To Sebenza, or not to Sebenza?

[Sonnydaze]

It will become easier to open. They take a little break in, and the technique is a little different from what you're used too!! Once you get it put it to some good use and you will see and feel the appreciation that everyone talks about

I carry a large Sebbie. The small one is too short in the grip for my large hand. I've had over twenty Sebbies and never yet bought a new one. I purchased every one here on the Exchange over the last two yrs. They come and they go. I have one Umnumzaan and three large Sebs at the moment. I love 'em. I buy 'em "slightly-used" with spider-trails on the scales, and never have a worry. I won't buy if scratches on the blade. I love the Regular, Classic and model 21. Don't like the new model 25. They are all great. I've gone through over 100 folders in the last 18 months, bought and sold/traded, and ONLY carry a CRK. There is NO EQUAL.
sonnydaze

If you're okay with plain-Jane design, get a Sebenza. If you want a bit of tactical thrown in, carry the Zaan. I carry always one or the other.

 

[brownshoe]

If you are picky about the finish, don't get a sebenza. The bead blast finish takes a surface scratch quite easily. However, the polished surface with a graphic or micarta hold up better in the looks department for me. I have a graphic, the polished graphic side shows little wear, but the bead blasted lock side shows quite a bit of wear.

If you want a fast opening knife, don't get a sebenza. I only have one small, but it is not "easy" to open even though it's 3 years old. It's not as stiff or "hydraulic" as it was in the beginning, but no way as easy to open as a Spyderco or Benchmade. You cannot flick open a new sebenza, it's too tight, you can't defeat the detent. After 3 years, I can't flick open mine. But that's not really a problem, I believe the knife is not designed to open in a flash, but to stay closed until you want it open

 

[mjolnir74]

I would recommend a large micarta seb, because that's what I like. I've carried a lot of different one's and it is my favorite. I recently bought a Spyderco Southard because of how much praise it gets on the forums and much prefer my Sebenza to put it nicely.

 

[K.O.D.]

Sebenza's just don't do anything for me. I went the Strider route. Something to consider. When you are spending that kinda money you better love it. If you're at all unsure, don't buy. Just my .02

 

[amg137]

Sebenza's just don't do anything for me. I went the Strider route. Something to consider. When you are spending that kinda money you better love it. If you're at all unsure, don't buy. Just my .02

I also checked out some Striders while I was there and was kinda shocked how much I liked them. I've always considered them to be among the ugliest knives I've ever seen and they look like they should have piss-poor ergos, but they were surprisingly comfortable and opened incredibly smoothly. That said, I'm satisfied (for now - that'll change in a month or two, no doubt) with my current selection of larger folders and I'm trying to expand my collection of higher end small knives, which is what drew me to the small Sebenza.

 

[flipe8]

A Sebenza is just a really good pocketknife that will continue to be a really good pocketknife years from now. If you find one that appeals to you, I would say go for it.

 

[justsomedude]

My experience handling knives in stores is that they tend to have collected a lot of dust in the pivot and the lube's all dried out. That Seb will be waaaay smoother when you get it home, clean it and apply some fresh grease.

That being said I agree with this statement completely:

If one of your top preferences is in a knife is speed of opening, I would move past CRK. They do wear in, but they have what gets called a 'hydrolic feel', definitely not a frictionless feel, so if that's what you're looking for, I don't think your tastes quite match up with the Sebenza.

The Umnumzaan on the other hand is the fastest opening non-assisted knife I've ever had. It's even faster and more reliably fast to open than my BM710 which is astonishingly quick. Some assisteds and autos are actually slower; I got a Kershaw Thermite recently and it was like opening a Zaan buried in mud.

Don't make yourself want a Sebenza if you don't want one, the "draw" is strong and you shouldn't fight your tastes to make yourself like one. Of course, tastes change with time

I see a lot of threads from people who are on the fence about a Sebenza and describe their tastes as being completely contrary to what the Sebenza is. To those people I say, "check out the rest of CRKs line, they're all fantastic knives," and, "if there are other knives that are more attractive to you then try them out and if the itch to try a Sebenza doesn't die you have plenty of time to scratch it. CRK is not going anywhere."

PS: Flicking isn't an objectively better nor faster way to open a knife. In fact, if a knife is designed well it should be easy to open quickly without flicking it. The Sebenza is, imo, a perfect example of this.
PPS: CRK won't void your warranty just for flicking your knife, they actually encourage you to do it occasionally (after cleanings). Other companies do offer better, no questions asked warranties, but this doesn't mean CRK warranties are less than stellar.

 

[d0nut]

PPS: CRK won't void your warranty just for flicking your knife, they actually encourage you to do it occasionally (after cleanings). ..

You sure about that?

Listen to the Man himself and take it to heart.

•Our knives are not designed as rapid deploy weapons or as worry beads but as cutting instruments.

Lots of interesting opinions on the "flicking" issue here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/946982-A-Simple-Statement

 

[justsomedude]

To d0nut:

I have had three experiences with CRK warranty service, all of which were positive. In one case they readily admitted fault and offered to fix the issue at no charge: I had one of the first-batch Umnumzaans and the thumb-stud came loose. However, none had to do with flicking or lock related issues.

Based on statements made by CRK and CRK users in the thread you've linked to and others, I am confident that CRK will enforce their warranty fairly. I am also confident that I will be able to use my knife for as long as I have strength to hold it, without ever having to worry about what I'm using it for, and that CRK will make it right if any issue does occur. (Depending on circumstances, I wouldn't necessarily consider them asking me to pay for blade replacement to be unsatisfactory)

I'd like to hear your experience with CRK's warranty service that has led you to believe it's inadequate. I've noticed you express dissatisfaction with it regularly but am not able to find a description of a bad experience you've had with them personally. I really would like to know as I once did a bit of research into people claiming bad service from CRK's warranty department and was able to find one clear-cut case of CRK refusing to fix a lock problem for free. In this case I was happy with CRK's response as the user had no clear-cut evidence that CRK's claims of abuse were unfounded or unreasonable.

