Help me choose a knife.

[mobbo]

Looking at purchasing a Chris Reeve Sebenza for Christmas. Really torn between two choices and was hoping to get some feedback on what you prefer!

Raindrop Damascus:



CG Celtic:



Open to other suggestions as well! Thank you 

[jdcarpe]

I love damascus steel!

[fknraiden]

I like the Damascus too,
On the otherhand,
I can never upsell Benchmade knives enough

I have a Osborne 940-1.

[Jokrik]

I've been looking for a reason to get one of the pocket knife
Never got one, and yet I kept buying cooking knife

But that damascus is one great looking knife!

[mobbo]

I like the Damascus too,
On the otherhand,
I can never upsell Benchmade knives enough

I have a Osborne 940-1.

Great knife. Was considering it as well but ended up falling in love with the Chris Reeve models.

Looks like damascus is popular. Should have known  )

[fknraiden]

I like the Damascus too,
On the otherhand,
I can never upsell Benchmade knives enough

I have a Osborne 940-1.

Great knife. Was considering it as well but ended up falling in love with the Chris Reeve models.

Looks like damascus is popular. Should have known  )

they look nice.
I just like supporting local companies. benchmade, gerber, leatherman, CRKT

Wow, just realized how many huge companies are local.

[mobbo]

they look nice.
I just like supporting local companies. benchmade, gerber, leatherman

Leatherman Wave still my most useful thing I own.

[fknraiden]

they look nice.
I just like supporting local companies. benchmade, gerber, leatherman

Leatherman Wave still my most useful thing I own.

I had a gen1 that I lost a couple years ago, was sad =[
Replaced it with a skeletool CX that I ended up giving to a coworker when I got my 940-1.

[njbair]

Why not both? Having two knives is pretty terrific.

[mobbo]

Why not both? Having two knives is pretty terrific.

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Both you say....



It's outside my budget though  :'(

[fknraiden]

Why not both? Having two knives is pretty terrific.

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I knew this gif was going to appear.

[Spopepro]

Are you going to use it? Who is going to sharpen it, and using what? I do our knives on synthetic Japanese stones and working on our one fancy Damascus blade (a G&G Hawk prototype) is really nerve wracking. It's no fun to get a fancy looking blade and then put a bunch of errant scratches into it when sharpening. Damascus is also not a very stainless metal (even if it's officially stainless... there's a range, and you can't treat it like 440).

tl;dr: I like the Damascus, but if I was using it a bunch, I'd get the knotwork engraved one.

[mobbo]

Are you going to use it? Who is going to sharpen it, and using what? I do our knives on synthetic Japanese stones and working on our one fancy Damascus blade (a G&G Hawk prototype) is really nerve wracking. It's no fun to get a fancy looking blade and then put a bunch of errant scratches into it when sharpening. Damascus is also not a very stainless metal (even if it's officially stainless... there's a range, and you can't treat it like 440).

tl;dr: I like the Damascus, but if I was using it a bunch, I'd get the knotwork engraved one.

Yeah I am looking to use it often. I think this is the essence of why I am torn with this decision. Love the look of Damascus but am worried I might treat it as more of an art piece than a functional tool. Not to mention, if I get a regular blade I could cut off around $150-$200 from the price.

[tp4tissue]

I think real Damascus would make a bad knife.   

[1swt2gs]

Definitely Raindrop Damascus.

I'm in love! Barely getting into EDC and picked up a cyro ii as my first knife. Looking to get something nicer further down the line!

[heedpantsnow]

I ran across these when I was shopping recently. I ended up with a ZT. But I love the Damascus. It was just out of my price range.

[baldgye]

Id go with one of these bad boys

[tp4tissue]

Id go with one of these bad boys

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is this not for butter?

[rowdy]

Sometimes I wish knives were tolerated more down here.

[tp4tissue]

Sometimes I wish knives were tolerated more down here.

Rowdy,  ....  too many enemies eh ??

[fknraiden]

Sometimes I wish knives were tolerated more down here.

care to elaborate?

[rowdy]

Sometimes I wish knives were tolerated more down here.

Rowdy,  ....  too many enemies eh ??

No, it's just handy to have something like that from time to time.

[tp4tissue]

Sometimes I wish knives were tolerated more down here.

Rowdy,  ....  too many enemies eh ??

No, it's just handy to have something like that from time to time.

What about a WHIP

[mobbo]

I ran across these when I was shopping recently. I ended up with a ZT. But I love the Damascus. It was just out of my price range.

Oh man I think a ZT might be one of the next knives I buy. Depending on if I go with a plain blade though - I might look for a William Henry next as my decorative Damascus piece, although they're almost TOO fancy:



Dunno if I can justify that as my everyday carry

Id go with one of these bad boys

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You are a man of great taste.

Sometimes I wish knives were tolerated more down here.

Is it frowned upon for carrying one around?

[mobbo]

Okay I've rethought about exactly what I'm looking for in a knife and I've decided to hold off on the more ornate (Damascus) features until later.

Which blade shape do you guys prefer?

Sebenza Insingo:


Regular Sebenza:


The Celtic design in my original post is the regular profile, so I suppose it's between the plain Insingo knife, regular plain Sebenza, or regular Celtic Sebenza. Would love to hear any feedback before I pull the trigger later this week!

