The hyping of Chris Reeve Knifes

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The steel may not be a super steel.
The handles may just be titanium.
But that doesn't mean it's not a great knife.

From my experience s30v is a hell of a steel. It's perfect for an EDC blade.
Everyone goes crazy about super steels and I'll never understand why.
Sure it may hold its edge longer... but with s30v you just have to run it over some stones and its back to hair shaving sharp.

Anyways, I do not own a CRK. Will I one day? Maybe.
But from what I've noticed is that the difference in Chris Reeve Knives is the attention to detail. In a lot of knives not all of the lines are near perfect or perfectly line up. Most Chris Reeve Knives do.
Just pay attention. Compare everything to other knives.

Yes there are good knives out there.
Yes they may out-cut a Sebenza.
Chances are.. they don't have the same attention to detail.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Seriously?

Old and young people thought the world was flat. They went by what they could see from where they were. Some old men figured out otherwise, scientists, philosophers.

Hitler was young when he got into politics and racism. Racism was not only widely accepted 50 years ago, it was also widely opposed centuries before that. Depends on where you were.

I'm probably old enough to be your grandfather. I manage OK with my computers.

These are not flaws of the Sebenza, they are design decisions:

why does he still use 1 thumb stud primairly, -- One is enough. If you want two he can put dual studs on. If you just need a left hand stud, he makes lefty Sebenzas. Why put two for most people, who only use one?

why does he think flicking a knife is bad, -- because it is, because hard metal to metal contact will wear the metal. Because despite other knives encouraging flamboyance, CRK builds for a lifetime, and hopes the owners respect and support that.

why does he run a super steel at about 58.5 rockwell -- because his knives are used for general purpose, longterm effect, and he feels that hardness will support that kind of use best.
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the first part of my quote was a wise ass comment..... to somebody being a wise ass

i use both studs all the time on my knife and i am thankful for them....... a lot of people agree with me.

very few folders show any sign of damage from "flicking" in my own usage. i have probaly 15 plus knives that are only deployed by giving a hard wrist flick and smash into the stop bar. none have vertical play or any sign of damage. but that is my personal usage

if he wants a long use general purpose steel it should be run from about 59.5 to 60 in my opinion. it will hold an awesome edge, be easy to hone, still wont chip out etc... in my experience with crk's s30v and s35vn it is compairable to benchmade's 154cm or kershaw's 14c28n and i am upset by that if i pay for s30v or s35vn

i understand your points but i think changes would lead to a better knife overall and i know many people agree with both of our sides

have a nice day:)
 
imbryan715 said:
is it easy because new people learned from the old, and then improved. then made cleaner more efficient cuts that wasted less meat and was more time and energy efficient.....?
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No. The one's now can't cut as clean or efficient, and don't need to. Most every thing is now broken down at the major meat processing companies. All companies have progressed on ways to save money. They can pay the workers less, and put more in their pocket. Hey wait, was that the smart young people that pulled that one on us:grumpy::p


I was once young, and also though I was smarter than I am:p Let's just turn this into a young vs old thing....I've tired of all the sebenza threads:D
 
I've never seen the logic in paying as much for a folding knife as a good revolver.

With revolvers, one can buy a Colt Python and pay more than other .357 mags. But why do people pay extra for the Python? Well, for years people bought them because they were more accurate. The Colt factory paid attention to tolerances and that helped ensure that the bullets would hit where they were aimed at. People paid for accuracy and the way the revolver shot.

With Chris Reeves knives, everything is fit and finish. No one cares about where the bullet hits with the CRKs! And that's what I've tried to point out to the...ummm...fanboys, as you call them. On the other hand, people have money and can spend it on what they wish! The Cold Steel Rajah I cut no better than the Rajah II, but it was such a purty knife!! It had beautiful fit and finish, and the blade was polished. But I paid $100 for my Rajah I and now wouldn't sell it for $300! If a lowly $425 makes someone happy and causes them pleasure, who am I to make them think otherwise?

Let's face it, things like this aren't always logical. My wife and her aunt bought their cars at the same time. My wife got a Japanese Honda and her aunt got a BMW, and paid much more for it than my wife paid for her car. Both had "new car" smells and both handled highway speeds with no problem. Yet her aunt was constantly putting her car in the shop for mechanical problems. (Currently she has to get in the passenger's seat and scoot over to the driver's seat because her car door won't work on that side!) But she's happy with the damn car and can afford fixing it. I wouldn't have a new BMW over a new Honda Accord any day because 1) I can't afford buying and fixing it and 2) I'm comfortable in both cars!

