- Joined
- Dec 11, 2000
- Messages
- 7
Regards to all. I've been lurking for some time, lacking a Reeve knife, but finally have something to share. You may be amused at some of the ways Chris Reeve revealed himself when I met him at the New York Custom Knife Show on Saturday. He is indeed a fine gentleman. The accent makes him sound even classier. Like the other forum member who was there, I got to handle his small Mnandi, since he was sold out, and it is sweet, though apparently no different from the stock item.
When we came to the sebenzas, I pleaded ignorance about tip-up carry and got him to demonstrate the draw. He carries his large classic in the front pocket, and from there of course has no difficulty in getting his hand all the way down the knife with his thumb near the stud at first grasp. I asked him to demonstrate from the waistband, and he obliged several times. If I saw right, he grabs the knife through the fabric and kind of squeezes it up, at the same time pulling with his ring finger and pinky on the lanyard. It was quick.
I had already bought a couple of knives, and was complimenting my own prudence as I edged away, when I stupidly blurted out that I'm a lefty. "Isn't that lucky," he says, " I happen to have two left-handed inlaid sebenzas with me that were ordered by a specialty dealer for two customers who backed out at the last moment." Naturally, they were beauties, one in a light blond, almost ivory colored box elder, and the other in a dark brown, handsome, but less pleasing than some which have appeared on this forum. I admired the light one, and he said, "Oh yeah, that's a beauty, just the way I like them. I'm not a dark wood man myself." At this I felt my wallet apparently inflate with helium and begin to float out of my pocket.
I did manage to get away that time though, as some other customers came up. But I drifted past the table several times later, on each occasion to hear current sebbie owners singing its praises. One guy, a tax lawyer who owns four, told how he dropped one on a coral beach. He was afraid to close it for fear of grinding the mechanism, so he wrapped it in a towel and took it apart in his hotel room. Reeve told him, "You needn't have worried. The tolerances are so close that nothing can actually get in there."
Earlier, I had stupidly forgotten that the wood was inlaid (even though the knife is called "inlaid"--duh!) and asked him why the "scales" made the knife worth two hundred dollars more than the plain one. He explained indulgently that the tolerances were so close (I forget how many ten-thousandths) that I couldn't see the line of the cut outs in the handle. At least my ignorance gave him a smile. I suppose everybody knows this already, but he said that the inlays are held in place with a double-sided tape used to assemble Boeing airplanes, and can only be chiseled out of the handles. The tape lets the wood expand and contract as glue would not.
At one point two current owners were talking with him about the "handmade," versus "custom" versus "production" nomenclature. Reeve said that people ask him constantly, " Do you make each of these knives?' and I say no, I have twelve people helping me. Then they ask why a production knife is so expensive." Reeve smiled and shrugged--evidently he thought the answer was obvious. I suggested that if he called his staff "elves," not assistants, then people would be able to tell themselves that he was a custom maker and justify the price. That got him to smile again. One of the kibbitzers remarked that the only sensible reason to buy a custom knife was to get greater quality, and since Reeve clearly delivered the quality, why should anyone care how it was made?
To make a long story somewhat less long, on about my fifth pass by his table I finally told Reeve that I would take the knife. He immediately jumped up and said, "That's great. Thank you very much. Left handed knives are hard to sell and I was beginning to worry about that one. But honestly, you are a tough sell--just kidding" This was said with a charming smile. At that, I might have been gauche enough to ask for a price break, except that I had earlier heard this tried by another guy who had been mooning over a decorated small left-handed sebenza for his wife. Reeve told him somewhat icily, "I don't dicker over price." Whew, sure glad I didn't make that mistake.
So, with the show closing in five minutes, I bought the blond inlaid 2001 large sebenza for $575, and now, thirty hours later, I have hardly had the thing out of my hand and the price looks lower every minute. Still, I guess I will have to take a paying membership in Bladeforums so I can sell some other stuff to pay for it. I'll try to post a scan as soon as possible.
When we came to the sebenzas, I pleaded ignorance about tip-up carry and got him to demonstrate the draw. He carries his large classic in the front pocket, and from there of course has no difficulty in getting his hand all the way down the knife with his thumb near the stud at first grasp. I asked him to demonstrate from the waistband, and he obliged several times. If I saw right, he grabs the knife through the fabric and kind of squeezes it up, at the same time pulling with his ring finger and pinky on the lanyard. It was quick.
I had already bought a couple of knives, and was complimenting my own prudence as I edged away, when I stupidly blurted out that I'm a lefty. "Isn't that lucky," he says, " I happen to have two left-handed inlaid sebenzas with me that were ordered by a specialty dealer for two customers who backed out at the last moment." Naturally, they were beauties, one in a light blond, almost ivory colored box elder, and the other in a dark brown, handsome, but less pleasing than some which have appeared on this forum. I admired the light one, and he said, "Oh yeah, that's a beauty, just the way I like them. I'm not a dark wood man myself." At this I felt my wallet apparently inflate with helium and begin to float out of my pocket.
I did manage to get away that time though, as some other customers came up. But I drifted past the table several times later, on each occasion to hear current sebbie owners singing its praises. One guy, a tax lawyer who owns four, told how he dropped one on a coral beach. He was afraid to close it for fear of grinding the mechanism, so he wrapped it in a towel and took it apart in his hotel room. Reeve told him, "You needn't have worried. The tolerances are so close that nothing can actually get in there."
Earlier, I had stupidly forgotten that the wood was inlaid (even though the knife is called "inlaid"--duh!) and asked him why the "scales" made the knife worth two hundred dollars more than the plain one. He explained indulgently that the tolerances were so close (I forget how many ten-thousandths) that I couldn't see the line of the cut outs in the handle. At least my ignorance gave him a smile. I suppose everybody knows this already, but he said that the inlays are held in place with a double-sided tape used to assemble Boeing airplanes, and can only be chiseled out of the handles. The tape lets the wood expand and contract as glue would not.
At one point two current owners were talking with him about the "handmade," versus "custom" versus "production" nomenclature. Reeve said that people ask him constantly, " Do you make each of these knives?' and I say no, I have twelve people helping me. Then they ask why a production knife is so expensive." Reeve smiled and shrugged--evidently he thought the answer was obvious. I suggested that if he called his staff "elves," not assistants, then people would be able to tell themselves that he was a custom maker and justify the price. That got him to smile again. One of the kibbitzers remarked that the only sensible reason to buy a custom knife was to get greater quality, and since Reeve clearly delivered the quality, why should anyone care how it was made?
To make a long story somewhat less long, on about my fifth pass by his table I finally told Reeve that I would take the knife. He immediately jumped up and said, "That's great. Thank you very much. Left handed knives are hard to sell and I was beginning to worry about that one. But honestly, you are a tough sell--just kidding" This was said with a charming smile. At that, I might have been gauche enough to ask for a price break, except that I had earlier heard this tried by another guy who had been mooning over a decorated small left-handed sebenza for his wife. Reeve told him somewhat icily, "I don't dicker over price." Whew, sure glad I didn't make that mistake.
So, with the show closing in five minutes, I bought the blond inlaid 2001 large sebenza for $575, and now, thirty hours later, I have hardly had the thing out of my hand and the price looks lower every minute. Still, I guess I will have to take a paying membership in Bladeforums so I can sell some other stuff to pay for it. I'll try to post a scan as soon as possible.
- Get the scan up it is awesome!!!!