New stuff from Tulsa and a question

[Sgt 127]

Greetings all. New to the Forum, but have been pretty heavy into knives for a long time. Started out 20 years ago or so with a Jimmy Lile boot and belt made to my specs, 5 1/2" blade, black micarta. Many more have come and gone. (most have stayed, that particular Lile is with me as we speak)) Because of some of the comments I've read here, I took a really good look at Bob Doziers work at the Tulsa show. After a few minutes of looking, the checkbook came out. I'm the proud owner of a Professionals Guilds Knife, black micarta. Outstanding quality, some of the cleanest grind lines I have ever seen and the price is great. Also picked up a couple Greco knives, one with the dual Lile/Greco tang stamp. At $75 apiece, this may be one of the best deals going on a knife. Haven't really tried them out yet, but, I have no reason to believe they will be anything but great pieces of sharp steel.

Now, a question. I have a great love for mechanical things, steel things etc. and appreciate the work that goes into them, I wear a mechanical watch because I like the idea of some little Swiss guy toiling over a bench getting all those little parts to work right. Price=quality and I know that.

Now....why in the world is the Chris Reeve Sebenza a $350.00 dollar knife? I like the knife, its a great piece, but, it seems the line between "production" and 'Hand" is getting a little blurred...and the price does not seem to reflect that. As many of them as I saw at the
show hardly qualifies it as a rare item. And, though very nicely done, the quality does not strike me as that far above a few factory models out there. Maybe its a cult thing that I just don't understand, but I couldn't imagine using a $350+ pocket knife to open bags of concrete, cut seatbelts open envelopes cut cardboard etc. It seems any of my Spydercos will do the job just as well (and, I REALLY like the hole) Maybe not the "OH WOW" factor when I whip out the Spydrco. Not the same pride of ownership as a CRK but.... Not bashing anybody who has a CRK. We're big boys and girls..I spent $650 on a Trijicon scope for an AR.....So I understand. Its just that, I really doubt Mr. Reeve is sitting at a grinder all day...yet, it seems to me the price reflects that. Anybody elses input?

 

[Paul Work]

Maybe it is a cult thing. I seriously doubt that anyone, production or custom, is producing a finer quality folding knife than the Sebenza. In this instance the line between custom and production is blurred a little. There are several hand operations involved in the construction of the Sebenza.
As far as opening bags of cement, I use lesser knives for such abusive jobs. If the Sebbie was all I had on me at the time I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
All I know is, that for my money, the Sebenza is THE knife for me.

Paul

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Sgt 127, you have just asked one of the great questions of our little world here ...

and while we are waiting for the Sebenzanistas to step up with BG-42 sharpened and ready to dissect you --

I mean, dissect your question, of course, of course --

you might like to browse this recent thread on the same topic: It's a Sebenza thing and I don't understand.

Glad to have you with us! You obviously have the requisite experience with sharp, shiny things, and we will try to help you develop this experience into a full-blown mania

 

[Sgt 127]

It all started with one little Lile...I thought that would be enough. But no. After seeing First Blood..another Lile came to me. A SLyII And since I couldn't very well carry that around all the time. I needed a little Lile folder. Jimmy was such a nice guy. I wanted to help him. So, I bought it too. Little delicate scales of stag...But...Randalls..there was a REAL using knife. I wanted the best of the best! A Model 14!!! Carry it around everywhere in the woods.. Of course. thats kind of heavy for everyday use....The No.1 is much lighter. A few extra options don't cost that much. A little micarta here...Nickel silver instead of brass...Somewhere along there, the long sweeping lines of a Lum Tanto got my attention...(I think I had just read Shogun) It was like the drain scene in Psycho...except the blood was green...and had pictures of dead presidents on it....It was swirling away faster than I could replace it. Its all just a flood of Al Mars and Spydercos and Gerbers and Buck and Case and Swiss Army Knives now (By the way, the Soldier is really cool, if you are working on the mower and you get B-12 on it, the handles don't melt)...on the bright side, If you have ALOT of toys, its hard for the wife to notice the new ones...

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Originally posted by Sgt 127
...on the bright side, If you have A LOT of toys, its hard for the wife to notice the new ones...

Well, I see we don't have much to teach you!

Actually, one of the nice points about the Sebenza is that it is such a quiet, simple, gray little knife. She'll think it's one of your cheap old ones ... don't let her use it for a screwdriver!

And don't look at the pictures of Sebenzas with wood inlays or graphics or inset cabochons or ... shhh ... GOLD COINS.

Of course, Sebenzas, well, they seem to multiply by theemselves. Why else do so many end up in the same collection? And then there's the one-piece line. What's the alternative? Microtech, MOD, Busse, Strider? I've got some beautiful Spydercos and Benchmades.