Stiff detents.

pvicenzi

pvicenzi

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Both of my new Sebenza's have stiff detents. Are the current knives shipping with stiffer detents, or have I just forgotten what a new Sebenza is like?
 
Yes, or at least mine did. All of the ones I got in the past two years had a stronger detent. I know many like that, but I like the lighter detent on the older models. I sold everyone soon after I got them, and only kept older Classics, and Regulars.
Well, I did keep my 2011 Annual, but I don't plan on using it, and the detent didn't seem as stiff as the 21's I sold.

I think I read here that the newer ones have a deeper detent hole that goes all the way through the blade. I didn't keep any of my 21's long enough to take one apart.
 
Unfortunately yes. My new Sebenza 25 has an insanely strong detent. If I had to list a negative about the knife, that would be one of them. Even with a strong flick and an impression leaving mark on my thumb, the blade only swings out about 145 degrees. I enjoyed flicking my Benchmades but have always been careful to only apply so much pressure as to have the blade swing open a full 180 and lockup. In any case, flicking was not a common thing. It really makes the knife hard to open and I would dare to say even harder than my first stiff Umnumzaan. The Starbenza I previously owned with a B-day of late November 2012 had perfect jimping and a perfect detent. It was strong, locked in place, and still allowed flickable or easy-non flickable access. I am hoping with usage will 25's detent will ease up some as although I understand the desire to not have the blade open in one's pocket, the ease of use is what separated the Sebenza from other knives (among many other qualities).
 
pvicenzi said:
Both of my new Sebenza's have stiff detents. Are the current knives shipping with stiffer detents, or have I just forgotten what a new Sebenza is like?
Click to expand...

I suspect it is to counter activities such as certain states cracking down on locks not working and the knives being taken as illegal gravity knives. The general test used by most police officers is failed by a large percentage of the liner and frame lock models being sold today. At least some companies are making adjustments which range from discontinuing sales to the states saying their product is illegal to actually correcting the problem and making them the way they should have been built to be legal in the first place.

When you look at some knives, Emersons, for one even with a double detent they retain the blade for zilch from the effects of gravity and as for some like the Benchmade Dejavoo well, it may as well not have a detent in it at all because there is no anti gravity advantage from the one in it I can tell you that. I've seen several of each of those model sizes over the years and converted several to frame locks for folks before quitting that line of work and none of them were legal technically. The blade just falls open with slight movement when held closed upside down. With this kind of anti-grav protection you can see why states cracked down on them in higher population areas. One of the advantages to flippers are that the detent can be set extra stiff to make it the way it should be. In the current political environment and the PC police constantly on the prowl among the sheeple I would suggest you are better off with stiff down the road because I know one individual that lost his knife in NY and had to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge and pay a $400 fine or plead not guilty and join the good folks at Rikers I think he said. Anyway, if you think it can't happen to you, well so did he.
 
I'm one of the people who prefer a stiff detent, I've had a 561 open in my pocket and another Kershaw:eek: Guess what happened when I reached in my pocket, stiches:mad: The detent on my 25 is stronger than my 21's or Umnum but it's overly strong IMHO, I'd rather have a stout detent then a non existant one thats for sure. If you have a stiff detent you might want to try a little Nano Oil where the detent rides, it def made some difference on my 25, and a Sage 2.
 
Not only is the detent strong on my new Small CF but the action seemed stiff as well. I brought it to a friend of mine who owns several Sebenzas. He took it apart, cleaned and lubed it with Fluoro Grease, and put it back together again. That didn't affect the detent a great deal but it helped smooth out the action quite a bit.
 
I'll add that the detent on the Sebenza has always been a bit stronger than most, and plenty strong. I don't see any way it could have been considered an illegal gravity knife. I've never had one that you could open that way. I have knives from others companies that you can do that with.

Not sure why the detent hole is now deeper, and the detent stronger. I thought it was perfect before.
I don't flick my knives, but many do, and maybe it was done to make them harder to flick open. Flicking can cause damage to knives if its done for a long period of time, so maybe thats why the change.
 
ALL detent balls wear and flatten out over time. The way I see it is I'd rather have it "wear in" than wear out! IMO a stiff initial detent = longer life = safer longer. Personally I want to Know that I'm opening my knife. I don't want it to open when I'm carrying it, I'd it to have a better chance of staying closed if I drop it, ect..

When I got my Seb 25 my detent was crazy stiff. I honestly can't think of a single other knife I've owned that required as much force to open. I thought I was just lucky! Been carrying it since early Feb & its probably around 50% easier now. It's pretty much perfect.
 
STR said:
In the current political environment and the PC police constantly on the prowl among the sheeple I would suggest you are better off with stiff down the road because I know one individual that lost his knife in NY and had to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge and pay a $400 fine or plead not guilty and join the good folks at Rikers I think he said. Anyway, if you think it can't happen to you, well so did he.
Click to expand...
With recent quotas applied to the NYPD, this has become more common.

I went through my collection and there were virtually no lock blade knives that could not be considered "gravity knives" as NYC defines them. I seriously doubt any CRK knives cannot be "gravity" flicked open. In fact, if a knife has no positive lock to keep it closed, any knife can be opened this way. It just takes a harder flick. As I went through my collection, I could go back to knives that I initially could not flick open, and, with the practice, get them to open that way. I suspect that NYPD is more skilled at it than me by far. Even if it does have a positive lock closed, if that lock can be unlocked and the knife flicked, it's still a gravity knife by the NYC definition. Try it on your collection, I think you'll be surprised.

Maybe this is better said in the knife laws section but in NYC, you are better off not carrying a knife at all. As I understand it you can carry a knife on the airlines but not on a NYC subway.
 
Try nano oil. Clean off the crk grease. Put nano oil on the washers and pivot and also in the path of the ceramic ball. I did this to my 25 and flipped it like 20 times. Now it is as smooth as my 21. I can easily thumb flick it and overcome the detent with very little effort. It's not as smooth as my zaan, but hey nothing is.
 
Took me about a month of use to 'smooth' out the detent on a NIB 21. Very stiff, impossible to open with one hand initially.
 
My 21's have always opened easily and smoothly out of the box.
I could even open my right handed ones with my left hand----Right... Out... Of... The... Box...
 
Sebenzas are not crazy fast opening devices. With all the recent market saturation of flippers and assisted openings, people think Sebenzas are supposed to fall into this category. Open the Sebenza with a little patience.

It might take up to a year for a Sebenza to break in how you like, and to me, that's a good thing.
 
The other factor at play here as it relates to detent strength and ease of opening is the training and muscle memory improvement that goes along with the amount of use the so called, "breaking in" requires. The user gains the skill and even the strength to open the knife correctly for the lack of a better term. My gravity exercise was an obvious, even surprising, example of that for me
 
Detent is a little stiff on the 25. But i'm used to the detent on my 0550 so my thumbs are used to it. Getting better with use.
 
Chris asked me to say that it is usually the method of opening and not the detent that makes the opening seem hard. Remember to push the lug straight out and around and not down and around. Also make sure your index finger isn’t pressing on the lock when you open the knife. If you have any more questions feel free to contact us at crkinfo@chrisreeve.com.
Thanks,
Heather
 
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