Sebenza warranty worries

S

Shabada

Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
51
Like many others I am battling over pulling the trigger on a Strider or a Sebenza. I am strongly leaning toward the Sebbie at the moment but one thing has came up that is making me think twice. From what I've heard the Sebenza warranty states that you cannot "flip" the knife open. What I mean by that is putting pressure on the thumb stud to sort of have the blade pop out like you would see on an assisted opening folder. Is this true? More importantly, will "flipping" the knife open damage the tolerances of it? I like to fastly deploy my knives. The Strider warranty is virtually unbeatable supposedly. I'm sure they won't care if I "flipped" open their knives. I am worried that by "flipping" open my Sebenza it will damage it somehow; or is something were to happen to the knife that CRK wouldn't replace it due to my opening techniques. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Has anyone dealt first hand with CRK concerning the warranty?

Thanks
 
I've never heard of anyone being unhappy with CRK service. They suggest that you don't flick open your knife because it puts more wear on the lock. The sebenza is not a combat tactical knife. It's meant for work, not killing people, so there isn't a real reason to flick it open that quickly.

With Strider the warranty work takes a long time. My SnG came with bladeplay and when I sent it in they took almost a month to send it back. CRK had it back within a week when the heat treat on the lock of my Sebenza wore off. CRK encourages you to disassemble and clean the knife, Strider tells you not to do it and if it comes to them disassembled they will charge you money.
 
Simply opening the knife forcefully with the thumblug alone will not void the warranty or damage the stop pin or lock. What CRK recommends against is the kind of hard centrifugal opening that slams the tang into the stop pin with enough force to eventually mark both tang and pin.

The close tolerances of the pivot assembly produce a damping effect, especially in a new Sebenza. If you give it a hard kick with your thumb, it will snap out ... and then ... slow down ... and stop. And will need a push to lock in place. :)

After you've played with it a while, it will slide out at that thumb flick and lock into place gently.
 
Ah, that clears things up. Thanks for the responses. It's good to hear that CRK customer service is top notch. Now I just have to decide between micarta or african blackwood inlays. Definitely getting a large though.
 
I was concerned with that too and know that I have my 21 I realize that there is no need to do it and I don't really think I could flick it open. It is just a firm smooth open that doesn't really have resistance to it but it's not a free blade swing like my axis lock knives when the lock is disengaged. Really when it comes down to it too I can open all my folders as fast with a regular thumb opening as I can with a Flick. The flick is just mall ninja fun:)
 
I have a small reg Sebenza since 2003 that I regularly flick open. No change in lock/tang position. Lock up is as good as day one. I would imagine that the number of flicks needed to change things would be beyond the endurance of your thumb.
 
Being a long time Spyderco fan and practitioner of the Spydie Drop I was a bit apprehensive at buying something with only a single thumb stud. (I really love Spydie Holes.) However, after getting my first Sebenza I would agree with others on this forum, the Sebenza is a different animal.

Right out of the box all of my CRKs felt "broken in" with no rough spots or hiccups in the action. One might have been just a "good one", with 2 I might have gotten lucky, but 3... Well that is just great engineering and craftsmanship.

STICF
 
If you like flicking the knife open (which I do) why not get the Umnumzaan instead?
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Simply opening the knife forcefully with the thumblug alone will not void the warranty or damage the stop pin or lock. What CRK recommends against is the kind of hard centrifugal opening that slams the tang into the stop pin with enough force to eventually mark both tang and pin.

The close tolerances of the pivot assembly produce a damping effect, especially in a new Sebenza. If you give it a hard kick with your thumb, it will snap out ... and then ... slow down ... and stop. And will need a push to lock in place. :)

After you've played with it a while, it will slide out at that thumb flick and lock into place gently.
Click to expand...

This is exactly correct.

I EDC a Lg reg Sebbie and the nature of my work requires me to
thumb-filck it one-handed open and closed quickly. It is second
nature for me with this knife. It gently falls open, every time.
This is one of the strongest, most reliable knives made, IMHO.

I also enjoy carring Benchmades, which are lighter and easier
to thumb-flick open, and great value for the quality. But when
a tough job comes along, it's hard to beat the simple precision
and strength of a large Sebbie.

-Ron
 
How should I know? All I know is that the lock started sticking so they took care of it.
 
They take a flicking and keep on ticking....NO worries....Flick'em if ya got'em.
 
I had to send my knife back. Chris was very concerned about me (his customer) being happy. Without sounding like a sycophant, that was probably the best customer service I have ever gotten. Dealt directly with Chris, and highly recommend the company, take care, Jake.
 
Listen to the interview of Chris Reeve that is posted and your worries of warranties will be diminished.
garciajr
 
The CR customer service is top notch. Don't worry about it. The Sebbies are used in different applications IMHO. For an EDC/work knife it is great. The tolerances and smoothness of action makes it a pleasure to work with. I have never felt that the deployment of the blade has been too slow. I don't feel the need to flick even though some might think it looks cool.
 
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