To get a Sebenza or not?

Twindog said:
Why did CRK abandon the pivot bushing? That bushing was one of the key factors that make the Sebenza so iconic.

Maybe it was cost. I've wanted to like the Inkosi, but with exposed washers and no pivot bushing and a thicker blade, it's tough.
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Twindog. no pivot bushing ?... Are you sure about that?
 
Twindog said:
Why did CRK abandon the pivot bushing? That bushing was one of the key factors that make the Sebenza so iconic.

Maybe it was cost. I've wanted to like the Inkosi, but with exposed washers and no pivot bushing and a thicker blade, it's tough.
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Sebenza 21 is still out there...:)
 
Stabman, all my knives get used too. My Sebenzas a plenty.

Think getting the Large 21 is an excellent choice. How I carry mine, though the tail has a antler tip now.

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FullMetalJackass said:
My 50 cents (I'm feeling generous today):

Sebenzas are the least appealing knives when you buy them, especially if you start collecting.

You'll get buyer's remorse for a month, wondering why you spent that much on a very simple looking knife, borderline dull, with as much personality as a block of ice. And that is not that sharp out of the box.

You'll keep it aside then one day you'll give it a try, and eventually use it as EDC. And eventually dull it.

Then you'll feel cocky and grind it, and you'll realize how good the blade design is, and that you can get a laser out of it.
Then you'll want to take it apart, and will realize that it will keep being centered after putting it back together, no matter how many times you take it apart.
Then it won't leave your pocket, and you'll use it with a big smile on your face, and then you'll want to buy some other CRK...
They have a fantastic way of aging out and look nice when well worn...
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Very well said :thumbup:


bodog said:
... He is just a businessman trying to make money and people give him what he wants. If people swamped him with emails saying drop the price by half and refused to buy them at $400 then he'd drop the price.
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You do know he no longer owns the company? His ex wife has owned it for about a year.

jwh720 said:
Thanks for your opinions everyone. I have decided to go for it and get a large 21, I'll post some pics when it arrives.
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You won't be sorry. I waited 25 years to get one, I participated in a large plain pass around in '02 between 8 people at $35 each with the hopes of winning it in a lottery at the end of the pass around,didn't win it :(. Still after a week of carrying it I still couldn't pull the trigger, I couldn't see spending $350 on "just a knife"

Fast forward to a few years ago 2013 and I had an idea to trade for one since I couldn't see buyin' one and within a week had managed to trade for a barely carried small plain Jane double lug 21. I babied it, carried it in a leather slip sheath I made for it to protect it from the other more common knives :rolleyes:. Then it happened, horror of horrors... it got a small scratch on the pocket clip :eek:. That was it, the honeymoon was over and I finally used it for it's intended purpose, to cut stuff. After that I never looked back and a Sebenza's been in my pocket everyday since.

Is it the best knife for the money? Only you can answer that question and you will when you get it. All I can say is give it a chance to be a knife and not an icon, allow it to work instead of sit in a safe on a shelf, (there's plenty of UGG and inlay Sebenzas for that :) ). I think if you use it, you'll love it and you'll discover why they have such a dedicated fan base. If not you can get most of your money back and at least you'll have answered your own question.

stabman said:
When I bought an Umnumzaan, I certainly was buying a knife.
A knife showed up in the mail, and I used it as a knife.
It now sits with my other knives, waiting for knifely use as a knife. :)

It didn't come with exclusive rights to fancy country clubs, nor did pretty girls swoon at the sight of my elegantly awesome status symbol.
All signs point to it being a...knife. :D
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BTW, mine came with a little cape and it keeps ducking into phone booths to put it on. ;)

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Email me and I'll send you 800 #, they'll overnight it to you, they just need a copy of the birth certificate. ;)

The_Knife_Man said:
If your not afraid to scratch and use a sebenza....
And you want to get one/ able to get one.....

Then get a sebenza
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After all it does mean work... ;)

Peter Hartwig said:
Did you look in the bottom of the box for the country club membership and instructions for surviving girls swooning(been a lifesaver for me) :)
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LOL :D

God's way of tellin' you you make too much money Cocaine and Sebenzas ;) :) :D

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Thanks to the members here who helped me to get one by trading with me, (Thanks Anthony and Raybo)

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ti lock said:
thats certainly news to me... i have not taken an inkosi apart
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Please excuse my previous snarky comment towards your knowledge of Crks. Stick around the Crk forum for a wealth of knowledge and you'll likely make a few friends along the way. Being knowledgable on Crk will hopefully aid in your in store sales as well!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
jwh720 said:
So I have $500 to spend and am thinking about a sebenza, but I keep looking at them and I'm not sure I see "it". I also have been looking at the benchmade monolock 765 and 761. I have benchmades already and like them, but will there be a noticeable difference between the CRK and benchmade?
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It is such a treat to be a knife afi these days, with so many great choices available at almost any price point! Although I personally dig my Sebs, I can't say that it's a flavour for everyone (such a knife does not exist.) I see many excellent alternatives from other manufacturers in the same price range as the legendary Sebenza, and many of these alternatives have more bells & whistles to boot. Just look at the higher end knives from Spyderco, Benchmade, ZT, and LionSteel... fantastic! Something for everyone--the quality gap is rapidly closing, imo. :eek:

99.9% of the people I know and meet haven't even heard of a Sebenza and don't give a tinker's damn even if 'the legend' is explained... it's just a knife.

