The grail behind the glass. Tell your story of finding "the one" in a knife shop

kidcongo

kidcongo

Joined
Jan 12, 2013
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I started my CRK collecting online and have never been to a physical shop that sold them. All my purchases have been over the net. I sometimes wonder how many random CRKs are out there waiting to be found and sold. There has to be a "Shadow on the shelf" or a "Regular on the rack" left out there somewhere.

I was wondering if anyone had any tales to tell about walking into a random knife shop or outfitter, swap meet (or even yard sale) and finding that CRK they had been searching for? Anyone stumble upon a H-Sebenza sitting under a layer of dust? Pick up a Sebenza LDC at the local flea market?
 
Was in San Fransisco at Pier 39 last summer a saw a knife shop selling CRK's as well as a number of other popular production knives. I was actually surprised to see they had a few. Did not handle one, but I have always wondered if they were the real deal.
 
I was searching for a Mnandi. It would be my first after buying a small Sebenza 21 and a large 21. The "in" wood at the time was Box Elder. So, of course that is what I wanted to get because it looked very good with the reds that I've seen. Usually the box elder with a lot of red color was very nice.

There are not any local shops that carry CRK. So I kept looking online until something showed up. Mnandi's were getting scarce during that time and ones with box elder were gone very quickly.

I saw that one of the online retailers of CRK had posted that they received some Mnandi's and what woods that they had as well but did not have any pictures posted. I called up the shop and asked to purchase one of the Mnandi's they had with box elder.

The person I talked to said that box elder was a very popular choice but that he also had a Mnandi with a decorated pivot and that this Mnandi had a Lignum Vitae wood. He said over the phone that it was one of the most beautiful grains of this wood that he has seen. He then asked me if I wanted the Box Elder or the Lignum Vitae.

I said I really want the box elder but on a whim I'll also take the lignum vitae Mnandi as well.

A few years later and I still have my favorite Mnandi while selling two others. It was bought unseen and only going off what was said over the phone. Glad I took him at his word because I think he was right.



I know it's not a local shop grail find but a nice find for me in the end.
 
I actually DID find a Large Regular at a knife/gun shop! They way I discovered it is pretty unique. I was viewing someone's gun video on youtube. The reviewer was showing/filming the inside of his local gun store and was panning the gun case and lo and behold, he got to the knife section. Well what do you know, there sat a few CRK's! The white boxes sitting there were like coming across gold nuggets in a stream! After I went back and forth thru the video and paused it a few times, it looked like there was a regular sitting on one of the white boxes! I googled the name of the store and quickly called them. Yep, it was a regular, and I bought it ..a 1997 w BG42! (I've since sold it) It was an exciting catch to say the least!
 
One of my best mates over here owns a knife shop and always has a selection of CRKs. They are all modern made knives, but you do get the occasional second hand CRK popping up. He had a nice used old style Mnandi with unknown wood (really red colour with nice tight grain) that I wish I had bought. It was gone when I was there at the weekend.

I was at a knife shop down south in Tai-chung a few years back and they had a number of Regular Sebenzas that had been there for a while it seems. Yea, I was an idiot and didn't by any of them. :foot: I should probably try and go back there if I can find the shop again, they might just have a gem or two hidden away. :D
 
Nice thread idea. :) :thumbup:

Not necessarily a grail, but a good story. Back in 2011, just before Christmas, I was in a now-gone local knife shop buying a new kitchen knife for my wife. The store carried CRK knifes and I asked if I could handle their Umnumzaan while we talked about the choice of the kitchen knife.

I'd owned a very early Umnu and it had not done any thing for me, so it stayed only a short while.

Well, this one felt completely different - I really liked it. So instead of walking out with one knife, I walked out with two.

The thing that makes this funnier is that after a little while I decided I wanted a backup Umnu, and found one that was a twin (old pivot style) at a store a thousand miles away. When I opened the box, I thought "gee, the date on the card seems familiar." I checked the two cards on these Umnus - they were both made the same day. That has always seemed like a wildly improbable coincidence. :D
 
Not a crk story but a couple yrs ago I found a first year william henry t10 with protype engraved on the blade which subsequently was verified by the wh owner, in an LA pawn shop priced at $600. Had trouble getting my wallet out slowly. Later sold it for $1600, wish i still had it. A lady had pawned it after her husband died. The pawn shop had it listed on craigs list which is why i went to see it there. you never know what and where you'll find things..................

meant to add, that knife is my avatar picture
 
While not an accidental find, I did get this Unique Sebenza, my first CRK, a little over three weeks ago at my local shop (listed on CRK website as an autorized dealer).

