Is the umfaan worth it?

actionjeep

actionjeep

Joined
Oct 26, 2002
Messages
141
Howdy,
Is it worth the money to get a umfaan?
I have a small reg. and i am tempted to get its smaller brother.
thanks,
 
the umfaan is a small knife. but in my opinion (and i LOOOVE small knives) it is a great one. same build uality and materials and design as the sebenza, just smalle. it will not fill the hand like a small or a mnandi, but it is a Great, small, discrete, SOLID folder and super sharp. i carry mine ALL the time, even when i don't have my small seb or mnandi with me. the Only downside I can think of is the lack of a pocket clip. i wear suits and slacks all the time and do not like having metal objects floating around in my pocket damaging the fabric. mine hoewever came with a grealy belt sheath. decent option, but i still pry for a clip. the redesign may address this issue, but it hs actually been my favorite CRK out of all ... hth
 
I'm a big fan of the small sebenza, and the larges are OK too. Unfortunatly I've found both the umfaan and the mnandi not to my taste.

For me the small sebenza has a certain size to weight heft that I like, the umfaan and the mnandi are significantly lighter, and that ratio is different.
 
The Umfaan is the $300 version of the old Buck Executive that went for $20. Drop it in your pocket and forget about it until you need it.

Very solid cutter and really just fine for almost any office type task. Unfortunately, it is just too small for me to open with one hand.

I carry my Mnandi to work about 60% of the time. It works much better for me than the Umfaan and its increased length comes in handy for fruit peeling and things like that.
 
I love my small sebbies and i carry one all the time, however i hate to say it i can not see the justification in paying almost the same price for a much smaller knife that has no pocket clip. Yes i realize the tolerances they build to and the quality is rock solid. But it is definitley a price thing Sorry just my 2 cents
 
I've had one for a couple of years and I think it is great. Mine is a decorated (Canadian Maple Leaves). I carry it every day in my G2 sheath.

If you get the standard one you get a decorated side included in the price.

Frankly, I like it without the clip as I prefer my knives without clips.

It is solid and worth the money.

If a person thinks the small sebenza is worth the money, why not the Umfaan? Sounds like the same logic that says sebenzas are not worth the money because you can buy a comparable knife for much less.

Dean
 
I am big fan of CRK and own several of them, but I have not purchased an Umfaan yet because it does not have a pocket clip. I would probably buy 3 of them if they did. Instead I carry a William Henry WH10CF which only weighs 1oz and does the majority of what I need it to do on a daily basis. I really hope that the redesign incorporates a clip.
 
For me it's worth it. Although my Decorated Small Sebenza was my first CR knife, my Umfaan is my EDC because it's convenient, non-threatening, and handles most of my knife needs.

My first Umfaan was stolen, and I swore I wouldn't spend another $300 for a tiny knife. But I missed it dearly, every day, even though I still had my Sebenza, and I bought a replacement without regret.

I "lost" my second Umfaan twice: once jammed between my car seats for a month, and then dropped at my friend's house beside a couch. When I "lost" my Umfaan in my car seats: I swore again I wouldn't spend ANOTHER $300 (for a total of $900!) for a tiny knife, but I missed it so much I almost bought a Decorated Umfaan (at $450 for a total investment of $1050!!!) before I found my lost Umfaan.

The slip case is worthless for pocket carry. Eventually it loosens up to allow the Umfaan to slip out and bang against keys and coins. Also, the small size means you WILL lose it if pocket carried.

My solution was to install a longer lanyard of sufficient length to loop around the my belt, and hang my Umfaan inside my pocket without touching the keys and coins at the bottom. This prevents loss and damage.
 
actionjeep,

I owned an Umfaan for a few months as well. It really is a small knife, both in length as well as in thickness. I found it useful to carry when I also carried the large Sebenza - it came in handy when I did not want to frighten people! Of course, I would not have expected it to handle the same jobs that the large could :)

I carried it with the small Sebenza as well, and found my self reaching for the Sebenza instead of the Umfaan in that case.

I liked it a lot. It was fun to just pull it out and marvel over how well-built such a small knife could be. However, as Architect noted, it is difficult to open the knife one-handed.

I personally never had any problems with the knife falling out, but that could be due to the short time that I owned it.

Hope that helps,

Matthew
 
rodmeister said, " The slip case is worthless for pocket carry. Eventually it loosens up to allow the Umfaan to slip out and bang against keys and coins. Also, the small size means you WILL lose it if pocket carried."

I agree. A William Henry sheath is also worthless (I lost mine from one for a few horrible hours). If you get one, I strongly recommend you get a sheath for it from Gary Graley.

Dean
 
I like mine, use it everyday. Never had a problem losing it. It's not always practical or comfortable to carry a larger knife. Besides, it's built so well it can do more than you would think. The main blade is about the same length as the primary blade of a typical medium stockman, but the shape is arguably more useful.
 
I think that the Umfaan is one of CRK's best offerings. There isn't a more quality knife in it's size. As far as the slip case being worthless, I don't agree. I carried mine for a while and it held up very well. I'm currently carrying my small Sebenza in a slip case and like the Umfaan, it makes pocket carry a little easier.
Matt
 
My Umfaan does everything I want a knife to do. I don't skin buffalo for a living, so a small knife works great for me. The first question you might ask yourself is if you are comfortable buying a knife on the used market. CRK does not seem to be selling any of them on their website. The second question you might ask is if you will be disappointed in the old design if CRK comes out with a new Umfaan design in the near future. A new design might increase the value of the older models. Or it might decrease their value.

My best advice is buy early and buy often. Watching the exchange forum for the last couple of months seems to indicate that its fairly easy to resell the knives. Based on the vast total of my one experience, I love buying used Chris Reeve knives.

John
 
I feel it to be worth it... for me. I have kept two for my own use. The one has seen quite a bit of use and the other is new. Since the umfaan is being overhauled and no more original production is to be produced and it is a "one of" I believe it will stay new... although the temptation may be to great to not carry it... :)
 

Attachments

  • umfaams.jpg
    umfaams.jpg
    30.7 KB · Views: 283
ya i really like the spaer through grass one, yet i think i shall wait to see what the redesign comes out as.
THen i will decide to pay more for an older one.
Any idea when the new umfaan will pop out??
 
Originally posted by RDaneel
rodmeister said, " The slip case is worthless for pocket carry. Eventually it loosens up to allow the Umfaan to slip out and bang against keys and coins. Also, the small size means you WILL lose it if pocket carried."

I agree. A William Henry sheath is also worthless (I lost mine from one for a few horrible hours). If you get one, I strongly recommend you get a sheath for it from Gary Graley.

Dean
Click to expand...

Thanks Dean, glad to hear that one is working out for you!

I had an Umfaan for a while as well and though being a smallish knife, you could still use it for everyday type of chores, not whiteknuckled cutting chores, as Stjames once told me, but for the more mundane type work that we typically do at an office type working conditions, it is after a gents folder...

And Tallpaul, that Umfaan is REALLY nice, zounds sir that is quite tempting to me!
attachment.php


;)
G2
 
I sure enjoy carrying my unfaans. I've got more than one. It rides nicely in a mission wallet along with a SOG crossgrip. Other front pocket has a mission wallet with arc aaa and a small or large sebbie. It is great for those times when you want a minimum fear factor in taking out your knife. It takes some practice to open and close one-handed.
 
If I had to choose between my small Sebbie and my Umfaan, the small Sebbie would be history. Thankfully I don't have to choose.:) I can't wait to see the new version.

Paul
 
RevJim- what is a mission wallet please?

It does not sound like the sort you put cash in ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top