Sebenza "Hard Use"? - World of C.R. Knives Only

Further to this thread, I'd like to see a dedicated "hard-use" Sebbie. I mean something with a more robust tip.
 
Yes, you CAN get serrations from CRK. They are the best in the business. They are different, as they are on BOTH sides of the blade.
 
On the weekend I was doing some work around the house and came across a rusted screw that needed to be removed.Before going to the garage to get a screwdriver,I inserted the tip of my Seb in the Phillips head to check it's tightness.Finding it tight and not wanting to force it with my knife,I put it back in my pocket and got it out with a driver.Later I noticed a very tiny chip in the edge.Off to the Sharpmaker we go!
I decided that when I got this knife,(African Blackwood small classic),that I was going to carry it to use.I'm pleased with the "character" it's starting to show.
 
lacourla said:
DrDrifter,
with my limited experience skydiving (once in tandem on a bachelor party weekend), why wouldn't a fixed blade work better in this application? Wouldn't there be more of a chance of mishandling a folder while trying to open it vs pulling out a fixed blade?
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Fixed blades in the traditional sense are too large. They make inexpensive hook cutters (similar to those sold to cut seatbealts by emergency crews). These have either 1 or 2 razor blades with a mouth for the strapping to enter.

I have one of these as well as they have s small sheath as well. I feel completely secure using my Sebenza as my first choice.

With a secure sheath, I think the Micarta gives absolutely great control and feeling while opening. It also has the flexibility of being a knife should I need one. I have the traditional hook knife as an inexpensive back-up.

In a similar post to my initial post I responded to a question about serrations using a similar post, GronK responded with a story about his Sebenza being used on a drop zone to cut the pant-leg off an injured jumper.

With its precision engineering and absolutely great materials CRK certainly make some of the most dependable folders around. I love how well these knives feel and cut. This is my first dedicated folding knife. I don't think I'll really NEED another one for a long time... Now about the ones I WANT...
 
I use mine for anything I need too and they have never been any worse off.
I got one from Ren that he had used very hard,it had a few very small chips in the edge from cutting wire but they sharpened right out.The ease of takeing apart and cleaning make the Sebenza better than most other knives for hard use.
 
Cool thread..........

I've recently put mine (large Classic) back into rotation after a year away from it. I bought mine with the intentions of abusing it, just to quell my own curiusity about how tough eveyrone said the Sebenza was. They were right.

I took mine out a few days ago and noticed how smooth the blade opened and how sturdy the entire knife felt. No blade play, no rattle, just a touch of oil and it was fine. This was after it had been:

-used to cut all foods,
-mild batoning on woods,
-cutting rugs, rope
-cutting though fabrics that I knew had staples, nail in them
-forceful stabs into trees, old furniture, stacked cardboard, hard plastics
(old radio)
-cut pieces of metal cord
-used another piece of wood to tap the blade to cut branches of about 2
inches
-chipped the edge doing some of the above (sharpened out)
-constant flicking

I now use it without worry......it lives up to its rep.
Hope this helps.
 
I use mine for all sorts of cuttin.In rivers lakes and on dry land- Fertilizer,seed bags,rope,twine,cardboard plastics,carpet branches some scraping etc. And opening envelopes ;)
 
Talk about abuse . . . I used the tip of my EDC Sebenza ATS-34 blade as a screwdriver one too many times -- broke about 1 mm of the tip off. Should grind out okay. I just hate to take off the material.
 
Fooj said:
Talk about abuse . . . I used the tip of my EDC Sebenza ATS-34 blade as a screwdriver one too many times -- broke about 1 mm of the tip off. Should grind out okay. I just hate to take off the material.
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Rock 'N' Roll! Tell us all about the breakage! (I promise, people on this forum will want to know.)

Online conversion says:
1 millimeter = 0.039 370 079 inch

That's about 1/32nd if I remember right from my commercial printing days. Is that right? That's not much. I could work that out on any large stone in a few minutes.

Which sebbie was it? What steel? How tight was the screw? Did it give any warning? Got a picture of the broken tip?

I did the same thing with my Mike Draper Custom a month ago prying the top off something. S30V. It was about half the length of the sharpened edge which is reasonable and expected. That's what I'm imagining with the Sebenza.

