Sebenza vs BM Stryker

J

Jigstick

Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
11
The amount of knowledge on this site is astounding. I come from a heavy long range shooting background, and am just learning about blades. Dropped my CRKT into 600 ft of water while salmon fishing on Lake Ontario last week. So I'm in need of a new knife. It will live in my pocket, and be used for everything...cutting cardboard, gutting deer, bleeding salmon and walleye, cutting rope and fishing line. I was dead set of a BM Rift until this morning. I do love the blade grind and drop point on the Sebenza. So I found the BM Stryker this morning. How would the Stryker hold up to hard use? Can the Sebenza hold up to hard use as well? I tend to use my gear...not throw it in the safe. Thanks guys.
 
What do you consider hard use? Either one will probably serve your needs well, though idk if i personally would carry my crk's if there is a chance i would drop them into the deeps.
 
Gutting deer. Bleeding fish. Cutting heavy nylon dock and anchor rope. Cutting 300lb mono fishing line. Cutting nets. Cutting brake lines and motor belts. Cutting heavy canvas. Shaving wood for kindling. Poking vent holes in my PBR beer cans. Amongst other stuff you probably shouldn't use a knife fore. Like prying open ammo cans lol
 
Welp either will work well for your cutting purposes but if your going to have do any prying with your knife i might go for a m4, elmax, or d2 blade.
 
I was pseudo joking about the prying. I really don't like the mild jimps on the BM. That's why I keep looking at the CR knives. I really like the CR Umnumzaan as well. It looks pretty sturdy and has nice jimping. Since I will be using this knife as my EDC as well I was really hoping to find something with a little more style than the Stryker. I don't know what to do
 
Seb or umnum, i doubt u will have to worry about durability. I lean towards the umnum cause i get bored of the basic ti seb handles, while i love the pattern on the umnum handle. Jimping isnt as aggressive on the umnum.
 
Not worried about dropping another over the side. We had three 25lb king salmon on at once and it got crazy. My idiot buddy prepping cut bait slipped on the deck and sent my blade over the side. I just want something with style. Something that will look just as good covered in fish guts and deer blood as it does in dress pants pocket. What I really want to do is carve some custom Claro Walnut scales to put on whatever I get to match the hand carved Claro walnut gun stock I just finished. But doing that to a bench made just "feels wrong". Not so much to the CR.
 
Sebenza is way ahead of the Stryker, and it sounds just to be what you're looking for.

You'll want a straight handle for the cuts you describe, and it has that. You'll want a knife that can be taken apart(CRK even encourages it)for cleaning with ease, and it is that.
And the blade profile is also what you're looking for. It's tight tolerances gives it longevity, and I don't think you would ever need another unless you dropped it like the other.
 
Jigstick said:
Not worried about dropping another over the side. We had three 25lb king salmon on at once and it got crazy. My idiot buddy prepping cut bait slipped on the deck and sent my blade over the side. I just want something with style. Something that will look just as good covered in fish guts and deer blood as it does in dress pants pocket. What I really want to do is carve some custom Claro Walnut scales to put on whatever I get to match the hand carved Claro walnut gun stock I just finished. But doing that to a bench made just "feels wrong". Not so much to the CR.
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If I were going to do this I wouldn't go with a Sebenza then.
The tight tolerances is the main reason they are so expensive, and you would want to leave their scales on.
They do make models with wood inlays though.
 
Yup Sebenza , ummnumzann or insingo would all fit the role. Just get a neon floaty lanyard for the water!
 
What's the best way to sharpen this BM or CR? I typically use a combination of a bench grinder with appropriate wheels and a lansky diamond kit to sharpen my butcher blades. Am I getting into something over my head with the better steel in these knives?
 
Bench grinder can heat a blade to the point where the heat treat is adversely affected.

I like the Sebenza 25 and it will take what you'll throw at it.

As an aside, the Spyderco Salt Series H1 blades could serve as your boat/fishing knife and you could have a different knife for land lover duty.
 
