Straight River Sebenza Passaround Review (yes, another one)

[Gryffin]

Ah, the fabled Sebenza. It's become something akin to a fetish object amongst knife knuts. Die-hard Sebenzanistas claim it's the most perfect folding knife ever designed.

I'm in the market for a heavy-duty folder, so when I saw the passaround, I was all over it like a pitbull on a potroast.

Having never even seen a real, live Sebenza, I tried to approach this passaround with an open mind, but I couldn't help a little skepticism; can any knife really be THAT good?

We shall see...

First Impressions

The Sebenza arrived in the mail packed in a padded, zippered case, along with the original shipping baggie, spare frame screw, small hex wrench, and a knit "booty" to keep it warm on those chilly winter nights. The original factory black cord lanyard was still attached.

(Yes, a hex wrench. Chris Reeve is one of the few manufacturers who not only makes it easy to disassemble their knives, but actually encourages doing so for cleaning. Also the only one I know of that ships their knives complete with a functional cord lanyard. But I digress.)

I've read a lot about the Sebenza, on this site, other knife sites and Equipped.org, but a few things surprised me. I noticed some nice details that were never mentioned on those sites, and never showed up in the photos I'd seen:

The spine of the blade is fully radiused. The thumb ramp is grooved for traction, but also has a slight, even bevel on the sides for comfort. Makes for a huge improvement in comfort.

The titanium frame slabs are nicely radiused all around; smaller radius on the top, to leave a flatter surface for bearing down, and a larger radius on the bottom edges, for extra finger comfort. Also, the top edges are grooved longitudinally for a better grip.

All in all, nothing flashy, nothing there for the sake of appearance alone; a practical yet refined knife.

Let's dig deeper, shall we?

A Closer Look

The most impressive thing about the Sebenza is the precision with which it's constructed. The frame radiuses and grooving are absolutely flawless, as are the blade grinds. The pocket clip is inletted into the frame; also perfectly executed.

The capper, though, is the blade pivot. For those unfamiliar with it, it's a slick piece of manufacturing technology; no matter the tension on the pivot screw, the blade opens smooth as ice. The secret is a seemingly simple bushing. The pivot hole in the blade tang is oversized, and the bushing fits into it snugly; the pivot screw in turn fits through the hole in the bushing. The bushing maintains the spacing between the frame slabs, which in turn maintains a constant friction between the phosphor-bronze washers on the blade tang, regardless of the pivot screw tension.

Sounds simple, but to do it right requires manufacturing tolerances on the order of tenths of thousandths of an inch. That sort of precision is unheard of in mass-production manufacturing.

Needless to say, the blade is perfectly centered in the frame, and the frame-lock is nicely fitted. I was a bit surprised, though, that the tang was merely angle ground, rather than concave ground; concave is more accommodating of lock wear.

OK, so, enough gushing over Chris Reeve's manufacturing prowess, and get up close and personal with the Sebenza...

While it looks a bit blocky, compared to some more "ergonomically" styled knives, it's actually pretty comfortable in the hand. Credit those nicely-done radiuses. Not sleek and sexy like, say, a Spyderco Native III or Benchmade Ares or even my beloved CRKT Ryan Number Seven, but it gets the job done with surprising comfort. This is the large model, and fills the hand nicely.

Weight is, well, just about right. Despite the all-metal construction, it's lighter than I expected, but definitely feels solid in the hand. Credit the hollow-ground blade and titanium handles for the light weight. Balance is good, right around the forefinger.

The blade sure ain't sexy, and it's not as beefy as I was expecting, but it's effective. Very wide chord, with a high hollow saber grind; I'd prefer a full flat grind, but the hollow grind makes it a damn fine cutter.

The spring tension on the frame lock is very firm; it snaps into place on opening with authority. After white-knuckle hard use, it can take a little force to unlock, but there was never any doubt that the lock was secure.

continued...

 

[Gryffin]

continued from previous...

Using the Sebenza

Alright, I live in suburban New Jersey, not the wilds of Wyoming; and since the knife isn't mine, I sure as Hell can't "Cliff Stamp" the poor thing. So for performance tests, I just have to work with what I have available.

