Sebenza as EDC

MikeC

MikeC

Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Messages
1,364
Thinking about finally buying a Sebenza, have been carrying other brand of Ti Framelock for years but quality control issues have finally gotten to me.

If I buy a sebenza the first thing I'm going to do remove the clip put the knife in pocket, next its going to be carried and use this is going to include cleaning lots of squirrels, deer, ducks, and geese. Lots of multiple uses on our deer lease where it is going to get plenty of muddy and stay that way sometimes for days. Its also going to go fishing freshwater, brackish water in the marsh, bay, coastal and offshore. It is going to wet and is going to be in salt water when we swim, snorkel and dive. The diving isn't often probably about 7 times a year, and I'll wash it down when we surface.

All of this is going to be done is south Louisiana in near year round very high humidity.

Is this going to be a problem, is the knife going to hold up and how prone is that bead blasted blade going to be rust as are the parts such as the bushing, washers, etc.

I need a real world no bs assessment from some people that carry and USE these knives, not from people who carry them and or have em on a shelf or in a safe.
 
Well I never went diving with my sebbie, but I've been around salt water my whole life. If you are going to disassemble and clean it every time you are around salt water you will be fine. But if you think that after a day around the ocean you can just put your knife away and clean it later you will be seeing rust here and there.
Why not just get the right knife for that environment?
 
I would get a Spyderco in H1 steel if your gonna be in salt water. Plus if you lose it, it wouldn't hurt so much.
 
I don't own a Sebenza but I believe the blade is stonewashed not bead blasted.

The blade is S30V which is pretty rust resistant steel. Stonewashed is about the best finish you can have on a knife for rust resistance.

Obviously you won't have to worry about the Ti slabs, they won't rust.

I would say about the only thing you'd have to worry about are the screws and such.

But if you wash it off and spray it down with WD-40 after use, it should do you fine.

And apparently you can always send it back to CRK for a total refurb if you get careless with it.
 
here is my sebenza after having been dropped in a driveway in the winter and found 25 days later:

lostseb1.jpg


lostseb2.jpg


Cleaned up:

lostseb5.jpg


I imagine if you hose it off regularly you'll be fine. But if you want a knife to stay perfect, I'd get a spyderco salt series of some kind.
 
Spyderco makes H1 with pinned construction and small cheap plastic handles, that knife is going to be broken within six months if not less. I need something with titanium or steel handles.

Didn't mean to sound hostile but I'm going to be USING this knife a lot, I probably spend 45+ plus a year just hunting, when your laying in a bean field or rice field shooting ducks and geese then cleaning them, then going to the back of the lease to bass fish for a while, then pulling crab traps in the main canal and cooking supper, cleaning fish and entertaining clients. Then the next day you wake up and do it again, except that afternoon you leave to go the deer camp. All the while your maintaining these place year around, lots of moving and placing stands, moving and sinking blinds, bush hogging, feeder maintenance, plowing, buffaloing, fishing when you get the chance. All the while this knife is in your pocket and your sweating bullets because its 90 to 100 degrees outside, the humidity is 90% plus and your using your knife throughout the day without the time to wipe it down every time you use it.

I'm down south where we are hunting and fishing 365 running a duck camp, deer camp and fish camp. I've got to take care of and maintain land, trucks, boats, 4 wheelers, tractors and everything under the sun to keep these operations going all the while actually hunting and fishing myself and with clients.

Not trying to be hostile or put others on this site down, but I don't think their using knives the way I am, which is daily, hard, and in and around salt water, brackish water and with near non stop high humidity levels and lots of sweat. So I am asking for a no bull assessment, is it gonna hold up or isn't it?

I had been using another brand of knives as they were the only things that would hold up and not rust, however the most recent one I bought about two weeks ago is currently back in the mail to them as it had serious quality control issues, so much so that the knife would have been broken or needing serious repair within six months. So I sent it back, I want quality tools that are designed to work and last.

Things are very different down here compared to where most of you live, our hunting season essentially opens the first weekend in October and runs through mid to late February our gun season for deer is 3 months long. Duck season is 2 months long and there is no fishing season, fishing goes on year around nonstop day and night.

Take my neighbors for instance they have a 33 foot CC, a 24 foot CC bay boat and two camps a fish camp and a duck camp. These people probably fish and dive over a 75 days a year and hunt 45+/-. My other neighbor also has a 24 ft cc bay boat and fishes offshore for speckled trout so much The Louisiana Sportsman magazine (state magazine about hunting and fishing) dedicated a six page article on him and his and their tactics for speck fishing. Things are different here, people spend a lot of time outdoors hunting and fishing, a lot. This kinda thing is hard on equipment.

Everything down here rust, we have our utility trailers, four wheeler grill guards, bumpers, racks, gun racks, are rhino lined or line-xd which ever you can identify with. The guns are parkerized and then black ceramic coated or duracoated, anything that can be made out of fiberglass or aluminum is. I don't have different guns for different environments the same shotgun shoots ducks in flooded timber, rice fields and salt water marsh and then shoots geese in bean fields.

That said most of the pix I see here are safe queens plain and simple or guys who carry them but don't really use them much unless their home polishing these things every night, and that is not going to be the case with whatever I get.

So that is why I ask for a no bull assessment?
 
pinned construction and small cheap plastic handles, that knife is going to be broken within six months
Click to expand...


