My thoughts on a Chris Reeve verses a Rick Hinderer

cofade2black

cofade2black

Joined
Dec 16, 2009
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Hi guys I would just like to give you my thoughts on a Chris Reeve Vs Rick Hinderer. First off I had to sell my sebenza to get a XM 18 3". I was so excited to get a xm, I thought I was finally moving up. I could tell you that my first impressions were this knife was impressive till I started using it. the xm blade I feel is too thick. I got the slicer version and it was far from that. I feel that the hollow profile of the sebenza makes a better slicer. I was looking at the detail of the hinderer and found several flaws. The sebenza is more beautiful detail and closer to perfection. I like to clean my knives so I took the hinderer apart only to find Teflon washers, not like the bronze washers find in a sebenza. as far as taking apart in a real Field environment the sebenza is easier to take apart and clean. I can clean a sebenza in 3 min, it took me approx 20 min on the xm and that is just to take apart. The only convenience the XM had was it is a quick deployment knife. I bought the knife for 800.00 and found the knife is not worth what I paid for it. I think price wise you get more quality with a Chris Reeve. in comparison of the close tolerance the sebenza will win by a long shot. I was so disappointed that I sold my xm and found a small regular with the bg42 blade from a nice member on this forum. I Just wanted too give chris reeve knives 2 thumbs up, and keep up the good work.
 
cofade2black said:
Hi guys I would just like to give you my thoughts on a Chris Reeve Vs Rick Hinderer. First off I had to sell my sebenza to get a XM 18 3". I was so excited to get a xm, I thought I was finally moving up. I could tell you that my first impressions were this knife was impressive till I started using it. the xm blade I feel is too thick. I got the slicer version and it was far from that. I feel that the hollow profile of the sebenza makes a better slicer. I was looking at the detail of the hinderer and found several flaws. The sebenza is more beautiful detail and closer to perfection. I like to clean my knives so I took the hinderer apart only to find Teflon washers, not like the bronze washers find in a sebenza. as far as taking apart in a real Field environment the sebenza is easier to take apart and clean. I can clean a sebenza in 3 min, it took me approx 20 min on the xm and that is just to take apart. The only convenience the XM had was it is a quick deployment knife. I bought the knife for 800.00 and found the knife is not worth what I paid for it. I think price wise you get more quality with a Chris Reeve. in comparison of the close tolerance the sebenza will win by a long shot. I was so disappointed that I sold my xm and found a small regular with the bg42 blade from a nice member on this forum. I Just wanted too give chris reeve knives 2 thumbs up, and keep up the good work.
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I've owned large Sebenzas and Hinderer XM 18 & 24s. I think you're comparing apples & oranges. You have two different niche knives that perform differently - but both have a very high standard of quality. In fact many Hinderer/CRK owners have stated (and I concur) that An XM is very similar or on par with CRK folders. They are both excellent.

As far as field stripping them in the field, I think you could immerse a Hinderer in water and swish it around briskly to clean it good enough to go again. It's not a high maintenance knife.

My 3 rotation EDC folders are the XM-18 3.5" flipper, XM-24 4" flipper, and the large Sebenza. I love every one of them.

In terms of sharpness my XM's sing through copy paper or new paper as nicely or nicer than my Sebenza which has a difficult factory grind to reproduce and usually require the application of a V edge after stropping won't bring it to life anymore. YMMV ;)
 
It took you 20 minutes to disassemble your XM??!! You're doing something really wrong then. I can have my XM-18 completely broken down in literally less than 2 minutes.
 
as far as price, I could not find a better price anywhere. if someone can tell me where I can find one let me know
 
cofade2black said:
as far as price, I could not find a better price anywhere. if someone can tell me where I can find one let me know
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The prices of Sebenza and XM18 from the manufacturer are similar. You didn't pay $800 for your knife, you paid maybe $400 max for the knife and $400 for rarity value or seller's profit. Only you can judge whether the markup is 'worth it'.
 
