Sebenza vs. Benchmade

I've had a box full of BM's and absolutely love the 942 but...this past weekend I traded my large classic Sebenza, it was definite upgrade to a DDR Bullnose Maxx, but starting Sunday night I've been looking for another Sebenza, just can't stand not having it in my pocket and while I love the 942 I sure wouldn't be scrambling to replace it like I am the Sebbie.
 
Carry my Pinnacle every day,and have been for over a year.Will do anything"The Grey Tur*" will do.At $85.00 or so I think it is a good deal.
My .02
Randy
 
Originally posted by Megalobyte
I have seen many BMs with significant blade play and overall sloppy workmanship.
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Sorry to hear that. :(

Guess I've been lucky so far, but I've been very pleased with my BM's.
They have absolutely NO blade play and blade PERFECTLY centered etc. etc.
(No, I've never owned Pinnacle. So I can't speak about it anything.)

Oh yes, I happen to own Sebenza too. Small, with wood inlays.
Overpriced for what it is? Hell yes!
I can't understand all this applause they get :confused:

On the other hand my BM 690: wonderful workmanship and great, very very nice knife overall. Well worth $120 - or even more.

Or let's take a look at 730 - as solid as a folding knife can be.

What about 814 then? I think knife can't fit hand better than this.
Great blade shape for normal knife usage - and easy to take apart for cleaning.

So: IMHO money is much more well spent in BM than any Sebenza.
 
well, i knew this was going to be a long thread, anyways i think the pinnacle is a bad representative of benchmade considering it was kind of a flop. i think a better rep of BM would be a 94x or afck or on of the axis 7xx models. yes the sebenza is a nice knife i don't think anyone will dispute that, but is it for everyone? i don't think so. sure maybe in a one on one comparison with a sebbie and a BM knife the sebbie would prevail but how bout 3 BMs vs 1 sebbie which is about correct when considering costs. i would rather take the 3 BMs, i admit the sebbie is a nice knife but i dont know if i can justify spending 300plus for it, i think id get a MT LCC D/A before i get a sebbie
 
Sigh.............................................



youre gonna end up with the sebenza anyhow.....why not save yourself some time and money?


__________________

He said the same thing to me when I was having a similar quandry 18 months ago. I ended up with a plain small sebenza. It was way over budget but I don't regret it for a second. I carry it often, even though I did recently buy a cool new Benchmade 941 to try out the Axis lock. The design, materials and execution of the Sebenza line seem unbeatable for the price. Believe it or not, they're actually a value.

The CRK is definitly a tighter knife than my Benchmade and it's what I'd want to have if I could only have one. Like they say, it locks up like a bank vault. Mine only has the cheesy old school BG42 steel(hahaha) but it still cuts like hell.

I keep wanting to buy a large Sebenza to complement my little one, but the shape just doesn't fit my hand as well as some other larger knives like my Socom Elite. It seems a bit blocky. Now if it were a bit rounded and perhaps drilled to lighten it....

I think if Chris came out with a Large Mnandi (3.5" - 4" blade, handle scaled up) I'd probably buy one.

Wait a miniute, I'm getting a thought here....

Hey Tom! How long is your waiting list?

jmx
 
Originally posted by jmxcpter
youre gonna end up with the sebenza anyhow...
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Well...
... have to admit, this is true.

Happened to me (and I think to many other, too).

When you get the "Sebenza-bite" and -feever, nothing can be done... ;):)

You have to get Sebenza. When it's in your hands, you begin to think: Oh yes, this is one helluva knife. Must be, because it costed an arm and a leg.
At least I will learn to like this when I keep it with me everywhere I go. Takes only a couple of weeks or so. :rolleyes:
 
Production on the Benchmade and Chris Reeve knives are not on the same scale. It should be obvious that when something is mass produced you get defects once in awhile. Benchmade's quality control may not be the absolute best, but they make things right in the end. I've handled quite a few different BM knives and have NEVER seen one with the crooked blade that rubs the liners and has a loose lock up.
I think alot of these horror stories about BM knives have just been passed along over time and don't really happen as often as you would think after reading a thread like this.
Your dealing with knife knuts here, they tell you about one horrible BM, and have probably handled 100 of them. And being a knife knut the trouble they see probably wouldn't have been noticed by the average person.

For a working knife, there's no reason to buy the sebenza other than to say you have a sebenza. Now that the lineup of Axis lock knives have been introduced (they weren't available when I got my pinnacle) I probably would give the 710 a try. But I have been very pleased with my pinnacle, and for all the abuse its taken there's still a lot of wear left in it.
 
I really like the newer Axis lock BM's, but I also have a sebbie and would not buy any benchmades because they would sit at home while the Sebenza gets carried. The only knife I have bought since my small sebbie is the Spyderco Military because of the wonderful Spyderedge...

Just get a Sebbie. If you get a Pinnacle you may like it and it might work well, but you will always think to yourself "Man, I could have had a Sebenza":)
 
I've had 4 Benchmades, and still have one (a small AFCK). I've never had a bum knife in the bunch. Some I've sold to buy something else, have kept one, and gave one to an Army SF Captain who just brought it back from Afghanistan (he asked me for it and I couldn't say no).

...but my large, ordinary looking Sebenza is the one I'd take if I were deployed to Afghanistan. It's the one I'd want if my life were on the line. It may not be "beautiful". To me it is a tactical tool (most tools aren't built for asthetics) but it functions all day long.

To those of use who have used "tools" both offensively and defensively, the Sebenza makes the grade. If I had to take a BM or Spyderco, I'd take two or three, but I only need one Sebenza!

Bruce Woodbury
(Retired Army)
 
Folks.. long thread... and I agree with Mr Mayo.

You'll end up with the sebbie anyway.. and after that you'll end up on the orderlist of Mr Mayo :D

But the comparison isn't fair I believe.

