CHRIS REEVE: Thumb- Numb- Zaan

The Umnumzaan is plenty easy to operate. There's just always that inevitably vocal minority of folks who can't figure basic stuff out, and/or like to complain about things they know other people like in the hopes of getting a rise out of someone.
 
When I'm playing around w/mine I use the 'glass breaker' to open it once in a while also. Can almost thumb it open that way like a front flipper. A little more of a tab and you probably could.
 
My Umnumzaan was hard to open when I first took it out of the box.
I played with it and read the directions and then opening was very easy and I spent
the rest of the night opening and closing the knife for fun since it was new.
Like others said, you gotta take 2 minutes to get the hang of pushing the thumb stud parallel
with the scale rather than just straight perpendicular away from it.

There's very little thumb-stud purchase in the perpendicular direction because there isn't meant to be.
The way the 'Zaan is designed, you could just find a comfy spot on the stud and push.
I don't have to think about opening it anymore, the area with good purchase also happens to be the best
place to apply pressure to the thumb-stud.
 
Well,ya gotta admit the title is a funny one; one of the best play on words since Dork Ops ....

Agree. So far, the title of this thread amuses me far more than any content. It is just as simple as that the thumb stud on many folding knives needs to be pushed forward parallel to the blade spine in order to open them more reliably and easily.
 
I now have my 1st zaan for a little under 24 hours. As others have said and what is also talked about on the CRK cleaning video of the zaan on youtube, you press up/forward and not arc out like a seb / inkosi.

It took a little bit to figure out which part of YOUR thumb will work the best for you on deployment.
 
I like mine, I believe knives, like firearms, becoming proficient in their use, where their operation is second nature, they'll not only work better for you, it'll make them safer to use as well.

Saying that, from my experience guitar playing, not all hands and fingers are the same and they don't all work the same, so just as not all guitar neck size, length, fret size and spacing doesn't work for everybody making some finger tied when trying to play something else.

Just a thought.



The only bad thing that happened while owning the Umnumzaan is, the O Rings blew out at 100 thousand miles and required a new Head Gasket. :D
 
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The lock bar tension on my Inkosi was way too strong out of the box. A smooth "hydraulic" action isn't very compelling when it takes a significant amount of force to move the blade. Mine is better now, but it took months and a lot of tweaking.
 
The lock bar tension on my Inkosi was way too strong out of the box. A smooth "hydraulic" action isn't very compelling when it takes a significant amount of force to move the blade. Mine is better now, but it took months and a lot of tweaking.

You could have just bent the lockbar out a touch to loosen the tension up and with the adjustable pivot, it should have taken a short amount of time to get it dialed in. It’s exactly what I did and it’s smooth as can be.

I didn’t care much for the opening style of the Zaan. Sweet knives but I prefer the Sebenza and Inkosi. Really liking the Inkosi
 
You could have just bent the lockbar out a touch to loosen the tension up and with the adjustable pivot, it should have taken a short amount of time to get it dialed in. It’s exactly what I did and it’s smooth as can be.
Am I correct in recalling a time when any mention of altering a CRK lockbar would have brought howls of derision from the CRK faithful?
 
Am I correct in recalling a time when any mention of altering a CRK lockbar would have brought howls of derision from the CRK faithful?
This is General Knife, not the CRK subforum. (Most of those guys don't even know the rest of the site exists)
 
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Am I correct in recalling a time when any mention of altering a CRK lockbar would have brought howls of derision from the CRK faithful?

Haha, I’m not sure. Let’s see if they show up, it will be a fun discussion!
 
IMO the introduction of flippers, multiple opening modes, and bearings have increasingly spoiled people so that CRKs in comparison are not as easy to open in the way more modern folders are. I personally like the way CRKs and Striders open. I am completely inept at using front flippers, though. lol
 
Last night I'm cleaning my Hinderer XM-18 and wiping off schmutz from the cutting edge, and caught my index finger. I had to superglue the cut, but also switch from flippers to thumb stud knives like Umnumzann, as it's tender there even though the superglue job looks professional.

Then I go to break in the Zaan this AM, but the blade opened halfway due to weak effort on my 5th try, and I caught my thumb on the partially opened blade, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE. What did I say about wearing gloves for the break in? Now I need to switch again, from thumb studs to Spydiehole knives, to reverse flick them open with my middle finger until both fingers heal.

The dried blood makes the two small thumb nicks look like one jagged cut., but I don't think I'll need superglue this time 🤣

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I own and use Chris Reeve knives. I have done so for about 12 years. Recently I ordered a large Umnumzaan and tried over a week to open it easily, and many other ways too. I don't think opening a folder should require instructions or techniques. I get the fact it opens differently. I finally gave up and sent it back. Great knife with a design flaw. Thumb stud is hard to contact with the thumb as its too close to the scale. Also, thumb stud is small and shaped so it hurts to push, straight up as they specify and not out in an arc. I was told to hold the knife so as not to put pressure on the lock bar. Good luck on that one. It can be done while holding the knife in a very awkward way.When doing so it becomes easy to drop the knife as you are not holding on to much. Love Chris Reeve knives, just not the Thumb- Numb- Zaan!
Agreed and to my surprise I was very disappointed . My least favorite CRK to date as far as egos and opening. This knife gets a lot of love so it really caught me off guard when I got one in hand along with what I experienced with it . I tried to love it and didn’t even come close so away it went.
 
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