So let the CRK fans have their knives. If society crumbles or zombies arise from their graves, those $425 knives won't be worth as much as a $15 no name bowie. But for now, they feel cool. They feel nice in the hand and the fit and finish has to be seen to be appreciated. I have a bunch of CRKT S-2s (Large) with titanium frames and 4-inch ATS-34 blades. I paid $25 apiece when they went out of production (shipping included). They didn't come with pouches, but I like 'em just fine. I just have to change the washers (and I may not do that).

So to each his own!


CRKTS-2_6.jpg


This is my Sebenza. Cost me $25!

.
 
I own two CRKs, a large regular Seb from 2002, and an Umnumzaan I bought last year. I've used the Seb off and on over the years, and it's held up very well. I never worried about keeping it "mint" or ruining it. The one issue I had with the Seb was its factory edge was so thick I had to reprofile the edge to cut well. I did, and it ended up cutting as well as any quality blade. I discovered that I could reprofile a blade and do so without ruining it. Now I often carry my Umnumzaan and use it. I prefer it to my Seb, because it's more comfortable to me and for MY purposes it cuts better than my Seb. Most likely because the whole blade is ground thinner than my Seb's.

I still carry and use other knives, too. I couldn't care less about someone's negative reviews, or even if someone is fawning over a particular knife. What matters to me is if I like it and it serves my purposes. My CRKs serve mine, as do many other knives I enjoy using, too. If you use them, you will discover that they are not "safe queens". Even if someone just wanted to collect them, whose business is it? If you don't want one or you think they are overrated, the simple solution is don't buy one.

Jim
 
Ken44 said:
No. The one's now can't cut as clean or efficient, and don't need to. Most every thing is now broken down at the major meat processing companies. All companies have progressed on ways to save money. They can pay the workers less, and put more in their pocket. Hey wait, was that the smart young people that pulled that one on us:grumpy::p


I was once young, and also though I was smarter than I am:p Let's just turn this into a young vs old thing....I've tired of all the sebenza threads:D
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well that is henry fords assembly line for ya..... damn old people:rolleyes: your idea of making more money and wasting more makes no sense at all. and i dont know about you but i know sevral butchers and they make some very clean cuts..... those are local butchers though
 
CRKs have a reputation for quality and F&F, they don't have one for performance beyond any other premium brand. Performance doesn't necessarily increase with price, diminishing returns and scope of production. Materials also don't improve for many mid-techs/customs, nor do most features. The extra cost in this case gets you high tolerances and a bit of knife history. While your OP was excessively harsh, you would at least be correct in that S30V/S35VN is a Crucible steel of specific composition, and the brand doesn't change that. Titanium is titanium, and a framelock is a framelock. As far as pure performance in measures of wear resistance, static loading, impact toughness, etc, something like a Sebenza or Umnumzaan is not going to match certain knives of half the price, and be surpassed by several premium production and customs. But there are a lot of knives that cost a lot for something other than materials and performance. It doesn't take all that much performance for most tasks done by most people, so the higher tolerances are as good a reason to pay a premium as a higher vanadium content or a lock that holds hundreds of more pounds.
 
You're not getting it. And I'm not going to take the time to explain the changes in the meat-cutting industry over the past 35 years.
 
"Well, if you read most of the threads about any brand around here, most people are primarily knife-fondlers.
It's not just a CRK thing, it's also a Spyderco/Benchmade/Boker/Strider/Cold Steel/BRK&T/Emerson/etc thing."

True dat! :)
 
Ken, you're right. It's a waste of time to argue with someone who is obviously ignorant.
I hate to say that. But to say that young people are smarter or do things better than the older people is just stupid.
That is completely WRONG. We do NOT do things better. Back in the day we had less shootings and murders and such.
We also had less means of catching the people in the wrong.

The only thing that has changed is the amount of technology. People back in the day didn't have youtube to teach them how to tie a lanyard. They didn't have electric energy saving technologies but they sure as hell did better than we're doing. Have you taken a look at the world recently? The older people that had to learn things on their own or by hand didn't wreck it, we did with our ignorance and technology. I'm not saying technology is bad. It's not. But the ignorant things the "younger" people do with the technology is.

Some older people don't know how to work a computer. They never NEEDED to. Everything was simpler, yeah life was hard, but we didn't have a bunch of ignorant people running around and running their mouths. We had hard working people that had to teach themselves and do everything with their own hands and brains.

So to say we're better than the older people is just ignorant. Have you ever just sat and talked to one of your grandparents? Don't you realize how wise and smart they are? I learned so much from my grandmother and she didn't have everything that we do today but she was a smart woman.

We can learn a lot.
 
imbryan715 said:
yes very true. i believe he had some input on the steel and asked them to make a knife specific steel didn't he?
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Nope, none of that....

They already had the steel that was S30V, they were looking for a steel that had less Vanadium than S90V had, something around 4% so S30V was picked and they started working with it, that's CRK and others....