[heedpantsnow]

What's the advantage of the Insingo blade?  Normal stop point is pretty tried and true for general use, right?

[mauri]

i dont need a knife but now i want one.

[absyrd]

What are you using it FOR?

Cannot comment on materials or shape and size until I know this.

[keshley]

I'd opt for the Raindrop if cost isn't an issue. Been looking for a CR Sebenza too, but the Damascus steel blades are out of my budget. They're gorgeous though.

My kitchen knives are Shun (folded Japanese steel) which has a similar look, and I absolutely love them. You'll never regret getting the Damascus steel blade.

Having said that, since the Damascus has been ruled out...

I'd go for the Insingo. From what I've heard, its a bit nicer to use.

[Spopepro]

The insignio looks like it's a constant radius(?)... it's hard to tell from the picture.  It wouldn't be my favorite thing to sharpen if there's not some straight portion of the edge.  Might be a non-issue if you're using something like an edge pro.  It should be clear: I always consider care and maintenance of a utility knife first.  If it's a huge pain to keep sharp, you won't, and then why have a knife?  It matters less if you have someone reliable to pay to do it for you, and are able and happy to pay them.  If you think that a pull-through device is a reasonable sharpening tool then it doesn't matter what you get.

My kitchen knives are Shun (folded Japanese steel) which has a similar look, ...

And, in fact, are more the same than different.  True damascus (as in the ancient procedure) doesn't exist anymore.  No one knows exactly how they did it, even though there are a number of theories and a good deal of research about it.  Modern damascus is a forged lamination of contrasting metals. How much contrast is controlled by finish and maker.  The shun knives referenced have a low contrast between the different layers.  It might also be worth noting that the shun knife does not use the laminated steel for the cutting edge, but is a softer laminated layers around a harder tempered core.

[jdcarpe]

I don't typically buy folding knives, but if I did, I would get a Nomad from Craft Lab Knives.

http://benandloisorford.com/knives/nomad/

[mobbo]

What's the advantage of the Insingo blade?  Normal stop point is pretty tried and true for general use, right?

I've heard people actually prefer the Insingo for everyday use.

I'd imagine that the Insigno is better for food prep (chopping, slicing, etc.) where the normal blade would definitely surpass the Insingo in terms of "stabbing" or poking through things.

Aesthetically, I think I prefer the original...but the Insingo has been getting a lot of praise recently...

What are you using it FOR?
Cannot comment on materials or shape and size until I know this.

I'm pretty much looking for a luxury EDC knife. Will be primarily using it for basic food prep, opening keyboard packages , as well as light camping uses. I have a Leatherman for most day-to-day practical events, however something about a simple folder has become too appealing to hold off any more.

^ for these reasons I was thinking of opting out of the Damascus variant, well the biggest reason being that I couldn't find any pictures of worn Damascus Sebenzas online, where there are plenty of regular ones still going strong (and looking great) after 10-20 years of use. I want this to be a knife that I will be able to (and want to) use forever.

I'd opt for the Raindrop if cost isn't an issue. Been looking for a CR Sebenza too, but the Damascus steel blades are out of my budget. They're gorgeous though.

My kitchen knives are Shun (folded Japanese steel) which has a similar look, and I absolutely love them. You'll never regret getting the Damascus steel blade.

Having said that, since the Damascus has been ruled out...

I'd go for the Insingo. From what I've heard, its a bit nicer to use.

Yeah I think I could live without the extra cost...they add on quite a hefty amount. The thing is... I keep going back to the Raindrop Damascus pattern and every time I just go "hnngggg" but then I think about carrying around a flashy knife like that and pulling it out in front of people and I feel like I should just go with pure simplicity. Maybe a little flair (like the CG Celtic). Perhaps if I get a second CRK I'll go Damascus (or a William Henry...)

The insignio looks like it's a constant radius(?)... it's hard to tell from the picture.  It wouldn't be my favorite thing to sharpen if there's not some straight portion of the edge.  Might be a non-issue if you're using something like an edge pro.  It should be clear: I always consider care and maintenance of a utility knife first.  If it's a huge pain to keep sharp, you won't, and then why have a knife?  It matters less if you have someone reliable to pay to do it for you, and are able and happy to pay them.  If you think that a pull-through device is a reasonable sharpening tool then it doesn't matter what you get.

I have a Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker that is pretty noob-proof

[Spopepro]

I have a Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker that is pretty noob-proof

That's a good system, and the curve of the blade matters less with it.

Don't worry about flashy knives in use all the time.  The G&G Hawk prototype I mentioned earlier is what my wife carries 90% of the time.  It's about as flashy as a knife can be and honestly... nobody cares.  The only thing people ever seem interested in is how fast she flips it open, as they think it's spring assisted and therefore illegal (it has the most creative locking system I've ever seen, making it a lock blade without any friction).

[rowdy]

Sometimes I wish knives were tolerated more down here.

Rowdy,  ....  too many enemies eh ??

No, it's just handy to have something like that from time to time.

What about a WHIP

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Apparently we're not allowed to have anything to defend ourselves with.

[demik]

the first one