PS: I realize I probably should have taken the initiative here, but in an effort to not hi-jack this thread, maybe you could PM me? I honestly want to know what your experience was that turned you off.

 

[d0nut]

To d0nut:

I have had three experiences with CRK warranty service, all of which were positive. In one case they readily admitted fault and offered to fix the issue at no charge: I had one of the first-batch Umnumzaans and the thumb-stud came loose. However, none had to do with flicking or lock related issues.

Based on statements made by CRK and CRK users in the thread you've linked to and others, I am confident that CRK will enforce their warranty fairly. I am also confident that I will be able to use my knife for as long as I have strength to hold it, without ever having to worry about what I'm using it for, and that CRK will make it right if any issue does occur. (Depending on circumstances, I wouldn't necessarily consider them asking me to pay for blade replacement to be unsatisfactory)

I'd like to hear your experience with CRK's warranty service that has led you to believe it's inadequate. I've noticed you express dissatisfaction with it regularly but am not able to find a description of a bad experience you've had with them personally. I really would like to know as I once did a bit of research into people claiming bad service from CRK's warranty department and was able to find one clear-cut case of CRK refusing to fix a lock problem for free. In this case I was happy with CRK's response as the user had no clear-cut evidence that CRK's claims of abuse were unfounded or unreasonable.

PS: I realize I probably should have taken the initiative here, but in an effort to not hi-jack this thread, maybe you could PM me? I honestly want to know what your experience was that turned you off.

No problem man, and I have no prior history with CRK.

I was just pointing out there is more to the flicking issue than people are aware of, it's not so cut & dry with regards to warranty coverage.

Sorry to hijack

 

[pvicenzi]

Sebenza Sebenza. Get 2.

 

[onojoe]

I would definitely get one. It is just a scratch that most of us had to itch. IMHO the best route is to get one on the secondary market. If you find a good deal on one and don't like it, they are easy to sell. Plenty come up on the forum for sale and I have had good luck finding them on craigslist here in OC. If you get one that has been used, they usually have some light wear marks in the sandblasting. If you end up liking it send it in for a spa treatment (free) and re blasting ($35) and it will look like new.
I have both a large and small Seb 21 the large seems to open easier, probably because of the weight of the blade? But each one will be a little different. Good luck

 

[justsomedude]

I was just pointing out there is more to the flicking issue than people are aware of, it's not so cut & dry with regards to warranty coverage.

These are my sentiments exactly. I guess I just see lots of people making cut & dry statements to the opposite affect and am trying to balance them a bit I shouldn't be such a hypocrite, I'm going to go bold/italic "just" in my original post, hopefully that'll help.

To quote my favorite post from the Simple Statement thread, "I'm just a dude on the internet that loves his Sebenzas and would hate to see a perspective newbie miss out on the joy of a damn well built product due to paranoia and misunderstanding."

Sorry OP, done talking about this in this thread, promise.

 

[AddictedToGear]

I am in the same debate constantly. As of late I have been on the forums but away from knife collecting for the last month and actually sold and traded a few of my production knives. More on a firearm kick and need to save for custom orders. I have handled Sebenzas and various CRK but still can not quite make up my mind, plus there are so many versions to choose from even those I think I have it narrowed down. I could use a nice elegant carry and the Sebenza fills that roll for me.

 

[amg137]

Hmm... I'm starting to think I should just pick one up and sell it if it doesn't smooth out enough. Of course, knowing myself, I won't be able to part with it regardless and it'll end up being a safe queen if I can't get used to it. Decisions, decisions...

 

[flipe8]

Hmm... I'm starting to think I should just pick one up and sell it if it doesn't smooth out enough. Of course, knowing myself, I won't be able to part with it regardless and it'll end up being a safe queen if I can't get used to it. Decisions, decisions...

A bit of time and use will certainly be better than simply handling it in a store.

 

[flipe8]

These are my sentiments exactly. I guess I just see lots of people making cut & dry statements to the opposite affect and am trying to balance them a bit I shouldn't be such a hypocrite, I'm going to go bold/italic "just" in my original post, hopefully that'll help.

To quote my favorite post from the Simple Statement thread, "I'm just a dude on the internet that loves his Sebenzas and would hate to see a perspective newbie miss out on the joy of a damn well built product due to paranoia and misunderstanding."

Sorry OP, done talking about this in this thread, promise.

Maybe I'm way off, but I generally give more weight to an opinion based on experience over one based on something someone read.:thumbup:

 

[amg137]

Well, I pulled the trigger and ordered a plain small sebbie from BladeHQ. My poor bank account... That's over $1000 in knife related expenses in the last month, on a grad student salary. I may have a slight problem.

 

[amg137]

I do believe that's the last few drops of my tax refund. Hopefully the Sebenza will slake my thirst for small knives for a while the way my recent acquisitions have for large knives; my wallet really does need to catch a break. I should probably steer clear of the EDC/pix threads for a few months...

 

[JNewell]

No problem man, and I have no prior history with CRK.

I was just pointing out there is more to the flicking issue than people are aware of, it's not so cut & dry with regards to warranty coverage.

Sorry to hijack

Actually, there's a lot less to the "flicking issue" than people are aware of. "Thumb flicking," which I wouldn't consider flicking at all, is not an issue as far as CRK is concerned. Wrist flicking is recommended after a cleaning and reassembly to seat the blade, but otherwise is regarded as potentially abusive and may result in warranty service being denied.