Sebenza thumb studs are good

L

Londinium Armoury

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Jun 2, 2020
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I like them, they are angled and shaped well for the precise directional pressure needed to deploy the knife. I've read and heard lots of complaints about them being pointy.
They aren't designed to be pushed down upon directly from above though, and when you use them the way they were designed they work and feel great.
Just place your thumb at roughly 5 Oclock position below the lug and roll it around, my 21 thumb flicks open just fine as well.
I really don't think they are as bad as everybody makes them out to be, there's nothing wrong with them, my thumb always stays connected and never slips off either when doing a C motion, if I roll directly up it can slip, but when following the C pattern it stays locked on perfectly through the entire deployment.

I like them.
 
They are fine on the show side, but quite terrible on the lock side (for double lug models). For me the poor ambidexterous ergonomics are the biggest downside to CRKs.
 
Random Dan said:
They are fine on the show side, but quite terrible on the lock side (for double lug models). For me the poor ambidexterous ergonomics are the biggest downside to CRKs.
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Oh I've never experienced those ones, I only have a 21 with single show side thumb stud. I just assumed the other side would feel the same. Would that make left handed versions reversed the same? as in the left handed ones operate fine on their show side.
I'll have to see if I can handle somebodies double lug models and have a feel one day.
 
Yeah the thumb stud is so close to the edge of the lock bar that the only option is thumb on top of the stud.
 
Random Dan said:
Yeah the thumb stud is so close to the edge of the lock bar that the only option is thumb on top of the stud.
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I can see how that would be a problem, sounds like they were designed to be opened from one side only, from the show side of the left and show side of the right.
 
When I first started buying CRK’s, they bothered me because I didn’t understand the correct way to open the blade. Now, having several and using them for a while, even the new ones I’ve got don’t bother me now.
 
I also have noticed that no matter how much pressure I put on the lockbar when opening the 21, it still opens freely and smooth. Which is strange for a framelock, usually when I apply pressure to the lockbar it makes the knife almost impossible to overcome the detent and open. The 21 seems to have some magical power I even tried to put all my force down to stop the blade deploying and it just shrugged it off, like nope i'm opening smoothly and you cant stop me.
 
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Dcdavis said:
I can honestly say I can never remember any Crk thumb stud bothering me. Or maybe I just didn’t know any better, I cant say I’ve had too many other brands of thumb stud opening
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I've been opening and closing this 21 constantly for nearly 2 days straight now to see if it breaks in any smoother (It came feeling very smooth out of the box anyway) It hasn't once bothered me, or gave me any trouble, I must have opened it about 2000+ times already.
 
CRK studs are great for many reasons.

1-they don’t catch on your pants when putting the knife in your pocket or pulling it out. This is their most important design feature IMHO.

2-they are press-fit, so don’t come loose.

3-they are titanium, so don’t rust or add significantly to the weight of the knife.

4-they are placed reasonably out of the cutting path. Not perfect, but far enough out of the way as not to be a huge annoyance.
 
kidcongo said:
CRK studs are great for many reasons.

1-they don’t catch on your pants when putting the knife in your pocket or pulling it out. This is their most important design feature IMHO.

2-they are press-fit, so don’t come loose.

3-they are titanium, so don’t rust or add significantly to the weight of the knife.

4-they are placed reasonably out of the cutting path. Not perfect, but far enough out of the way as not to be a huge annoyance.
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Do you think that could be another reason they are often made with only single lugs? So that when retrieving from your pocket it has less chance to snag, I've never thought about it until I read your post. As there is no stud facing away from your body, it's tip up and the clip side faces the outer liner of your pocket, there is nothing there to potentially snag because it's just a flat back.
 
Londinium Armoury said:
Do you think that could be another reason they are often made with only single lugs? So that when retrieving from your pocket it has less chance to snag, I've never thought about it until I read your post. As there is no stud facing away from your body, it's tip up and the clip side faces the outer liner of your pocket, there is nothing there to potentially snag because it's just a flat back.
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I hadn’t thought of this, but yes the single stud would be that much less likely to snag or get in the cutting path.
 
kidcongo said:
I hadn’t thought of this, but yes the single stud would be that much less likely to snag or get in the cutting path.
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I wouldn't put it past Chris to have intentionally left it out as a functional design element. When I inspect my 21 from top to bottom I notice lots of very subtle design elements all over the knife. The swells around all of the pin placements that would be subject to stress or impact, notice the stop pin hole has a scale swell around it. as does the lanyard pin hole, but the rear pillar next to the lanyard does not have a swell, because that particular pin will not be subject to any impact or stress.
Every edge is beveled so there are no sharp corners anywhere. Even the jimping is chamfered, and looking at the very base of the tang corner below the jimping, this is also chamfered and beveled, leading right up to the rounded corner of the tang. The lockbar does not stop the blade from deploying no matter how hard you press it while opening the knife. The spine is crowned and rounded. The pins including the pocket clip all take the same tool bit, the tool bit goes deep into each screw and will not strip no matter how many times to take the knife apart.

I've been inspecting this 21 for 3 days now closely while using it, and it is by far the best folding knife I've ever owned.
 
Ajack60 said:
When I first started buying CRK’s, they bothered me because I didn’t understand the correct way to open the blade. Now, having several and using them for a while, even the new ones I’ve got don’t bother me now.
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They suck my least favorite expensive knife and when you call customer service they just basically say we are the best thats why it takes so long to get your knives fixed
 
Random Dan said:
They are fine on the show side, but quite terrible on the lock side (for double lug models). For me the poor ambidexterous ergonomics are the biggest downside to CRKs.
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Try using the middle finger on your left hand (assuming a right hand knife) to push out the show side thumb stud a bit, then use your thumb on the lock side stud to finish opening the knife. Sounds tricky, but once you get used to it, works like a charm.

This is how I left hand open all of my Sebenza 21s with a single thumb stud (with thumb on blade to open). Works fine on my Inkosi.
 
I found that the Sebenza thumb stud took some getting used too when I still had one. Not a bad or good thing; just a different thing. Sebenzas are great knives but I just couldn’t warm up to them. Now the Mnandi is a different deal completely. I have really fallen in love with my Mnandi.
 
I don't like the thumbstud on my 21 and got it replaced, I ordered a 31 on Monday I'll use it as is for a bit but I expect it'll go to REK to get a new one also.
 
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