The materials of a knife is certainly a factor in manufacturing cost but the materials alone is not a basis for comparing price. Many other factors affect the cost and hence the price.
I bought a Bradley Alias that is a Sebenza wannabe at about half the cost of a Sebenza. It had the same materials, Titanium handle, S30V, blue thumb-stud and all. It is the only knife that I have ever owned that I wanted to smash with a hammer.
The pivot would not maintain its tension and would work loose after opening and closing the knife a few times. I used Loctite to remedy that problem. But there was not a single tension that I could find that gave the Alias a smooth action. The action was looser at the start of the opening action and tight at the end. The detent was a little too strong for the loose action of the initial opening so when I would start opening it the blade would jump and my thumb would lose contact with the thumb-stud and sometimes would contact the cutting edge of the blade. The only way to avoid potentially getting cut was to really tighten the pivot down very tight, to the point where the later part of the action was so tight that you had to really push hard to open the knife. Alternately, very loose pivot tension, but that resulted in significant blade play.
The thumb-stud however had very aggressive texturing that would wear on the thumb after repeated opening, exacerbated when you had very tight pivot tension.
When I received the knife with the clip in the default tip-down position, I could not easily close the knife one-handed. I cannot recall the exact mechanics of why, but trying my best to remember, I think it was a combination of factors:
The tight pivot tension required more pressure pushing up against the blade, causing the knife to push up and rearward. With the shallow thumb cutout, the thumb had to push at a slight downward angle against the lockbar, requiring the hand to be angled in such a way that made it difficult to grip the knife properly to to stop it from sliding backwards. The rounded, sloped back of the handle also did not push into the hand to keep it from sliding backwards. The only way I could resolve that was to move the clip to the tip-up position so I could grab onto the clip with my fingertips. Also, if I recall correctly, the shallow cutout required the thumb to get out of the way quickly to avoid the cutting edge of the blade.
I realize that the Sebenza is only tip-up but I can close it without having to grab onto the clip. The deeper cutout angles the hand differently for better grip, not requiring a clip and the thumb in the deeper cutout stops the knife from pushing up and backwards.
I sent the Alias in for repair and when it came back the pivot loosening problem was solved but the detent / blade opening action was still messed up. Loose at the beginning, jumping away from the thumb then tightening up halfway through the opening arc.
At Blade I went to their counter, handled another one, and it was exactly the same.
So while materials is certainly a large factor in determining price, there are many more factors that come into play. A Bradley Alias is made out of the same materials as a Sebenza, but I would not want a Bradley Alias at any price, however cheap, but I gladly pay the asking price for a Sebenza or Umnumzaan
I bought a Bradley Alias that is a Sebenza wannabe at about half the cost of a Sebenza. It had the same materials, Titanium handle, S30V, blue thumb-stud and all. It is the only knife that I have ever owned that I wanted to smash with a hammer.
The pivot would not maintain its tension and would work loose after opening and closing the knife a few times. I used Loctite to remedy that problem. But there was not a single tension that I could find that gave the Alias a smooth action. The action was looser at the start of the opening action and tight at the end. The detent was a little too strong for the loose action of the initial opening so when I would start opening it the blade would jump and my thumb would lose contact with the thumb-stud and sometimes would contact the cutting edge of the blade. The only way to avoid potentially getting cut was to really tighten the pivot down very tight, to the point where the later part of the action was so tight that you had to really push hard to open the knife. Alternately, very loose pivot tension, but that resulted in significant blade play.
The thumb-stud however had very aggressive texturing that would wear on the thumb after repeated opening, exacerbated when you had very tight pivot tension.
When I received the knife with the clip in the default tip-down position, I could not easily close the knife one-handed. I cannot recall the exact mechanics of why, but trying my best to remember, I think it was a combination of factors:
The tight pivot tension required more pressure pushing up against the blade, causing the knife to push up and rearward. With the shallow thumb cutout, the thumb had to push at a slight downward angle against the lockbar, requiring the hand to be angled in such a way that made it difficult to grip the knife properly to to stop it from sliding backwards. The rounded, sloped back of the handle also did not push into the hand to keep it from sliding backwards. The only way I could resolve that was to move the clip to the tip-up position so I could grab onto the clip with my fingertips. Also, if I recall correctly, the shallow cutout required the thumb to get out of the way quickly to avoid the cutting edge of the blade.
I realize that the Sebenza is only tip-up but I can close it without having to grab onto the clip. The deeper cutout angles the hand differently for better grip, not requiring a clip and the thumb in the deeper cutout stops the knife from pushing up and backwards.
I sent the Alias in for repair and when it came back the pivot loosening problem was solved but the detent / blade opening action was still messed up. Loose at the beginning, jumping away from the thumb then tightening up halfway through the opening arc.
At Blade I went to their counter, handled another one, and it was exactly the same.
So while materials is certainly a large factor in determining price, there are many more factors that come into play. A Bradley Alias is made out of the same materials as a Sebenza, but I would not want a Bradley Alias at any price, however cheap, but I gladly pay the asking price for a Sebenza or Umnumzaan
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