- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 3,194
Firstly, shout-outs to Mikepapa1......this knife is great.....thanks. Here are some observations and some photos of the my new (old) 2008 Umnumzaan.
I have been carrying a large Sebenza 21 Micarta for about 2 years. Recently I got a small 21 and a large insingo earlier this year, but my large 21 has been in my hand almost every day for a long time. Since Christmas Eve I have been carrying my newly acquired Umnumzaan, and after 5 days of daily carry, I have started to notice the differences between it and the 21, and want to offer a few impressions of this legendary blade, and some fan-boy excitement as well. This knife arrived at my door perfect. It took some gump to assign this pristine piece of history to the status of "User", complete with blade scratches and snail-trails on the TI, but my curiosity would not let me leave it alone.
Here's the new brute (The Umnumzaan is the only folding knife that gets a set of Mag-Wheels. When I look at this knife I see the past, not the future. It's like a 70's Dodge Challenger with a set of old-school Mags, with red pin-stripe tires, and a hemi.........big and solid, not a lot of refinement or finesse, but great beauty in its strength, and a few curves to enjoy as well):
The first thing I notice that is very different from the 21 is the belly of the blade. The tip of the blade is also lower than that of the 21. When cutting up apples, slicing through packaging, etc the blade engages the material much sooner, kinda like a drop-point blade, but not as pronounced as the Insingo. I am liking this. When doing food prep with my Insingo, I often feel like I'm just dragging the tip through everything, and with the normal 21, I sometimes feel I am skipping across the surface. The Umnum is a good balance between the two. I didn't expect to like it as a food prep blade, but it's good. The extra blade thickness doesn't seem to be noticeable, and surprisingly it is possibly my best "cheese folder". We all now how cheese can stick to a blade, and that deep hollow grind on the standard 21 just sucks for slicing up a brick of the good stuff. The Umnum and the Insigno are about the same when it comes the whittling down the block of cheddar. I can't quite figure out why the Umnum blade doesn't drag as much as the large 21, I am even wondering if the more aggressive stone-wash on the Umnum helps, because there is definitely a big difference, even though the blades are so similar. Anyways.....enough about cheese.
Lets talk about the pivot!. I do not think the old pivot is any stronger, or any better mechanically than the new pivot, but it's eye candy beyond compare. You could argue it's overdone, and unnecessary, but I'll plug my ears. I love it. Regardless of what pivot you might own, I also really like how the thumb studs glide right past the horn of the slab without touching it. My umnum is silent on first open, then gets louder with each deployment. I realize the O-rings get crushed and take a little while to expand again and fill in around the studs before the knife is silent again. The lesson here is: if you are a Ninja, don't be flicking your knife while waiting in the shadows....deploy it only when necessary.
The slab milling texture is actually functional, and is certainly more of a 'traction-plan' than you can get on a CRK Sebenza (excluding Wilson's etc). It's not too aggressive when you work the knife for a while, and I like that the tips of my pinky and ring-finger lay on the smooth part of the slab, while my other two fingers and thumb get purchase on the grid pattern. I thought the knife might be annoying to hold and use, but it's good. The "old style" gimping looks great and is reasonably grippy. Nothing amazing, but functional. If your hands are slimey the knife is not going anywhere.
The umnum blade also has some really nice profiles for those times when you feel like staring at your knife. I really dig this view of the blade (that spear-point means business):
And the heal of the blade is really cool to look at as well. You can see how much farther the cutting surface comes back towards the pivot as compared to a Sebenza. The grind is much more "squat" here on the umnum. Note that the grind is 100% perfect and symmetrical left-to-right. Bravo CRK!
One cool thing I noticed is that the rubber bumpers hit the lock-bar at the exact same time the ceramic ball falls into the detent hole when closing the blade. That took a little thought I am sure to get right. It doesn't really muffle the sound of closing the blade, but it looks like that might have been the idea (I suppose you are not worried about quietly closing the blade if you are an assassin and your job is complete).
The Umnum can do a headstand thanks to the glass breaker!
And a few more glamour shots of the new kid on it's first day out. I am not sure if I like the Umnum better than the Sebenza, but it great and different for sure. I don't think it's a great office or workplace blade because it looks pretty dangerous when compared to even a large 21. When the light glints off the swedge people take notice. As an EDC for someone who doesn't mind the extra weight, and isn't worried about scaring their friends it would be a great lifelong companion:
Keeping company with my Bark River Bravo 1 (A very great convex grind fixed blade....don't get me started about how much I love the Bravo 1.....a true friend to the camper and fire builder!)
