Whats the deal' no Bradley's

inspecto

inspecto

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Feb 25, 2005
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:Well i've had the Bradley Alias 1 for 6 mo now + it keeps finding it's way back into my pocket as EDC. I have many to choose from . yes even the famed SEBENZA. which IMHO is over rated +over Priced!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .The Bradley does everythig I ask of it + comes back for more.Best $209 Iever spent. Ok lets hear it??????????????????????????
 
I'm glad you're happy.

You only spent $100 more then you should on that alias. :p :p
 
DaveH, tell me where i can buy a large Bradley for $109 + I'll get me another?
 
I don't think he knows a place you can get one for that. I think he just meant that he doesn't think it's worth the 209 you paid for it.
 
I don't own one....yet. I do like them. Nice blade profile. Nice simple handle pofile. Nice frame lock feature. I so wish they were a little less expensive. But I guess I could say that about most everything.
 
I don't know why everyone or seems like everyone bad mouths the Bradley. Just cause its a frame lock they bad mouth it and think they stole the idea from CRK. Well alot of makers, and prod. folders use the frame lock. I've owned a couple of Sebbies and probably the BEST made prod. folder bar none out there. That being said they are machine made knives and only put together by hand. Doesn't make them special really they(CRK) just pay close attention to the tolerance's of the knives.

Now I don't any of the Sebbies that I had. Traded one for a Lightfoot liner locking folder and it blows the Sebbie out of the proverbial water. I also own a Buck/Mayo and imho that is a very close second to the sebbie in quality. Not nearly as robust but just as well made or close. So I guess I don't see all the fuss over the Bradley. People that own them like them and I think they are probably worth the 200 bucks everyone spends on them all else being equal. keepem sharp
 
Yeah longbow I agree the Bradley just feels better in my hand than the sebee also the lockm up sound can't be beat. One unused sebee sitting in safe just to be safe. But in the rotation a BM710, SERE2k.HarseyT2,Spydi military to name a few.
 
I think most people got caught up in the original marketing, which strongly linked the Alias to the Sebenza (using he Sebenza name in the advertising). The Alias doesn't appeal to me, for that matter I didn't keep any of the 3 sebenzas I had- though I got killer trades on them from a curious fellow. If you spent the money and you're happy, don't feel like you've been cheated, that's great. Its YOUR money, so do what YOU like with it. I guess I just don't get the point of the thread. This question has been beaten to death already, and the search function is your friend.

-Anthony
 
If it wasn't for the blue thumb stud and back spacers, no one would call the Alias a Sebenza copy. The design of the knife has no more in common with the Sebenza than the TNT, Firetac, Skirmish, and SMF do. The blade and handle are totally different, and the framelock is used by many knife makers who are not called thieves.

HOWEVER! The fact that they did choose to use the blue thumb studs and back spacers, along with the supposed early Sebenza comparisons in their advertising shows that they were trying to make a cheaper Sebenza alternative and are riding on the Sebenza's coat tails. And *THAT* is the problem.

BTW, I own a Sebenza and the Alias I is on my "to buy" list.
 
I picked one up and handled it.

I thought it handled better than the Sebenza.

Costs less, too.

Only problem I have at the moment, I'm off S30V for a while.

I hope CRK expands their line up some. A great design can keep a firm going only so long no matter the quality. Just a slow expansion would be right, I think. Gotta stay ahead of the competition and all.
 
I forgot to mention Kershaw Boa, but something about the Alias fits me ,my pocket and my chores.
 
Nothing "supposed" about their early advertising. The story spread in their early fliers (which I can't find at the moment, but there is a link to it in one of the "Bradley is evil" threads), was that the Alias came from a dealer/distributor who was tired of not being able to get a ready supply of the Sebenza when his customers were ready to order them. Thus he went and designed something which his "Sebenza customers" would want as a readily-available alternative. I think if the Alias had been brought out- maybe even with the thumbstud- in its own right there wouldn't have been a problem.

-Anthony
 
I said "supposed" because I had not seen it first hand and was just repeating what had been said. I wasn't trying to make your claim seem fishy. I believed you, but didn't want to come off like I had seen the ads as you had. "Reported" is the word I should have used.
 
I happily carry a Bradley Alias II pretty frequently. I think I paid about $175, shipping included.

