Is the Sebenza that great?

J

JoepReinen

Joined
May 11, 2011
Messages
187
At the moment I'm looking at a YouTube video of a Shop Tour @Chris Reeve.
And I was wondering, is the Sebenza that awesome?
Some users out there with any Sebenza experience?
 
yes it is

custom level or better quality, proven design and construction techniques

it hasn't survived this long because it sucks
 
Yep
Nothing particularly special about it but it just feels right
 
I gotta agree it is just that good, I don't own one, infact the most expensive knife I do own doesn't cost 1/3 the price of the cheapest Sebenza but my buddy hooked me up with his to carry for awhile and I just couldn't believe the level of quality this thing is. Are you into guns? Comparing it to my ~$100-200 knives is like comparing a Glock to a Kimber/Wilson's combat 1911. The glock [my better knives] are great pieces, more than capable and well built but the kimber/Wilson [the sebenza] just oozes quality, the F&F is perfect and there is just no doubt, even to a non-knife person, this is a high quality knife unrivaled by most others.
 
Yes, it is. Simple construction with high quality materials and machining. 100% easily user serviceable. You can gut a kill sure in the knowledge that you can clean and oil every nook and cranny and reassemble good as new.

Blade steel has good performance, but you can sharpen it without needing an edge pro (or take 12 hours to reprofile).

The finish on both blade and handle takes a lot of use without showing it. It's not like a rockstead polish, which looks better to me out of the box, but becomes obviously scratched with use. The sebenza is made to look similar to new, even after years of use. It holds its value in the secondary market in part because a used sebenza isn't that much different from a new one.

I hate buying expensive products where I suspect most of the money goes to pay for marketing. Fashion items, for example. $20 coats made in sweatshops and marked up to $500 with slick retail shops. But the sebenza? For the quality you get, $350 or $410 for a bare bones sebenza is a bargain. My kids will inherit them all.
 
It's probably not that good if you are the type who just want to cut something.
But if you are the type that appreciates and understand the craftsmanship, close tolerances
and high quality than it's that GOOD.
You just got to handle it to understand.
 
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S35VN is NOT just a so-so steel. It may not be trendy, but strikes a balance between edge retention and ease of sharpening. It does the job most people use it for.

knife2Agunfight said:
I don't think so. The build quality is outstanding, just amazing. But the steel is so-so.
Click to expand...
 
It's a very relative question. I thought quite hard about getting a Large Micarta Sebenza, but I ultimately got a Umnumzaan. I prefer the ergos, lock design, and blade of the Zaan over the Sebenza, but that is just me.
 
I wonder how much of the perceived quality is due to the premium price?

I'm not a psychologist but I bet there's some kind of quality:price correlation there.
 
I have no other production knives that hold a candle to it. to think "perceived quality due to premium price" like donut says will be corrected once u own one. Buy one and see for yourself. If you still don't like it you can get the same price you paid for it in resale. theres 1000s of people who swear by em
 
Look for negative reviews on the sebenza, it is nearly always price or 'boring', never quality.

I can think of a few cons though.
For its price, it should come with a MUCH better edge.
Heel and tip of edge often over ground.
 
Great quality, variety and very smooth.

Chris Reeve Knives has won the Blade Show "Manufacturing Quality Award" the past 11 consecutive years!
 
I doubt there are many knife makers out there who can do a Ti frame lock better than the man who invented it.

He also deserves props for helping to develop those "so-so" steels S30V and S35VN.

I own 2 CRK's and In my opinion they are quality knives, period. No "perceived" about it.
 
I finally break down and got a large Sebenza, and didn't regret it. I often took it out of pocket just to feel and admire it. That is something I never do with my other under $300 knives. It just oozes quality like many others had said. The S35VN steel held up just fine after 1 week of cutting cardboard. It's in fact better than my S30v Spyderco PM2, but that may be due to the HT of my PM2.

Still, my PM2s in super steels such as ctp-20CP is lighter, keeps my fingers out of the path of the blade, and just take lighter effort to disengage the lock. The Sebenza's lock sticks sometimes, and I fixed with the pencil lead trick.
 
You really should try it out and see for your self. I did and ended up with an umnumzaan, it just fit the bill better for me. That's not to say I won't end up with a small Sebbie here within the next month or so, I just can't get it off my mind! I've even tried purchasing other knives but the Sebbie is still there in the back of my mind shouting from a distance...
 
I love the Sebenza, and the quality is there all the way. The Sebenza is what got me into full customs, because most other midtechs don't compare. It is the only non custom in my collection now.

S35vn is a good steel when heat treated properly, but CRK runs theirs pretty soft. It still holds a decent edge, but when paying that kind of money, a lot of people want their steel to preform better than the Sebenza does. I think CRK runs it softer so it's easier to sharpen. Your always going to have pro's and con's though.
 
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