What is so special about the sebenza?

[Pyaoliang]

I've started collecting and using knives since the beginning of this year and finally reached what I consider the pinnacle of my collecting maybe last month when I got my first large sebenza 21. No inlays or graphics or anything. Just plain beautiful titanium and that awesome stonewashed s35vn blade. Every knife I've collected, I've felt like I've had to tweak or play around with it to get it just right (outside of my titanium military) In terms of fit and finish, none is on par with the Sebenza. When you have a sebenza in your hands, it just feels right and it feels solid. Other knives feel good and are great cutters, but when you hold a sebenza in your hand, your standard of knives is suddenly raised. No matter how you take it down, when you put it back together, there are no adjustments to be made, it just goes back together and with the CRK grease, just feels like new. Now if there was a way to keep the titanium from marking from carrying it, that would be awesome, but that's titanium for ya. But I guess over time as you carry it, the more marks just end up giving it more character. Expensive as heck. But in the end, it's awesome. And if it's not for you, it holds its value incredibly well so you can sell back for near what you spent for it.

 

[Striderco]

You have to own and use one to understand that they re in a class of their own! Kind of like an exotic Italian sports car!

 

[CL01]

There're definitely some interesting comments. As for the OP, I'm another one who can't really say it's a "grail knife", but I can say it's an excellent EDC one. As for the comments that there are lower priced production knives that exceed CRK's F&F, I'd sure like to know what they are, because I haven't come across any. Someone alluded that it may be the Bradley Alias, but I don't see how.

I've owned quite a number of knives, including about 9-10 different CRK folders, about 6-7 different Striders, & maybe 5 different Alias's. The one thing that seems to set the Sebbies apart is that they're so consistent. I can not say that about each of the Striders, Alias's, or pretty much any other production folder (At least not to that high a F&F). On the Alias thing, how does it possibly exceed the Sebbie's F&F when a number of them developed "pivot wiggle"? If a Sebenza has it, it's very rare (I haven't heard of one right out of the box), & there aren't that many production knife companies that encourage (Actually want them to) their customers to take them apart. Some companies state that you've voided their warranty if you take it apart (& they find out, of course).

A Sebenza (Or any CRK folder) might not be for you & that's fine, but I can't think of another production (Or semi-production) folder that attracts the attention a CRK folder does when they're up for trade.

 

[batosai117]

I don't think a professional writer could use enough words to fully describe the in-hand feeling and pride of ownership of getting that first Sebenza.

I remember when I first joined Bladeforums I saw threads and posts about CRK and at my early stage in collecting I mistook CRK with CRKT and didn't think twice about it. It took a while and a little research but once I found out more about the Sebenza I was hooked. I finally sold off enough knives and purchased a used Large Sebenza 21 and I was thrilled. The knife was perfect in function, fit and finish, felt good in hand (ergonomics), and there was that pride of finally saving up and getting a knife that I really wanted.

So to me the Sebenza is my Grail Knife

 

[Hallucinosis]

Asking "What makes your baby so special?" will also get you strange looks.