What are the Competitors to the Chris Reeve SEBENZA? Are there any?

the spartan Harsey folder come pretty close, in terms of the build quality and the level of robustness felt in the hand. Only wish they come with a hollow grind. The thing with sebenza is it's incredibly simple, built with tight tolerances, and a slicy hollow grind.
 
Burke said:
There are pluses and minuses and strong opinions all around but also worth looking at:

Demko AD20
Hinderer (probably the XM-18 series)
Strider SnG and SMF
Spartan Harsey Folder (available with some great graphics, really a direct competitor in terms of price and design to the Sebenza, with a stronger focus on durability).

Also would consider a TRM Atom for a little less scratch.
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I agree fully with what Burke said.
 
Chefget said:
Had several CRK's, sold them all.

Not fun to open or close. Handle is kinda uncomfortable. Been looking at the same design for many, many years. You can get different engraving on the handle (oh boy).

Need a knife you can pound with a brick and still use, consider a CRK.

Life is too short not to use a more interesting knife :cool::p
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I agree. I had a large 21 for about a week, was nigh impossible to open one handed for me.

I don't really like framelocks I've found with a few exceptions. In the price range of a Sebenza I'd take a Cheburkov or Biryukov instead.

That being said, you will always wonder if you don't at least handle a CRK. 7 years after selling mine I came across a small plain 31 at a knife show. Still don't like it, though I was able to open it one handed.

At this point I prefer non-metal handles and hole openers or front flippers.
 
With the recent price increase, CRK is narrowing the gap between production and custom. They are still fantastic knives - just depends on what you’re looking for. I prefer a Spyderhole to thumbstuds and a linerlock over a frame lock.

My custom folding Puukko from Pekka cost less than a large Sebenza with wood inlay. And now the wait time is similar to a large Sebenza from CRK.

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Chinese factories with access to CNC machines, low cost labor, and a plentiful supply of titanium as well as adequately performing steels with adequate heat treats which they can and will do. Better quality than a Sebenza I don't know but I would bet good enough to offer very stiff competition.

Now as far as proper lock up I had bad luck with a higher (maybe high medium) end Chinese knife but I would not bet on that being the norm.

I would still choose a Sebenza.
 
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I'm surprised I never saw or commented on this. This is a tough one... I think that once you get the curiosity and CRK bug, then nothing else will really scratch that exact itch. The thing that's always impressed me the most about a Sebenza is the tolerances. They surface grind to .0001 of an inch. That's always just blown me away. I really just like the Sebenza design also. You can have a simple plain jane that will look awesome even when it's seen years of use, or go fancy and get inlays and/or damascus. All of which will work fantastic for hard use. Their different types of damascus are serious working steels, not just for show.

I often wonder though what kind of tolerances some of these other high-end companies are getting like Reate, Shirogorov, Olamic etc. I've always kind of found it weird that CRK has always been the only one that has a history of publishing their tolerances. Does that mean that other companies aren't finishing to these kind of tolerances? I don't know. You'd think that they would want to show off their capabilities by telling us. However I do know that they're very good regardless. It's a toss up really, just whatever floats your boat.
 
LimpCroissant said:
I'm surprised I never saw or commented on this. This is a tough one... I think that once you get the curiosity and CRK bug, then nothing else will really scratch that exact itch. The thing that's always impressed me the most about a Sebenza is the tolerances. They surface grind to .0001 of an inch. That's always just blown me away. I really just like the Sebenza design also. You can have a simple plain jane that will look awesome even when it's seen years of use, or go fancy and get inlays and/or damascus. All of which will work fantastic for hard use. Their different types of damascus are serious working steels, not just for show.

I often wonder though what kind of tolerances some of these other high-end companies are getting like Reate, Shirogorov, Olamic etc. I've always kind of found it weird that CRK has always been the only one that has a history of publishing their tolerances. Does that mean that other companies aren't finishing to these kind of tolerances? I don't know. You'd think that they would want to show off their capabilities by telling us. However I do know that they're very good regardless. It's a toss up really, just whatever floats your boat.
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Just curious as I have the CRK bug but then came across Arno Bernard knives...What about your iMamba? Would you put that up there with CRK?
 