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I've been carrying a sm Sebenza for almost 4 years. I've asked it to do everything from camping chores, cooking prep, and office chores.

I have not used it to do two things. One is pop the tops of beer bottles (the rounded sides make it difficult) and I've never batoned firewood with it (blade too short and Hollow grinds arn't my preferance or it.)
 
fulloflead said:
<stuff deleted> Which sebbie was it? What steel? How tight was the screw? Did it give any warning? Got a picture of the broken tip?
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fulloflead -- it was a regular lg sebenza, serial #63, which has been my EDC since 1996, if my memory serves me correctly. A couple years ago, I switched out the original front slab with the serial number for my Nozomi Taiko decorated slab. The blade is ATS-34. I usually don't do this sort of stuff with my sebenza, because I usually have my very able Vic Deluxe Tinker with me. Got caught without it, and I needed to get this done. The slotted screw was moderately tight, and the sebbie did a fine job with the task -- I didn't notice the blade damage until after the deed was done.
 
I have a large regular Sebenza with the old one-side serrations. It's cut up a lot of food and chopped off branches in the woods.

But if I know I'm going to use the blade hard, I put it away and carry my lg reg tanto Sebenza instead. Much more durable tip (with scratches to prove it).
 
Here's a poor pic of the nick in my S30V small Sebbie.Is chipping common?(admitted mis-use here):o
 

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Esav Benyamin said:
I have a large regular Sebenza with the old one-side serrations.
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Aren't those nice? I have a Classic like that. I LOVE those serrations. You can still sharpen your knife with conventinal methods.


QUOTE=Esav Benyamin;4189404]But if I know I'm going to use the blade hard, I put it away and carry my lg reg tanto Sebenza instead. Much more durable tip (with scratches to prove it).[/QUOTE]

Man, those Tantos are hard to find. But, yeah, I imagine they'd be tougher just by the geometry of the blade.

Got a pic? I'm just curious.

They may make good users, but I think it kind of defeats the purpose since they tend to be so hard to find and then end up being more expensive to end up as a user. C.R. needs a regular-run tanto.



squad314 said:
Here's a poor pic of the nick in my S30V small Sebbie.Is chipping common?(admitted mis-use here):o
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Personally, I'd say any chip that is less than the full depth of the edge is good performance. It's when a chip reaches the shoulder of the edge, or beyond, that I'd think the knife disappointed or you were doing something you REALLY weren't supposed to. Anything shallower than the width of the edge can be worked out, mostly, by sharpening and is fair game. IMHO.:thumbup:

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Man, those Tantos are hard to find. But, yeah, I imagine they'd be tougher just by the geometry of the blade.

Got a pic? I'm just curious.

They may make good users, but I think it kind of defeats the purpose since they tend to be so hard to find and then end up being more expensive to end up as a user. C.R. needs a regular-run tanto.
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He just did do another run -- like the first run, for NICA, the National Independent Cutlers Association.

I got mine second-hand ... well, maybe third- or fourth-hand. It was a mess. I opened it up and cleaned it out. Thick black gunk jammed the pivot. Pretty slick now, though, and MUCH sharper! :D

Los Tres Amigos:
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Esav Benyamin said:
He just did do another run -- like the first run, for NICA, the National Independent Cutlers Association.

I got mine second-hand ... well, maybe third- or fourth-hand. It was a mess. I opened it up and cleaned it out. Thick black gunk jammed the pivot. Pretty slick now, though, and MUCH sharper! :DQUOTE]

Very cool. Thanks. I'll keep my eye out for one.

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Bump.. any more good hard use stories? This was a great read and it makes me think the Sebenza is tougher then a lot of people use it for.
 
fulloflead said:
Nice you guys!

Anyone ever pried open an ammo crate with one?;) :cool: :D

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No, but that's why I carry both the Sebbie on one side and a Busse on the other.

The Sebbie sees much more use than the Busse simply because it's a better cutter, but I'm not going to do any lateral strength tests on such a (compared to the Busse), thin blade.

It's a Mayonized Lg Classic in BG42 and my only folder.

Rob
 
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