New Umnumzaan, got a few questions.

[Mattman888]

Hello,
I just got a brand new Umnumzaan and have a few questions.

1. When mine opens, it isn't all that quiet, its only quiet if i open it very slowly. It is just as loud, if not louder then most of my other folders. I thought it was soppose to be quiet?

2. Lock-up is right now at about 95%, is that normal for a brand new CRK knife?

3. I haven't flicked it open, but I have heard that you can open it using a thumb flick, NOT wrist flick without voiding the warranty, like you would have if it had been the Sebenza. Is this true?

Overall I like the knife, but the lock-up has me a bit worried, this is my first expensive knife and am feeling a bit underwhelmed. Knife is perfectly centered, blade came razor sharp, it has a beautiful finish but the lock-up problem has got me a bit worried.

 

[So-Lo]

Read the stickys

Any of our folding knives, assembled correctly, will open and close smoothly. Remember that they are intended as robust, working knives and they will not feel the same as many other folding knives. When opening a Sebenza or Mnandi, use a sideways, sweeping motion with the side of your thumb against the lug. The Umnumzaan opens by pushing the lug forward, parallel with the handle, with the top of your thumb.

· The lock should engage at between 50% and 75% of travel. With the Umnumzaan, because the interface between the blade and the lock bar is a ceramic ball, it is the ball that must be at 50 – 75%. This will give the visual that the lock bar is further over than with a Sebenza.

·

 

[TLR]

If you look at the actual face lock face of the blade on an umnum you will see a little marking from the ceramic ball. It will not be over as far as you think.

As to the loudness that is a pretty subjective thing. I can tell you that mine is quieter than my small sebenza and waaaayyy quieter than my zt0300 It's not silent... I like to think of it as subdued. If I flick it open with a lot of force than yes it is as loud as most other knives. I normally open mine with my thumb fairly quickly and it is quieter.

I can say from my own personal experience that when I first held a sebenza I didn't get it. I was at a knife show, fondled it a little and I didn't think it was worth the money. Later I took a big plunge and bought one off of the exchange here. It was by far the most expensive knife I had ever purchased. I got it and and carried it. Over time I came to appreciate it more and more. I have found that crk knives are something you can't fully appreciate in a few minutes or even a couple of days. That small sebenza beat out several spydercos, microtechs, benchmades and others to be my edc for several years. My umnumzaan has now taken it's spot for the most part. I love them both and I can tell you that they would be the last two folding knives that I would get rid of.

I say all of that to say, give it a little time and my guess is that underwhelmed feeling will grow into admiration. I know it did for me.

 

[unit]

Hello,
I just got a brand new Umnumzaan and have a few questions.

1. When mine opens, it isn't all that quiet, its only quiet if i open it very slowly. It is just as loud, if not louder then most of my other folders. I thought it was soppose to be quiet?

2. Lock-up is right now at about 95%, is that normal for a brand new CRK knife?

3. I haven't flicked it open, but I have heard that you can open it using a thumb flick, NOT wrist flick without voiding the warranty, like you would have if it had been the Sebenza. Is this true?

Overall I like the knife, but the lock-up has me a bit worried, this is my first expensive knife and am feeling a bit underwhelmed. Knife is perfectly centered, blade came razor sharp, it has a beautiful finish but the lock-up problem has got me a bit worried.

You and I are in a similar boat. I recently got one and had some concerns, but have since been convinced that this is a fantastic purchase.

1. mine is quiet but not silent. What other knives are you comparing it to? The Spyderco Ti military is like a shotgun racking compared to this thing, but the Umnumzaan is probably on par with an Endura 4 mid-lock engaging (not stealth, but not obnoxious).

2. I thought mine was about 90%, but once I examined where the ball actually engaged the blade tang, I now understand that it is engaging at about 50%. If you simply look at the lock bar, it will appear to be a much higher percentage. If you drop an email to CRK CS with a photo they will tell you for sure how normal it is (I did this and heard back in 24 hours...outstanding).

3. Wrist flick? Why? It took me 3-4 attempts out of the box to figure out how to easily thumb this thing open very fast. I will plug this video once again (my Happy Birthday video of me opening my Umnumzaan), in this video you can see where mine locks up (at 1:21 and 1:58) it appears to be pretty far, but it is totally normal. I also open the knife several times both slowly and flicking it so you can hear how mine sounds. It is a pretty silly/worthless video otherwise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtes4B5d4a0

I think you will come to appreciate the design and feel better about your purchase after a bit of use. They are expensive, but they are fantastic knives.

 

[krazichinaman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtes4B5d4a0

I think you will come to appreciate the design and feel better about your purchase after a bit of use. They are expensive, but they are fantastic knives.

Sounds like you have a keeper for a wife! =D

I've played with an Umnumzaan myself and although it wasn't as silent as everyone here stated, it seems to be more mute then other locking folders. From what I can recall, the lock engagement was as seen on the video that was posted above.

Enjoy that bad boy that you bought! :thumbup:

 

[zyhano]

Hey Mattman,
It should be very silent when locking up, that's what the polyurethane o-rings are for.
What exactly makes the noise?
I found that the polyurethane deforms on the side where there is pressure. This means, that if it is open, it will compress on the side of the bladestop. if you close and open it again directly, it will make more noise since the o-rings aren't able to dampen the noise quite as much as they make contact with the handles. So this might produce a little more noise than normal.

But my umnumzaan is by far the quietest folder I have when I open it.
Also, the 95% lockup definitely does not seem right.

any pictures available?

 

[Output]

If you are ‘flicking’ the blade open it is going to make the clicking noise that you are hearing. The polyurethane is not going to make a difference when the blade is being opened with that much force. On the other hand, if you open it slowly by pushing the thumb lugs straight up (parallel with the frame) it will open very quietly just as it is suppose to. Hope that helps. There is a guy on youtube that goes by jonewell4 that has some really good videos I would check them out.

 

[clockman]

My Zaan locks up at 90%. I wouldnt worry about it. Others on the forum may

think your knife has too much lockup but it sounds fine to me.

My Zaan was quiet at first but once it was broken it clacked.

I wouldnt be worried about your Zaan at all it sounds like you have a nice

one