Sebenza 31 vs 21 What say you?

31’s are great for graphics, if you have a spare grand. I like 21’s and older for everything else. I don’t care for the “regular” style inlays on 31’s either, but that’s just me. They are all fine knives and I think it all comes down to personal preference. They all cut and carry just fine.
 
WangSupreme said:
New account. Used to be a member years ago but lost my old email and thus my account here. Anyway, I've got a couple older Sebenza 21s from back in 2012 or so. I've been eyeing the new model 31 with magnacut and wondering what everyone thinks about them. Has QC dipped over the years? Gotten better even? Is the 31 an improvement over the 21? How much better is the magnacut vs the old s35vn? Kinda feeling like adding a new Reeve to my collection and just wanted to hear some thoughts. Thanks!
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Insofar as the quality control goes I can see no difference. However It's a fair bet that in the intervening years CRK will have improved most of their processes but I'm sure that it's very subjective.

I don't think that there is any argument that Magnacut is probably the best practical stainless available today. That said I feel the differences, depending who you are, can be meaningless. For the vast majority of users S35 is all they will ever need. For knife geeks like us it matters, for the rest of the planet it's unimportant.

Get a 31 you won't be sorry. It will re-inforce your belief that your 21's are still excellent. :)
 
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XJ-linux said:
31’s are great for graphics, if you have a spare grand. I like 21’s and older for everything else. I don’t care for the “regular” style inlays on 31’s either, but that’s just me. They are all fine knives and I think it all comes down to personal preference. They all cut and carry just fine.
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There were plenty of amazing graphics on both the 21s and 31s. It's Inkosis where they can't be found.
 
I sent in a couple of 21s to get the Magnacut blades. It did not take that long as it was when they first started doing the re-blade. I wanted to get it done before CRK ran out of blades or no longer offered the service.
 
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jjg6319 said:
I sent in a couple of 21s to get the Magnacut blades. It did not take that long as it was when they first started doing the re-blade. I wanted to get it done before CRK ran out of blades or no longer offered the service.
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Since they're offering 21 blades in Magnacut (an offering that started after the 21 production ended), I highly doubt they'll stop offering it on 21s any time soon.
 
jjg6319 said:
I sent in a couple of 21s to get the Magnacut blades. It did not take that long as it was when they first started doing the re-blade. I wanted to get it done before CRK ran out of blades or no longer offered the service.
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I just got my 31 one back from the spa last week. While it was there they replaced the blade with a new one. No idea why because there was nothing I could see wrong with the old one and the knife was fairly new. Not complaining though. I’ll happily take it. . .
 
PNWhovian said:
For me it boils down to aesthetic's. The 31 PJ just looks wrong without the signature hole in the display slab and the single piece inlay is uglier than a mud fence.
Just out of curiosity, why not an Inkosi or perhaps an Umnumzaan?
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I wouldn't mind either. Tough to get a Zaan these days though it seems. How do you think the Inkosi compares to Sebbies? I'm mostly a collector. Both my 21s are safe queens these days. Used to carry one for work but sent it in for spa work and just keeping it pretty now while I beat up some Chinese stuff instead.
 
WangSupreme said:
I wouldn't mind either. Tough to get a Zaan these days though it seems. How do you think the Inkosi compares to Sebbies? I'm mostly a collector. Both my 21s are safe queens these days. Used to carry one for work but sent it in for spa work and just keeping it pretty now while I beat up some Chinese stuff instead.
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The Inkosi sits somewhere between the Zaan and Sebenza. It adds a thicker blade stock and an adjustable pivot. If I could only choose 1 for hard work, it'd probably be an Inkosi. If I could only choose 1 for aesthetics, it's a Sebenza. But I love all three.

I currently own 4 Large Sebenza 21s
2 Small Sebenza 21s
2 Large Sebenza 31s
4 Inkosis
1 Umnumzaan. (I'm in line for an optional reblade on the Zaan to add a tanto blade. So then it'll be like having 2 Zaans.)
 
badmatt said:
It’s literally just missing the tooling pin hole….
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PJ to PJ, yes, but if you're comparing the inlay versions of each they're pretty different. I really prefer the layout of the 21 inlays, they just flow really well. They also look more symmetrical between sides, and the gap between them falls right on the pad of your fingers and gives a better grip. Also, the 21 was the last to have mammoth ivory as an option.

Other than that, main difference is the bushing system and Ti on steel lock. The bushing is really nice because it's always smooth and you can tighten the pivot down enough that it won't come loose, no fiddling or loctite required. It has a unique feel to the action and not everyone prefers it. But if you're one of those people, it's really hard to find anything comparable. I'm guessing the matching and hand-fitting of bushings ended up being too costly in the long run.
 
Tsujigiri said:
PJ to PJ, yes, but if you're comparing the inlay versions of each they're pretty different. I really prefer the layout of the 21 inlays, they just flow really well. They also look more symmetrical between sides, and the gap between them falls right on the pad of your fingers and gives a better grip. Also, the 21 was the last to have mammoth ivory as an option.

Other than that, main difference is the bushing system and Ti on steel lock. The bushing is really nice because it's always smooth and you can tighten the pivot down enough that it won't come loose, no fiddling or loctite required. It has a unique feel to the action and not everyone prefers it. But if you're one of those people, it's really hard to find anything comparable. I'm guessing the matching and hand-fitting of bushings ended up being too costly in the long run.
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The hand fitting of bushings and the ability to crank it down and get the same action is the same on the 21 and 31. They didn't swap that out.
 
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