trying a Sebbie. Only then will you know whether or not it's truly your cup of tea. If you're one of the unlucky ones (like me) you'll realize that the higher quality of a Sebenza (or any other high-end knife) actually *is* worth it to you and then...well, then you're screwed :D
Click to expand...

I agree with you...it's that concept of spending $300-$400 on a folder that I haven't overcome yet :D. Even if I do think it's better than a Para, I can't imagine there being enough of a "margin of betterness" that justifies the added cost. You're right that I might think the Sebenza is better if I handled one, but for now, just on paper, I don't see it. My point (which I know you understood) is that "best" is a relative statement. :thumbup:

I cringe at the day my wallet might make a different decision :D, but we'll see.
 
Sebenzas are made to a tolerance 10 times tighter than any other production knife and also tighter that 95% of custom made knifes. Only a very few custom makers beat them on tolerance and they usually cost thousands of dollars.....
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top