There are many mentions of the Chris Reeves "Sebenza" as a outstanding locking folder. The knife seems to be very well designed, from what I read on Chris' website.<br><br>However, it is somewhat pricey for my current economy. So, to my question: Are there any other folders with similar features which are worthy of consideration and your recommendation? <br><br>Thanks for your erudite opinions.<br><br>Tristan

Tristan,<br>I personally carry a Benchmade Ares which has Benchmade's Axis lock. I really like it, and you can usually find it online for around $120 or so. My lady has a Benchmade 720 which she loves. I found it on ebay for cheap. If cost is really an issue, check out the CRKT knives. They are pretty sturdy, decent quality and not too pricey. Be wary of bead blast blade finishes that CRKT uses on some blades however. They look cool but will rust quickly if not cared for. There are lots of good knife companies out there, so try a few and see which fit your hand and your wallet best. If you find something you like, and price is an issue, check around online and see if you can find a better price, or go to a gun show where you can haggle a bit.<br><br>Best of luck!<br><br>Greg

Tristan,<br><br>Like you, I cannot afford a Sebie. In fact, the bulk of my name brand, expensive gear came to me as birthday and Christmas gifts. <br><br>It would much easier to offer advice if I knew what you planned to do with the knife. Is this an everyday carry around sort of thing? Camping companion? Work knife? Survival specific knife? Any foreseeable defensive uses? How do you feel about serrations? How large both in inches and in ounces? Tanto, clip point or other? Etc.....<br><br>I recently have acquired a Spyderco Wegner (birthday present). I love this knife. It fits my hand (which is a first), is well suited to what I do with knives and came out of the box sharp enough to split infinitives, er...hairs. On the downside, it is heavy and expensive. What is important though, is that it works for me.<br><br>Andy

I'm interested in a knife with a similar feature set to the Sebenza, but in a slightly more affordable price range.<br><br>I carry a pocket knife virtually always, to be used for any and all cutting tasks.<br><br>In doing some research, I found a CUDA EDC at A.G. Russel's site which is made from D2 tool steel. If your not familiar, the EDC has a slight recurve blade with a drop point, about 3" long, and a lock formed out of the grip frame, like the Sebenza. The EDC looks good, but I'd like to get my hands on one to check it out before dropping the cash on it.<br><br>- Tristan

Tristan,<br><br>The Spyderco Wegner is a liner-locking, drop point blade knife. It is made out of ATS-34. It has G-10 handles. I haven't had mine long enough to reccomend it unconditionally. Key word: unconditionally. My family paid $92.00 for it for my birthday last week. Best birthday present I've gotten ever. It replaces a Benchmade AFCK (nice knife but I never loved it). If, God forbid, I lose the Wegner, I'll replace it with another Wegner. I have no experience with the CUDA, but I've heard good things. Also, in my experience, nothing that AG Russell sells sucks.<br><br>Hope this helps.<br><br>Andy

I've dealt with A.G.Russell for over 25 years. Their service and products are par excellence !!!! I'm certain you can return the EDC and receive a prompt refund should you be dissatisfied in any way.

<br>I was also looking for a survival knife to fill the position of Doug's Sebenza in my gear. $350 is a bit steep for me, but there is a good knife available for $26-$30 that has a similar configuration to the sebenza at an affordable price. The Kershaw Vapor and Vapor II come with a 3" or 3.5" drop point blade with all metal construction and frame-lock strength. Of course, it doesn't have the premium materials and custom-level fit and finish of the sebenza, but it's a good knife for "the rest of us" and an amazing value at that price. It's all stainless steel construction with the blade in AUS-6A. There are plenty of "better" knives on the market for this purpose, but IMHO, you would have to at least double or triple this price to start looking at them.<br><br>I bought the large one recently and can vouch for it's quality. It also seems to have a bit of a following over on bladefourms.com. I found the thumb-stud a bit sharp and hard on my thumb, so I chucked it in my drill and spun it against a sharpening stone. Now the knife is near perfect. A quick search on the internet will reveal plenty of sources. I found mine at a local knife shop. <br>

