My Small 21, I can't

gull wing

gull wing

Joined
May 4, 2002
Messages
2,536
feel the love with this one.
To set the table, I've had a small Micarta Insingo for quite awhile and it was just about everything I wanted. I bought this Small slab sided Standard blade, thinking a pointed blade would be a great complement to the Insingo. I've tried to like it, but mostly the point just gets in the way. I cut things I don't want too, including myself. I like being comfortable with a knife, with this one, I need to be far too alert.:)

Maybe I should have bought a used one. :( I could sell? ......or trade for a Umnum?:confused:
 
I am guessing you do a lot of work in which you use primarily the tip/tip area for fine, precision cutting? I find the style of blade like the insignio to be at an advantage here, and I think part of it has to do with operating on what is almost a single fixed plane (versus the standard with a plane of varying angles, or some recurves that may operate on multiple planes of various angles), with the real-world gain being it is much easier to control and a helluva lot easier to place the tip where you want to place it to a notable degree of accuracy. I've come to prefer this blade style for paring knives and I make more controlled cuts with this sort of blade shape than something with a tip that upsweeps. For flat cutting, I also like how you can use almost all of the blade at once on a single angle versus having to move the wrist to adjust the angle on a blade with an upsweep or hollowed belly. And given the Small Seb is like a razor sharp paring knife, I can see how you find it to better suit you than the standard!

I've noticed that people who own Hinderers and Spydercos with similar blade shapes have also noted that they strongly prefer this style over others and that it gives a degree of precision cutting that they really like. With Sebs, it seems people who buy and use the insignio quickly develop a strong preference for it.

So I am sorry to report that chances are you will not find the standard blade to give you the performance the insignio does, and so it may become a knife you just don't use much as the insignio better suits your needs. Perhaps trade for a small or large CF Seb with an insignio?
 
What great insight pnsxyr, I think you've closely described that phase of my actions. Thank you for putting so eloquently.

Otherwise it seems, expressing your feelings about a CRK(other than liking) is a reason to be ignored. :D

Love my Insingo, not so much the Standard.
 
gull wing said:
What great insight pnsxyr, I think you've closely described that phase of my actions. Thank you for putting so eloquently.

Otherwise it seems, expressing your feelings about a CRK(other than liking) is a reason to be ignored. :D

Love my Insingo, not so much the Standard.
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I am with you Mr. Wing. I LOVE my small Insingo, but I only LIKED my small 21 Standards (liked, as in past tense--I sold them!) A big however though, I LOVE my small Reg!
 
gull wing said:
feel the love with this one.
To set the table, I've had a small Micarta Insingo for quite awhile and it was just about everything I wanted. I bought this Small slab sided Standard blade, thinking a pointed blade would be a great complement to the Insingo. I've tried to like it, but mostly the point just gets in the way. I cut things I don't want too, including myself. I like being comfortable with a knife, with this one, I need to be far too alert.:)

Maybe I should have bought a used one. :( I could sell? ......or trade for a Umnum?:confused:
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Instead of the Umnun, I would sell and get a large Micarta Insingo since you like the small one so much.
 
gull wing said:
What great insight pnsxyr, I think you've closely described that phase of my actions. Thank you for putting so eloquently.

Otherwise it seems, expressing your feelings about a CRK(other than liking) is a reason to be ignored. :D

Love my Insingo, not so much the Standard.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I think some people are put off by the look of the insignio (and also knives like the XM-18 wharnie or Spyderco Yojimbo) but after they actually use it they find it to have many advantages over traditional drop/clip/spear points that can make use more pleasing.

When I use that style of blade for food prep, I find it to take much less effort to do the same amount of work, that I can make more controlled cuts when precision is critical, that the blade stays sharper longer, and that it allows me to make cuts without having to turn my wrist in a fashion that makes long-term usage uncomfortable.

The CF insignio is a pretty sweet looking model. A custom unique insignio would look pretty slick as well!
 
And that's why there is different designs to choose from. If the standard blade is not your cup of tea, so be it. I'm more accustomed to the standard blade over the insignio. I currently have both the large and small micarta insignio's. They don't get used that much simply because they are not my cup of tea. I prefer the standard style blade because I do more piercing than anything else. With the insignio, I have a harder time trimming or skinning because I think I've lost sight of the tip of the blade, but that's just me. I'm just glad there is more than one flavor to choose from. Love the looks of the sheepsfoot/wharncliff but for day to day chores, they don't see much use. I don't for see getting rid of any of those models because one day they just might be needed. :)
 
I have never managed to warm up to the small Sebenza in any form, I go with the large/Umnumzaan every time, or of course the Mnandi if I do need a small knife. I'm also not a big fan of low point blade styles. It works on large choppers and kitchen knives that don't need much of a point but on pocket knives for me it's a no. I find use for the extra belly and sharper point on the standard blade style often. :)
 
Haze said:
I have never managed to warm up to the small Sebenza in any form, I go with the large/Umnumzaan every time, or of course the Mnandi if I do need a small knife. I'm also not a big fan of low point blade styles. It works on large choppers and kitchen knives that don't need much of a point but on pocket knives for me it's a no. I find use for the extra belly and sharper point on the standard blade style often. :)
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I love my insingo for a lot of things, and in general it's tip-down orientation is the best shape for many straight forward-tasks, however, when things get gnarly, I agree with Haze. Whenever I have something difficult task to do with my knife, I find I am glad of the belly and the point of the standard blade spear-point shape. Especially the ability to push the belly through material from the spine, which presents a large, tightly convex edge to the work that you don't have with the insingo. You can pivot/sweep the standard blade tip through stuff in a way that is useful, and the pointy tip has its charms too. I think if the chips were down, and I was stranded on a desert island, with only a CRK folder, it would have to be the standard shape. Lets face it, human kind did not invent the 'pointy' pocket knife by accident.

Luckily I don't have to chose one or the other on a permanent basis. Its nice to go back and forth.

Here's an Idea! CRK could make a pocket knife with both blades in one handle, just like the classic pen/grandpa knives, then you could spend all day swapping between blades:D
 
Man, what I wouldn't give for a Medium Sebenza 21 . . . something between a Large and a Small. The Large is too big for me to carry and the Small is just barely (and I mean barely) big enough. I don't see a Medium coming anytime soon, however, so the Small will have to suffice for me. And I, for one, prefer the standard blade style to the Insingo. Different strokes for different folks. :)
 
bld522 said:
Man, what I wouldn't give for a Medium Sebenza 21 . . . something between a Large and a Small. The Large is too big for me to carry and the Small is just barely (and I mean barely) big enough. I don't see a Medium coming anytime soon, however, so the Small will have to suffice for me. And I, for one, prefer the standard blade style to the Insingo. Different strokes for different folks. :)
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I agree. The Large is a bit too big to bring to the office with me, but the Small just doesn't feel good in my hand.
 
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