Sebenza 21 Snakewood

hhmoore said:
I was on the hunt for a snakewood Mnandi, for some time; but I couldn't find the right one. I haven't necessarily given up on the idea; but I've actually tossed around the idea of selling my large 21 snakewood, since it is now pretty unlikely that I'll find the right Mnandi with which to pair it. (If I do that, I'll probably also sell my large insingo micarta & grab KSF's large Inkosi insingo (red linen micarta) when it becomes available.
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I've heard of the Inkosi insingo inc, I still have yet to try micarta. Also I've only seen one snakewood Mnandi on the " retail " market and it wasn't really a looker.
 
Dullknivescut said:
That is an extremely amazing cocobolo ( What was the date of creation? I thought originally you meant 2005 but now I'm not sure if it's just number listings for the images. )

All the ones I can find are either dark brown, or almost orangish brown. You're either really good at lighting or that was a fantastic find. Even in the first image it looks so vibrant.

Do you mind if I ask you do you order direct from CRKs? I've been hesitant to do so because I'm not quite sure how much leeway
I would have with wood grain requests,

but I would love try it out to custom make some of the harder to find models in certain combinations.
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This Cocobolo is born March 2014. I regard this period arround 2012 till 2013/2014 as kind of an interim period when it comes to the pattern of the raindrop damascus. This ones pattern is already less "tight" compared to the pattern of earlier raindrop blades, but still nice.

21, Cocobolo, Raindrop, 03

Later on the raindrop pattern changed more and more until todays appearance, which I do not appreciate anymore.

Therefore I keep on recommending to buy from dealers who are showing pictures of the real knife for sale at their webshop, in order to judge about the wood grain and color, as well as about the damascus pattern, if you go for damascus blades.

I remember that I started collecting Sebenza beginning of 2014 and the above Cocobolo was one of the very first CRK I bought. That time I was less experienced and I wasn't aware that some dealers are showing sample pics, pics of previously sold knives. It was just by chance, that this Cocobolo turned out to meet my preferences. Later I learned above lesson.

..... and no. Have not bought from CRK directly yet.
 
Dullknivescut said:
I've only seen one snakewood Mnandi on the " retail " market and it wasn't really a looker.
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I was looking before snakewood inlays were discontinued, and I still couldn't find one I liked enough to buy. There was one on the Exchange, but I saw it 20 minutes too late.
 
James Longstreet said:
This Cocobolo is born March 2014. I regard this period arround 2012 till 2013/2014 as kind of an interim period when it comes to the pattern of the raindrop damascus. This ones pattern is already less "tight" compared to the pattern of earlier raindrop blades, but still nice.

21, Cocobolo, Raindrop, 03

Later on the raindrop pattern changed more and more until todays appearance, which I do not appreciate anymore.

Therefore I keep on recommending to buy from dealers who are showing pictures of the real knife for sale at their webshop, in order to judge about the wood grain and color, as well as about the damascus pattern, if you go for damascus blades.

I remember that I started collecting Sebenza beginning of 2014 and the above Cocobolo was one of the very first CRK I bought. That time I was less experienced and I wasn't aware that some dealers are showing sample pics, pics of previously sold knives. It was just by chance, that this Cocobolo turned out to meet my preferences. Later I learned above lesson.

..... and no. Have not bought from CRK directly yet.
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I passed on the snakewood similarly because the patterns of the raindrop are just so all over the place now.

And I have to thank hhmoore hhmoore regarding your comment on Damascus / wood grain. I almost made the same mistake and went off stock photos but he stopped me just in time.

Your raindrop example could definitely be seen as the best of both worlds. ( From my extremely limited time so far ) as I have yet to find a " new " raindrop I had to have.

Appreciate your time.

hhmoore said:
I was looking before snakewood inlays were discontinued, and I still couldn't find one I liked enough to buy. There was one on the Exchange, but I saw it 20 minutes too late.
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I'm crossing my fingers similarly that a new batch of Mnandi elder burl pops up across the web. So far ( and trust me I've looked across all the authroized dealers. ) There isn't a decent damascus mnandi currently I would be happy with.
 
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Dullknivescut said:
I'm crossing my fingers similarly that a new batch of Mnandi elder burl pops up across the web. So far ( and trust me I've looked across all the authroized dealers. ) There isn't a decent damascus mnandi currently I would be happy with.
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This was my 1st Mnandi and it stands for the group of lighter, sometimes touch of yellow kind of box elder color:

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 01

This one I bought later and still until today I haven't seen any better box elder than this one. It is darker and it has the black line in it, coming from fungi doing this:

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 01

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 02

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 08

Just to illustrate how box elder can look like. At the end its all about personal taste/preferences.

