Police working dog handler here, welcome aboard.
I carry my large regular Sebenza daily. There's no question that it can be used hard.
The Sebenza is built as solidly as any knife out there. It's materials and design ensures this. -A couple of examples: it has only four screws (-and one is solely for the pocket clip.) The screws are all identical, not different types/sizes, and an included tool for disassembly and cleaning make it easy to maintain. It is built with a pivot bushing, so that blade tension is always constant and always correct, never a hit and miss affair prone to user error.
I have some thoughts on this business of "toughness" if anyone is interested. Here's the secret: The reason one might hesitate to do anything with a "working" (as opposed to "collector") Sebenza has nothing to do with toughness. It's about expense and warranty.
With a less expensive knife, if the user destroys it, most can replace it without much hardship.
With a expensive knife like a Sebenza, if the user were to destroy it replacement may be too much of a financial burden. Who can just replace a $400 knife four times a year? Yes, repair would almost always be an option, but for a price, probably still in excess of a new less-expensive model.
Now, the twist (and the elephant in the room in any Sebenza discussion, are the Strider SNG/SMF.) God knows, do a search, there are perhaps more Strider vs. Sebenza threads than any other single category. With Strider it's a little different.
If I do something ill-advised (for a knife) with my Sebenza, Chris Reeve (or Sal Glesser, or most manufacturers) will say, "That was dopey, it's a knife not a shovel. Send it in, we'll fix it and send you the bill." If I do that same thing with a Strider (I don't own one) they fix it for free.
Here's what that has created in the knife world:
Users of Striders do all kinds of things with their knives, things that are outside normal "knife" use, because they aren't concerned about breaking them. Usually the knives survive. They conclude that Striders are the "toughest" knives available. Thing is, a Sebenza, a Benchmade, a Spyderco, whatever, would likely survive that same abuse. However, owners of those brands, especially expensive examples wouldn't perform the abusive task because they wouldn't want to destroy their blade or incur an expensive repair bill.
So there you are. There's no question that the Sebenza is tough enough for whatever you need. I don't think any other knife is any "tougher." If you've been happy with Emerson, you'll be thrilled with CRK. The only consideration I see is as discussed.
Someday I may buy a Strider. But I did buy a Sebenza.
). it is still around and ready to be used whenever i need it. if i were to break it i would send it back and i feel that CRK would take care of me. no i am sure the repair would not be free but it would be cheaper than a new seb. after all i have put my seb through i would gladly buy another one if that was my only option. they are great knives. some people put them on a pedestal as the best. I refuse to do so because i have not used every knife in the world and i refuse to believe that anyone else has either. i can say with convction that a sebenza is a damn good tool. If you choose to go with one may i suggest a large.
