The Umnumzaan, with words and pictures

[Haze]

I have had and been carrying the Umnumzaan for a while now so I have had the chance to give it a bit of a session as an EDC and a working knife.

The knife it's self is IMO good looking but in a nice plain way. There is not much on the knife that dosn't need to be there. I personaly could live with out the texturing but it certaily dosn't get in the way and is obvioulsy an easily recognised feature of this knife. The handle is very comfortable and has great ergonomics IMO, I have not found any hot spots during use at all.

There is a good blade to handle ratio on this knife, as there is with the Sebenza, that always gives a knife a nice full even look and means you get a good amount of blade to use as well.:thumbup:

Any hoo, that's the knife so on with the review.

I spend as much time as I can treking and the like so have used this knife for more bushcraft orientated tasks than anything else.
I was able to make feather sticks from a good few different types of wood with no problems at all. Some people like a flat grind (as do I) but I quite like a shallow hollow grind too and found carving things like tent pegs or trap triggers to be a pleasuer.

Here are a couple of examples of fether sticks, one made from an old chunk of pine and the other is bamboo. I was able to use both the curly shaving method and the scraping at 90 degrees method with good results on the bamboo.

 

[Haze]

Obviously with feather sticks comes the inevitable fire lighting and fire.

The swedge on the back of the blade makes for a great fero rod striker and throws enough sparks to light a well prepared ball of kindlers. You can easily shave a little bit off the fero rod with the swedge to help things along too.

Here is a nice dramatic pic of of some fero fireworks courtesy of the Umnumzaan :thumbup:

I am one of these people who is bad for stabbing my knife into a log or putting it down on the ground for a second when doing stuff like that. I have on occasion spent several minutes looking for a knife that is right infront of me. :foot:

To help me find the knife in low light conditions I found putting a glow in the dark o-ring round the back spacer helps alot with relocating the knife.

Here is a pic of the spacer in darkness, it does help alot having something like that to look for. I find it's alot better than having to use a light and then being "blind" for 20+ minutes again any way.

 

[Haze]

While carving wood, cutting string, food prep. and making feather sticks etc. is probably about all this knife would see from me. I did wonder what might be a more extreme task the knife could see. I figure opening a can is going to be a fairly likely task that one might have to use the knife for in a "situation" of some kind.

I tried a few methods and found using the glass breaker to pop a hole in the can to get things started was the best way. It saves the point after all and it actually managed it with no problems. I tried pressing the glass breaker through the first time with no joy but giving it a sharp tap made a hole easily.

I cut the bottoms out of 3 dog food cans very easily. It was just a case of pressing the blade in, removing it and stabbing it through again untill I got all the way round. (I didn't use a sawing motion)

After 3 cans the edge wouldn't shave hair any more but there was no visible rolls or dings in the edge at all. I gave it a quick touch up with a fine ceramic rod and then "stropped" it on a bit of bamboo and it would reluctantly shave hair again.

 

[Haze]

So far there have be no issues or problems at all with the Umnumzaan. One potential issue is obviously field stripping the knife. (or doing it any where if you don't have the take down kit )

The standard take down kit from CRK is only US$12 with a bit of postage so it's not expensive and is easy to get. (there was a long thread already about the whys and whats of the kit not coming with the knife so I'll leave it at that).
I found that the take down kit fits very nicley indeed into one of these titanium capsules I bought from a member here on the forum. This makes it easier to carry with you and keeps it safe from losing one of the bits in your pack or worse.

One thing I find is very often over looked is carrying a knife. Even the most used of knives will still spend more time in your pocket or it's sheath than in your hand. I want my knife to easy and comfortable to carry as well as use.

The pocket clip obviously makes carrying the knife in your pocket nice and easy, as well as inside your belt or where ever.
I sometimes find this to be inconvenient so I like to use a sheath every now and then. The Umnumzaan fits into both a medium and small standard nylon sheath snugly and securely. There are also the CRK sheaths available but I personally like to use the nylon stuff for when in out in the bush, they are also nice and cheap.

