Did Chris Reeve do the unthinkable? - Big Changes Sebenza

Gilbert G

Gilbert G

Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
612
Ok so I've been a collector, a user and fan for over 8-10yrs. (lost track because that's what the knife hobby does to ya šŸ¤©). I've heard conversations before though about people confused, baffled, bewildered, and even perturbed about the fact the wood inlay sebenzas (and the annuals too) have a smooth kind of satin/vaporwash finish on the front scale and back scale but leave the lock bar section blasted finish. After some time handling a large Sebenza finally arrived at the conclusion the bead blast adds just a touch of extra grip and it does make a difference. Some theories are that due to the spring tension set, it is too difficult to get that section vapor wash/satin.

I personally love the look and the way it contrasts with the wood inlays and how it is different from your standard blasted ti Sebenza. However just today I was browsing a certain online dealer and noticed the new wood-inlays in stock. Looks like Chris Reeve listened to "some" people and made some changes. Noooooo......whhhyyyyy?!? šŸ˜© Observe the photos below:

CRK-S31-1100Aa.jpgScreen Shot 2021-06-24 at 9.43.28 PM.png


Can others confirm or deny this??? Please say it ain't so.
 
This is just a new option to fulfill two purposes from what I have gathered from Timā€™s comments.

One, is to give people ā€œwhat theyā€™ve been asking for for many, many yearsā€. And two, to reduce costs in manufacturing; therefor being more capable of diverting those savings to adequately pay CRK employees due to the increasing cost of living in the Boise area.

According to Tim, both the polished and bead blasted will be production models that can be ordered by both individual online orders, as well as dealer orders. So you will likely see an influx of the new version Iā€™m sure, but dealers can still maintain polished versions as well.

There is also now a $75 increase in the cost of the polished knives to now totaling $650. Lastly, he mentioned that there will be an additional price hike upcoming towards the end of the year. Excluding the PJ and Micarta versions. šŸ˜¬
 
Price increases happen unfortunately. I appreciate the open communication and the fact that the option for either finish still exists at least.
 
Ugh that's a relief to hear the standard polished version is still going to be available. Bummer though will be another $75. Seems strange to me why the price increases when they've always been that way at that price. $550 is not a small chunk of change and always felt like you were getting a little more worth your money having the polished/satin scales.

How many interested in the wood inlays plus the standard ti blasted finish? No idea but must be more than a few since the option is there. I just hope it isn't another corner cut by Chris Reeve knives. People saying the polished versions show more scratches but the inlays do a great job of absorbing most of the standard carry and wear marks (and they do it well) so this leaves the knives actually looking newer longer if that is important to you. Likely the other downside will be less knives in this option at the dealer. For example instead of said dealer getting 6 Large wood inlays (standard polished finish) they will now likely get 3 polished and 3 blasted. This translates to less stock for those that enjoy the classic traditional variation of this Sebenza.
 
A little bit of a bummer, not to speak negatively of them but saying it's to pay the employees feels like a little fictitious, I would be pleasantly surprised if any employee actually gets a raise or if its just cutting a corner to increase profits.
 
Gilbert G said:
Ugh that's a relief to hear the standard polished version is still going to be available. Bummer though will be another $75. Seems strange to me why the price increases when they've always been that way at that price. $550 is not a small chunk of change and always felt like you were getting a little more worth your money having the polished/satin scales.

How many interested in the wood inlays plus the standard ti blasted finish? No idea but must be more than a few since the option is there. I just hope it isn't another corner cut by Chris Reeve knives. People saying the polished versions show more scratches but the inlays do a great job of absorbing most of the standard carry and wear marks (and they do it well) so this leaves the knives actually looking newer longer if that is important to you. Likely the other downside will be less knives in this option at the dealer. For example instead of said dealer getting 6 Large wood inlays (standard polished finish) they will now likely get 3 polished and 3 blasted. This translates to less stock for those that enjoy the classic traditional variation of this Sebenza.
Click to expand...

Another way to look at it is there was a price increase coming anyway due to the time, labor and process of polishing the wood inlay models. CRK has now given people the option to not incure that price increase by choosing the blasted model if they don't want to pay for the polished model. Seems pretty reasonable to me.
 
TheJon said:
A little bit of a bummer, not to speak negatively of them but saying it's to pay the employees feels like a little fictitious, I would be pleasantly surprised if any employee actually gets a raise or if its just cutting a corner to increase profits.
Click to expand...

For those of you not keeping track of Boise prices ;-) the influx of new people moving to the area has set off an explosion in housing prices... at the beginning of the summer rents were already 15% over a year ago. House prices are a good 30% or more increase. Unemployment is running around 3% now. So I don't hold cost cutting against any business in town right now, and whether any individual employee gets a raise... well maybe, maybe not. I'd like to see a few more hires (if they can even FIND them) for sure, and if this change helps in that regard, I say bravo CRK!
 