Have you actually tried a spyderco knife? Sounds like you're heavily into abuse and prying, in that case, get a fixed blade, probably Busse.

So I am asking for a no bull assessment, is it gonna hold up or isn't it?
Click to expand...

Being that none of us are you, or likely do exactly what you do, there is no way for any of us to answer that question. All we can give you is opinion based on how we have used ours.

My feeling is you would not accept anything we told you anyway.
 
MikeC, a lot of people think the Sebenza is the finest production folding knife around. If it can't do what you want it to do, there may not be a folder that can.

I'd also second what DaveH said - consider a fixed blade, much easier to clean, and give the Spyderco Salts another look, they're not cheap at all, great knives.

As hard as you use your gear, I imagine that people 100 years ago used theirs just as hard, and that was before Titanium frame locks and S30V. I think you'll be fine with it :)

The good news is if you don't like it, you can sell it and won't lose too much on the deal.
 
I have carryed one with no problems..but I take care of my knives. On the other hand the large regular I gave to my brother years ago had never been taken apart for maintenance in about two years. He used that thing for everything...salt water to fresh... When I finally cracked it open the washers were corroded...I polished them back to new, put some grease on them and his knife is smoother then mine. No blade play...no problems. All he did for those two years was rinse it off with fresh water...never even dried it.

He dives daily to weekly...but he never jumped in with the sebenza....thats the work of a dive knife. So that I cannot give you an idea about.

I would say it is the knife you are looking for aside from diving. Mine...I use it everyday and take it apart for cleaning about every six months...
 
Mike,
I live in south Mississippi, near the Coast. I hunt about the same way you do, spend alot of time in and on the water. I have used a small Sebenza for the past seven years. It has skinned more than it's share of hogs, deer, squirrel, just used it on catfish yesterday. I think you'll like it. Only thing about it is the handle starts getting a little slick when that titanium finish wears away. Oh yeah, you ain't got to worry about rust. I have a farm and that knife has had alot of sweat on it and cut alot of fertilizer bags, no rust .
 
I don't use mine as heavily as you do but I have carried it for about four years now. I would expect very little rust if you rinse it daily. The screws are stainless so they should be OK and the same for the titanium slabs.

I take mine apart perhaps twice a year . . . not because it necessarily needs it but I'm a bit anal about lubrication and maintenance.
 
MikeC said:
Not trying to be hostile or put others on this site down, but I don't think their using knives the way I am......
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

So I am asking for a no bull assessment, is it gonna hold up or isn't it?
Click to expand...

No. If you are around salt water, save yourself the trouble of cleaning a folder. Get a fixed blade. Preferably skeletonized. Rat and Becker both have one perfect for hunting related purposes. Rinse it and pat it dry with a towel when your done for the day.
 
Sgbeskin, Thank You, that is what I was looking for. Now its just a matter of small or large.

Thank You all for your response.
 
I gotta tell you this application has s30,60,90v fixed blade all over it..
Lots of choices out their.. If it was me I would order a dozier canoe in s30v and be done.
 
How about this?

http://spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=371
http://spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=295

Guaranteed not to rust. Or give a RAT cutlery a go. I would lean towards more fixed blade territory. I have used my seb for a lot of skinning etc. But I am not a diver, so cannot comment there.

As for hard use and not as a save queen. How is this for hard use of a folder?
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=659979
Scroll down to where the batoning begins.

Just out of curiosity...what knives have you found to work the best for you? If you do not want to answer the question publicly just send me a pm please?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
MikeC said:
Thinking about finally buying a Sebenza, have been carrying other brand of Ti Framelock for years but quality control issues have finally gotten to me.

If I buy a sebenza the first thing I'm going to do remove the clip put the knife in pocket, next its going to be carried and use this is going to include cleaning lots of squirrels, deer, ducks, and geese. Lots of multiple uses on our deer lease where it is going to get plenty of muddy and stay that way sometimes for days. Its also going to go fishing freshwater, brackish water in the marsh, bay, coastal and offshore. It is going to wet and is going to be in salt water when we swim, snorkel and dive. The diving isn't often probably about 7 times a year, and I'll wash it down when we surface.

All of this is going to be done is south Louisiana in near year round very high humidity.

Is this going to be a problem, is the knife going to hold up and how prone is that bead blasted blade going to be rust as are the parts such as the bushing, washers, etc.

I need a real world no bs assessment from some people that carry and USE these knives, not from people who carry them and or have em on a shelf or in a safe.
Click to expand...

If you haven't really had a problem with a lesser Ti framelock you will be okay with a Sebbie. Personally I prefer a fixed blade for field dressing game but the Sebenza will be fine if you clean it after uses like that. Any folder will get sticky when blood and such gets in the pivot area. The beauty of the Sebenza is you can easily take it apart , clean it, and put it back together and you will be good to go.
 
why do you want a folder? as a hunter you would get cap stuck in the handle all the time. Save yourself the pain and use a fixed blade. Use the right tool for the job--using a folder like you do isnt hard use, its just not using the right tool imo. Why would you swim with a folder on you? Sorry, but imo thats just dumb and lazy. And if your carrying to scare away crocs well then I need not say more...

None the less, if you insist on a foldr, a Sebenza will hold up well, but I still think a spydrco salt would be better for your purposes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top