Curt-Benza-Made Knife

Putting all ethics and economics aside...

I find "fakes" and "clones" of various products interesting.  I don't know why, I just do.  There's just something about them that intrigues me.

So through my various moseying around the Interwebz, I found this oddity today:

I call it... the Curt-Benza-Made.  :)

I don't know.  Something about it just was interesting.  It wasn't an exact clone.  It wasn't a fake, per se.  It was a ... collection of various aspects of other knives that was mashed together.  The general shape of the knife (Sebenza), the axis lock (Benchmade), and what looks like a rendition of the older version of Curtiss's S.P.O.T. pivot design.

Would I buy this?  No.  One day, I'll own a CRK Sebbie.  I'm on the list for a Curtiss at the moment.  :)  And I already own a Benchmade:

haha I don't know.  :)  I just had to laugh.  It's just interesting.  If I didn't know about these custom knife makers and how much passion they put in to making and designing their knives, and learn about knives in general, I probably would have bought one for the sake of having a pretty knife and what I would have assumed to be a "good" knife.  Back then, I wouldn't know the difference between a $10.00 knife and a $100.00 knife; that's now changed.  But that doesn't change the fact that I still find these fakes/clones interesting.  :)

I guess I do have to give this guy some prop for at least not making an exact duplicate of a Sebbie like those other ones you see on the aliexpress site.  They'd put their name on the blade instead of Chris Reeves or something.  Those other ones are straight up fakes and have the guts to put Mr. Reeve's name on their knives and sell them as such.  Horrible.  :(

CRK Carbon Fiber INLAY Sebbie

Photo from BladeHQ.com

HOLY MOLY!  Have y'all seen this yet?  :)  Since getting into knives, I'd always thought that the Sebbie was a pretty knife.  There are plenty of other knives that I find sexy (TAD/Fellhoelter, anyone? and perhaps Les George's VECP as well), but the Sebbie's kind of a nice "gentlemanly" folder that still can be put in the "hard-use" category (YMMV).

For about a year now, I'd mused over getting one.  Then about 6 months ago, I saw the carbon fiber scaled ones.  I'd been on the fence about either.  Now CF INLAYS?!  That's like the best of both worlds!  :D Should I ever decide on actually going forth and buying a Sebbie, it'll probably be this one.

I hope they come out with the Small 21 version of this if I do decide on getting one.  :)  The price on these big'uns is $510.00... and it doesn't fit my hands very well.

He's a Man Now :)

This past week has been rough.  But as I said in my previous post, it was bittersweet.  Though the passing of my grandmother, I was able to reunite with siblings that I hadn't seen in well over 10 years.  I'm only 23 at this time and I'd missed out on being a big sister.

C1 is now 19 years old, fresh out of high school as of last summer.  I missed his graduation, something I wholeheartedly regret.  During the memorial, (while Mom and Dad were out of earshot) I told him, "C1, you're now a man.  I'm sorry I missed your graduation.  But here is something I've been meaning to give you.  A man should always carry on him, a good knife."

Because I didn't study up on the knife laws of his county (we're in separate states), I chose to give him a Spyderco Squeak.  I could have done better, but it was cute, non-locking, and with a decent sized blade.  As far as I know, it probably passes basically any county knife law.  C1, I also promised you that when you turn 21, we're getting you a CCW.  :)

I still can't believe I've missed so much of y'all growing up.  All 4 of you.  I hope to keep in better contact with you from here on out.  I love you!

Grandma, again, thank you for bringing us all back together, even if only for a week.

In loving memory of Maria.

1921 - 2013

Svord PKM (152/365)

I ordered the Svord PKM a few days ago and found that it had arrived yesterday while I was at Disneyland.  :)

Closed...

Open!  I love that the packaging says, "Available only to first class peasants.  Are you good enough?!"