The knife was in their display case for over 2 years (apparently CRK does not move very fast in these parts), it really caught my eye the first time I saw it, and I would admire it (and even handled it a couple of times), every time I went in there. After looking at, and appreciating this knife for so long, I was finally able to buy it in January (got a pretty good deal on it as well).

So now it is mine. After visiting it so many times over a two and 1/2 year period, it seems almost like destiny that it finally came home with me. I have been carrying it every day since then.

For me, this literally was "the Grail behind the glass".








 
Bluesummers said:
I was searching for a Mnandi. It would be my first after buying a small Sebenza 21 and a large 21. The "in" wood at the time was Box Elder. So, of course that is what I wanted to get because it looked very good with the reds that I've seen. Usually the box elder with a lot of red color was very nice.

There are not any local shops that carry CRK. So I kept looking online until something showed up. Mnandi's were getting scarce during that time and ones with box elder were gone very quickly.

I saw that one of the online retailers of CRK had posted that they received some Mnandi's and what woods that they had as well but did not have any pictures posted. I called up the shop and asked to purchase one of the Mnandi's they had with box elder.

The person I talked to said that box elder was a very popular choice but that he also had a Mnandi with a decorated pivot and that this Mnandi had a Lignum Vitae wood. He said over the phone that it was one of the most beautiful grains of this wood that he has seen. He then asked me if I wanted the Box Elder or the Lignum Vitae.

I said I really want the box elder but on a whim I'll also take the lignum vitae Mnandi as well.

A few years later and I still have my favorite Mnandi while selling two others. It was bought unseen and only going off what was said over the phone. Glad I took him at his word because I think he was right.



I know it's not a local shop grail find but a nice find for me in the end.
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That's a beautiful mnandi, love that decorated pivot, let me know if you ever wish to part with it
 
I've only purchased online but I have seen some CRK's at a local gun show. Never even bothered to hold them though. At the time they were way out of my price range.
 
Yes, I have one amazing, but true story. A cousin of mine was staying the weekend with his fiance in a cabin in the mountains of Alberta for a weekend of skiing and in the gift shop/gear shop he found a 1997 BG-42 Large Sebenza just laying on the shelf BNIB. Now my cousin doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to knives but knew well enough to call me and take some pics. I got the pics and it was 100% legit. It even had the for sale sticker on it, $395.00. The crazy thing was, and this was verified after the fact, it ended up being one of the first Large Regular BG-42s ever made after the first numbered 200 as it was from early 1997. MikePapa (Dave) later worked out a deal for the knife and he further found some interesting things about the box, as it looked like it was one of the old CRK boxes with just the CRK logo on top but this one looked like one of those but with one of the CRK year stickers placed over it. All in all pretty darn interesting.
The knife was mint besides a few handling marks on the scale and really was a diamond in the rough. I immediately told my cousin to ask if they had any more CRKs but this was it. Even so I was happier than hell. It made for a great story and it was the craziest thing to know that sitting right there on the shelf was a BNIB Large Regular BG-42 and it had been there for years until my cousin somehow saw it and shot me some pics. I remember telling him to buy it so fast I didn't think my fingers could move fast enough but he did and everything worked out. How or why it got there we will never know but it proves that CRKs literally are everywhere and you never know when one might just show up for the dance.
 
ebidis said:
While not an accidental find, I did get this Unique Sebenza, my first CRK, a little over three weeks ago at my local shop (listed on CRK website as an autorized dealer).

The knife was in their display case for over 2 years (apparently CRK does not move very fast in these parts), it really caught my eye the first time I saw it, and I would admire it (and even handled it a couple of times), every time I went in there. After looking at, and appreciating this knife for so long, I was finally able to buy it in January (got a pretty good deal on it as well).

So now it is mine. After visiting it so many times over a two and 1/2 year period, it seems almost like destiny that it finally came home with me. I have been carrying it every day since then.

For me, this literally was "the Grail behind the glass".








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That is a very "unique" unique. That will look really good with some snail trails on it. Great choice
 
pmek5 said:
Was in San Fransisco at Pier 39 last summer a saw a knife shop selling CRK's as well as a number of other popular production knives. I was actually surprised to see they had a few. Did not handle one, but I have always wondered if they were the real deal.
Click to expand...

They are real, I've been there, they carry authentic CRK. I handled a very nice large Mammoth sebenza once i was there.
 
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