I guess what I'm getting at is that most posts of Sebenzas that I see the knife is more of a "trophy case" blade than a "tool". I don't mind spending good coin for a knife if it can be both "pretty" and "useful". I'm a "buy once cry once" kind of guy. If the CR won't stand up to what I can throw at it then I'll look elsewhere.
 
For hard use I'd go Umnumzaan over Sebenza, but the Sebenza would still hold up fine. As others said CRK encourages you to disassemble and clean their knives, so this will help with fish guts, etc. I'm a user not a collector, so I can say as long as you don't abuse it CRKs take a lot.

CRK is in a whole other league than BM. If you're looking to get something nice and with style go CRK. If you want a Sebenza over an Umnumzaan, and you find the Sebenza too plain, there are plenty inlay or graphic options.

Like Ken44 said about tight tolerances, I wouldn't make custom scales for the CRK. It could throw things off. You could maybe make your own inlay, but that would void the warranty I think.

For sharpening I use the 30 degrees angle of a Sharpmaker, followed by a strop to get rid of the burr. You'll need to work at it a little more at first to essentially profile the edge to the sharpmaker, but once there touch ups will be easy. Works great for me.
 
Jigstick said:
I guess what I'm getting at is that most posts of Sebenzas that I see the knife is more of a "trophy case" blade than a "tool". I don't mind spending good coin for a knife if it can be both "pretty" and "useful". I'm a "buy once cry once" kind of guy. If the CR won't stand up to what I can throw at it then I'll look elsewhere.
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I can tell you from personal experience that a sebenza 21, 25, or umnumzaan can take whatever you throw at it. I carried a 21 for a year, the 25 for 8 months and now I'm carrying an umnumzaan. Sure some people collect them and lock them away in a safe, but others like myself use the hell out of them and I am not a rich man by any means. I have a blue collar job and a love for fishing and the outdoors. My CRK's get used for whatever cutting tasks I come across and that is what they were designed for.
 
Id go with a CRK 21, 25, or Umnumzaan. If you'd like a bit more grip since it'll be wet and bloody often look into the WIlson combat version of all those knives!
 
For purposes stated, and between those two, I'd choose sebenza over the stryker.
Reasons being, marginally better blade steel, reliability, and ease of maintenance.
Stryker I like blade style, full liners, G10 and axis lock, but might jam with fish guts - and tiny springs are vulnerable. Also 154cm edge gets tore up quick with hard use, at least in my experience.

But personally - I would choose neither of those...
 
MEJ said:
Welp either will work well for your cutting purposes but if your going to have do any prying with your knife i might go for a m4, elmax, or d2 blade.
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I see prying with a knife brought up often whether in jest or not it always makes me cringe. I have lost a lot of blade tips because of that practice and mistaking my knife as a screwdriver over the years. So I thought I would like to bring this thread back to life and perhaps save a few blades in the process.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...pwerks-Prybuddy?highlight=Sharpwerks+Prybuddy
 
Jigstick said:
I guess what I'm getting at is that most posts of Sebenzas that I see the knife is more of a "trophy case" blade than a "tool". I don't mind spending good coin for a knife if it can be both "pretty" and "useful". I'm a "buy once cry once" kind of guy. If the CR won't stand up to what I can throw at it then I'll look elsewhere.
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Unless you are prying framing staples out of wood, or prying bricks loose, or something else crazy, both the CR Seb, and Umnum will take anything you can throw. I work in commercial construction, and am also an avid rock climber, and I trust my Umnum more than any other knife I own. I've used it for everything from cutting heavy duty strapping for wood bundles, to cutting webbing to use on an anchor point, to gutting fish, to whittling sticks. And just about everything inbetween. Chris Reeve makes an amazing knife and I don't think you could go wrong with either a Seb, or Umnum. And I would definitely get a CRK over a BM any day.

And if youre worried about how the CR will hold up, look up the forum member "Blues Bender" He uses the hell out of his Sebenza, and can give you more testimonials.
 
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