sebenza 21 long term use

blanex1

blanex1

Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Messages
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hi guys, who has a sebenza 21 and kept it for a long time but felt they had to grow into using the knife! its taken me about 7 months with mine to fully appreciate this knife, because lets face it it not like most modern folders these days! one can't flick the sucker open, I understand it was not made for that, but besides that I'll probably hang on to mine for a life time, I was just wondering how other's felt about there 21's,thanks for looking.
 
You can flick it open if you want... it is, after all, your knife.
I never quite warmed up to my large 21; so I have a large inkosi, now.
 
When I first got into knife collecting, and with my first CRK, it took me a while to warm up to it. It wasn’t until I decided that there was on way in hell I was just going to let it sit around that I started to really use it like the rest of my knives. The more I used it, the more I understood just how well built a CRK is. Now, I fully appreciate the quality and simplicity of a CRK. I’ve got more than some but not as many as others. Today, I won’t be without a CRK. That has led me to carry two knives, because I still like my other knives.
 
It is so well built, and more-or-less defines what I was hoping to find in a modern folding knife, that I at times take it for granted compared to other folders that I own that are excellent in their own right. But I believe the small Sebenza 21 is the best folding knife I own. It did take me a little while to fully appreciate it. The more I carried it and had it around though, the more I really started to enjoy having it as my daily carry. I suspect it will remain so for a very long time.
 
I can easily flick my Sebenzas open (after they are used a bit) ... but I honestly much prefer to slowly rotate it into place and feel and hear that distinctive solid sound of it locking into place ... makes me smile still ...
 
It's not as intuitive to flick open as something like a Benchmade with an axis lock, but it can definitely be flicked open pretty easily once you get familiar with it.

Typically when I'm convinced I'll keep a knife, I'll try to use and sharpen it pretty quickly after getting it.

Here's my Small Sebenza the day I got it
ap1KFQa.jpg


After the first sharpening
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One of the more recent shots, after about 9 months of having it
DKdJTXE.jpg
 
Ajack60 said:
When I first got into knife collecting, and with my first CRK, it took me a while to warm up to it. It wasn’t until I decided that there was on way in hell I was just going to let it sit around that I started to really use it like the rest of my knives. The more I used it, the more I understood just how well built a CRK is. Now, I fully appreciate the quality and simplicity of a CRK. I’ve got more than some but not as many as others. Today, I won’t be without a CRK. That has led me to carry two knives, because I still like my other knives.
Click to expand...

I agree with this...5 years ago I bought my first Sebenza 21...large...tanto...jeez...this thing is huge!! Lol. I was used to 3.25” blades.
Decided it wasnt for me and my brother now EDC’s it.
Hmmm...maybe i just didnt like the tanto...so about 3 weeks later i bought another large in drop point. Then an insingo 2 months later. Took about 4 months to warm up to my Sebbies...now i have too many, and i have been kicking the crap outta my insingo! I love it so much i got it modded. Lol. It works hard, and everything is still tight!
3A2C5513-8829-4A14-80BB-C4833D4EAC8C.jpeg
 
I've had my large 21 micarta for 3-4 years and someone else had it for that amount of time before me. The thing still runs perfectly and I can easily flick. It didn't really take much warming up to. From a rational standpoint and a use standpoint I realized the quality from the get go.
kblTGcA.jpg

vcemvC3.jpg
 
When I got my first large 21, when I opened the box I didn’t have a jaw dropping experience or anything like that. It was a knife just like any other. I had Benchmades, Zt’s, spydercos , bucks and kershaws before. I still used them bc I didn’t want to use my 21. I would come home and play around with it. Couple weeks later I got an umnumzaan. I would keep it in its box and come home and look at it and play around. Finally realized this is just dumb to buy a knife and not use it. More I used them the more I loved them and truly enjoy it. I haven’t carried or used any of my others in a long time. Just fell in love with crk
 
I like all 3 of mine. Although as of late I have been carrying my 99 EKI 7a a good bit more. keepem sharp
 
I've been carrying my chosen long term Sebenza every other day lately. It's a large Sebenza 21 (insingo blade/canvas micarta inlays):

xDsD7y3.jpg


It's a fine knife, a well made knife, a comfortable knife to use. It just doesn't really move me the way some of my other knives do. Switching back to a Southard, or one of my favorite Olamics always feels good. Hopefully it will eventually grow on me.
 
My Sebenza is 12 years old and very nicely broken in now. I carry and use it often.
 
blanex1 said:
I was just wondering how other's felt about there 21's,thanks for looking.
Click to expand...
My signature (at the bottom of all my posts) says it.
Personally I didn't need time to appreciate it. Out of the box I was going over it and finding pleasant surprises. I'm pleased no end !
I'm into all kinds of other knives so I carried mine for a couple weeks solid and it is in "the collection" in the "vault" . . . read sitting around here and there with all the other users. At the moment it is on the side table next to the couch.
Other knives I EDCed after getting the 21 :
  • Cold Steel medium Counter Point (that was a weak moment but I couldn't pass up the fat grippy handle. Still dig it.)
  • BM Contego in M4
  • Spyderco Police in K390
  • Buck 112 in S30V with G-10 and Nickel Silver handles.

From time to time I slip the 21 into my pocket and experience how "the other half lives".
It's a great knife ! I wouldn't call it not like most modern folders these days! . . . it's got really decent steel (S35VN ~ 60 hardness), frame lock (seems like every "wowie zowie" knife that is all great and "new" is just another frame lock . . . the other big deal lately has been wood in the handle . . . my 21 has that (I prefer the strips to the new 31s big slabs) . . .
Titanium . . . it's modern enough for me.

Now if the other production knife makers could just get their stuff in one pile long enough to at least sort of emulate the precise pivot tolerances Chris Reeve (and the people at the factory) does I would be a much happier knife buyer.

Seems like if and when the other dudes get it right it is a fluke.

As far as carrying mine the only reason I wouldn't is I have another fun knife I want to play with for awhile.

The 21 is here to stay with me until I can't find my pockets to put it in.
 
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I have three 21’s and all are well broken in, but it still took me several months of exclusively EDCing a large 21 before the quality of the design, materials, fit, finish and quality control really sank in with me. The light bulb came on somewhere around the six-month point.
 
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