The Chris Reeve Knives Umfaan ........ A Small Review

Many Thanks bhyde, it's an honor.

No problem.

It's not necessarily something I think about when thinking of threads to put in the stickies..your recommendations help a bunch!


by the way- It's Bill :)
 
Great to see this one stickied. I've probably checked it 1k times and will keep coming back to it.
 
All bg-42's... could not be happier



Not to start a conversation and a history links thread, but obviously I purchased lanyard pins for the larger of the two, butany idea of whether they made a lanyard pin ever for the umfaan?
 
And here's a picture to give people an idea of what it looks like in a person's hand who wears extra-large gloves. Perfectly usable and exactly what I was looking for.
 
My 2001 Umfaan,Maple Leaf, with my 1998 Small Sebenza Damascus, Decorated, for comparison.
The leaves are a dark copper color.
 
There is currently an Umfaan for sale on Edgematters.uk

This one:
 
Last edited:
The Chris Reeve Knives Umfaan.............

What can I say about this little guy....? Well, I have had chances to get one a few times over the years. I was usually looking for others or had just purchased another CRK when one popped up, so was short on funds, etc. I finally scored one recently from a BF members and thought I would share with you my thoughts on it. Its a CRK that you honestly don't see around too much, but when one IS available, they never seem to last long. Lastly, I felt it was just something that I need to try and see what all the fuss was about.

For starters, it is Cute and Small. Its smaller than the small sebenza and thinner also. Me personally, I am a large sebenza guy, but for those loving the small sebenza, this should be right up your alley. As you would expect, its CRK Quality throughout. Fit and finish is perfect. Opens smooth. It has double thumb studs. BG-42 Blade. Lanyard cording is even a smaller diameter as well is a much smaller leather slip sheath, just like the large and small come with on certain models. AND one of the coolest UG/CGG Designs you could ask for. Would love to see this design on a large or small sebenza as well........For those of you that are wondering, the hex is size 1/16". Its pretty much patterned after the regular sebenza profile, just on an even smaller scale. If you can imagine a miniature sebenza, this would be it.

What Good is a review without pics....??? Well I took tons of them for ya.

For starters, I have some comparison pics for you all to see. Top: Large Regular Sebenza; Middle: Small Regular Sebenza; Bottom: Umfaan







And as requested, here is the Umfaan next to a Mnandi...!!!






Next Up: I wanted to see how much it WAS like a regular sebenza that we are all accustomed to. Well, it is indeed a miniature sebenza. It has ALL the parts a sebenza has. Blade pivot bushing, bronze washers, stop pin sleeve, rear scale standoff sleeve. Everything, its just scaled down to Umfaan Size....!!! As stated above, the hex is 1/16". Scale is stamped A01. Not sure if this stamping means the same thing as it does today as the BD Card is original and states 2000. I have Never seen the inner workings pictured, so am glad to provide that for you all to see.

















Lastly, here are some random pics I took of the Umfaan. Enjoy...!!!
















That was a cool "lanyard hack" idea! To leave the lanyard tied in the takedown pics. There have been a few times that I didn't take apart a knife because I didn't want the hassle of trying to re-tie the lanyard exactly as originally done.
I also have a Umfaan (zig zag model) that I was reluctant to take a peek inside because the lanyard is so small that I was afraid my big clumsy hands would never be able to make the lanyard look right again.
Thanks for the idea!
Also I agree with your very good review of the Umfaan. Thanks for taking the time to post that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I thought I knew what I knew. Now I'm thinking maybe I don't know at all. :D
What year was the "Sun & Spear" umfaan made? I got one here on the forums with a birth card of 2000, saw a post where someone said they had one from 1999, another post showed a picture of one with a 2004 birth card, another was posted with a 2002 birth card. Other than the UG's of course, I thought the designs changed each year.

What prompted this question was that I took mine apart this morning for a lube job as it was just a little stiff, did not come with the maintenance records.;), and I knew it had some age on it. It was pretty dry. I lube it up and now it is slick as goose grease. Amazing!
 
I thought I knew what I knew. Now I'm thinking maybe I don't know at all. :D
What year was the "Sun & Spear" umfaan made? I got one here on the forums with a birth card of 2000, saw a post where someone said they had one from 1999, another post showed a picture of one with a 2004 birth card, another was posted with a 2002 birth card. Other than the UG's of course, I thought the designs changed each year.

What prompted this question was that I took mine apart this morning for a lube job as it was just a little stiff, did not come with the maintenance records.;), and I knew it had some age on it. It was pretty dry. I lube it up and now it is slick as goose grease. Amazing!

Now you have me curious!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I thought I knew what I knew. Now I'm thinking maybe I don't know at all. :D
What year was the "Sun & Spear" umfaan made? I got one here on the forums with a birth card of 2000, saw a post where someone said they had one from 1999, another post showed a picture of one with a 2004 birth card, another was posted with a 2002 birth card. Other than the UG's of course, I thought the designs changed each year.

What prompted this question was that I took mine apart this morning for a lube job as it was just a little stiff, did not come with the maintenance records.;), and I knew it had some age on it. It was pretty dry. I lube it up and now it is slick as goose grease. Amazing!

The Umfaan was discontinued before 2004.
 
Back
Top