IDhorace said:
For those of you not keeping track of Boise prices ;-) the influx of new people moving to the area has set off an explosion in housing prices... at the beginning of the summer rents were already 15% over a year ago. House prices are a good 30% or more increase. Unemployment is running around 3% now. So I don't hold cost cutting against any business in town right now, and whether any individual employee gets a raise... well maybe, maybe not. I'd like to see a few more hires (if they can even FIND them) for sure, and if this change helps in that regard, I say bravo CRK!
Click to expand...
Boise, like many mountain west cities, is growing rapidly. Iā€™ve seen it happen in my area as well. Not a lot of people understand how crazy the economy is in the mountain west.
Anyways, back to the knives. Iā€™m intrigued by the blasted vs the polished options. Iā€™ve held off on a wood inlay Sebenza for the reason that I donā€™t want the polished flats. Now Iā€™m going to strongly consider getting a wood inlay with the blasted flats.
 
aleforme said:
Another way to look at it is there was a price increase coming anyway due to the time, labor and process of polishing the wood inlay models. CRK has now given people the option to not incure that price increase by choosing the blasted model if they don't want to pay for the polished model. Seems pretty reasonable to me.
Click to expand...
I disagree with this wholeheartedly. "There was a price increase coming anyway due to the time, labor, and process of polishing the wood inlay models." Really? I think not as Chris Reeve likely factored in this long ago when determining the price. The reality is the standard wood inlays (now not standard) are roughly over $100 more than the standard plain janes. Thus one normally doesn't mind paying for extra upgrades when they come with more than one. I guess this is the reason I never purchased the Micarta versions as though sure they improve the grip, seems like a much higher price hike for what you get. Thus I never felt cheated in spending full price or more for a good wood inlay. In person, the polished/satin looks fantastic against the wood or all by itself and brings out all the richness of the polished hardware as well.

What if CRK decided to up the price on the Micarta models by $45, how would that look? Truth is I wouldn't be so surprised if it was like a $25 increase due to rising housing costs or local market trends but $75 seems quite the steep price hike for a service they've always done, likely mastered, and have done so for years upon years.

FL23833 said:
Well I hate it it's like Mercedes offering their S Class with cloth seats. Talk about cheapening your flagship.
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This ^^^^
 
I recently purchased a new S31 Box Elder (s45vn), and MSRP on it was $525 (DOB 4/20/21). That said, I just hopped on the website, and looks like the new MSRP for the polished is $575 ($50 increase) or $500 for the blasted ($25 decrease).
 
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Gilbert G said:
I disagree with this wholeheartedly. "There was a price increase coming anyway due to the time, labor, and process of polishing the wood inlay models." Really? I think not as Chris Reeve likely factored in this long ago when determining the price. The reality is the standard wood inlays (now not standard) are roughly over $100 more than the standard plain janes. Thus one normally doesn't mind paying for extra upgrades when they come with more than one. I guess this is the reason I never purchased the Micarta versions as though sure they improve the grip, seems like a much higher price hike for what you get. Thus I never felt cheated in spending full price or more for a good wood inlay. In person, the polished/satin looks fantastic against the wood or all by itself and brings out all the richness of the polished hardware as well.

What if CRK decided to up the price on the Micarta models by $45, how would that look? Truth is I wouldn't be so surprised if it was like a $25 increase due to rising housing costs or local market trends but $75 seems quite the steep price hike for a service they've always done, likely mastered, and have done so for years upon years.


This ^^^^
Click to expand...
Well, we can then agree to disagree then. Chris hasn't been around for a while now and while he might have factored in costs a long time ago to determine price, things obviously change with time. Prices for labor, materials, machinery, distribution and just overhead in general go up. As mentioned above, CRK has not increased their prices that often over the years but prices are going to go up over time. I look at it as CRK is giving people an option to keep the price as is with the blasted finish. Many think this looks better anyway. Myself included. They could have just jacked up the price on all CRKs although I'm guessing that will be coming anyway fairly soon. And I don't blame them.
 
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For whatever it's worth, I just picked up a Large 31 Bog Oak with a 6-21-2021 date card, and with the blasted finish. I think it looks fine, although I also like the polished finish as well. At this point I don't personally have a preference, although for the orders I have in I was given the choice of keeping the polished finish, which I did. Ask me next year if I have a new preference ;-) For what it's worth, new and old

Sebenza finishes.jpg
 
Well, now folks will have a choice. How can that be a bad thing. As far as price goes, have you bought lumber lately ??. Price increases are everywhere right now and probably wonā€™t be be getting lower any time soon.
Personally, if thereā€™s something I want, Iā€™ll save my money and buy it. Iā€™m thinking a wood inlay, blasted slabs with boomerang Damascus would be hard for me to pass up. Iā€™m just not that mad at anyone.
 
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