Review Sebenza 31

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Hyesouljah

Hyesouljah

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I have locked my thread, thank you everyone for your replies. I think for the most part the consensus is the 31 is solid and eventually I may send both mine in again and see what can be done, they are keepers regardless šŸ˜ƒ

To start, I am a big CRK fan, still am, and always will be. I have more CRKs than anything else in my collection. I still believe theyā€™re the best in the industry and they have the best customer service that Iā€™ve experienced by far. The following is my personal experience with two of my Sebenza 31s and probably (hopefully) does not reflect all Sebenza 31s.

I now own two Sebenza 31s, both Unique Graphics. One is a Damascus blade, and the other is a polished blade.

Here are my major issues with the 31:

The first is lateral blade play. Both my 31s have side-to-side play.

The second, all the screws back out without lock thread, and the included purple lock thread isnā€™t enough to hold it.

The third is lock stick. No matter what, there is always a tiny pop of lock stick on both my 31s.
I purchased another large 31 that I gifted to my cousin, and itā€™s the same story on that one as well.

The fourth Is lateral play on the pocket clip. (slowly seems to be going away however)

With my polished blade 31, I carry and fidget it more often since itā€™s not Damascus. No matter how tight I would screw it down, all of the screws would eventually back out after just a little while of opening and closing the knife, and I mean all of the screws.
I slow roll my CRKs and rarely flick them, especially my Sebenzaā€™s. I tried putting the included purple loctite on all the screws on my 31s and let it cure for two days, and after 30-1hr of periodically fidgeting it open and close all of the screws backed out.

I decided to blue Loctite all of the screws, and I really tightened everything down and let it cure for four days, and so far, nothing has backed out.

Even with blue Loctite and tightening everything down well, I still get lateral blade play. You can feel it if you muscle it side to side with the blade locked, and when you disengage and move it side to side, you feel it much more. Bottom line, the amount of play in my knife is more of a nitpick but itā€™s still something thatā€™s present in a knife thatā€™s supposed to be an upgrade from the 21, which doesnā€™t have these issues.

My 21s wonā€™t move at all no matter how hard you muscle it; bank vault lock up as advertised.

Honestly, these UG Sebenzaā€™s are not cheap. So itā€™s disappointing that these knives have these issues. I havenā€™t contacted CRK about it because I donā€™t think anything can be done.

My two UGā€™s are incredibly unique, and I love them both, and they both have a forever home in my collection, and I will continue to enjoy them. Still, Iā€™m disappointed to view the change from the Sebenza 21 to the Sebenza 31 as a downgrade. Why fix something that wasnā€™t broken?

I have two Sebenza 21s that are each seven years old, and Iā€™ve carried and used them for seven years. They both donā€™t require any Loctite; you screw it down and forget about it. They both have a bank vault lockup that CRK advertises, no up and down or side-to-side play, they donā€™t have any lock stick whatsoever, and the pocket clips are nice and sturdy on both.

Iā€™ve been talking to a lot of my friends and members of the community, and the general census Iā€™ve gathered is that all of their 31s have the same issues for the most part.

Iā€™m an enthusiast, and this thread isnā€™t about complaining or talking down on CRK; itā€™s more just expressing my thoughts on what was to be an upgrade in the Sebenza 31, but it unfortunately isnā€™t, and I plan to share my thoughts with CRK as thatā€™s what Iā€™d want from my customers if I were in their position.

I donā€™t want to see any CRK slander in this thread; please, constructive criticism only.

Iā€™d like to see these issues fixed. I know the Sebenza 21 will never be brought back; theyā€™ve invested too much into the 31, but Iā€™d like to see another evolution on the Sebenza, one that doesnā€™t have these issues.

Until then, this will sadly be the last Sebenza 31 I purchase.

Edited to add:
The one thing I have not considered yet is that maybe my knife needs to be broken in still and the ceramic ball needs to find a home in the lock face and that might help the blade play go away but I wonā€™t know until Iā€™ve carried and used it more. This is just a speculation on my part.