Get the knife *you* want, OP. If the Sebenza appeals to you, the quality won't let you down. If you try one and it doesn't work for you for some reason, it will likely be quick and easy to sell or trade for something else.

Good luck, OP! :)

-Brett
 
Much like the OP and others in this thread, I've debated getting one. I own mostly all traditional knives aside from a Delica. I constantly find myself looking at a small sebenza every few months though.

Many post that there's plenty of other knives comparable in quality for a lesser price but when I look at the moderns, I don't see much that have simple clean lines and are 4" closed. Many are much bigger and have too much of the "tactical" look that I don't want. That statement may hold true if I were looking at knives in the same size range as the large variant however.

I guess I'll just have to buy one and see what I think. I will say, the more I look at the inlays and the Damascus variants, the more I think that the regular sebenza is too plain looking.
 
Its the simplicity and plain that so appeals to me, I just love understatement. In truth some of the fancier ones I like too, but don't have the funds, well other commitments. Some day I would like a Mnandi.
I rotate my knives depending on what I'm wearing that day.
Sure there are other knives to buy, some might become classics in their own right over time. My two in good company:

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I felt like a lot of others here for a long time.Have a lot of knives,a bunch in this price range,so I said why bother.but when I did,I understood right away.its like my pistols.i gave a lot that all shoot,some fancy some not.but inevitably,I carry glocks.not much to look at,a lot of na-sayers,but damn,it just works,and I think the sebenza like the glock is just cool looking too.once you handle it,the sebenza feels like it won't let you down.
 
More a Sig 226 or 228; actually the Sig 230.
I like Glocks too. A Glock and Spyderco Military would compliment each other.

Its all fun.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
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Yes, I know he's no longer running the company. That's a distraction from the main point. It's a good knife. There are many other good knives on the market. When considering pricing, there are some absolutely great knives on the market and CRK, if taken with absolute observable quality to price being considered, can't really compete. Now with all the hype and everything considered, sure, they're still competing and earning. And BF is a strong part of those sales.

It's a good knife. It's hard to talk bad about it. But for a LOT of people it's not worth its price and there are others that are. I personally don't think it's tight tolerances justify buying it over a lot of other knives in the same price range or even under when other manufacturers are really going above and beyond to sell something special. CRK is really just giving the same thing year after year. Nothing wrong with that. They sell and that's what matters to the company. We customers should be looking for something more, that is, unless you're just a die hard fan boy. But it should be admitted by those who advocate CRK above any others all the time who and what they are. It's unfair to those who don't know better. CRK has the absolute potential to disappoint. The best that can be said about them is that they can be sold to any number of curious speculators without much of a loss. That bubble will pop the same as it did with Hinderer. It'll just take longer. Don't forget, Hinderer knives took over, what, a decade or more for people to realize they aren't worth crazy prices. CRK is just taking longer and it won't be long until any number of manufacturers will offer knives with tolerances just as tight with better materials.

Just wait for some Chinese company to offer something with .00001" tolerances with titanium handles, mokume and carbon fiber inlays, and M390 at 62 HRC, with full flat grinds and bushing pivots sitting on ceramic bearings and some kind of tritium inset, all at $500.

The best decision that CR ever made was to not license his name like Hinderer did. He'll keep his company going for quite a bit longer because of that one decision.

It's not the knife, it's the name and mystique. Some people want those rather than anything else and that's cool. For others, though, they want something better for their money.
 
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After wanting one for years, I bought small Sebenza Insingo 21. I was excited when it arrived in the mail, and let down when I handled it. The conical thumb stud was just as painful as everyone said it was. I followed all the advice: don't push down on the lockbar; Push it out at this angle, not at this other angle; don't give up, it takes time, you will get it (etc.). No, I didn't keep it and use it for two weeks, as some say to do. I decided to send it back, because no matter how nicely the opening action might break in, it really was not comfortable to hold. There just wasn't enough handle there to hang onto. I shouldn't have to spend $350 for something I was fairly unhappy with. So I owned a Sebenza for 48 hours, and I'm done. I can open and close my Benchmade mini-Griptilian effortlessly, and I can sharpen its 154CM steel very sharp! And I just ordered a full size Griptilian to keep it company.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
How big is a small Sebenza?

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See what I mean, none of those knives have the same clean lines as the small Sebenza does...

I would like to know people's alternatives to the small Sebenza however that gets you similar build qualities.
 
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