Is the sebenza still as hot as it once was?

i would very much prefer a hinderer '18 to a seb but sebs arent bad at all, i have had a couple, they just never "grabbed" me like some knives have.
 
The XM-18 is a great knife, maybe the best folding knife around today, whatever best might mean.

How many does Rick make in a year?
How many Sebenzas does Chris sell in a year?
How many SMFs do the Strider guys sell in a year?

What are you doing, comparing custom to production? By sales alone, CRK and Strider are both hotter than the XM-18. :D
 
Love the XM but...

I always sell them because they are heavy, they are wide in your pocket, they don't cut all that great, and they have plastic washers. Just gotta be honest here :cool:

I like my sebbies and DGG SNG better if I need a "hard use" knife.

Both cut better, both carry better, both have more durable washers, both cover more tang locked up, and without the specs infront of me I would say both are lighter. Yes the XM is awesome, but in real world use the Sebbie and DGG SNG are a better fit for me.

Not sure what is custom about a knife that is mostly CNC milled, speaking gen3 only :confused:
 
A DGG SnG won't look dated to a military user - just to the wannabes who are after the latest hot flashy "I can stun them with looks" knives no one in their crowd carries.

Certain kinds of knife buyers may spend money, but they are the obnoxious ones who show off what they have, rather than actually understand and enjoy nice work. They and their Escalades will move on, and good riddance.

And yes, the Sebenza will still be a classic, like a Buck 110. Maybe not hot - but hot knives are the ones to avoid. They are usually evidence of being part of the show off crowd, not an appreciative user.

How many great makers out there are being flat ignored in the Hinderer craze who make just as good a product? Go buy theirs, and leave Rick's stuff to the ignorati. He won't get hurt, and we can pick up stuff in ten years when he is still making great knives and the mallies have moved on.

If you bought a Hinderer 18 months ago from stock, you had the right idea, and the right mindset. If your planning to buy a Sebenza in the future, same thing.

If you are busting it to get a Hinderer right now, be very careful explaining your reasons.
 
Mine is a lengthy post but I like it since I own a Strider, Sebenza, and have a Hinderer passaround.
Copied from the passaround thread. Bottom line, they're all great. My personal opinion is that the Hinderer is a bit too thick for normal-average non-mall-ninja use.

The fit and finish is top notch. The titanium slabs and very well done, the stonewash looks great, all the edges are rounded off. The parts that aren't great are the thumbstuds and there's a little post on the inside of the knife that almost seems like it's there to be a blade stop of sorts. The clip is perfect and it's nice to have a lanyard hole that's not in the way of the blade. The ball dentent is perfect also. In overall fit and finish I'd probably give the nod to the Sebenza just slightly but I'd be splitting hairs. Like a 9.9 out of 10 versus a 9.8 out of 10. Essentially due to the fact that the Sebenza's ball detent isn't perfect but the thumb stud and blade stop (?) don't do anything for me on the Hinderer.
Lockup is perfect. Not much to say there. Easy in, easy out.
In the hand it's almost perfect. The choil is not what I'd call functional for gripping and it's too large to be a sharpening choil in my opinion. I have smaller hands too and I just wouldn't trust using the choil to grip as part of my index finger actually hits the sharpened part of the blade. I commonly carry a Strider SnG CC and a Sebenza so I don't think the Hinderer is large by any means large but the way I'm forced to hold it makes it 'feel' bigger than it is.
Well, I'd like to get some pics up. My primary Canon body is at Canon so I'll try to use my P&S to get some shots of it and my Strider and Sebenza to get side by side shot comparisons.
Comparing the three, it's a tough call. The Strider is overpriced in comparison with the Hinderer and the Sebenza. If you get on a waiting list for the Hinderer, you probably have the best knife for the buck when you get it.

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Esav Benyamin said:
The XM-18 is a great knife, maybe the best folding knife around today, whatever best might mean.

How many does Rick make in a year?
How many Sebenzas does Chris sell in a year?
How many SMFs do the Strider guys sell in a year?

What are you doing, comparing custom to production? By sales alone, CRK and Strider are both hotter than the XM-18. :D
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I gotta disagree to a certain extent just because I think the fit, finish and overall production of the 'production' Sebenza is better than the Hinderer. What makes the Hinderer potentially better is the price point but only if you buy it new and not on the oh-my-god-that's-overpriced secondary market.
 
I think it is still the standard by which most others are judged, especially the framelock. When I had a couple I really liked the wood inlaid Classics for their unique looks and extra little bit of thickness.
 
Well, I notice that Sebs in the secondary market seem to be low right now, but there're other reasons for that, too (It's low for most things).

I wouldn't say the Seb is "hot" as in the newest, flashiest, but judging by all the emails & PMs I get whenever I might have a Seb up F/T, they're still mighty popular.

I've never had an Hinderer, so I can't comment on them, but I'd say it & possibly the Burke production Rockstar (Great price for the materials) are probably the "hottest" as in newest/flashiest maybe.

I've had several different Striders (3 SnGs, 2 PTs, & some FBs) & currently have a couple Sebs. I think unless I could trade a Seb for another CRK folder, I'm not sure I'd get rid of them, but I no longer have the Stiders or the Rockstar, for that matter.

Having said all that, I think the Seb's a classic, but modern technology being the way it is, there are some lower priced knives that are awefully close & that might make it seem that the Seb's not as popular, but given a choice, I think people would rather have the Seb over the other models that are similar.

I think the SnG & XM are probably more user specific. The Seb, as has been mentioned, just plain carries well.

Get & use what you enjoy the most...
 
Mr. Clean said:
I gotta disagree to a certain extent just because I think the fit, finish and overall production of the 'production' Sebenza is better than the Hinderer. What makes the Hinderer potentially better is the price point but only if you buy it new and not on the oh-my-god-that's-overpriced secondary market.
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The sebenza is a production knife. It is made in much larger, production-line quantities than the XM-18. Trying to judge how "hot" an item is by anecdotal evidence or personal opinion is meaningless compared to the much higher numbers of Sebenzas sold than XM-18s. That also accounts for the secondary market prices. You can always get another Sebenza, but if the XM-18 you see on sale is gone, who knows when another one will come around.

What does hot mean? More people buy Sebenzas than buy XM-18. If both were produced in equal quantities, how would the sales go? (No one knows. :) )
 
Samael said:
This is what happens when people buy something purely because it's "new and trendy." It doesn't stay new and trendy for long.

If you buy something because it's a good, well-made product that works for you, then you never need to worry about it going out of style. And you can sit back and have a good laugh at the expense of all the dimwits who are running around chasing their tails to be the first to get those hot new products.
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LOL. :thumbup:
Do you mean like the XM-18 ?
 
OD-SnG said:
My question is do knives run in trends and where does the sebenza still fit in.
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Of course they do, chances are in 10 years someone will be noting that Hinderer knives are so passe and that the new super de dooper ______ brand knife is the best one to have.

Protests to the contrary people do follow trends in the knife world just like everywhere else. A LOT of people follow them. If they didn't we would probably just have a big Buck 110 and Swiss Army Knife discussion forum here. The fact is that people chase what is hot, both to have the newest gadget on the block and in many cases hoping to turn a profit on their new gadget.
 
In many cases, it's the inevitable result of having bought or tried the previous hot items already, and continually looking for something else -- not necessarily better, but different.

We've already bought the Sebenzas! Then we got Striders! Now we want something new, but we've still got our Sebenzas and Striders.
 
A year or so back, I had some cash from a gun sale and subsequent buy. I thought then that I 'needed' a good EDC - and looked at the CR Sebenzas - and William Henrys - at a local yuppee sporting goods dealer. I couldn't 'pull the trigger' on that - and bought another S&W revolver instead. They were nice - but I carried a SAK, Buck 301 or 110, or Kershaw for years - and a $40 Wally World Spydie S30V Native then. Bragging rights are unimportant to me - and I certainly have never been accused of being a 'slave to fashion'. Still, the utility of the design of the Sebenza - Ti & S30V - interested me.

I found the new Buck 172 Mayo 'TNT' - about half the Sebenza's cost. Nice - well done, too - not quite a CR knife, of course, in construction quality - but very nice. I was about to order one earlier this year when the Buck Vantage series was announced. I found a #347 Vantage Pro, with the same S30V blade as the TNT - and a SS frame with nicely done G10 scales. Some $56 later, I had one in my pocket. I can afford that for an EDC/user. No, it isn't a Sebenza - and certainly I could have a really nice Sebenza for what I have spent on part of my Buck Custom Shop 110s in the last year or so alone... but I'd rather have the neater-to-me big 'uns. The Sebenza is a really nice classic knife - just not for me!

Stainz
 
Stainz said:
A year or so back, I had some cash from a gun sale and subsequent buy. I thought then that I 'needed' a good EDC - and looked at the CR Sebenzas - and William Henrys - at a local yuppee sporting goods dealer. I couldn't 'pull the trigger' on that - and bought another S&W revolver instead. They were nice - but I carried a SAK, Buck 301 or 110, or Kershaw for years - and a $40 Wally World Spydie S30V Native then. Bragging rights are unimportant to me - and I certainly have never been accused of being a 'slave to fashion'. Still, the utility of the design of the Sebenza - Ti & S30V - interested me.

I found the new Buck 172 Mayo 'TNT' - about half the Sebenza's cost. Nice - well done, too - not quite a CR knife, of course, in construction quality - but very nice. I was about to order one earlier this year when the Buck Vantage series was announced. I found a #347 Vantage Pro, with the same S30V blade as the TNT - and a SS frame with nicely done G10 scales. Some $56 later, I had one in my pocket. I can afford that for an EDC/user. No, it isn't a Sebenza - and certainly I could have a really nice Sebenza for what I have spent on part of my Buck Custom Shop 110s in the last year or so alone... but I'd rather have the neater-to-me big 'uns. The Sebenza is a really nice classic knife - just not for me!

Stainz
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Excellant write up. You stated how Sebenzas are not your cup of tea without cutting them, and their fans, down. I love my Sebenzas, but realize they are not for everyone. To sum it up, don't buy a knife because the crowd likes it. Buy a knife because you like it.
 
Sebenza is a CLASSIC, as or other knives some have mentioned the buck 110 and lets throw in the SAC. Point is the knife is well made, practical, widely known and recognized as a quality product both materials/workmanship that has been around for years and still enjoys demand and respect. The best way to put it, its kinda like a white button down POLO shirt, it just never goes out of style, i.e. its a Classic. Sure the hot factor has long worn off and now there is lots of competition and some other knife now is the hot knife, but Classic be definition is product that was once the HOT product and was so well done that even when the next HOT thing came along it was still able to hang around and command market share and notoriety. Classic: something that never goes out of style.
 
I liked the BG42 sebbie. I can pass on the S30V version. My BM's and spyderco's, will out cut my sebbie. The sebbie, sure cost alot more.
 
I have 7 Benchmades, and 2 spydercos.The only one that slices as well as my clasic 21 Sebenza is the Military, which actually slices a little better.
 
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