The knife fits my hands very well.  :D  So far I like it a lot, though I do have to work out some burrs on the cutting edge.  The white handle looks great too.  :D  For $15 shipped, it's a great little friction folder.  :)

Knife Charm (101/365)

I've really been having fun making these little charms.  Brother has been too and it's been really fun spending time with him.  Who says charms are only for phones?  :)  I think this burger one is the best so far!  :D

California Custom Knife Show: Day 2 / First Custom Knife (051/365)

 

I did not do much at the custom knife show today.  Heck, Brother and I actually came later in the day at 1300, just in time for the Hinderer raffle (I snagged a raffle ticket JUST as Rob was about to walk out to set up the raffle table :D).  For the next hour or so, we didn't do much more than talk to a few of the knifemakers and take pictures.  I had an itch to buy something, even if funds didn't "allow" for it.  It was my first custom knife show and I wanted something to remember it by!

The knives you see before you are two friction folders made by Mr. Hiroaki Ohta.  He's a nice little fellow and I got both of these together for a total in the double digits.  :)  These are Brother & Sister (like "his & hers") knives.  Mine's the darker one while Brother went with the lighter one.  They're really great!

I think they look beautiful, and the price cannot be beat.  :D  This was the same man from yesterday where Brother, Tower, and Belush each got a custom box cutter.  

Anyhow, the day was slow and many of the knifemakers packed up around 1430.  I'm glad that I was able to find something that was well within budget (hint:  If I didn't find this, I would have picked up a Sodbuster), especially for a custom knife.  I'm a little bummed that Mr. Hiroaki did not put his mark on these blades (he only did so on the larger ones), but they aren't going anywhere, so as long as I know that they are my first real custom blades, I'm exceptionally happy.  :)

California Custom Knife Show: Day 1 (050/365)

Blurple taking a "family photo" with her step siblings, the Reeves.  ;)

Thanks to Plaza Cutlery, I got to go to my very first custom knife show today.  Brother and I went together and I eventually met up with some EDCF members.

It was a phenomenal event and to be honest, I didn't even know where to start looking when I came in! I was very much intrigued by the Japanese knives.  After walking around, I had realized that the knives that caught my eye each and every time were from these Japanese knifemakers.  :)

It was really fun trying to win the raffles and such.  I think the largest turnout for the lotteries and raffles was that of Mr. Hinderer.  It was insanely crowded when it came time for his lottery.  I hope I get a door prize tomorrow!  :P  I think that'd be pretty cool.

I didn't get to shake Mr. Reeve's hand as planned, but that's okay.  There's always next year.  :)

There were some CRAZY beautiful knives there.  :)  I can't even begin to describe them.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's update.  I didn't get to take pictures today (other than that shot above) since I forgot the memory card to my camera at home.  Oops!  Regardless, I had a great time today and look forward to tomorrow!

Goodbye Vic and Bug (035/365)

I don't have a picture today.  Not because I'm lazy, but because these items are no longer in my possession.

A few days ago, a neighbor buddy (also co-worker) lost his keys at work, and along with it, his Victorinox Classic.  He was pretty bummed about it, I think.  So when I came in to work today, I came prepared with my backup Vic Classic and the Spyderco Bug for him.  :)  It made me happy to see that he was happy.  He was using it throughout the shift.

I'm glad that my two tools went to somebody who thoroughly appreciated it and would put them to good use.  To be honest, I've yet to use my Spyderco Bug and that particular Vic Classic was sitting around in my room without seeing much use except for the occasional package.

Cheers!

The Sebenza That Never Was (027/365)

This, my dear friends, is the Sebenza that never made it.  A little while back, CRKT and Mr. Chris Reeves got together to create an affordable Sebenza.  I present to you, the CRKT Sebenza.  This little thing never did make it to production, however, as it wasn't up to Mr. Reeves's standards and the project was nixed.

Pity that CRKT didn't try harder.  It would have been one heck of a product, I'm sure.  Though, I'm not really sure how well a plastic frame lock would have worked out.  But good for Mr. Reeves for pulling the project.  That makes me want his "real" Sebenza (small) even more and happy to put my hard earned money toward something of such high quality.  I'm glad that Mr. Reeves stands by his products and would not allow his name to be associated with anything less than "perfect."

Rumor has it that Mr. Reeves tried to get rid of every single one of these.  This knife isn't really mine, though it is in my possession.  It's a pretty nice piece of history, though.