If you own a Sebenza 31, Iā€™d love to hear your thoughts on it.
 
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Iā€™ve had 2 31ā€™s - neither had as solid a lock up as my Inkosi or 25. My 21ā€™s are still preferred over the 31. I have a 31 now that seems solid, zero play up or down. I do remember reading somewhere the 31 had ā€œplayā€ incorporated into the design ( or thatā€™s the excuse PR wrote ). I have a feeling some of the issues you are experiencing will work itself out with carry and use, mine did. I was a little pissed off about the slight play in the lock up on new 31ā€™s though - why go backwards? The 21 is basically perfect and in my opinion the Inkosi is perfect.
 
luethge said:
Iā€™ve had 2 31ā€™s - neither had as solid a lock up as my Inkosi or 25. My 21ā€™s are still preferred over the 31. I have a 31 now that seems solid, zero play up or down. I do remember reading somewhere the 31 had ā€œplayā€ incorporated into the design ( or thatā€™s the excuse PR wrote ). I have a feeling some of the issues you are experiencing will work itself out with carry and use, mine did. I was a little pissed off about the slight play in the lock up on new 31ā€™s though - why go backwards? The 21 is basically perfect and in my opinion the Inkosi is perfect.
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My Inkosi is rock solid as is my Umnumzaan. Love those knives. For me, itā€™s the side to side play that bothers me on my 31s, I havenā€™t noticed any up and down play in them which I know has been discussed in the past and is what is incorporated in the design supposedly.

But I agree, maybe with more time and use my blade play problems will go away which would be great. But even then, the lock stick and screws backing out will still be an issue.

Honestly, these 31s Iā€™ve found are a little more meticulous when assembling back together as well.

With the 21 you can disassemble them in the field and reassemble and be confident in it. I canā€™t do that with my 31 because the screws will back out without loctite.

Itā€™s something I will likely never need to do but still lol

I truly believe the 21 is superior to the 31 in every way.
 
I've always felt that what is now called the Regular was the pinnacle of Sebenzas. Have a pair of those in BG42 and they are spectacular in every respect. The later iterations never turned my crank, but I respect those who cherish the 21 - taste and all that. It's always difficult when the man and the brand are "one", and then the man is not there anymore. The heir has to make his own mark, and I suppose that includes making some perhaps risky design decisions. Give it time, see how it plays out.

Me, I'd be happy if they went back to making the Regular ā€Šexactly as back then, but say in Magnacut or the like. I'd buy that.

Oh, and to save someone else the trouble:



šŸ˜
 
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TC said:
I've always felt that what is now called the Regular was the pinnacle of Sebenzas. Have a pair of those in BG42 and they are spectacular in every respect. The later iterations never turned my crank, but I respect those who cherish the 21 - taste and all that. It's always difficult when the man and the brand are "one", and then the man is not there anymore. The heir has to make his own mark, and I suppose that includes making some perhaps risky design decisions. Give it time, see how it plays out.

Me, I'd be happy if they went back to making the Regular ā€Šexactly as back then, but say in Magnacut or the like. I'd buy that.

Oh, and to save someone else the trouble:



šŸ˜
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I've never handled or had a Regular Sebenza so I wouldn't know. You've got my interest though
Mister_Punchy said:
My Inkosi is indeed a tank, but my small 31 has neither of the problems exposed by OP.
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I am glad to hear your Small 31 does not have these problems. I would like to see more people share their experience, especially if it's good.

With my Damascus 31 I had an entire set of replacement body screws and pivot purchased as well as extra pivot washers but I still have blade play most times but the screws don't back out as easily as my other 31.
 
If you are tightening the pivot all the way and still have blade play then you need to send the knife back to CRK for service. Or, you can hone down the pivot bushing slightly, but be very careful - it doesn't take much. The problem with your screws coming undone just baffles me.
 
