- Joined
- Feb 21, 2001
- Messages
- 1,981
I attended the Northwest Knife Collectors show in Tacoma yesterday. On the first table, next to the door, I saw a gray turd. Never having handled one before, I asked to handle the knife.
I was very impressed with the smooth, gliding action of the pivot when I opened the blade. The sound the lock made was much quieter than expected, far softer than the sound the CRKT S-2 I'd just gotten. Lockup wasn't as complete across the tang, but the rougly double length of contact between handle and blade convinced me lock failure wasn't something I had to worry about.
I held the knife in a couple grips. It felt pretty good, though it was obvious I would have liked a bit more length for the handle. I inspected it closely. I found 2 tiny little mars in the finish of the handles. One had to really look to find them. I think the knife could have been passed off as new to a lot of people.
There was an obvious residue of what I took to be White Lightning around the pivot in various places. One could barely see the bronze bushing. The most residue was on the tang where it interfaces with the lock portion of the handle.
What was probably the most impressive aspect of the knife was the price, given the excellent condition it was in. The people offering it for sale said they'd bought it from a soldier the weekend before, and paid exactly what they were asking. (Previous experience with these people at the fall show convinced me they were telling the truth.
Well, I put it down. And went on to look at more knives/tables. About 20 minutes later, my lower back cramped up, from my unacustomed (sp?) posture of leaning over tables. I managed to subdue that for a bit, had another cramp, and then decided to look back and see if the Sebenza was still there.
After a few minutes, my back was bothering me to the extent I had to sit down. The only available chairs were on a platform at the far end of the room from that table, and the opposite side of the room. As I sat there, I noticed that a majority of the people coming in, did as I, and visited that table first.
Now, mind you, I'd only looked at 3 or 4 tables. Many more to go. I also had sworn to my bride that I wouldn't buy any knives. But, couldn't get the Sebenza -- a basic large model -- out of my mind. When my cramps had really passed, I headed out straight to the table and bought the knife.
After many critical posts of them, I was now a gray turd owner. Today, just about exactly 24 hours from when I bought it, I still can hardly believe I did so.
I did hold and cycle it quite a bit last night. I removed the visible grease residue, and applied a couple drops of Tuf Glide. I tried several grips. I noticed for the first time that the blade spine was rounded. This was important to me, after just having read Ed Fowler's book, wherein he state flatly his opinion that if the spine has sharp edges it simply isn't finished. Other than Ed's knives, this was the first rounded spine I'd encountered. I looked all day at the knives at the show and never found another, excepting possible a Khukuri that I still want badle to buy. The Panawhal Khukuri spine is closer to half an inch thick than it is to a quarter inch. So some rounding appeared almost necessary.
The more I held the Sebenza last night, the more I became convinced that my suspected feelings about the lack of ergonimics proved to be true. In fact, virtually every decent knife I own, has overall better ergonomics than the Sebenza.
But, the Sebenza has a lifetime guarantee. I got a great deal on it. It has that rounded spine. It feels very substantial in the hand, while light in weight. The action is incredibly smooth. The lack of fit for my hand isn't super glaring.
So, what happened? What came over me? What should I do with my Sebenza? Oh -- I also read in an older Blade magazine I bought for $.20, that BG-42 had just proven to hold an edge 3 times longer than ATS34.)Should I keep it? If I do, should I get rid of some of my other knives, hoping to win back a bit of my wife's graces?
Help me out, guys! Please? I honestly can't explain why I bought it. I'm very puzzled.
Thanks in advance,
------------------
Asi es la vida
Bugs
I was very impressed with the smooth, gliding action of the pivot when I opened the blade. The sound the lock made was much quieter than expected, far softer than the sound the CRKT S-2 I'd just gotten. Lockup wasn't as complete across the tang, but the rougly double length of contact between handle and blade convinced me lock failure wasn't something I had to worry about.
I held the knife in a couple grips. It felt pretty good, though it was obvious I would have liked a bit more length for the handle. I inspected it closely. I found 2 tiny little mars in the finish of the handles. One had to really look to find them. I think the knife could have been passed off as new to a lot of people.
There was an obvious residue of what I took to be White Lightning around the pivot in various places. One could barely see the bronze bushing. The most residue was on the tang where it interfaces with the lock portion of the handle.
What was probably the most impressive aspect of the knife was the price, given the excellent condition it was in. The people offering it for sale said they'd bought it from a soldier the weekend before, and paid exactly what they were asking. (Previous experience with these people at the fall show convinced me they were telling the truth.
Well, I put it down. And went on to look at more knives/tables. About 20 minutes later, my lower back cramped up, from my unacustomed (sp?) posture of leaning over tables. I managed to subdue that for a bit, had another cramp, and then decided to look back and see if the Sebenza was still there.
After a few minutes, my back was bothering me to the extent I had to sit down. The only available chairs were on a platform at the far end of the room from that table, and the opposite side of the room. As I sat there, I noticed that a majority of the people coming in, did as I, and visited that table first.
Now, mind you, I'd only looked at 3 or 4 tables. Many more to go. I also had sworn to my bride that I wouldn't buy any knives. But, couldn't get the Sebenza -- a basic large model -- out of my mind. When my cramps had really passed, I headed out straight to the table and bought the knife.
After many critical posts of them, I was now a gray turd owner. Today, just about exactly 24 hours from when I bought it, I still can hardly believe I did so.
I did hold and cycle it quite a bit last night. I removed the visible grease residue, and applied a couple drops of Tuf Glide. I tried several grips. I noticed for the first time that the blade spine was rounded. This was important to me, after just having read Ed Fowler's book, wherein he state flatly his opinion that if the spine has sharp edges it simply isn't finished. Other than Ed's knives, this was the first rounded spine I'd encountered. I looked all day at the knives at the show and never found another, excepting possible a Khukuri that I still want badle to buy. The Panawhal Khukuri spine is closer to half an inch thick than it is to a quarter inch. So some rounding appeared almost necessary.
The more I held the Sebenza last night, the more I became convinced that my suspected feelings about the lack of ergonimics proved to be true. In fact, virtually every decent knife I own, has overall better ergonomics than the Sebenza.
But, the Sebenza has a lifetime guarantee. I got a great deal on it. It has that rounded spine. It feels very substantial in the hand, while light in weight. The action is incredibly smooth. The lack of fit for my hand isn't super glaring.
So, what happened? What came over me? What should I do with my Sebenza? Oh -- I also read in an older Blade magazine I bought for $.20, that BG-42 had just proven to hold an edge 3 times longer than ATS34.)Should I keep it? If I do, should I get rid of some of my other knives, hoping to win back a bit of my wife's graces?
Help me out, guys! Please? I honestly can't explain why I bought it. I'm very puzzled.
Thanks in advance,
------------------
Asi es la vida
Bugs
