Sebenza purchase question.

J

jojobos

Joined
Mar 17, 2009
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14
First time buying the Sebenza and have some questions. The one I want to get is small classic or small night sky.

The moment I saw the "night sky sebenza", it took my breath away. But now I am thinking it is bit more than I want to spend and also love the simple design of the small classic too. Can you guys give me your opinion on that? And no I can't buy both at this time..:)

Also, how long does it take if you order from Chris reeve? Do they have certain models in stock for immediate shipping? I suppose it is case by case.
 
From my expreience, CRK has every knife they offer in stock and ready to ship. Sometimes, there will be a run on certain models and they may be backordered for a bit, but its not long at all. They only knives I have heard of a wait from them is the damascus models as they rely on someone else for the blades. But any of the s30v sebbies, they should have in stock. Certain unique models are discontinued after some time, but they can make one up for you, that takes about 2-3 weeks.
The "night sky" is beautiful as all there unique and engraved models are. If you want one to edc and are just getting into the sebenzas, you cant go wrong with the plain classic. Its cheaper and if you scratch it up, you will not mind it as much. That being said, I had a large regular sebbie engraved by them. I got the large regular for $315 I think, I got it engraved with wording on front and back and had double studs installed. That was close to $180 I believe. So total, I have $500 in my edc sebenza and it is all scuffed up now, blade has scratches. But thats what got it for. I am a huge fan of NCIS, so I had " NCIS Gibbs Rule #9" engraved on the front and " Always Carry A Knife " on back. So for me, its perfect for me to use and if its gets scuffed, its ok. So there is nothing wrong with carrying a nicer sebbie for use either. I have a large "moon song" that I haven't used either, though I should. I have just been trying to keep it mint so if I see something I Must have, I have a nice mint sebbie to trade for it. I like the "Native American" It has caught my eye and looks like a nice one to put to use.
SOOO Many Sebenzas, So little time and funds...........
 
Since this is your first, you may decide you really like it and go on to buy another (and another and another :)) so I'd say go for the basic model and work it hard, see what a great daily carry it is. Then you can put money aside for a decorated model.

I got a regular large Sebenza with serrations some years ago, and it got a lot of use. Recently, one of the guys put up a Stars & Stripes front slab and now my old Sebenza is wearing the flag!

nyefmaker here has been know to craft some pretty spectacular modifications which you might like also!
 
have you had a chance to handle a small or large sebenza?

for me, the large is a med sized knife, and the small is tiny. dimensionally, they don't seem terribly different, but i find the large is quite a bit more useable.

i have med hands, and the large offers a nice full grip. i keep trying to like the smalls, but always end up selling/trading them. i think ive owned three.

if this is your first high end knife purchase, i can understand why you're hesitant. i would suggest buying the classic now, and if you love it (as most do), you can always get the night sky later. if need be, you can sell the classic. i would hate to see you get the night sky now and not carry/use it because it was so pricey.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
have you had a chance to handle a small or large sebenza?

for me, the large is a med sized knife, and the small is tiny. dimensionally, they don't seem terribly different, but i find the large is quite a bit more useable.

i have med hands, and the large offers a nice full grip. i keep trying to like the smalls, but always end up selling/trading them. i think ive owned three.

if this is your first high end knife purchase, i can understand why you're hesitant. i would suggest buying the classic now, and if you love it (as most do), you can always get the night sky later. if need be, you can sell the classic. i would hate to see you get the night sky now and not carry/use it because it was so pricey.
Click to expand...

Very Well Said !
 
Some great points on the model choice. I found some pics of custom Sebenza and they look great!
No, unfortunately I haven't checked them out in person. But I want extra people friendly blade so I think the small one will be a good start.

oh decisions, decisions... I am having a lot of fun right now!
 
I too would suggest the large seby. I too have med sized hands and find it works great as an edc. I think the small would just be too small. I originally wanted to go with a small to save a few bucks and thought to myself it was basically the same thing. Ive used a bm 710 for quite some time and find it to be the perfect size (very similar to the lg seb). SO i sucked up the cost and went large. I am very glad I did as it fits me perfectly.

I personally believe the large is a great user and I think its pretty people friendly too. I just want to say that I was a huge small knife fan for a long time but after using a larger knife I cant go back.
 
The "Large" is not a huge knife by any stretch. I want a small, just to have a matching smaller version.... Get the "large". See the images below... it's substantially smaller than a Spyderco Military, and about the same length as a Para, but takes less space in pocket. Perfect size IMHO.

IMG_9952.jpg
 
So the large is only 3/4 longer than the small one when folded? And also from the description of the leather sheath states
"Stitched Leather Pouch for the Large and Small Sebenzas and Umnumzaan." !?
 
