What's with the CR Sebenza?

I had a completely different experience the first time I held one. I noticed a handful of details immediately that set it apart, and even more as I got to know and use it more.

The knife is very soft in the hand. All the edges are rounded to perfection, evenly and attractively, including the spine of the blade and the inside of the lock bar. I have never had a knife finished this well on ever single inch of the handle and blade.

Everything was lined up and fit together perfectly. I have never, ever had a perfect knife until I got a Sebenza. Not a single rough spot, nothing not lined up exactly to the fraction of a millimeter. You would have to be extremely lucky to get a knife like this from a regular factory.

The lock up is the most perfect, solid lock up I have ever seen. You can fully remove the male side of the pivot pin and still have rock solid action with zero play in the blade. Try that with another folder.

The pivot bushing allows for perfect action and lock up every time with no pivot adjustment or Loctite, ever.

The simplicity and ease of disassembly is a marvel as well. The knife only has sixteen pieces, total, and can be easily disassembled and reassembled perfectly in minutes due to the absolute perfect tolerances the pieces are brought to. Every piece fits like a well make jigsaw puzzle, sliding in with ease and authority, with no room for movement.

The design itself is quite remarkable. It is slim and elegant, with fantastic blade to handle ratio and balance. These are just opinions, however.

The Sebenza is the closest thing to perfect I've ever held in a folder, period. I've had many, many Spydercos, Benchmade, Kershaws, Striders, Bucks etc. etc. I noticed the differences immediately. The quality difference is real, the knife community isn't pulling anybodies leg on this one. Don't listen to haters and their sour grapes. If you know quality folders and have an eye for quality, you will see the differences.
 
Stretch, you make a very good point. I'd still say that the fit & finish is nicer on the Sebenza, although you don't agree. At least for me, the Seb is smoother. The rounded spine on the blade, the bead blasted area mixed with shiny titanium, the beveled & slightly thicker frame-lock. That's "finish" & the Skirmish doesn't match it.

Chris Reeves Knives doesn't handle their distribution like B/M & many other mass production knife companies (B/M, Kershaw, Spyderco, etc). As a result, you don't see Sebs for sale at discount internet stores for 50-60% of msrp, so right there, Sebs are going to be more expensive. That aside, yes, they are VERY espensive.

Honestly, I can't say they're nearly 3 times "better" then the Skirmish. But I do believe it's better. Also, if you're so inclined to really abuse your Seb, I believe you can send it in for a refurbishing, at a very reasonable cost (& it covers more of the knife than other companies, including Strider).

I'll admit more expensive is not necessarily better, but in this case I do believe the Seb is better than the Skirmish. I will also admit that the price difference doesn't equate to the same quality difference.

Like I said before, it's like buying a Mercedes or a Rolls. I honestly can't see how someone does not see the difference in the two knives, but it is only a small degree. How much that is worth, is entirely up to you.
 
A couple more points to add to the post I made above:

Look at the lock relief area on the lock bar on a Sebenza compared to other frame locks. Notice the double scallops, spreading the stress across two arched surfaces that is thicker than most all production frame locks with a thick peak in the middle.

Also, notice that the blade contact area of the lock bar is ultra hard anodized to greatly delay wear.

The Sebenza is covered with these little details that raise production cost and improve the quality of the product.
 
I own several Sebenzas and several Benchmades. Let me say I truly love the Axis lock and I think Benchmade makes an excellent product. The one time I needed warranty work on a clip for an early Eclipse model they had it back to me in week. Very good service. Chris Reeve knives what can I say? I sent my Small classic Sebenza in to have the edge thinned because it was too thick. I had bought the Seneza from an Online CRK dealer and thought it not up to my other Sebbies and this was a new knife.I contacted CRK and they said send in. I shipped it 2nd day air and told them I would like it sent back 2nd day air and I would pay the charges. What did Crk do...........they thinned and sharpened the Sebbie and lubed it. They fixed it the same day they got it and returned it the same day they received the knife and CRK paid the 2nd day air shipping. That is the best service I have experienced by a company. CRK are not cheap but worth it. I have just recently ordered a knife from STR and I believe this gentleman is in the same class. This will be a frame lock with titanium and G11 handles but with a 1095v blade. I am really looking forward to this knife.
RKH
 
I bought a large Sebenza on ebay, had it for a week and sold it. Yeah they're nice, it just didn't "do it" for me, just my opinion. Nope, I have no desire for another. It did however, make me $125 when I resold it.
 
