Convince me.

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The Sebenza has already been around for 35 years give or take so there’s nothing left to prove. Scores of “better” knives have come and gone in that time. Extra machining, ceramic bearings and all that stuff is great for pocket jewelry and fidget toys but they don’t make a knife perform better. Not every knife is right for everyone but I don’t see how anyone could question their quality.

I do think in today’s world they’re a bit overpriced but at the same time you or the shop you buy it from have to get in line to get one. They earned their reputation by being quality products.
 
"Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away" - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I'm a traditional slipjoint guy, but wanted to dip my toes into the modern folder pool. I went through all the major knives by all the major players, and settled on a CRK Small Inkosi. I dropped it into my pocket on April 22, 2017 and haven't gone without it since. I still carry slipjoints, as they are fun to fiddle with, but I rotate through them as I get bored with the one I'm carrying. The Inkosi has not had a single competitor in my life in over 8 years.

For contrast, here's what I wrote about Chris Reeves knives back when I was first considering them: "I have always shaken my head at people that spend thousands of dollars on Chris Reeve knives. To me they all look the same, and they're very plain jane. There isn't anything unique or inspired about the design. They're just a couple slabs of metal screwed together with a blade between them. Nothing special at all. We'd go to knife shows and I would point out the tables that had dozens of CRK knives on them and be baffled at how people could get sucked into the marketing of a product that's so obviously run of the mill. I knew that people touted the high tolerances, but whatever. That's not something I care about, and certainly not something I'm going to spend a small fortune on."

There are some similarities to the original post.

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Alpha3 said:
I own MANY knives, but not a Chris Reeves. I keep thinking about it, but haven’t yet taken the leap. I understand they make a high quality knife, that is a grail for many, but then I think it’s just two slabs of titanium with a blade, and washers: not even ceramic ball bearings. I can buy 2 or 3 nice quality knives for the price of one CRK. Knives with so much more machining and unique designs, rather than a CRK that is so basic. So please talk me into buying a CRK Sebenza 31 or an Inkosi. Thanks in advance for your input.
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Many years ago, I bought several knives for a young Marine. I wanted "the "best" for him as getting a knife was about all I could do at that time. I didn't really know that much about knives or the industry. . . .or what a modern dy warfighter really needed. I bought based on history and reputation. One was a Randall #16 "Special fighter. It locked to be the toughest knife they made, with 440C steel, based on heavier stock and with a full-length tang bonded to a synthetic handle.

As the time approached for his unit to ship out, he expressed concern that the very shiny blade would adversely elect glint in the desert. I tried to get Randall Made to fix this with some in-house treatment. They had no interest in doing anything to make it less shiny. I asked them for a recommendation or referral to an outside shop. They refused. In the end, a local gunsmith bead blasted the blade down to a uniform grey. He refused to take my money. I view this as a customer service failure. I my never buy another Randall knife.

When it looked as though the RM #16 would not be ready, I bought a Chris Reeve "Green Beret" from Collector's Firarmes here in Houston. It came with a dark coated blade in an advanced alloy, S30V at the time. It also came with a modern "combat" sheath. Both knives went to Iraq in time for the battle of Fallujah and other actiions in 2004.

I looked into the guarantee from both companies. The CRK policy seems to be more accommodating, but I do not now recll exactly how.

When the young man deployed again, the Randall stayed home in a display case and the CRK went on his plate crrier. Since then, Randll has continued to make shiny fighting knives from 440 series steels. CRK, on the other hand has continued to explore for the better performing blade steels in a series of steps. Currently their standard is Magnicut.

Last year, I gave our son, no longer a Marine, a Large Sebenza 31 for his 45th birthday. It is the envy of his brothers-in-law . . .which makes it a good investment from my point of view.

I am thinking about a CRK Backpacker for Christmas. Don't' know if it will be for me or him just yet.

Get yourself any knife Chris Reeve makes and feel good about it.
 
Personally, I’d have a hard time dropping close to 500 dollars on one knife regardless of the brand and embellishments. With that said, if everyone felt the way I do, we wouldn’t have brands like Chris Reeve, Olamic, Medford, Hinderer, etc. If it’s something you really want, and can comfortably purchase without risking buyers remorse, then give it a shot.
 
Are you going to mostly use the knife or play with it? CRK makes their knives to be used extensively. They're not made to impress you immediately with their action or intricacies, but if you use one for an extended period of time you start to appreciate why they're made the way they are.

CRK is US-based, does warranty service on their knives, and has been around a long time. They make tons of little tweaks to their knives over the years based on customer feedback and weak points they see when knives come back for warranty. By contrast, many other brands just throw out a lot of designs to see what sticks and end up discontinuing them and forgetting about them. It's a very different design approach when you know you're responsible for the knife's performance decades down the line, and that shows in the end product.
 
I prefer washers over bearings. They don't get gunked up and are much simpler.

If you just fidget with your knife, bearings would be better. But if you carry and use the knife, bearings are just a problem you will have to continually deal with.
 
After having been a CRK skeptic for a long time (including having bought and sold an Umnumzaan some years back), the Sebenza 31 inlay is probably now my "if I could only have one" folding knife. It's not an impressive fidget toy and it's definitely expensive for what it is from a pure specs point of view. But it is very obviously designed to be a long wearing, user serviceable design that's at home in any environment and perfect for just about any folding knife task. In all the good and bad ways, it is the epitome of mastery of the basics. If you don't like basics, it's not for you. If you want the basics executed perfectly, that's what it's for.
 
I think if the knife doesn't call to you, you probably won't want it.

For this situation, the best thing to do is handle one in person to see if it convinces you in hand.

They are US made, high quality, hold value, and backed by very good customer service.

However, it's your money, your perception, and your preferences that will ultimately help make your decision.
 
C'mon, man! DO IT. You want to be cool like us, right?

In all seriousness, CRK are EXTREMELY expensive. Like, firearm expensive. If you want it to look at it and you've got the cash, great, get one. For me? I could never justify the cost. If I'm dropping that much money on something, it's gonna have S&W or H&K stamped on the side of it, not CRK.

From a practicality standpoint, you can get just as an impressive and reliable cutting tool from Spyderco for 1/4 the price.
 
Okay. I'm totally sympathetic here. I marveled at the beauty of a lot of CRK builds and I respect how solidly they are built. So I finally got one. Unfortunately, the action was exactly what I thought it would be. Being used to knives with bearings, from inexpensive liner locks from Kizer to higher end frame locks from Cheburkov, it just didn't feel good. On the one hand, it was rough on the arthritis I've got in my thumb joint. On the other hand, that stud is one heck of a hot spot. On the overall ergonomics, I wish more of the scale edges were rounded. The inlays are pretty but I don't like how they feel. I don't like the stock clip. I also hate that the lanyard attachment rattles, especially when not running one because I don't. So on its own, it's not a knife for me. I'm a little stubborn though. I started with a different clip. It might be a little too tight but it's better than the loose stock clip. (You can see it on the pics of mine below.)

Then I decided to dump even more money into this already expensive knife. I sent it out for a Skiff bearing mod wherein they mill out space and drop in steel washers to accommodate multi-row ceramic bearings. That's done and now it is somewhere else getting custom inlays, more ergonomic studs, and a pin that doesn't rattle. So yeah, just waiting on a thousand-dollar knife that may or may not be what I'm looking for...

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