Skirmish or Sebenza?

I'm happy with either one and rotate them quite often. The Skirmish is a handful but if you want big, you got it. I'd start with a mini Skirmish first. It's a handy size and the sticker shock isn't so great.

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I have owned both knives. I sold the Skirmish and I kept the Sebenza.:thumbup:
 
You may like the scirmish altho I dont. You would most likely like the sebbie. In 10 years I can bet which one you would still have. The sebbie is a keeper and is always in demand. try the skirmish if you want then try a sebbie later. It is very worth the money.
 
akubra said:
Well, yeah, thats what Ive figured. :) IF I went ahead and bought a Sebenza, and carried it for ten years, it would be money well spent.
Im just wondering if I will actually EDC and use it without hesition. I mean after all its a $400 piece! Getting to the point where you dont care about it looks as much anymore, and are able to ignore a scratch here and a buff there, is kind of hard... . ;) It was somewhat easy with the Spyderco, as it was only about $100 back then.

I do have a few other expensive ones, that Im not EDCing for the very same reason (as well as the fact that they wouldnt be practical ;))-so I dont know! ;)
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Here, let me help you. You'll probably carry it for 10 years. That's 3650 days. Even at $400.00, that's only about 11 cents/day.

Okay assume you get 5 years out of the skirmish before it starts to get loose and sloppy on you and you want to upgrade. At $150 for 1825 days that's about 8 cents a day.

So for 3 cents/day extra to carry the best production folder on earth, you should buy a Sebenza. Now, just do it.
 
I'd prefer the Skirmish, IF it had a drop point blade. But it doesn't, so Sebenza it is!(regular one not the classic)
 
While I don't mind the look of the Skirmish, it seems very trendy and not a knife I see carrying for more than couple of months, let alone years. When I bought my small Sebenza, I promised myself I'd never not use it when I needed it because there was no way I could justify spending $300 on a knife and NOT use it. It's seen everything I needed to do with it. The last job I had with it involved a pile a sheet-rock and a number of mis-cuts along the concrete floor. It just made me smile. Oh, and it was plenty comfy for more than just five minutes.
 
I never heard of a Sebenza until I got corrupted by BladeForums. Now I own three Sebenza knives. The unique graphic one I have is one of a kind and that was purchased to be a drawer queen. The other two knives are in my EDC rotation. I feel if I'm going to spend big bucks on my tools, I better use them to the fullest extent. I also like big knives so that's why I've got the Spyderco Manix which I gravitated to instead of the Skirmish.

Yes the Sebenza is expensive but for me it is worth every penny. If you go for it, great. If not, that's all good too. Get what you are happy with.
 
Obviously the Sebenza, you can't get a knife that will last you a decade plus without spending that kind of money on it.

Except for that $100 Police.

Or anything else Benchmade and Spyderco make in that price range.

Like the Skirmish.
 
I have used both. Though I now carry the Mini-Skirmish ona regular basis, the Sebebza offers a much thinner grind, and thus higher cutting performance over the full size skirmish.

As well, fit and finish strongly favor CRK, and likely HT as well.

I would find a BG42 on the used market.
 
I don't know- there's a ton of knives in that price and size range- especially Benchmade and Spyderco. For a guy who really hangs on to a knife, I think I'd look around more. I personally didn't care for the one Sebenza I got to handle once in a store- granted, that's not saying much, just that I have quite a few $100 and less knives that I personally am more happy with than I would've been with the $350 knife. The comments on the Skirmish don't sound like that's a winner either.

Hey- you only get to shop for a new knife once every ten years- make the most of it!
 
The knives you are comparing are very different in design, let alone execution. Ignore the similarities in materials and lock style and they have little in common.

You will really have to try the knives to compare the differences.
 
I think I'd get the Sebenza if I had the money. It was really neat to handle in person. I'm sure the Skirmish is incredible too, but I'd really like to have a Sebbie in my collection and they're so solid and simple.