The deploying of a knife should be easy and fast, weather it be for general use or self defence. (even more so for SD use)

The Umnumzaan is easy to remove quickly from a sheath or pocket and is just as easy to open or close with thin and medium gloves on as it is with bare hands. The knife can be dropped open into reverse grip easily or you can use the dredded "double wrist flick" if you really have to for forward grip. The thumb studs work well too.

All in all I really like this knife, I have been carrying it pretty much every day from the day I bought it. It has been easy to carry and nice to use and I will continue to enjoy this knife for a long time to come. :thumbup:


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[bearcut]

The Glow-in-the-dark O-ring on the spacer is a stroke of genius.
You sir, have started a trend.

Thanks for the review.

 

[RICKSTER]

Awesome Review Haze :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[zyhano]

thanks for the review, it is a great knife to carry IMO.
in the newer boxes, the take apart tool is included.

where do you get the glow in the dark o-ring. very nice feature!!! could that also be used for the thumbstuds?

 

[Bucky]

Great review.

The GITD O-ring on the spacer and using the glass breaker to make the initial puncture in a can are both great ideas.

My two favorite aspects of the Umnumzaan blade are the glass breaker and the almost-sharp swedge that can be used for everything from scraping to firestarting.

 

[Haze]

Thanks all for the kind words. :thumbup:

thanks for the review, it is a great knife to carry IMO.
in the newer boxes, the take apart tool is included.

where do you get the glow in the dark o-ring. very nice feature!!! could that also be used for the thumbstuds?

I got a few different glow o-rings from a friend with a tattoo/piercing shop but I know places like lighthound will have them as well.
I wanted to put some on the thumb stud too but didn't have any the right size, i'll need to see if I can find some as that would be pretty cool IMO.

 

[Odds]

Nice review, thanks for your efforts.

 

[clockman]

EXCELLENT REVIEW!! Ive got 1 of each model. Youve shown me that

the zaan is made to do some HD things. Good to see pics of the zaan being

"worked a bit" on tin cans and such.Ive have to get out and use mine harder

than i do.

I dont understand why zaans are on the fs ads so much.




Craig

 

[JNewell]

Very nice and very thorough review of a great knife. I had one that ultimately found a new home, but I have nothing negative to say about the 'Zaan at all. I posted a series of vids that compare a large Seb to the 'Zaan. The third one, which I'll try to embed below, has a teardown comparison, which you don't see very often.

I will probably wind up buying another one at some point...


http://www.youtube.com/v/ryou0sMRGNY&hl

 

[bigmark408]

Good review with realistic tasks. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[C Ben Susrool]

Thank you Haze

Nice review and pics. :thumbup:

 

[Thalestin]

Thanks for the Review Haze. I really enjoy reviews where the knife sees a lot of use :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[JTR357]

Great review & pics!Thanks Haze!

I like the Ti cylinder you have to hold the takedown tool.Where'd/who'd you get it from?
shoot me PM if you don't mind.

 

[missin_hobo]

I think I got here a second too late; none of the pics are showing. Were they removed, or do I have a browser issue?

The review was lovely, Haze, but I wish I had the knife porn to go with it

 

[JTR357]

I think I got here a second too late; none of the pics are showing. Were they removed, or do I have a browser issue?

The review was lovely, Haze, but I wish I had the knife porn to go with it

They're coming in on my end.

 

[sticf]

Haze,
Thanks for the great review and pics. It is always nice to see great knives being used.

 

[RICKSTER]

Very nice and very thorough review of a great knife. I had one that ultimately found a new home, but I have nothing negative to say about the 'Zaan at all. I posted a series of vids that compare a large Seb to the 'Zaan. The third one, which I'll try to embed below, has a teardown comparison, which you don't see very often.

I will probably wind up buying another one at some point...


http://www.youtube.com/v/ryou0sMRGNY&hl

JNewell thats a great video, I really enjoyed it. :thumbup: