SNG rant

G

Goldistheanswer

Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
104
I paid $505 for a new Strider SNG that I got on January 8.

Let me say that I really want to like this knife. It's ergonomic, extremely well balanced and the materials and handle are top notch. That being said, the folding action sucks out of the box.

OK, I knew going into this I would need to "break in" the knife. Two weeks later and approximately 1500+ cycles later, the folding action is worse than the day I got it. Now admittedly, I may not have done the "break in " process correctly (I used Eezox on the pivot to smooth it out), but the knife comes with no instructions (I got a sweet ziploc bag though) and Strider's website is devoid of any information on "break in" or even maintenance. I emailed Strider's customer support on Monday, still no response. Outstanding.

Put me in the camp that thinks when you pay $500+, the folding action should be smooth from the factory. There is simply no excuse for anything less IMO. I own a Sebenza 21 and an Umnum and they were buttery smooth from the factory. Further, the SNG is a tactical knife, and yet deployment speed is far far far worse than my Sebenza two weeks into this hellish break in process. Suppose I was being sent to Afghanistan, should the Army give me a month or two to break in my $500 tactical knife? To make matters worse, you are not supposed to field strip the knife ( I learned this supposed fact on and unofficial internet FAQ). what the hell?

I'll keep the knife, and I'm sure if I keep cycling it 500 times a day, it should smooth out so that I can thumb flick it some day. Of course i'll probably need a new lock bar by then lol.

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice knife, but worth $500 as it comes from the factory? IMO, hell no.
 
So what now, I need to buy a special pivot tool to adjust my $500 knife after two weeks of hard use box cutting? Again, this wouldn't be a big deal for a $200 knife, but a $500 3.5 inch folder? *Totally* unacceptable.

OK, I'm done venting. lol.
 
I hate strider knives, I got a 200 dollar knife for 500 dollars. Most overpriced, over hyped knife company ever IMO.

It was a great knife, if I had paid 200, maybe 300 dollars. It did absolutely nothing better than a 300 series zero tolerance. It's long gone.

I wasn't that impressed with the CR sebenza either, HOWEVER the fit/finish of it was remarkable.
 
well oil it i'm sure you have,or loosen the pivot or send it back there customer service is top notch.........
 
230grains said:
I hate strider knives, I got a 200 dollar knife for 500 dollars. Most overpriced, over hyped knife company ever IMO.

It was a great knife, if I had paid 200, maybe 300 dollars. It did absolutely nothing better than a 300 series zero tolerance. It's long gone.

I wasn't that impressed with the CR sebenza either, HOWEVER the fit/finish of it was remarkable.
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Not trolling, just curious - have you owned anything remarkable?
 
Goldistheanswer said:
I paid $505 for a new Strider SNG that I got on January 8...
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$505.00 Wow! I hope that included shipping. Sounds like a CC or DGG with a digicamo blade (but whatever). Much of what you're saying isn't defensible. I wouldn't even try, and I would tend to agree with a lot of it.

I am a fan of that knife though and when it's right it's near perfect for some of us. I had my own (different) reasons but I sprang for the $32.00 spanner tool. You do what you gotta do. If yours were a hair looser... well... ;)

Strider is far better supported at that other 'Toxic' forum where some of the 'usual suspects' hang out. And yup... those Sebenza's are some sweet blades. :cool:
 
My experience with a Strider sng and smf was pretty much the same. Niether ever did "break in" before I traded them off.
You can adjust the pivot with a set of small needle-nose plier tips. In my case, with both knives, loosening the pivot to where they'd open smooth resulted in blade-play. There was no sweet spot.
 
THE PUNISHER said:
well oil it i'm sure you have,or loosen the pivot or send it back there customer service is top notch.........
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You're supposed to contact CS before sending it in. I emailed them on Monday morning, still no reply. Top notch I guess. Maybe you need to drop $1000 on a custom job to get a response?

As far as loosening the pivot, I guess I have buy a special tool and then heat the pivot up with a soldering iron to break the loctite??? Doing this to a brand new $500 knife is a joke IMO.
 
RobME said:
$505.00 Wow! I hope that included shipping. Sounds like a CC or DGG with a digicamo blade (but whatever). Much of what you're saying isn't defensible. I wouldn't even try, and I would tend to agree with a lot of it.

I am a fan of that knife though and when it's right it's near perfect for some of us. I had my own (different) reasons but I sprang for the $32.00 spanner tool. You do what you gotta do. If yours were a hair looser... well... ;)

Strider is far better supported at that other 'Toxic' forum where some of the 'usual suspects' hang out. And yup... those Sebenza's are some sweet blades. :cool:
Click to expand...

Dual gunner grips and stone washed blade.
 
Goldistheanswer said:
...As far as loosening the pivot, I guess I have buy a special tool and then heat the pivot up with a soldering iron to break the loctite??? Doing this to a brand new $500 knife is a joke IMO.
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No, not necessarily true. Just the right tools and a steady hand. No heat required (in most cases, though I've read the horror stories also).
 
that should learn ya, send it back for a refund, buy another seb and go out for a steak dinner with he remainder!
 
I'm becoming more and more disillusioned with Strider. Their CS is a JOKE!! And yea the freaking thing would barely open and top of other problems. I have been waiting for ever for them to fix my knife. It's been over 2 months and the guys don't answer their phone, phone messages or emails. I wouldn't mind so much if that knife didn't arrive screwed up. I will probably never buy another Strided if they don't make this right soon. They're charging enough to hire more people if they wanted to so WTF is their deal? I mean I hear the crap about them not having enough of people. So hire some damn people then for God's sake!
 
I have or had several different sebenzas, umnumzaan, striders smf & sng's, ZT 0301, etc. To me the sebenzas are awsome as well as the umnumzaan. The ZT 0301 blows away the strider I my opinion. My only remaining strider of the three I have had is the smf. Its nice and smooth and I think its one of the ones they made on a wednesday, because its great. The two sng's were definately made on a friday about 1/2 hour before quitting time. Both had uneven grinds, both were tight as hell, both had off centered blades. Both were all scuffed up as well, looks like they kicked them around the floor for a bit before it was boxed up. But like you, I did get that beautiful zip lock bag to keep it in. The 2 sng's were bought new. The smf was pre-owned, but was never used as it still had factory edge and no scuffs. The smf is a keeper as I reprofiled it to a more normal 20 degrees. It opens smooth and I like it. As for the two sng's I have had. I got one and like an idiot, I tried another. If the knife is at best a $200 knife, but $500, forget it. For $1000 for 2 sng's, I expect a hell of alot more than you get. I know there are alot of strider fans. If I only had the smf, I would be preaching striders to all the corners of he world. But with my experience with the two sng's, they are not worth the $16 shipping to my house ! I dont know how strider can help design the ZT, then make their $500 knives so much less. The ZT is a strider style knife with CRK quality/fit/finish. Buy a ZT and save yourself $300. My thoughts on the sebbie and umnum are well documented in the CRK forum and I am not going to repeat all that here. In the end, you can do much better than a strider. As much as I like my smf, its far from being worth $500, more like $300 and thats only because I got one of the few good ones.
 
hwpaintballer said:
You may have not received a response yet because they are in Vegas at SHOT show.
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Sorry dude, but get yourself a Blackberry and respond to Customers! I'm an attorney, and if I blow people off like this I get sued for malpractice. It's just bad business in this day and age. *shrugs*
 
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