This is my first post here, and as such I am trying to provide something back for all I have learned from here with this rather lengthy reply.<br><br>As always everyone will have their opinions on what is the best for the money and all of these opinions will be correct for the person who writes them. As such you will still have to wade through the recommendations and actually touch a few of the knives yourself to be happier with your final decision. Even then, after handling your new knife for a while you will develop your own opinion on what you really want/need in a knife and you will probably buy one or two more till you are satisfied, if you ever stop buying knives once you start.<br><br>While I have no experience with Chris Reeve's knives, I do have some experience with the low to middle range of knives. So I will speak of the knives I have seen, handled, or own that I feel would suit a person in a number of situations.<br><br>First I will speak of Benchmade. This company makes many knives that are in the realm of a good utility/survival folder and I will cover a few of them.<br><br>1. 710 The one mentioned by Mr. Ritter in his articles on knives. A good choice and useful design. This one would be a good choice for urban and wilderness use, but it might be too big for urban use for some people's comfort. Not my favorite, but that is a personal choice, nothing more.<br><br>2. 720 Smaller axis lock knife, still a good choice. Smaller hands might appreciate this one. The size of this knife lends it more to urban use and less PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. pucker factor. This fact also makes it somewhat less useful in wilderness use.<br><br>3. 750 A Sebbie imitation, but not as high quality. It has a big blade, titanium handles and is my own personal EDC. The 750 is very suitable for wilderness use, but its size is likely to raise eyebrows in an urban environment. Benchmade has discontinued this model, so if interested hurry.<br><br>3. 550 The newish Griptilian has good steel, big blade with a utilitarian shape and has the axis lock. I have handled one but have not used it for any length of time. I feel this would be a good choice although many people will complain about the plastic handles and less than full length liners.<br><br>4. 940 The 940 series might not be generally considered for survival use as the handle is rather small and it has an almost jewel like appearance to it. I however see it as a fairly capable and PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. friendly knife that has been reported to stand up to some severe abuse. Again it has the strong axis lock and this knife would be ideal for someone with small hands.<br><br>Out of the Benchmade series, I would consider the 750 Pinnacle to be the closest in features to the Sebbie, but it is certainly not as expensive and not as well made. Some people have complained about the quality control at Benchmade, so it would pay to inspect any knife you buy before laying down the cash if possible.<br><br>Buck knives makes only one knive I would consider to be a survival knife, the Strider. It is a brutish big heavy liner-lock folder and would be a good choice for wilderness survival, but far too bulky for every day carry. (In my opinion) Perhaps I should also mention the venerable Buck 110, a brass and wood handled lockback knife that is very useful and capable in a wilderness situation, but too big and bulky to carry in the pocket, and the large leather sheath it comes with is very conspicuous in public urban carry. It is a very good buy however.<br><br>Camillus makes a wonderful "budget" knife, the EDC. It is VERY reasonably priced and comes in a few different blade materials, the best buy being the 154CM or Talonite. It is big enough to be a good wilderness knife, and small and friendly looking enough to be the EDC it purports to be. I will buy one of these myself one day, probably in Talonite just to get a Talonite blade.<br><br>In the Columbia River Knife & Tool line, there are many nice knives, but only a few would I consider to be good enugh for "survival use"<br><br>1. M18 This knife is an evolution from a proven design. The M16 has a relatively soft stainless steel that is easy to sharpen, but does not hold an edge very long. The M18 has much better AUS8 and also includes a safety on the liner lock. These two improvements make it a good choice for a survival folder and it is pretty handy for use as a utility knife also. It should meet the requirements of wilderness and urban use, but might draw some attention in an urban setting.<br><br>2. Apache This one is in declining supply in the retail chain, but it is a good knife with good materials. The extremely accute tip angle might make it a little to fragile for survival use, and having a liner lock will be frowned upon my many. I myself would not want it as my only knife, but it is a nice one for the money.