I wouldn't worry about the "leather sheath".... it's just a pouch to store the knife in, not exactly what I would call a sheath. I wouldn't be surprised if one size "fit" all the sizes.
 
jojobos said:
So the large is only 3/4 longer than the small one when folded? And also from the description of the leather sheath states
"Stitched Leather Pouch for the Large and Small Sebenzas and Umnumzaan." !?
Click to expand...


There are 2 sizes of leather pouches. The smaller one fits the small sebenza and the mnandi. The larger one fits the large sebenza and I assume the umnumzaan ( cant confirm the umnumzaan as I dont have one ). I have a tan CRK leather belt sheath that I like. It fits the large and small sebenza. Its $45 but very heavy duty. I would highly recommend it if you wanna carry it on a belt, plus it can be carried verticle or horizontal.

I EDC a large regular sebenza and a mnandi. So I am getting the best of both worlds. I love the mnandi, its beautiful and very sheeple friendly plus it can pretty much do anything you want a smaller knife to do. --- The small sebenza is only slightly longer than the mnandi, but it is wider and has a much heavier blade. I really like the small sebenza. I seriously considered the small sebenza for my NCIS engraved knife. I went with the large because I wanted dual thumb studs and its easier to use the dual stud left handed on the large than the small, for me anyways. I had a dual stud small regular sebenza and had a hard time opening it and it was not because of the small size, but because it has the same long pocket clip on it the large one does and the bottom of the clip gets in the way when opening it lefty for me. I am right handed. --- The large is a very heavy duty knife and will handle anything you wanna throw at a folding knife and its probably much tougher than many fixed blade knives. I do not get alot of strange looks when using the large, but I am sure in office environments it may. Thats where a unique one comes in as people are more amazed how beautiful the knife is than the knife itself. The large is not overly large either as you can see by some of the previous pics. As for the classic style vs the regular, I just prefer the grip on the regular better than the 21 style, but thats me. Below, is a couple pics of some of my sebenza's and mnandi's you can see for size.


mycrk2.jpg

mycrk1.jpg
 
the large is not much larger than the small, dimensionally. but it is a lot more knife.

conversely, the small is not much smaller than the large, dimensionally. but is a lot less knife.

that probably makes no sense.

either way you decide to go, the sebenza has one of the best blade to handle ratios of any folder i have owned.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
the large is not much larger than the small, dimensionally. but it is a lot more knife.

conversely, the small is not much smaller than the large, dimensionally. but is a lot less knife.

that probably makes no sense.

either way you decide to go, the sebenza has one of the best blade to handle ratios of any folder i have owned.
Click to expand...

Makes no sense but you're spot on! ;) :D Even though the differences are pretty small on paper the large just seems like much more knife when comparing the two side by side.

ETA pics:

IMG_1620.jpg


IMG_1621.jpg
 
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This may not be of interest to O/P, but one thing about the decorated knives:

Top slabs of a given model are interchangeable. It's the back slab that has to be custom-fit to the tang. The top slab is just bolted up there on three stand-offs. You can buy the top slab as a spare part from CRK. So... you would not literally have to buy two knives if you just wanted to be able to dress up and down. You could buy the decorated knife, plus a plain top slab.

You might even want to snag a G10 or other 'pimp' slab to go along with the kit. Just another approach. :)
 
tsiloics said:
This may not be of interest to O/P, but one thing about the decorated knives:

Top slabs of a given model are interchangeable. It's the back slab that has to be custom-fit to the tang. The top slab is just bolted up there on three stand-offs. You can buy the top slab as a spare part from CRK. So... you would not literally have to buy two knives if you just wanted to be able to dress up and down. You could buy the decorated knife, plus a plain top slab.

You might even want to snag a G10 or other 'pimp' slab to go along with the kit. Just another approach. :)
Click to expand...

True, I believe a pain slab is in the $120 range, much cheaper than buying another sebbie if your on a tight budget, but like the thought of a plain for heavy use and a decorated slab for those special occasions !
 
I just ordered the small night sky today!! CRV told me it will be a few month wait for the particular model so I bought it from one of the dealer.

There are so many choices. Small or Large, Classic or Regular, Graphic or simple, custom scale or some nice inlays, s30v or..
Everything suggested here made sense to me. I wish I can get them all. But I can't. I just needed to get the one I fell in love with! Thanks everyone. I'll be back with some photos!
 
I have both a large and small classic. The size of the large is perfect but I do take my small to work just because it is less intimidating looking to the general work public.
 
Congrats on your choice! I almost went Night Sky myself but went for the added grip of wood inlay. There's many more years ahead of me for buying Sebbies so I'll just start saving for a NS... ...or a Micarta... ...or a Box Elder Mnandi... :thumbup:
 
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