+1
CrimsonTideShooter said:
It took you 20 minutes to disassemble your XM??!! You're doing something really wrong then. I can have my XM-18 completely broken down in literally less than 2 minutes.
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While the sebenza is easier to take down(less parts) my first xm was not a rubiks cube of any sort, and is extremely easy to put back together. As long as you have a screw driver, hex and a penny, easy does it. Cziv hit it best with apples and oranges. A hinderer is so much more beefy than a sebenza. Yet i've had no issue with cutting anything that my sebenzas can. Not sure on sharpening yet with the different steel, but that time will come eventually. The hinderer shop is also much smaller than crk, they're quite loaded with work on shows and such so they don't have the availability like crk does with spa treatments and the like and being able to pump out as much, but the quality they put out from being a small focused group from what i can see is top notch. :thumbup:

Is there a downfall to teflon washers as opposed to bronze?

by the way, OP, thanks for responding to my question on the other forum about that sheath you were selling :rolleyes:
 
dont get me wrong guys, the quality is good on a Hinderer but I think the quality on the CR is better. I think that when I can afford one I would like to get a custom version of the Hinderer where he puts more detail. there are good things about the hinderer like you can carry tip down or tip up, and they include a titanium insert. I am only expressing my thoughts, people have different opinions and will not always be the same. I think that all opinions are welcomed for us to learn.
 
I agree that this is an apples to oranges comparison. I have a Strider SnG, Hinderer 3" XM and a bunch of Sebenza's-love them all. They are all great makers and each has a design purpose. Both Striders and Hinderers were designed for military and first responders, thus the very thick blades, so you can do some prying and cut through some unusual stuff. As for the teflon washers-many top makers use them, and some switch back and forth. If you are going to have a problem it will be many years down the road and then you just put in new washers(it's a manufaturers choice). The Hinderers price is $395 . He sells at that price to military, police and 1st responders, the rest is mark up of the secondary market. With all that said, the Sebenza is a great knife, well built and IMHO a better fit for day to day use of the average person. It always reminds me of the slippies I grew up with, but beefier and frame lock.
 
cofade2black said:
dont get me wrong guys, the quality is good on a Hinderer but I think the quality on the CR is better. I think that when I can afford one I would like to get a custom version of the Hinderer where he puts more detail. there are good things about the hinderer like you can carry tip down or tip up, and they include a titanium insert. I am only expressing my thoughts, people have different opinions and will not always be the same. I think that all opinions are welcomed for us to learn.
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Different strokes for different folks.

I've got knives by both makers. One looks good with my dress clothes, the other looks good everywhere else.
 
I think both are excellent knives and I EDC both.

For me the biggest difference, and I am talking about worlds that separate them, is the customer service.
CRK is awesome and Hinderer often not existent.
 
Are you saying that because Rob never replied on your flashpoint order..? LOL

Customer service has nothing to do with trying to order... ;) check the company policies first, he probably gets tons of these emails from people.
 
Hi Emel,

the one about the flashpoint is one of many mails I never got answered. I know the company policies. The fact with the tons of e-mails would only be correct if CRK didn't get any requests. With them none of my mails got lost or not answered. And believe me I've had stupid questions for them ;) . There just never where any issue. Every problem was solved, every question was answered.
 
I would agree that the xm is on par with a sebenza. same price but very different knives. the sebenza is all about simplicity. tough and reliable all in one package. the xm is more about being seriously overbuilt. its like an m1 abrams with a blade attached
 
I watched the CRK dvd obviously CR has a lot more staff employed than Hinderer, however I always received an answer from Rob. You can't really compare a Sebenza or Umnumzaan with a XM, totally different knives built for different purposes and target groups.
 
emel said:
I watched the CRK dvd obviously CR has a lot more staff employed than Hinderer, however I always received an answer from Rob. You can't really compare a Sebenza or Umnumzaan with a XM, totally different knives built for different purposes and target groups.
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I do agree with emel about the difference in built, but people talk like chris reeves is a dress knife. for you guys who own hinderers look at the lock bar spring and you will see the difference. The spring on the sebenza is more robust in my opinion. when the blade is closed try moving the sebenza blade back and forth, then do the same with the hinderer. You will find a slight movement with the hinderer and no movement with the sebenza.
 
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