Ok guys. NOW we're getting into the "hows its better" arena. Like I said, I can;t just pull it out now and compare it to my Skirmish, if I could, I'd be looking at these little things you guys are talking about. Maybe then I could "see" for myself. Not that I don;t believe you, I do, it's just that with the last several posts, there's been more detail in the articulation of the finer aspects of "Sebenzai".

Ok. Now I have something to look forward to when I "re-fondle" my buddy's Sebenza. [<----I really should edit this...I don;t like the sound of it]

You know, I can;t believe I missed all those little details. I mean, I am nearly as perfect as a Sebenza.....so, how could that happen???? ((( :D )))

I still want to know if a knifemaker can actually get a bar of Kryptonite.
 
Different strokes. I have 2 BM Mini Skirmish, numbered. Nice knife but not nearly as heavy duty as the Sebenza. I have large and small, love 'em both. For me the best "user" knife I know. I use for heavy ranch work. Holds up, keeps working.
PS-If you like BM, you'll love Spydies as solid, affordable EDC.
 
I know this is taking the money in the wrong direction, but if someone feels the plain Sebenza
is too plain for the money, for about $100 bucks more you can order a plain handled Sebenza with a
stainless damascus blade and the Sebenza is no longer so ordinary.

This is a Small Classic Sebenza with a raindrop stainless damascus blade.
knivescrsmsebclassicraiyi5.jpg

Hosted by ImageShack
 
You might be comparing the wrong two knives. I think a better comparison would be the sebbie and BM alias. CRK must charge about $200 for the pivot bushing because that is about all that is different. Sure sure quality control is better at CRK but $200 better? Nope. You pay for the name and there is nothing wrong with that.
 
StretchNM said:
What am I missing?
Click to expand...

Nothing.
I got wrapped up in the whole "Sebenza thing" but, having owned three, I have now sold them all and will never buy another.

Yes, they are very well made, but it ended there for me. To me the Benchmade 943 is a better knife than the Seb. The Osborne is a slender knife that is pretty much unnoticeable in the pocket but feels great in the hand, opens and closer quicker and easier than the Seb, comes with an S30V blade that doesn't need to be thinned-out, yet still locks up with zero play and is easily strong enough for anything that I will ever throw at it.

Then there's the price. My last Seb was a Large Classic Micarta which cost me $455.
My 943 was $122, my S30V Carbon Fibre AFCK $325



So for the cost of the Seb I got the 943 and the AFCK, two knives that even individually I consider better than the Seb.
 
better comparison would be the sebbie and BM alias.
Click to expand...

well for one the bronze washers on the alias are MUCH smaller then a sebenza. Also when you take an Alias apart the lock face on the lock bar is tiny. Further the pivot bushing IS key, mess with the tension on the pivot and your alias will have blade play.

The alias is made to seemingly look like the quality of a sebenza, but in the engineering under the covers, it falls short.

Used sebenza prices can pretty low, I just sold a BG-42 sebenza for $250.
 
When we start comparing the Alias to the Seb, I found the Alias really came up short. It really felt cheap in my hand. So much so, that it's the only BM I ever held and thought,"Now this feels like an imitation". At least the Skirmish is different in design. I really liked the blade ratio on the Skirmish and would absolutely buy one. It's the little things that add up when I think about the Seb.To this point, the Sebenza is the only knife I've owned that has come close to my idea of a true EDC. It's the only knife I know of that went from my Fire Department Honour Guard uniform to my work-issue blues and seemed equally at home in both.
 
I haven't read the entire thread, so some of what I will say has probably been covered before. But here goes:

For me, Sebenza is unique, because of its design. First and foremost, you can carry it almost anywhere. It looks classy, it looks streamlined, it looks stylish. When I show a black-bladed knife with black G10 scales on it to uninitiated, they say it's a weapon. When I show them a Sebenza, they call it a pen knife. Basically the knife has nothing that it doesn't need, it's pure function with simple, straight lines with no frills. It doesn't pretend to be something that it's not, it doesn't need "US ARMY" in big huge black letters across the blade (saw a knife like that in a downtown store, ghastly). It's a knife. A tool. It promises nothing beyond doing its job.

It's a knife held together by 3 screws. With a tiny piece of bent metal you can disassemble the knife completely, and reassemble it on the spot. Most people don't realize the value of this, but then again most people don't really use their knives. For example, I was using a serrated Spyderco Military to cut a root in my back yard, deep in the ground, about 2" in diameter. Cut it fine. When I pulled the knife out though, the space between the scale and the liner lock and the scales and the pivot pin was full of dirt. How do you clean something like that? Run it under water, that's about all you can do, work the action for a while to dislodge the particles. With a Sebenza, on the other hand, you use it hard, and then if needed (if, and that's a big if, the pivot area offers a lot less space for dirt to get into) you disassemble it, clean it, let it dry, reassemble and oil and presto, back to new, no grit in the action whatsoever.

