Q's about a small Sebenza for EDC.

JustinFournier

JustinFournier

Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
4,971
Hi All,

I'm looking to pull the trigger shortly on a small Sebenza for EDC.

I've come up with a few questions as I am yet to decide on 3 options.

First is questions is a standard scale or a Micarta inlay? My concern is the inlay starting to look bad after time. Will it be something that holds up well? Can it be polished or something similar to keep it looking good?

Second choice is the blade. I'm concerned going with a stonewashed blade will be difficult to put the finish back on so the scrapes etc will start to take their toll on the blade. I was thinking the polished hollow grind could be touched up easier to keep it looking good.

Final thought is the hardware (thumb lug & lanyard pin). If I go blue which it looks like is the standard colour, will the colour of those, primarily the thumb lug wear out quickly? I was thinking silver might be the kinda thing that still looks good years down the road. If they will hold up long enough to make several years worth of wear, it might be no big deal as the knife can go in for a spa treatment.

Would love to hear some opinions from people with Sebenza experience. If you EDC a Sebenza, are there any choices you would make differently if you could go back and buy it over again?

Thanks very much!

Justin
 
The micarta inlays are definitely worth the extra $. They look great and micarta is very resistant to scuffs and scratches. It also adds to the overall ergos and gives you a little more to hold on to.
Silver hardware is standard on micarta models and does stay nicer over time because the blue ano'd does wear quickly.
I also need to add that the insingo blade is spectacular!
 
Hmm where to start...

Micarta is durable as all hell and an excellent handle material. A little windex will make it look lighter, a little oil will make it look darker. I like the feel in hand a hair better than the plain titanium.

Blade, stonewashed can get scratched up without showing where as every little scratch will show up on the polished blade.

Anodization does wear away. The blue on my thumb stud is already wearing off on the tip and I've only been edc'ing it for a week. So if that's something that will bother you I say go the silver route.

All in all a micarta inlay stonewashed blade with silver thumb lug and lanyard pin might be something for you.

I enjoy the large version in that configuration greatly.
 
Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

On the polished blade vs the stonewashed version, what about re-applying the finish? I figure I could easily reapply the polished version with a scotchbrite pad. Do people commonly keep a tumbler at home to reapply the stonewash?

Insingo variant, for slicing and food prep I assume with the belly like that vs the standard blade?

Thanks so much everyone, this site and it's users are great!
 
It's great to see you put some considerable thought into the various options for your sebenza. :thumbup: Although the micarta inlays have never had that 'must have' appeal to me, their obvious utility seems like a great addition if they do it for ya and as others have said, I am sure they will hold up really well. As far as the blades go, I have had both and enjoy both. Suprisingly the two polished ones held up really well with normal usage and although they don't retain that mirror polish when you first get it home, they hardly show the scratches as one would think. The stonewash however, do the best job at hiding scratches IMHO. The silver thumblugs hold up great over time and can be re-polished to have that new look but I am a bit biased on the blue ones as they seem to scream "trademark sebenza" to me. Also the worn a bit blue ano adds some character too.) Goodluck with your choice and really you can't go wrong with either.
 
My wife's EDC is a small dog paw with polished blade from several years ago. The blade definitely shows scratches and would have to be polished more or less regularly depending on your usage. She uses the dog paw for anythig she needs to cut so it gets regular and unrestricted use.

My EDC Sebenza is a small micarta 21 with stonewashed blade. It doesn't show as many battle scars as her polished blade, but I'm not concerned about blade scarring and neither is she. At any rate, CRK will repolish or retumble the blade for you. If you're clever and careful with tools, I'm sure you can do the repolishing on a polished blade yourself. I don't know about retumbling a stonewashed blade. I think there's a lot more to that technique, including which medium to use, than there is to polishing. That might be best done by CRK if you want to retain the original look.

The inlays should hold up fine. My micarta is still as good as day one. I don't carry my wood inlay much but it's a classic instead of a 21 and it's still in excellent shape, too.
 
Micarta gets dark with use. Soap and water brings it right back to how it looked new.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I'm going to arrange the funds through my finance dept. (wife) and try to explain why I need another $500 knife when I have one in the mail that didn't arrive yet.

Hmmm. That sounded easier before I said it that way. :)
 
JustinFournier said:
Thanks for the help everyone. I'm going to arrange the funds through my finance dept. (wife) and try to explain why I need another $500 knife when I have one in the mail that didn't arrive yet.

Hmmm. That sounded easier before I said it that way. :)
Click to expand...

What do you have coming to you in the mail? I had a large Insingo for a moment off of a used sale. It was awesome, just not the perfect fit for me. So I have a new Small Sebenza 21 drop point coming to me in the mail. Got a good deal. If I could afford or justify spending over $400 for a small sebenza, I'd go with the micarta inlays. They just look great! Maybe cocobolo second. If I'm doing a wood inlay though, I might just have to go the Mnandi route. I might do that next. They look amazing.
 
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