<br><br>3. S2 This is a frame lock, with ATS34 blade and titanium handles. The large model is in very limited supply and will be hard to find, but a worthy contender in this field. It would be useful in both an urban and a wilderness situation, but more suited to the urban. It is similar in locking style and materials to the Sebbie.<br><br>4. Crawford/Kasper I will probably get flamed to a crisp over this one, but.... I find this knife to be a solidly built and easy to handle safe knife. The steel is that AUS6 that most people find too soft, but it is still useful. The size of the large knife is imposing for urban use, but just makes it the right size for wilderness use. You have to handle one to see how good it is despite the "crappy" steel.<br><br>Emerson makes a couple of knives worth considering.<br><br>1. Mach1/Commander Nice, strongly built folders of good materials, but a little more expensive than comparable models from other manufacturers. I like the deep finger choil, but to me the thumb disc is vulnerable to being broken. Obviously not my preference, but that is just my preference after all. Some people will also advise against a locking liner knife that does not have a safety like the CRKT knives.<br><br>I like a couple of the Gerber knives, but I have experience with only the first one mentioned here.<br><br>1. Gerber Gator ATS34 A very comfortable to hold and use lockback knife. A rather wide blade design is used here and it is an almost full flat grind. The handle is far too bulky to be considered for discrete every day carry in an urban setting, but it is a perfect knife in many ways for wilderness and camping use. It can be opened with one hand but not in as an ideal a way as those designed for one hand opening.<br><br>2. Fred Carter Utility 1 and 2 Both very nice knives with good construction and a useful blade design. They would probably be fine for urban carry as far as PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. go, and they look good enough for wilderness use. The only thing I would take time to consider is the liner only lock on the blade.<br><br>Outdoor Edge makes one knife I like for EDC and possible survival use. I have one. The Paragee is on the smaller size with a 3" blade, and maybe too lightly constructed for many outdoor fanatics. But as an easy to carry PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. friendy strong and well constructed knife, you can't beat the price. I feel it fully capable for most if not all uses a folder would be put to.<br><br>I would speak of Spyderco, but there are so many models that could be considered for every day carry and survival use that it would make this already lengthy response unreasonable in length. I will just mention the ones that might be considered without going into details. Some are lockbacks, and some are liner locks. You should look at the Wegner, Vesuvius, Native, Standard, Endura and Starmate. Maybe more should be mentioned, but that is the short list. I personally do not like the idea of a liner only lock, and to some degree I do not like the construction or look of some these. It is personal taste sometimes beyond functionality.<br><br>There are many knives I have not personally seen, so I have not commented on them. There are manufacturers that I have not mentioned, but that is not necessarily because I wouldn't recommend them, it is because I have no experience with them.<br><br>There is also the possibilty of a survival knife being more than just a knife. I would be comfortable carrying only my Leatherman Wave as my "survival knife" as the things it lacks as a knife are more than made up for by the fact it has two blades, a saw, files, pliers and scissors.<br><br>In short, and to respond to your question, "Are there any other folders with similar features which are worthy of consideration and your recommendation?", I can summerize by saying that that is a loaded question and that "similar" is in the eye of the beholder. To me, "similar" was the Benchmade 750 Pinnacle, and others that work for me are not quite as similar. Any of the above mentioned knives would probably more than suffice in a survival situation. Some would last longer than others, and some will be safer to use than others, and some cost much more than others.<br><br>Just remember some things to consider that might not be obvious at first glance. Do you want tip up or tip down carry? Do you care for ambidextrous use? Where are you likely to need the knife, wilderness or urban use? Is the size of knife you wish to carry legal in all areas you might have chance to carry it? Look for features that will enhance the safety of the knife in a survival setting such as deep finger choils to prevevnt your hand from slipping down the handle and getting cut, or very positive locking while open and a good tendency to stay closed when it should stay closed.<br><br>Have fun choosing!