After having focussed my collection at Sebenza and One Piece Knife, only one Mnandi is left and that is serving me well as my office edc (coming back to the original Snakewood topic):

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 01

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 02

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 15

:)

........ okay ..... one more:

Mnandi, Wood Group, 02
 
James Longstreet said:
This was my 1st Mnandi and it stands for the group of lighter, sometimes touch of yellow kind of box elder color:

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 01

This one I bought later and still until today I haven't seen any better box elder than this one. It is darker and it has the black line in it, coming from fungi doing this:

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 01

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 02

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 08

Just to illustrate how box elder can look like. At the end its all about personal taste/preferences.

After having focussed my collection at Sebenza and One Piece Knife, only one Mnandi is left and that is serving me well as my office edc (coming back to the original Snakewood topic):

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 01

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 02

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 15

:)

........ okay ..... one more:

Mnandi, Wood Group, 02
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Fantastic Mnandis, and you're right that second darker elder Mnandi is truly unique. I'm looking for that darker / even some reds for myself! Yours is truly a stunner.

That far left brown Mnandi with the dark strikes looks pretty classy too. What wood inlay is that? Doesn't quite look like mascassar but reminds me of it slightly.

Edit: maybe a browner cocobolo? I'm pretty new.

I can't even get started on how good that snakewood looks too. The epitome of how I would image " snake " wood to look.
 
James Longstreet said:
This was my 1st Mnandi and it stands for the group of lighter, sometimes touch of yellow kind of box elder color:

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 01

This one I bought later and still until today I haven't seen any better box elder than this one. It is darker and it has the black line in it, coming from fungi doing this:

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 01

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 02

Mnandi, Elder Burl, Basket Weave, 08

Just to illustrate how box elder can look like. At the end its all about personal taste/preferences.

After having focussed my collection at Sebenza and One Piece Knife, only one Mnandi is left and that is serving me well as my office edc (coming back to the original Snakewood topic):

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 01

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 02

Mnandi, Snakewood, Ladder, 15

:)

........ okay ..... one more:

Mnandi, Wood Group, 02
Click to expand...

Not sure if you've seen my first sebenza but this was reminiscent of your original box Mnandi, but it gets slightly darker on the back inlay. Reminded me of coffee.
EE2DA85C-6AD7-4199-A98B-8B5CC698C0BE_zpsaziqzmy3.jpg
E660697E-D1D7-481C-AB8E-C3F6799D393E_zps3zdd4ijk.jpg
 
Dullknivescut said:
Fantastic Mnandis, and you're right that second darker elder Mnandi is truly unique. I'm looking for that darker / even some reds for myself! Yours is truly a stunner.

That far left brown Mnandi with the dark strikes looks pretty classy too. What wood inlay is that? Doesn't quite look like mascassar but reminds me of it slightly.

Edit: maybe a browner cocobolo? I'm pretty new.

I can't even get started on how good that snakewood looks too. The epitome of how I would image " snake " wood to look.
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Thanks! 2nd from right is Gabon Ebony:

Mnandi, Gabon Ebony, Basket Weave, 02

Mnandi, Gabon Ebony, Basket Weave, 12
 
My thoughts change weekly on mnandi but this post has convinced me to buy more. I love them, I'm just always afraid to use them, even though I know I shouldn't.
 
Lone_Wolfe said:
:eek: That's by far the REDDEST Cocobolo I've ever seen! :eek:
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Very true. The color of the Cocobolo Mnandi at above group pic is more common.

blanco112 said:
My thoughts change weekly on mnandi but this post has convinced me to buy more. I love them, I'm just always afraid to use them, even though I know I shouldn't.
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It is a very robust knife with its integral lock construction. It can execute many tasks, just as larger blades can do. It is elegant. If you are using it in public, peoples reactions are positive and because of its small size and light weight it is ideal within office environment. Although I have large hands, I can handle it comfortably.

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 12

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 11

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 13

I am happy that I kept my Snakewood/Damascus Mnandy and I won't let it go.
 
James Longstreet said:
Very true. The color of the Cocobolo Mnandi at above group pic is more common.



It is a very robust knife with its integral lock construction. It can execute many tasks, just as larger blades can do. It is elegant. If you are using it in public, peoples reactions are positive and because of its small size and light weight it is ideal within office environment. Although I have large hands, I can handle it comfortably.

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 12

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 11

Mnandi, Elder Burl, 13

I am happy that I kept my Snakewood/Damascus Mnandy and I won't let it go.
Click to expand...
I currently have two, a Snakewood/Damascus very similar to yours and a Macassar. I usually carry them to work in my shirt pocket for the reasons you describe but if I have to open a box or something robust I end up reaching for a sebenza. I've thought about selling them and opting for inlay sebenzas instead but the two I have are great examples and I just can't bring myself to sell them. I will eventually put them to harder use. And buy more mnandi..

IMG_20170531_181414.jpg
 
Thanks guys. I'm not sure whether to chase a Snakewood 21 that matches or fill out my collection with other CRK woods.
 
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