For one sebenza ( 350 $ ) you can buy 4 pinnacles ( 4 x 85 = 340 ).

Will one sebenza outcut 4 pinnacles? nope.
Will one sebenza outlive 4 pinnalces ? nope.

But I can do this too for the pinnacle.

Will one pinnacle outcout a few dozen opinels ? nope.
Will one pinnacle outlive a few dozen opinels ? nope.

Buying knives is a matter of taste, preference and budget.

I simply can't buy a sebenza, because I do not have the money.
If I had, I would buy one. Why? because it's the best period .
And we all strive to the best we can get. quantity (we all have huge collections) is irrelevant.. knives are tools and you haveo nly two hands and half a dozen pockets :D
The only thing that matters in the end is quality and that is to a limit with the sebenza. Why? Because with a sebenza you have that tiny percentage more reliablility, that tiny percentage more strength and that tiny percentage more edgeholding.

The big question is not with us... the big question lies with you.. are you willing to pay the money for the BEST in production folders?

Greetz and take care, Bart.
 
There is one more reason to spend the $ and get the Sebenza, intangable as it may be. I think that its common for a knife nut/addict to be searching for and have a craving for, absolute perfection, and with the Sebenza, you get closer to perfection than with perhaps any other man-made object. It is very satisfying to own and manipulate something of extreme precision and virtual perfection, so, if youre a perfectionist like i am, and search high and low for the elusive perfectly executed manmade object, it WILL satisfy you, maybe better than any other object has.
 
Let me start by saying that I probably have too many folders. I'm not a collector but a user. I have a bunch of folders that I just do not want to part with even though they overlap others in the drawer and I could probably thin out and save some money instead of spreading hte wear over so many.

With that said, I have two plain Sebenzas that I carry regularly, a large and a small. I love the both. They are the (forgive me) pinnacle of a user folder. Everything positive that has been said about Sebenzas and the Chris Reeve Company heretofore, I agree with. If I could have only one folder, it would be the large plain Sebenza.

Now with that said, let me say that I also have a BM750. Actually I have two. The first one I had I returned to the dealer imemdiately upon receipt as the knife was crap. Eventually, after being sour on BM for some time, I purchased another and it was fine. I paid like $90 for it and it was my beater Cheapbenza. I used it for all of those things where there was an increased risk of boogering up the knife or having the knife turn up missing. When I found out that the BM750 was being discontinued, I grabbed another - just to have it. I purchased that one from a dealer (in person!) and got a decent one. Ineterestingly however, it has a Spyderco clip on it.:confused: I have a beater BM750, a back-up for it and my Sebenzas. The Sebenzas is a better knife (perhaps almost 3X in siome catagories) but, the BM750 actually provides a more secure grip, IMO while Sebenza provides a more comfortable grip for long term use sessions. Bottom line, if you get a good one, the BM 750 is decent value for the money but the Sebenza will always be your quest (appropriately) until you get one. Be guided accordingly.

BTW: I am a huge fan of the frame lock/integral lock. I find that they are strong, reliable and easiest to flush out/clean when the get messy; more so than any other type of folder, IMO.
 
Or, you could just do better then both of those choices and order a Mike Obenauf small framelock for $300. You get a better knife then either mentioned above, and resale is much better. You can't go wrong with a Mike O custom, they are in a class the other 2 knives in question can only dream of being in. Besides, you get the shape you want and the steel you want. And Mike heat treats S30v to the proper hardness.

JR
 
Originally posted by Jeremy Reynolds
Or, you could just do better then both of those choices and order a Mike Obenauf small framelock for $300. You get a better knife then either mentioned above, and resale is much better. You can't go wrong with a Mike O custom, they are in a class the other 2 knives in question can only dream of being in. Besides, you get the shape you want and the steel you want. And Mike heat treats S30v to the proper hardness.

JR
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I was just wondering, were these statements based on quantitative analysis or...... ;)
 
..............if you don't like the Sebenza then don't buy the Sebenza! I don't like the BM 750 so I didn't buy one.

See.........it's simple!:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
I agree with everything said about the Sebenza but I think we are giving off a very bad impression of Benchmade here. I agree that the Pinnacle was not the best Benchmade had to offer, but benchmade's newer stuff is very good IMO. I maybe wouldnt mind rotating a 940 with my Sebenza, granted I only carry the 940 on days where I am very bored with my sebenza.
 
I find Sebenzas real attractive and tempting, but can't bring myself to fork over the cash on account of how little I would be able to carry it. Even a small Sebenza would be too tactical for the circles in which I spend most of my time.

I managed to get a BM750BT that has no blade play, locks rock solid, and has plenty of wear left at the frame/blade lock engagement point. The edge is tough, I couldn't ask for smoother opening and closing, and its open frame flushes clean easily. I drive an old Honda Accord Wagon, and consider the BM750 to be a similar value.

I carry the BM750 10% - 20% of the time, when in compatible company and situations. Most of the rest of the time I carry an Opinel 8cm Bubinga Slimline. Watch people closely when you use your knives. Just because they don't fire you doesn't mean that they are completely comfortable.

QUESTION: I've skimmed several threads related to the BM750 and not found much mention of why it was discontinued. Was it due to pressure from Reeve or BM's designers regarding the striking Sebenza similarity? Seems to dance along the edge of copyright infringement to me. I suppose we'll never know since those discussions and considerations might be kept private. Then again, maybe it was just plain not selling well.

Everyone have a great weekend! Dave
 
why is it the longer threads get the more I feel like repeating the opinion I already gave just in case someone didn't read it, or for emphasis. It's kind of like saying in light of what eveyone else said My opinion is unchanged.
So here it goes...

By a benchmade, but buy one with the axis lock. :p
 
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