Chris Reeve said all of that on video not long ago except the part that there was others also involved.
 
I like this guy :D

And agree with him. CRK has too many fanboys, who fall into three categories:

1. average dudes who actually use the knife = WTF are you using a $400 knife for?! (he then tries to sell it a year later and ends up the subject of a 5,000 post thread in FEEDBACK: GOOD BAD & UGLY because the buyer used an electron scanning microscope and discovered a scratch on a thread of one of the screws)

2. rich dudes who own a dozen CRKs and fondle them = the only one of the 3 types I respect. Okay, it's a douche thing to do, but heck, do whatever you want with your hard earned money, brah. (he makes a YouTube video of himself fondling his CRKs and explaining how he can really tell the difference between the quality of a CRK and an average knife, for example the note it makes when you bang it against a piece of mahogany... a normal knife just doesn't make that sound)

3. broke dudes who try to boost their fragile egos with stuff = the vast, vast majority of CRK customers. (he comes on here and flames anyone who criticizes CRK knives because he will always need to justify spending more on a knife than he did on his car... And also to justify why he's now walking and bumming rides everywhere because he doesn't have $400 in the bank to fix his car.)

:D :D :D
 
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This is an interesting thread and a number of good points have been stated amid the noise. I do not own any CRK knives, and probably won't buy one for myself even though I can easily afford one. Metal handles don't work very well for me. That being said, if I were gifted a Sebenza I would keep and treasure it. They are beautiful and elegantly simple. I appreciate the close tolerances, too. The price point seems reasonable for what you get, and I hear they work pretty well. Isn't "sebenza" the Zulu word for "worker"?

My own working folders have G-10 or FRN handles, and those work better for my uses. I gave my one frame lock knife away to a friend because he liked it and I didn't like the heavy, slippery handle. It was a very good knife, just not a user for my uses. However, I can appreciate why Sebenzas and Umnumzaans are adored by knife aficionados.

I liked the comment that CRK's are the Rolex of folding knives.
 
I didn't see many valid points. We all like different things in a knife. I don't like flippers, I don't like S110V, and many things you do like in a knife. BTW, the lockbar of the sebenza is hardened.

Sorry i laughed at you, and got you all bothered. I just had to laugh at someone calling Chris close minded and stupid.
 
I love Chris Reeve knives, they are absolutely worth the money to me. I think that they are one of the best pocket knife designs out there. The blade thickness is just right, the hollow grind fantastic, the styling is the most attractive i personally have seen on any pocket knife, i just love the way the blade sits in the handle. It carries just perfect in the pocket with a very well designed clip. The quality and precision of the knife is remarkably high, it's just an all around fantastic knife.

I realize it may not hold an edge as long as a much cheaper knife, but that's not what i'm paying for, i find that the edge retention is still great for my edc uses.

I would love to be buried with a sebenza when i go.
 
Ken44 said:
I didn't see many valid points. We all like different things in a knife. I don't like flippers, I don't like S110V, and many things you do like in a knife. BTW, the lockbar of the sebenza is hardened.

Sorry i laughed at you, and got you all bothered. I just had to laugh at someone calling Chris close minded and stupid.
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its hardend not carbodized. there is a differance. chris is close minded, do you realize how many people need to scream at that man to make a small change? nobody likes the damn idaho made stamp on the non locking side. he was told the first run of s35vn was good so he made up a blatant lie saying he made 300 cuts on a extenson cord and could shave hair..... thats a lie. he has his design and an amazing one at that. i love my 3 sabenzas but i will be the first person to say i would love to see a few things changed. i have a reg 21 in my hand right now and am ordering a umnum on my next pay day. he is old school and im cool with that but saying his knives are flawess and could not use change is dumb. he realized that they needed change and that is how the 21 was born. he just needs to listen to his customers more often. hes not stupid. he is strange. watch an interview with the man for god sakes or talk to him in person.most people would call him somewhat stubborn. would you like me to highlight some valid points?
 
OK, now you're making me laugh again:D:D:D


edit- no, no need to highligh valid ponits. I've talked to Chris many times in person at Blade. I've been around here a while too.
 
Ken44 said:
OK, now you're making me laugh again:D:D:D


edit- no, no need to highligh valid ponits. I've talked to Chris many times in person at Blade. I've been around here a while too.
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i guess they did not teach you how the debate format works back in the day did they....... you have not aded any personal experience yet. just that your old and that something flawless and perfect exists which is simply not true..... please start making points in favor of your agruement
 
Debate...:confused: I'm not in this thread for that:p

Nothing to debate about IMO. I just can't believe I got sucked into one of these Sebenza threads....I had done so good in the past:D

I like the knives, and we disagree about Chris. I'll just leave it at that.
 
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