As it happens, my lovely girlfriend recently moved into Chez Gryff, so I'm awash in cardboard boxes. Corrugated cardboard is mildly abrasive, so it's a good test of edge-holding, and cutting several plies at once for a while will help you appreciate a knife's ergonomics under extended use.

So that's what I did.

The Sebbie can cut. The S30V steel held an edge pretty damn well, as good as any knife I own; when cutting four plies at a time, the rounded spine made it easy to push on from both sides.

In every-day use, the Sebenza acquitted itself with aplomb. It rides fairly low in the pocket, and together with the matte gray finish on both frame and clip, makes for discrete carry. While I'd prefer an ambidextrous thumb stud, the rightie-only one worked fine in normal use. (I don't know how old this one was, but the blue anodizing was pretty worn. I'm told this is normal.)

I'm not really a fan of hollow grinds, but this one isn't too thin, seems plenty sturdy. The wide blade and drop-point means the tip isn't terribly acute, but conversely, it's a lot less likely to break under hard use, either.

Comparisons

A couple months ago, I scored a Benchmade 750 Pinnacle. The Pinnacle was essentially Benchmade's answer to the Sebenza; it too had titanium slabs for scales, a similar grip shape and overall size; the blade wasn't as wide, though, and had a more angular Osborne-designed grind. Still, it seemed logical to compare it to the original.

It's also similar in size to the Benchmade flagship, the McHenry & Williams 710, so I thought I'd toss that one into the mix, to. Below is a group shot of all three:

The Pinnacle is a nice, sturdy knife, but if it was intended to be a Sebenza clone, it falls well short. The handle slabs are nicely anodized, but have relatively sharp edges, compared to the Sebenza. The lock-up is solid, but the locking portion of the tang isn't nearly as sturdy. (I'm told, though, that some Pinnacles have larger, sturdier locks.) The blade spine isn't rounded, either, and the thumb ramp serrations are coarser, and aren't bevelled. Nice knife, but not quite in the same class in terms of fit & finish.

The M&W 710 has a surprisingly similar heft; the G10-and-steel-liners construction compares pretty well to solid titanium, both in weight and stiffness. The 710 handle shape feels better in the hand, though, at least to me.

Is it worth it?

This is the big question. $385 is a lot of money for a knife for a lot of folks, or at least, for me! The Sebenza is a fine knife, no doubt, but is it worth the big bucks?

Here's how I see it.

On one side, you have the high-end factory manufacturers, like Benchmade, Emerson, Al Mar, etc.; on the other, custom makers who turn out unique knives in much smaller quantities.

Chris Reeve has staked out a position somewhere in between; he cranks out more knives than a real custom maker, most of them in standard "factory" configurations. However, he offers a level of fit and finish, and enough customizations options, that you can't consider him a regular factory manufacturer, either.

Compared to factory knives, the Sebenza is higher quality, but also costs three times as much.

Compared to custom knives, the Sebenza is as well made as any, but not very exotic; customization options let you make a real custom out of one, though, if you have the cash to spare.

As for me, I'm torn; on one hand, I'd love a knife of this quality, but I'm hard pressed to justify spending so much on a knife that doesn't do that much more than a good Benchmade does. On the other hand, for that kinda money, I could get a real custom maker to craft a knife exactly as I want it.

Don't get me wrong, I will probably talk myself into a Sebenza one of these days, but for me at least, it occupies a no-man's land, an awkward spot between custom and production, making it a bit of a hard sell.

Conclusion

The Sebenza is one fine knife. Does it live up to the hype? Considering the legendary status it has, I hestitate to say "yes"; I'm not sure any knife could live up to that!! Can I recommend it as a finely made, no-nonsense knife for rugged use? That's a definite "yes"!!


Merci beaucoups to DaveH and George at Straight River Knife for scoring a dedicated Large Sebenza for passin' around. How else is a workin' stiff like me gonna get a chance to try out a $385 knife?

 

[BOK]

Nice pics and good review.

Thanks!

 

[MadDaddy]

Gryffin,

Good review and pics. If you want a Sebenza but don't have close to 400 bucks to shell out (like me) then do what I did and put out the call for a used one in the Exchange. I got many offers and ended up with a 2002 Large Classic in great condition for 260, can't beat that.

Patrick