Sebenza aesthetics & other confessions

These two unique graphic small Sebenzas I like, but both look better in hand.

Small Regular Sebanza with zebra damascus blade and unique graphic handle.





The design on the Sebenza in the photo below reminds me of that old amateur daytime movie of a very bright meteor (fireball) skimming horizontally
above a range of mountains. I believe it skipped out of our atmosphere and back into space. I EDC this one quite often. Usually in a nylon pouch.
It actually gets used to cut things.

Small Regular Sebenza with ladder damascus blade and unique graphic handle.
 
I like Sebs in Plain Jane fashion. No frills, nothing taped/glued on, just plain ol' grey.:thumbup:
 
personally, if you want a PRETTY knife, do yourself a favor, buy a WILLIAM HENRY and a BIB. careful not to dehydrate from the drool.
however, if you want a "PRETTY" DAMN GOOD WORKING knife , buy a sebenza, a tarp and PLENTY of water to stay hydrated.
 
I guess by heating.

Uh, no.

In a crk unique like the first one pictured, are anodized after the pattern is milled.

Not all of the pictured ones were done by CRK.
 
I like the plain Sebenzas very much. I also love damascus blades.

Small Classic with a raindrop damascus blade.
 
Like you, I am not a big fan of the decorated Sebbies although I have a small with Ebony inlays I sometimes carry but my primary EDC is a small plain regular Sebenza.

IMHO the Sebenza design is so elegantly minimalist that decoration almost distracts from the design. The blasted titanium handles provide enough grip for any work that can be done with a sub-3" blade without any more handle than is necessary. The "stone washed" blade provides a practically matte finish. All of this would be nice by itself but when you marry the appearance with the bushed pivot design THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE ADJUSTMENT, you end up with a remarkable knife that impresses more for all the "bling" it doesn't have.
 
spyken7.jpg

Hey Dave, what's the story with this one? It's one of the sweetest sebenzas I've seen so far.
 
I bought the above from Spyken, wonderful piece if you love sebenzas. Here's the list of modifications

Gerry McGinnis did a orange peel finish on the titanium scales (and screws) for me, and added his trademark fantastic anodizing work. The colours are very rich yet classy...a light bronze gradually turning to purplish blue tones. The holes are countersunk and polished, a nice classy contrast to the matt orange peel finish.

Mike Obenauf thinned the blade down a little, then redid the stonewash finish. The thumbstud is beadblasted, a nice touch.

Matt Cucchiara did his famous meltdown on the handles, and drilled the holes in a very very tasteful and nice pattern, the only one ever done this way.
 
Phew, I'm glad I'm not the only that dislikes the unique graphic sebenzas. To me, most seem like they would've been popular in the 80's.
 
Different strokes for different folks. There's plenty of knives I think are ugly that people just fawn over.
 
I always thought they were unusually plain, some being tacky or even ...ugly.

But hey, de gustibus non est disputandum and such.

If you like them, that all that really matters anyways.
 
It took some time for me to really appreciate the Sebenza. The design is well thought out and the knife beautifully crafted.
 
The simplicity, the subtle innovations, the no-nonsense design and utilitarian appearance is all a style in and of itself.
Gotta love it.
 
I have never been a huge fan of the Sebenzas either aesthetically or ergonomically. The look is nothing special, and they jsut don't feel all that great in the hand to me. Different strokes for different folks. They are so well made and solid though that it is very hard not to like them anyway. I like the Mnandi a lot more personally.

That being said, the modified Sebenza that Dave H posted is just plain awesome.
 
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