Sell me a knife.

In the last year~, since joining BF, I've purchased (and sold) a lot of knives, many higher end. Of those, I've only kept two that were over $200. And both are harder use knives. Say what you will about higher end steels, but what I've learned is that for my purposes (office use, slicing an apple, etc, the best knife I have for that is my Spyderco Dragonfly 2 in ZDP-189. About 30 minutes ago I sharpened for the first time. It needed it, but took a short time to get razor sharp on the sharpmaker's fine stones (I just ordered the ultra fine as well). It dawned on me that in that in the higher end production/semi-production/midtech category there are very few slicy blades. Its like they are hell bent on chopping trees down and other stuff like that rather than daily utility.. Its weird. I went from my dragonfly straight through to the Brian Tighe mini Tighe Rod I owned as the next sliciest knife.

I re-evaluated what I had, broke it down into categories of what I have and/or need. Kept my faves and sold everything else.

Light use/Slicers: Dragonfly, PM2, ZT0770CF, LionSteel Opera.
Medium use: Manix 2 (CTS-XHP), Brous Bionic.
Heavy use: ZT0801, ZT0561, TSF Beast, Gayle Bradley.

I've had the LionSteel SR-1, Strider SnG, Spyderco Southard just to name a few. I still want to own/try out a Sebenza, but I really haven't found anything over $200 that is phenomenally better. You're paying for exclusivity, perceived perfection and in some cases arguably better materials.

I won't sell you a high end knife, because based on what your needs are, there just isn't much out there that's going to significantly outperform what you have.
 
K.O.D. said:
In the last year~, since joining BF, I've purchased (and sold) a lot of knives, many higher end. Of those, I've only kept two that were over $200. And both are harder use knives. Say what you will about higher end steels, but what I've learned is that for my purposes (office use, slicing an apple, etc, the best knife I have for that is my Spyderco Dragonfly 2 in ZDP-189. About 30 minutes ago I sharpened for the first time. It needed it, but took a short time to get razor sharp on the sharpmaker's fine stones (I just ordered the ultra fine as well). It dawned on me that in that in the higher end production/semi-production/midtech category there are very few slicy blades. Its like they are hell bent on chopping trees down and other stuff like that rather than daily utility.. Its weird. I went from my dragonfly straight through to the Brian Tighe mini Tighe Rod I owned as the next sliciest knife.

I re-evaluated what I had, broke it down into categories of what I have and/or need. Kept my faves and sold everything else.

Light use/Slicers: Dragonfly, PM2, ZT0770CF, LionSteel Opera.
Medium use: Manix 2 (CTS-XHP), Brous Bionic.
Heavy use: ZT0801, ZT0561, TSF Beast, Gayle Bradley.

I've had the LionSteel SR-1, Strider SnG, Spyderco Southard just to name a few. I still want to own/try out a Sebenza, but I really haven't found anything over $200 that is phenomenally better. You're paying for exclusivity, perceived perfection and in some cases arguably better materials.

I won't sell you a high end knife, because based on what your needs are, there just isn't much out there that's going to significantly outperform what you have.
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Forgot about the Lionsteel Opera, and the TiSpine. So far people are only confirming for me that WH is the way to go. Sounds good to me. :)

I did want to ask, are the small Sebenzas thinner by a large margin, the way a Mini Grip is thinner than a Grip? I ask because I've only seen/handled a large 21 in person.

I really agree with your estimation of the semi-custom range. Many are designed to take whatever is thrown at them. Nothing wrong with that; it just doesn't work for the needs of some.
 
RemyKaze said:
Forgot about the Lionsteel Opera, and the TiSpine. So far people are only confirming for me that WH is the way to go. Sounds good to me. :)

I did want to ask, are the small Sebenzas thinner by a large margin, the way a Mini Grip is thinner than a Grip? I ask because I've only seen/handled a large 21 in person.

I really agree with your estimation of the semi-custom range. Many are designed to take whatever is thrown at them. Nothing wrong with that; it just doesn't work for the needs of some.
Click to expand...

I have yet to own/handle a Sebenza, so I unfortunately can't answer that. Good luck with whatever you go with.
 
RemyKaze said:
You are correct. I can't stand how a lot of folks on here talk about how well their pocket tanks slice. The thickest blade I use is a PM2, and it struggles through thick plastics and cardboard compared to a Delica, Avispa, Rat 2, Opinel, SAK, Svord etc. I've handled the Benchmade 530 and was impressed; the 531 and its gold class versions are even more impressive. The William Henry knives seem very thin and purpose designed while also aesthetically pleasing. I've tried to sell myself on a Sebenza, or a ZT, but I just don't see them as slicers. I see the Seb in the same range as a Grip or PM2. I'd like to see some out of the blue suggestions in the semi-custom range.

It's kinda odd in a way that the best slicers are the cheapest knives I own and have owned.
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If you can find one... they don't slice much better, 3.5" blade and less than 4 oz's.
 
RemyKaze said:
What really holds me back is that while I do see better tolerances, and fit n finish, I don't see an increase in cutting performance.
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And you won't. Don't try to kid yourself about that. The only way that you will see increased cutting performance is to upgrade to a knife specifically designed for that - higher end steel hardened in the mid 60's, very thin behind the edge (less than 0.01"), etc.

You'd have to go custom with someone willing to make it to your specifications.
 
sodak said:
And you won't. Don't try to kid yourself about that. The only way that you will see increased cutting performance is to upgrade to a knife specifically designed for that - higher end steel hardened in the mid 60's, very thin behind the edge (less than 0.01"), etc.

You'd have to go custom with someone willing to make it to your specifications.
Click to expand...

Good point. I guess I kinda already had that figured out, but wanted to see if I could be swayed. My next purchase will still be a WH. Meets all my reqs.
 
There's other reasons to own a sebenza. I started goofing around on this forum for about 2 years or so. I've been through 60 knives between $6 and $250 in price.

My problem was about a month into things a friend loaned me his small and large plain sebenzas.

Screwed my entire perception of knives and have been trying to find something equivalent to it for cheaper ever since. They have skeletonized handles, a very, very useful blade shape,lots of blade relative to handle, good steel, slim boxy handles. It's just right for what it is. A no bs knife. It also has this funky friction thing going on that I've only felt/heard, yes it makes a sound with other Ti Framelock that I've had, pinnacle 750, domino, sage 2 come to mind. It's got a very pleasing/satisfying tactileness to it. I'm still waiting to pull the trigger on a classic large with Micarta scales. I've been enjoying the tons of awesome knives at normal price ranges though. On my bucket list is a cf wh, I would like one of the original cf series, a micarta sebenza large and I'm going to find a nice user Burger exk1 at some point too. Would also like to see what Fiddleback Forge is all about. Have not heard so many people call a fixed blade perfect as many times as they do with fiddleback Forge knives!
 
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