All for now....
I have been carrying a large Sebenza 21 Micarta for about 2 years. Recently I got a small 21 and a large insingo earlier this year, but my large 21 has been in my hand almost every day for a long time. Since Christmas Eve I have been carrying my newly acquired Umnumzaan, and after 5 days of daily carry, I have started to notice the differences between it and the 21, and want to offer a few impressions of this legendary blade, and some fan-boy excitement as well. This knife arrived at my door perfect. It took some gump to assign this pristine piece of history to the status of "User", complete with blade scratches and snail-trails on the TI, but my curiosity would not let me leave it alone.
Here's the new brute (The Umnumzaan is the only folding knife that gets a set of Mag-Wheels. When I look at this knife I see the past, not the future. It's like a 70's Dodge Challenger with a set of old-school Mags, with red pin-stripe tires, and a hemi.........big and solid, not a lot of refinement or finesse, but great beauty in its strength, and a few curves to enjoy as well):
The first thing I notice that is very different from the 21 is the belly of the blade. The tip of the blade is also lower than that of the 21. When cutting up apples, slicing through packaging, etc the blade engages the material much sooner, kinda like a drop-point blade, but not as pronounced as the Insingo. I am liking this. When doing food prep with my Insingo, I often feel like I'm just dragging the tip through everything, and with the normal 21, I sometimes feel I am skipping across the surface. The Umnum is a good balance between the two. I didn't expect to like it as a food prep blade, but it's good. The extra blade thickness doesn't seem to be noticeable, and surprisingly it is possibly my best "cheese folder". We all now how cheese can stick to a blade, and that deep hollow grind on the standard 21 just sucks for slicing up a brick of the good stuff. The Umnum and the Insigno are about the same when it comes the whittling down the block of cheddar. I can't quite figure out why the Umnum blade doesn't drag as much as the large 21, I am even wondering if the more aggressive stone-wash on the Umnum helps, because there is definitely a big difference, even though the blades are so similar. Anyways.....enough about cheese.
Lets talk about the pivot!. I do not think the old pivot is any stronger, or any better mechanically than the new pivot, but it's eye candy beyond compare. You could argue it's overdone, and unnecessary, but I'll plug my ears. I love it. Regardless of what pivot you might own, I also really like how the thumb studs glide right past the horn of the slab without touching it. My umnum is silent on first open, then gets louder with each deployment. I realize the O-rings get crushed and take a little while to expand again and fill in around the studs before the knife is silent again. The lesson here is: if you are a Ninja, don't be flicking your knife while waiting in the shadows....deploy it only when necessary.
The slab milling texture is actually functional, and is certainly more of a 'traction-plan' than you can get on a CRK Sebenza (excluding Wilson's etc). It's not too aggressive when you work the knife for a while, and I like that the tips of my pinky and ring-finger lay on the smooth part of the slab, while my other two fingers and thumb get purchase on the grid pattern. I thought the knife might be annoying to hold and use, but it's good. The "old style" gimping looks great and is reasonably grippy. Nothing amazing, but functional. If your hands are slimey the knife is not going anywhere.
The umnum blade also has some really nice profiles for those times when you feel like staring at your knife. I really dig this view of the blade (that spear-point means business):
And the heal of the blade is really cool to look at as well. You can see how much farther the cutting surface comes back towards the pivot as compared to a Sebenza. The grind is much more "squat" here on the umnum. Note that the grind is 100% perfect and symmetrical left-to-right. Bravo CRK!
One cool thing I noticed is that the rubber bumpers hit the lock-bar at the exact same time the ceramic ball falls into the detent hole when closing the blade. That took a little thought I am sure to get right. It doesn't really muffle the sound of closing the blade, but it looks like that might have been the idea (I suppose you are not worried about quietly closing the blade if you are an assassin and your job is complete).
The Umnum can do a headstand thanks to the glass breaker!
And a few more glamour shots of the new kid on it's first day out. I am not sure if I like the Umnum better than the Sebenza, but it great and different for sure. I don't think it's a great office or workplace blade because it looks pretty dangerous when compared to even a large 21. When the light glints off the swedge people take notice. As an EDC for someone who doesn't mind the extra weight, and isn't worried about scaring their friends it would be a great lifelong companion:
Keeping company with my Bark River Bravo 1 (A very great convex grind fixed blade....don't get me started about how much I love the Bravo 1.....a true friend to the camper and fire builder!)
All for now....
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