EDC advice???

[Matus]

I had a small Sebenza 21 for a few months and handled large one briefly. The action was super smooth, but the handle is not particularly comfortable. The blade size on the small one was great, but the handle was too short and boxy. The large felt too large for my taste. And I can't help it - but the HT of the S35VN felt ... unnecessarily soft and a little too thick at the edge for a folding knife. The fit & finish was impeccable though.

 

[user 16756]

I had a small Sebenza 21 for a few months and handled large one briefly. The action was super smooth, but the handle is not particularly comfortable. The blade size on the small one was great, but the handle was too short and boxy. The large felt too large for my taste. And I can't help it - but the HT of the S35VN felt ... unnecessarily soft and a little too thick at the edge for a folding knife. The fit & finish was impeccable though.

that's an interesting perspective.

IME Sebenza's are quite thin behind the edge compared to most American makers, and subsequently outcut them too (especially something like a Para 2 which was explicitly mentioned earlier which is an axe in comparison), and the S35VN is treated to the same hardness as all the other batch knife makers. I would understand if you were coming from a William Henry or traditional folder though.

what kind of tasks are you guys doing with your Sebenzas where the handle shape being blocky is really that relevant? if I do any hard work I have a Bark River 3V fixed blade that I keep in my trunk; I could smash through a concrete block with it. The fact that a sebenza doesnt have hot spots or weird finger grooves is a bonus to me. if you want more grooves, CRK makes the Umnuumzaan and if you want more than that the Inkosi.

 

[Matus]

I don’t really consider folding knives to be really meant for hard work, mostly just for collecting, or carry around and open boxes or envelopes. So they can have very experimental designs full of hot spots. This makes them cool as makers can let their designing skills and fantasy go wild.

The best tough folder I ever had was Freeman 451 (I think). I sent it back as it was useless for me though.

For me folder is for little, mostly light tasks like slicing an apple for kids when outside. That’s why I completely reground my GM Ace Iona to a much thinner, lightly convex blade. Sebenza is too thick at the edge to cut apple cleanly. Plus I dislike hollow grinds (though Sebenza is ground with a relatively large radius). The handle to me felt too small for the blade. Just a personal taste. It is a very nice knife overall

 

[user 16756]

I don’t really consider folding knives to be really meant for hard work, mostly just for collecting, or carry around and open boxes or envelopes. So they can have very experimental designs full of hot spots. This makes them cool as makers can let their designing skills and fantasy go wild.

The best tough folder I ever had was Freeman 451 (I think). I sent it back as it was useless for me though.

For me folder is for little, mostly light tasks like slicing an apple for kids when outside. That’s why I completely reground my GM Ace Iona to a much thinner, lightly convex blade. Sebenza is too thick at the edge to cut apple cleanly. Plus I dislike hollow grinds (though Sebenza is ground with a relatively large radius). The handle to me felt too small for the blade. Just a personal taste. It is a very nice knife overall

ok I can respect that.

IMO almost all of the locking knives on the market are way too thick for apples. Id much rather have a GEC or actually a fun little one Ive been playing with lately is the Lionsteel Bestman, which has modern materials/construction but actually cuts pretty well.

 

[Matus]

Yes, pocket knives with thin blades are a rarity lately.

 

[dafox]

The Kershaw leek has a pretty thin blade.

 

[Barmoley]

So in California you can’t really carry any fixed blade concealed and people would probably call the police if I carried one on my belt in the city. I usually carry above mentioned para 2 in 10V or cruwear, sometimes police in k390. All these are thinner behind the edge than large sebenzas I had, one was older in bg42 and one was in s35vn. Originally s35vn heat treat on sebenzas was too soft, so it was changed later after many complaints, it should be ok now. Sebenza is heavy and bulky, but these are relative and personal. It is definitely overbuilt and very nicely done. It is billed to be a hard used working folder and so I understand why they built it this way. If you don’t use it hard then the weight and the bulk don’t make sense, because it is not an especially good cutter. It is also relatively expensive. Machining on it is excellent and they are well made knives, but there are other options. These are all personal opinions. What is very obvious and unfortunate is that because of this race to the toughest folder or small knife we have a bunch of knives that work poorly as knives. Most traditional folders of 50 years ago are much better cutters than the newest and best of today.

 

[NO ChoP!]

Civivi fir the sub $100 win. Well made. Extras like a lined zip pouch, key chain and multitool, sticker swag.

This is the dammy Mastodon. Big 4" blade. Carbon fiber inlay. Deep carry clip. All stainless/ no plastic.

 

[Rangen]

For me, it’s Spyderco Delica in M390. Decently thin blade, useful for food, the steel takes a very nice edge and holds it well, good for cardboard and packaging and stuff, and the Delica is a good size tradeoff for me, you can forget it in a pocket, but it’s large enough to be useful. M390 is good stuff, and I say that as someone who is perilously close to selling most of my stainless knives and going full carbon. And it sharpens very well on most anything, no need for diamonds, unlike some other supersteels.

 

[user 16756]

so Ive been using my Lionsteel Bestman clip point for a while and I really like it. I still think the sebenza is the forever edc knife for me (though I appear to have a different experience with it as other folks seem to be getting along better with knives I personally think are poor cutters) but one thing I really like about this is that I can take it anywhere and people dont freak out about it at all. in fact, the carbon fiber / Ti thing and diminutive size seem to really make people interested in it, including people that I dont think would normally be "knife people".

I snagged this off google images (not mine) but mine looks identical, for size.

I had to put a completely new edge on mine though and the grind is... I mean at least it's not a Benchmade? but it's thin enough where it matters, even if it's not as precisely done as a real knife company.

BTW underrated little knife that might be hard to find is the Strider SJ75. Used to have one of those I traded for an SMF. I mean I came out good on that trade but these days I'd like to have that little knife back.

 

[Towerguy]

Just get a Chris Reeve and get it over with.

I'm a big fan Chris Reeve knives.

 

[Noodle Soup]

My EDC for about the last two years has been a Spyderco Caribbean. Not totally in love with their super stainless alloy on this one but its OK. The handle fits my had just right. The blade size and shape works perfectly for most of the things I use a folder for on a daily basis on our homestead and tree farm. The yellow and black handle is kind of ugly but you can see it if you lay it down in the weeds.