Edit- looking at the Skirmish's recurve is making this so much harder :D Ok, full-sized skirmish!
 
akubra said:
Well, yeah, thats what Ive figured. :) IF I went ahead and bought a Sebenza, and carried it for ten years, it would be money well spent.
Im just wondering if I will actually EDC and use it without hesition. I mean after all its a $400 piece! Getting to the point where you dont care about it looks as much anymore, and are able to ignore a scratch here and a buff there, is kind of hard... . ;) It was somewhat easy with the Spyderco, as it was only about $100 back then.

I do have a few other expensive ones, that Im not EDCing for the very same reason (as well as the fact that they wouldnt be practical ;))-so I dont know! ;)
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Just think about it this way: After years of hard use, you can always send it in to CRK and have it refurbished to new condition again for a very reasonable charge. If you happen to break the blade or such CRK will also replace the blade and fit it for about $100. They REALLY back up their products. My sebenza is my favorite knife hands down. I'm never without it. I've had both size skirmishes. The fit and finish don't even touch the sebenza. They are nice knives though. You might have a little trouble sharpening the recurve. I ended up selling my large and keeping the small skirmish. The small is more than adequate in terms of size. I'd HIGHLY recommend getting the Sebenza though. You'll only grow to appreciate it more. I carry mine in a secure pouch on my belt to avoid damage from keys or loosing it. My sebenza looks great for the use it's seen. They look pretty cool with an engraving too!
 
I've had both, still have the Sebenza.

For under $200 I think the Skirmish or mini-Skirmish is the best buy out there. Definitely my favorite production knife not made by CRK. My dad carries one that I got for him for fathers day last year. If I couldn't afford a Sebenza the Skirmish would be what was in my pocket.

That being said, the Sebenza is better IMO. The pivot system is nicer, I strongly prefer the pocket clip and the lockup is nicer and more consistant. Basically the overall level of fit and finish is higher and more consistant. It's worth the extra $$$ to me and the Sebenza is what I choose to carry.

I highly recomend checking both out if you can and then make the decision. If you can't, try to pick up both used and then sell the one you feel you can part with.
 
I owned a large Skirmish for awhile and kind of regret selling it. It's a very cool design, though it might not be too practical for EDC. Mine was extremely well made, but the pivot screw did tend to loosen on it's own. Yeah... you can use loc-tite on it, but, IMO, you shouldn't have to glue your knife together for it to work properly.

There are a bunch of different knives in my EDC rotation, but I keep coming back to my large regular Sebenza: great design, a warranty you can rely on, nearly perfect fit and finish, and you never have to worry about the pivot loosening up.

What you think a particular knife is worth is completely subjective of course, but I think the prices of the Sebenza and Skirmish are right where they should be. You usually get what you pay for and both knives offer a good value, IMO.
 
I am going to be an ass :) -
what about Spyderco sprint run CF BG42 (yes, the very same steel people look after in Sebenzas :p, and peel-ply carbon fiber is just great) Military (pic, pic, pic)?

I don't think Sebenza is worth the money because many customs starts at such price tag (not to mention graphic Sebenzas and inlayed ones).
 
Scott Dog said:
I'd say go with the Sebbie. IMHO it's better than at least 90% of the customs I own.:cool:
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This is pretty similar to my experience, although I would probably bump that number to 96-97%. :thumbup:


severedthumbs said:
I have handles ones that do. Ken Onion, Tim Galyean, Scott Cook, Todd Begg, Kit Carson, Jim Burke, DB Fraley, JL Williams, Pat Nihiser and many more.
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I have handled knives from all of those makers, and own knives from a couple of them. On many customs I have personally inspected or own, I have found things such as slight bladeplay, uneven grinds, uncentered blades etc. Granted, these are completely handmade knives, but i haven't seen these issues with ANY of the Sebs I have owned. I will definitely give the makers you mentioned another look though:thumbup:
 
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