Photo request - Umnum blade detent

J

jk904jk

Joined
Jun 20, 2006
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139
I am curious. The reason I don't and wont ever carry a sebenza again, is due to the wimpy ball and detent used. Ive owned 2 separate brand new sebenzas large and small, and each would come open if you breathed on them wrong. Ive always wondered why such a robust and sold knife has such a nancy little ball to hold the blade shut.

So I have seen a few pics of the ball itself on the umnumzaan, but I want to see how deep or large the detent itself is. I can't seem to find any pics of it.

How do the Seb and Umnum compare when it comes to how well the ball holds the blade in place?

thanks,
Jeff
 
I have owned 16 Sebenzas both large and small and 3 Umfaans over the years and not one of them opened accidentally.

In fact, I always have felt that the ball detent was a little aggressive making it more difficult to get the blade started.
 
Daniel said:
I have owned 16 Sebenzas both large and small and 3 Umfaans over the years and not one of them opened accidentally.

In fact, I always have felt that the ball detent was a little aggressive making it more difficult to get the blade started.
Click to expand...

thank you
 
I was not anticipating anyone taking my statement so literally. What I mean is that, the ball and detent are not enough for me to feel secure with it in my pocket. With axis or lockback locks, the blade will get sucked into the locked position if the tip is within a centimeters or so, I like that. If I reach into my pocket, nudge the thumbstud and the tip is exposed just a bit, then the next time I reach into my pocket, it's time for stitches. I feel that if CRK used a larger diameter ball and larger/deeper detent, then I would feel quite a bit more comfortable with the blade retention.

CRK should look at the strider sng ball and detent.
 
I like the way the Spyderco Military feels much more secure. It takes quite a bit of force to release the blade.
 
The Sebenza IS fine just the way it is. I have had NO problem with any of my Sebenza's, Mnandi or Umfaan (when I owned those), ever come close to opening.
 
I'm considering buying my first sebenza, mainly, because my emerson commander now
seems a bit large for my pocket. however I recall reading someone's post about how when dropped, they're knife broke! could this be true?
 
^ Can't see the knife simply broke! Depends on the distance he dropped it I suppose! he he...... but Mark. buy yourself a seb. you wont regret it. it has the highest tollerance! something like 0.005 the thickness of your hair, so it has a near perfect fit and finish! You can take it apart and put it back together very easily.
 
jk904jk said:
If I reach into my pocket, nudge the thumbstud and the tip is exposed just a bit, then the next time I reach into my pocket, it's time for stitches.

CRK should look at the strider sng ball and detent.
Click to expand...

With the knife in your pocket, the blade is facing into the outside pocket fold and the thumbstud is oriented toward your body.

I've been carrying these knives on nearly a daily basis for the better part of a decade with no unwanted opening problems. The detent works just fine, and it holds up fine over time.

Hell, my oldest Sebenza has been in service longer than Strider has been offering folders for sale.
 
tsiloics said:
With the knife in your pocket, the blade is facing into the outside pocket fold and the thumbstud is oriented toward your body.
Click to expand...

Assuming that I carry it like 99% of the knife carrying population, then yes, I would feel more comfortable with the blade spine facing the pocket fold. But I carry mine in my back right pocket where I have been carrying every knife for the past 10 years or so. When my hand goes in to grab my wallet, the thumb stud can easily be nudged and thus the blade coming open (and has once, but I noticed it before it hurt me).

Again, there is such a reassuring feeling when my spyderco caly3 has the tip 1.5 inches open from the shut position, the blade will get sucked in to shut. The sebenza, more like .125 of an inch or probably less (cant remember) for the blade to shut back. No good for safety.
 
Okay, I see, sorry. Never could make sense out of how people make that work with a wallet in back, but that's beside the point.

Maybe you could move the knife to the other side of the pocket (?).

FWIW, I have thrashed around quite a bit with a Sebenza in my pocket, and never had the blade open at all.

Do know what you mean about other designs having a more positive detent index, but I actually prefer the more subtle indexing of the CRK design. One thing I will say about the CRK detent, is that it becomes a good deal more pronounced if there's less friction at the pivot. On one of my knives, I've polished the washers more than the others, so the pivot action is a good deal less resistive - say 50%. That knife has a proportionately more pronounced index.

There probably isn't any more total force resisting unintended opening, but it is more clearly partitioned between pivot and detent.

Another thought is that there’s a pretty good amount of variation from knife to knife in the CRK pivots if you look at them closely.

I honestly do not see this as a safety issue, given that there’s no significant force other than momentum from your body’s movement acting on the blade while it’s in your pocket. I suppose another object could work its way into the vent… although that would be more likely to happen in the front pocket, and only really an issue with a RH knife in a LH pocket, or vice versa.

Guess it’s down to personal preference, like the open/closed vent thing. I prefer the fully-vented back, but I also don’t carry change, etc. in the same pocket with the knife… unless I’m wearing pants with particularly deep pockets.
 
How large the ball is or how small has nothing to do with it. The real factor is the depth and diameter of the hole drilled in the blade and how well or not so well the ball fits that to hold. If the hole is off where the ball holds but is not down in very well the blade can lift up easy. If there is a shallow 'starter hole' in the blade but the drill used to make it was way big in diameter and the ball diameter is small the hole may hold the blade but allow it to lift up some and on some other brands this can be enough to let the tip of the blade peek out from beneath the scales.

Reeves usually sets his detents pretty well but they are easier than I like my own to be I'll agree with that much. Still though they are much better than a lot of other productions out there on the market. For example, virtually every BenchMade Dejavoo I've handled has had a non working detent in it and I mean non working. The blades fall open from gravity on all I've handled.

At least Chris does his so you can flip the thing upside down and not have to worry about the blade falling out. When the knife is technically a gravity knife its a good way to lose it should you be stopped by the law one day, especially in states like Illinois and New York where they are known to look for such things. Its also a good way to accidentally cut your leg or hip if there is no retention, especially in tip up carry mode.

Many brands walk a thin line with detent ball placements. If you want yours tighter contact Reeve and ask if they can arrange to set it so its legal where you live if you think its not.

STR
 
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