While I know the blue thumb stud and barrel spacers and original ad copy bother some Sebbie lovers, I'm kind of surprised by the degree of bother it causes some.

I picked up the small Alias new for about $150 cheaper than a small Sebbie would have cost me new from the same source, and I don't feel wronged. Some day when I'm more flush, I'll probably get a CRK product or two, with Mnandi coming first, 'cause I go to work in dress pants or khakis and a "gent's" folder seems appropriate for the environment and the tasks. If pay top coin for a production folder, I want it with me frequently.

For now, though, I'm pretty happy with my small Alias. It took me a few minutes with a torx and some lube to get the slight blade play out and the pivot tension right where I wanted it, so I suppose a hard-use guy or a perfectionist might be happier with the more expensive, comparably sized Seb.

But, for me, this works out OK. For now. My next great dilemma will probably be whether to get bocote, cocobola or desert ironwood inlays when I finally order a Mnandi.
 
I think the original marketing blurb was slightly dishonest or at least disengenous. If they had picked different colors for the thumb stud and spacer it might have helped. Plus the whole crap about who makes it, why not just be honest up front?

The alias has no blade bushing so for it's entire life:
It took me a few minutes with a torx and some lube to get the slight blade play out and the pivot tension right where I wanted it
Click to expand...

The stop pin in "floats" in the frame, does your knife rattle when you shake it?

The thumbstud, at least for my thumb was poorly designed, smooth on top with the ridge in the wrong place.

To my thinking it ain't even close to a sebenza.

Besides, for another $50 and a little patience one can score a real sebenza. (though "used")
 
Just shook it open and closed. No rattle.

Re adjusting the pivot ... once in a while while i'm messing with the knives, I check to see if there's any blade play in the Bradley. About twice now in the past four or five months, I've taken the torx to it. It's a slight fraction of a turn to eliminate about a millimeter of a horizontal play. Yes, a bushing would have been nice, but it's not like the Bradley requires babying. More like a check and a tune.

Like I said, probably not the knife for a perfectionist or a guy who's going to put it to extremely hard use. And, nope, it's not a Sebbie, but it it is almost half the price and certainly not "half" the knife.

Re used knives, won't buy 'em unless I can handle 'em. My hat's off to you guys who can drop $330 on a new folder with a 3" blade. Not everyone can, and the Bradley's certainly not junk. If anything, it kind of makes me want a Sebbie a little more so I can see what all the fuss is about. The day will come. But, for me, there are other knives in line before the Sebbie.

I'd pop for the Mnandi this month, but I already dropped a few nickels at New Graham for some other goodies, mainly knife care products for me and a few KaBar folding hunters that will be gifts for some people who appreciate a nice, solid folder but aren't full-fledged knife knuts.
 
DaveH: you really seem to have it in for this kife,maybe if they made the thumb stud and spacers pink you would not feel so bad.Every post on this subjet there you are puttin her down. Get over it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hair, I didn't mean to jump on you, and I'm sorry about that. For other people I HAVE seen this advertising, and its there to be seen.

MGF, I think the degree of upset that this knife garners is just because nobody likes being reminded they spent $300.00 on a knife, only to have another knife come out and say "well, if you liked 'X' but are tired of having to wait for it and pay a lot of money for it, you'll LOVE 'Y!'" Thus, you get a lot of pointing (i.e. YEAH, but its really a Benchmade, and it doesn't have a Bushing!!!), and name-calling (i.e. THIEF).

Now, they don't mention Benchmade in the adverts for the reason that they're trying to create a brand. Its a lot like Mooremaker who has their cheap line of knives made by Camillus, HK who has their knives made by BM, or even Swamp Rat whose folder is apparently made by Blade-Tech. You don't mention who makes the product for you because its YOUR brand.

Silly, really. I mean its someone else's money, why do you care? More Sebenzas for you to buy then. I think taking a crap on someone else's choice of knife (not speaking of true rip-offs here) is really sad. Besides, the Alias didn't rip off the Sebenza, and there are MUCH worse examples of knives being ripped off elsewhere.

-Anthony
 
They copied the sebenza thumbstud?
Sheesh .... it's the only thing about my sebenza I don't like, and I wish CRK would offer a more thumb friendly alternative.
 
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