Sebenza's
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I bought both so i could choose the one best suited to my needs.
I considered the Classic to be the best looking and i have a small classic with snakewood inlays as a dress knife but in the end i decided on the Regular as my work knife.
I find it slightly easier to open and the blade tip is stronger for a working knife.
It's a joy to use and i wouldn't consider owning it and not using it, it gets carried every day and worked hard.
I can't understand people collecting these as they are far from pretty and you can only appreciate how good they are when you use them.
The clip works well ,the edge retention is good ,it strips down easily for cleaning and the finish and action are superb.
I have now sold most of my other folders as the Sebenza's made them redundant.
IMO the are worth every penny.
rb
I considered the Classic to be the best looking and i have a small classic with snakewood inlays as a dress knife but in the end i decided on the Regular as my work knife.
I find it slightly easier to open and the blade tip is stronger for a working knife.
It's a joy to use and i wouldn't consider owning it and not using it, it gets carried every day and worked hard.
I can't understand people collecting these as they are far from pretty and you can only appreciate how good they are when you use them.
The clip works well ,the edge retention is good ,it strips down easily for cleaning and the finish and action are superb.
I have now sold most of my other folders as the Sebenza's made them redundant.
IMO the are worth every penny.
rb
Phil562 said:Exactly my question RB, are they worth the money
Answered while I typed
I think yes if you have the money otherwise its plastic knives from the 99p shop.
I have the newer version (bottom image) and liked it a lot, but it did have some downsides which have relegated it to a soft pouch in a draw. I better elaborate there 
I had call to give mine back to Chris Reeve to deepen the detent that keeps the blade closed, when he returned it the whole knife had been returned to as-new condition, re-polished, re-sharpened, re-blasted. Since I did have other knives it seemed silly to go mess it up again.
There is no doubt that out of all the folders I handled at the Blade Show '02, the Sebenza was the best put together, solid, smooth, very precise, nice ballance and good lines.
As a tool for the woods it leaves something to be desired.
The flat handle shape, which makes it ride so well, is not comfortable when you have to do any hard cutting/carving, the apple-seed/convex edge that CRK likes so much might be sharp and durable, but it is useless as it comes for wood carving and takes a long time to grind back to a more useful angle.
The locking bar is very solid, but, it does tend to move over (more engagement) when the knife is gripped hard. This is more the case with the Classic though. Also, disengaging the locking bar is not really intuative. While I had no problems working most of the liner locks that I have handled, the Seb took some getting used to. Nearly everyone I have shown it to, even if familiar with liner locks, has had problems with moving the locking bar right.
The blade and handle shape do lend themselves to shutting the blade on your thumb a bit more than some other designs, and whilst it may look like a "Tactical" folder, it most certainly is not, being rather slow to open and manipulate.
Before I bought other knives I did carry my Seb everywhere I was able, but I reckon that the Rapid Response Folder by Combat Elite, and the RSKMk1 by Benchmade are both more useful knives, and both are cheaper while still having S30V blades. Neither has the same smoothness as the Seb, but its a ballancing act. The RRF is not quite as solid, but is faster and safer and the Ritter is LOTS cheaper and a much better slicer.
I had call to give mine back to Chris Reeve to deepen the detent that keeps the blade closed, when he returned it the whole knife had been returned to as-new condition, re-polished, re-sharpened, re-blasted. Since I did have other knives it seemed silly to go mess it up again.There is no doubt that out of all the folders I handled at the Blade Show '02, the Sebenza was the best put together, solid, smooth, very precise, nice ballance and good lines.
As a tool for the woods it leaves something to be desired.
The flat handle shape, which makes it ride so well, is not comfortable when you have to do any hard cutting/carving, the apple-seed/convex edge that CRK likes so much might be sharp and durable, but it is useless as it comes for wood carving and takes a long time to grind back to a more useful angle.
The locking bar is very solid, but, it does tend to move over (more engagement) when the knife is gripped hard. This is more the case with the Classic though. Also, disengaging the locking bar is not really intuative. While I had no problems working most of the liner locks that I have handled, the Seb took some getting used to. Nearly everyone I have shown it to, even if familiar with liner locks, has had problems with moving the locking bar right.
The blade and handle shape do lend themselves to shutting the blade on your thumb a bit more than some other designs, and whilst it may look like a "Tactical" folder, it most certainly is not, being rather slow to open and manipulate.
Before I bought other knives I did carry my Seb everywhere I was able, but I reckon that the Rapid Response Folder by Combat Elite, and the RSKMk1 by Benchmade are both more useful knives, and both are cheaper while still having S30V blades. Neither has the same smoothness as the Seb, but its a ballancing act. The RRF is not quite as solid, but is faster and safer and the Ritter is LOTS cheaper and a much better slicer.
I posted the pic because when i sold one on here recently i had several PM's asking what the difference was between a Classic and a Regular.
Im not suggesting they make a good bushcraft knife, the blade grind and handle and not designed with carving in mind but then again i wouldn't advise any folder as a bushcraft knife.
I find the lock bar easy to operate and opening and closing single handed very slick but everyone is different.
New in the UK i think they are £305 but i have never paid anywhere near that for one and the strong resale value means that you can often sell them on at a profit or at least break even,
rb
Im not suggesting they make a good bushcraft knife, the blade grind and handle and not designed with carving in mind but then again i wouldn't advise any folder as a bushcraft knife.
I find the lock bar easy to operate and opening and closing single handed very slick but everyone is different.
New in the UK i think they are £305 but i have never paid anywhere near that for one and the strong resale value means that you can often sell them on at a profit or at least break even,
rb
Thanks for posting the pics,RB. Whilst I have been aware of the basic differences in blade shape between the two and the obviously different cut-outs in the lower portion of the handle, I was surprised to see the lines of the top of the handles reversed. Convex on the Classic, concave on the regular. Hadn't noticed this before but I think it helps to give the Classic its more appealing curves..IMO.
I carry my regular large sebbie most days and it gets used for everyday things like cutting wood, opening milk cartons and preparing food if I need a very sharp blade.
The blade is ground very thin in my opinion and I have considered making a similar sized folder with a flat ground blade in a tougher steel and a more reliable lock configuration.
Its a very good knife, easy to carry, sharp, easy to use with one hand and reliable. Is it expensive? Yes but if I want to sell it, I could get most of my money back so not really.
The blade is ground very thin in my opinion and I have considered making a similar sized folder with a flat ground blade in a tougher steel and a more reliable lock configuration.
Its a very good knife, easy to carry, sharp, easy to use with one hand and reliable. Is it expensive? Yes but if I want to sell it, I could get most of my money back so not really.
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