And last but not least, a Sebenza can be restored. You can send it back to CRK, and for a very small fee they will bead blast the handles, resharpen the blade, etc. So you send in a scratched up knife with a handle used to much that it is almost polished, and it comes back razor sharp and looking like new. I can't think of a single knife you can do this with. I've sent knives back to several companies for refurbish, but the best they can do is sharpen the blade, that's about it.

So, the bottom line with a Sebenza is that you can use it. You can use it hard, and long. And then you can mail it for a few weeks, and it'll come back looking almost like it did the day you bought it. And then you can use it again. G10 will wear out and lose its grippiness, but Sebenza scales can be sand blasted again and be back to new.

And that's what makes a Sebenza a very good knife. You can get one, and it'll last a lifetime.
 
Dudes,
Stop comparing! Unless you own a piece of garbage, their all good, exceptional knives. Get the knife or knives you like and enjoy them. It took me awhile to learn this.
Lycosa
 
...When I show them a Sebenza, they call it a pen knife.
Click to expand...
Anyone who would call a large (or even a small) Sebenza a "pen knife" is a complete idiot and you should not let their opinions influence your choice in knives.

For example, I was using a serrated Spyderco Military to cut a root in my back yard, deep in the ground, about 2" in diameter. Cut it fine. When I pulled the knife out though, the space between the scale and the liner lock and the scales and the pivot pin was full of dirt. How do you clean something like that? Run it under water, that's about all you can do, work the action for a while to dislodge the particles.
Click to expand...
You do realize that you can also disassemble the Spyderco Military, right?
Really any screw constructed knife can be disassembled, cleaned, and re-assembled.:rolleyes:

I don't think that anyone is saying that the Sebenza is a bad knife...it's just twice the price it should be.
 
The best description I can give is the following. I recently took the plunge for a large Moon Song Sebbie as it reminded me of the southern style scroll saw work that my mom did before her death last year. So I bought one knowing that I am paying a high price for a high end knife but as it was in memory of my mom I cared not about the price. I had never held one before but I trusted the fan(atics?). I am very happy with it, after a short while the opening action was very smooth- almost as smooth as some teflon washer knives I own (I know that teflon is seen as inferior by some but those knives are the smoothest in my 200+ collection).

But here comes the kicker. My girlfriend has become a knife afficionado of sorts (read- she knows more about knives than most guys that have knives, especially the "cool knife" collectors) and previously had given a "Meh" reaction when I showed her a Sebbie. But as soon as she held it: "WOW- I really like this knife. It feels really good in the hand, and I love how solid the lock feels." Now this is a girl who just tested my new Mini-grip taking our new bedroom set out of the boxes and gave it a passing grade with no complaints (good- I have a pink one hidden for a present for her). My point is this- I think that Sebbies are one of those things that either clicks or doesn't.

However I think that the original poster is doing the knife justice by trying to figure out what he was missing when he held it. Intelligence comes from searching out ones personal truths using as much information as one can find.

Wow- I am in a rambling mood today!!
 
CRK must have it priced right because they sell them everyday.

I have owned and do own customs from well known makers that a Sebbie smokes in fit. CRK has the folder market locked for a EDC type of knife. They are much different from any "other" folder. You need to use one to get it.

Its no hype, they are the best for a reason!

This is not to say "other" knives are not great knives. They just are not a Sebbie.

I say every good knife Knut owes it to them selves to try one. Then if you don't like it, at least you know. I never thought I would like them, but I had to see what all the fuss was about. Now I "get it."
 
I've carefully read the dozens of threads on this pressing subject, and I've owned Sebenzas and painstakingly compared them to the many other knives I've owned, but I still don't know the answer to this crucial question.

But I do know that if you get it wrong, you don't go to heaven.




P.S. God carries a Sebenza. ;)
 
Knives are like wines; purchase only what your palate can appreciate. If, for you, there is no difference between a knife and an expensive knife, vote with your wallet.

Five years ago I would have laughed at the thought of spending more than $75 on any sort of knife except as a work of art. Today, I've passed through various knives, appreciating most of them but polishing my "palate" as I moved up the cost/value scale. Today I carry a small Sebenza as my EDC because I can really appreciate it like no other folder.
 
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