Kyle78 said:
The Sebenza 31 came out after Chris Reeve left the company, there are so many changes from the 21 to the 31 that I think he wouldn't have approved, Chris was a just a better knife designer/engineer.
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Changes like the ceramic ball lockup and the lack of pivot bushing just as Chris designed into the Sebenza 25 (which later became the Inkosi)? The Zaan is the same design which Chris did too right??

Other than that, what other changes occurred to make the 21 into a 31ā€¦the pocket clip was angled and they did away with the hole in the show side scale. How dare Tim Reeve change these!! Haha.
 
I've handled 20 years old regulars and a 30 years old original, and am baffled by the quality of early CRK knives : I disassembled and reassembled them easily and they were all in perfect condition : no lockstick, no blade play whatsoever and perfectly centered.

Back on OP's problem : Hyesouljah, I would take the opportunity that you live in the US to do as Sybernes suggests and send your 31 to get fixed.
 
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I got two small Sebenza 31's - an Insingo and a DP in damascus. I am in any way NOT a CRK or knife expert.

I have carried the Insingo for eight/nine months straight (one year challenge) and I use it multiple times daily. The action when it was new was VERY stiff/hard and I had to work on it for quite some time.
The DP has been opened and closed and taken apart and put back together to smooth out the action. I have used it to cut light stuff around the house but it has never been carried. When new, the action was stiff but nothing like on the Insingo.

The action on both knives now feels smooth although I guess you can say they have what OP describes as "a tiny pop of lock stick".
I don't see this going away any time soon on the Insingo but it might on the DP when it will be put to use - we'll see.

Both knives have rock lock; if I put pressure on the open blade spine it causes an up and down movement of the locking system.
I believe we can expect this on all 31's by now and if you don't have lock rock on yours, you have lock luckā„¢.

On my Insingo I can definitely feel lateral/side to side play when I apply pressure and wiggle it but not much and only a after I've used it for a week or two after re-assembling it. I feel that I have to tighten the screws down pretty hard but then, with use, the pivot screw slowly loosens up a tiny bit which I guess(!) is causing the lateral play. I rarely apply new locktite, I'd rather just let the old locktite be.

I can force force lateral movement on the pocket clips but I'd say both feels solid and trustworthy.

To answer OP's question: I believe that the ceramic ball on my Insingo has found its "home" by now but reading through this thread again I'm wondering if (some) 31's come out of the factory with everything so tightly put together that it can cause excessive stress and/or wear on some parts of the knives leading to a slight lateral play ?
 
Is this not something CRK addresses through warranty? I've unfortunately had to use it one time, but came away extremely satisfied with their work.
 
Dergyll said:
Is this not something CRK addresses through warranty? I've unfortunately had to use it one time, but came away extremely satisfied with their work.
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Would you mind to elaborate ? How long did you have to wait before getting it back ? I sent a knife myself and prepared myself mentally to wait for half a year.
 
I think you need a fidget spinner so you can use your knives for cutting. Describing 30-60 minutes of fidgeting as minimal tells me you may be causing the screws to loosen.


Just send it back for the blade play.
 
I have a large Inkosi that I purchased new from Spark in 2019, and I love it. It was a gift to myself for reaching a hard-earned milestone. It is, in pretty much every way, my grail folder as I have wanted a CRK for 20 years but couldn't justify or afford the cost.

That said, I would have loved to have gotten a 21. They were on their way out to make room for the 31, and by the time I was ready to buy they were hard to come by new in the PJ finish.

The 31 just doesn't feel as well fit together as the 21. I get a lot of the redesigns, but it still feels like a streamline/hand fit reduction decision. There is a lot of competition out there in terms of a frame lock titanium folder, and many of them lock up as well as the 31.

Part of the joy of the CRK to many is that there is very little tuning that goes into the knife. 21s can be taken apart, screwed back together, and will be dead center with perfect action. My Inkosi is very similar. I generally take it to snug and then give it 1/8 of a crank, and it walks and talks perfectly...but it's not a 21.

As CRK knives are tough to come by in the wild, I generally spend my money on other brands. However, if I were to by one off the shelf today, I think I would skip the 31 and just go with a Zaan.
 
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