XtianAus said:
Just curious as I have the CRK bug but then came across Arno Bernard knives...What about your iMamba? Would you put that up there with CRK?
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Yessir I would. I also don't know what kind of tolerances Arno Bernard is getting as, like I said, it's not something that companies really talk about often. However yes i'd compare the fit and finish of my iMamba as about the same as a Sebenza which for me is saying a lot. The biggest differentiator in fit and finish between companies that I see is how the flats on the handles are finished underneath the bead blasting (if the knife is bead blasted). Atleast that's what I personally look at first. I'm talking about all the flats. The flats of the chamfers, the flats on the inside of the scales, everything. On basically every single knife you'll see the machining marks left from the cnc that they cover up with the bead blasting. You'll even see it on most customs. The Sebenza was the first knife I'd ever seen that was basically perfect in that aspect. I've examined the iMamba very close and it is extremely well finished too. Yea I'd say it's on par with a Sebenza.
 
LimpCroissant said:
Yessir I would. I also don't know what kind of tolerances Arno Bernard is getting as, like I said, it's not something that companies really talk about often. However yes i'd compare the fit and finish of my iMamba as about the same as a Sebenza which for me is saying a lot. The biggest differentiator in fit and finish between companies that I see is how the flats on the handles are finished underneath the bead blasting (if the knife is bead blasted). Atleast that's what I personally look at first. I'm talking about all the flats. The flats of the chamfers, the flats on the inside of the scales, everything. On basically every single knife you'll see the machining marks left from the cnc that they cover up with the bead blasting. You'll even see it on most customs. The Sebenza was the first knife I'd ever seen that was basically perfect in that aspect. I've examined the iMamba very close and it is extremely well finished too. Yea I'd say it's on par with a Sebenza.
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Very helpful thank you
 
Another name I'd throw in the ring is the Varga Knives VBR MkIII. Preorder is open now. Sweet looking knife for a (relatively) good price.

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Reate, WE knife, even some Kizer knives (such as the Kizer Mjolnir) and CKF (Custom Knife Factory).
 
It depends on what you mean by compete. There are knives that can compete by having similar materials, some finishing details, size, country of origin, and price range.

Is there a company that can competitively do the combination of what the Sebenza does with overall quality inside and out, fit, market and physical longevity, and an unmistakably iconic look and feel in operation? No, I don't think there is. You spend some time with other US made peers at that price (and often much higher) to the Sebenza, take then apart every so often, look every detail over, use it for several years. There is something the Sebenza has that there other companies don't. The Sebenza is unique and iconic.
That doesn't mean you are going to like it, though, or that any number of comparable brands won't make you happier.
 
J85909266 said:
It depends on what you mean by compete. There are knives that can compete by having similar materials, some finishing details, size, country of origin, and price range.

Is there a company that can competitively do the combination of what the Sebenza does with overall quality inside and out, fit, market and physical longevity, and an unmistakably iconic look and feel in operation? No, I don't think there is. You spend some time with other US made peers at that price (and often much higher) to the Sebenza, take then apart every so often, look every detail over, use it for several years. There is something the Sebenza has that there other companies don't. The Sebenza is unique and iconic.
That doesn't mean you are going to like it, though, or that any number of comparable brands won't make you happier.
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This got me thinking about the ability of some of the other competitor companies to scale production like CRK. Now I know that CRK leads time have jumped they are still much more available than say a Sea Otter from MBK. It seems CRK is able to produce a much higher volume while still maintaining quality control, albeit not 100%, still though it is impressive. Some of these competitors are unicorns in terms of availability.
 
new2knives888 said:
Why is there a premium for the 21?
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It was the last true Chris Reeve design and the culmination of decades of small refinements to get to that point. The new versions came after Chris left the company, so they have the brand pedigree but not the designer pedigree.

Also, the 21 had the heat treated titanium lock face, which some prefer the feel and security of (although the ceramic ball has functioned quite well in the field). The new models did away with that, possibly due to the additional cost associated with fitting the old design.

Have to laugh at some of the suggestions in this thread, some of these aren't remotely similar to a Sebenza. Even for the ones that are, nothing is exactly like the Sebenza. There are much cheaper knives that cut just as well and similarly priced knives that use the same materials, but they have advantages in different areas, not the same ones.
 
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