The Monterey Bay Knives River Otter Pocketknife: Disassembly and Quick Review

[@BUBBA1J]

Welcome back Nick! Hope you are well!

[@CharlesHeller-l8k]

I like ray’s design language, and I like MBK, but the sebenza 31 is an objectively finer made knife, with a lock bar insert, and tons of options and better availability, backed by by far the best warranty I have ever used, not to mention it is also made in the US. I can honestly not see a reason to buy this knife besides preferring a quick action or already owning a Seb.

[@LawsonGill-zu1xp]

I think that’s a fair assessment.

[@phreakinpher]

If you already own a Seb then you have even less reason to buy one of these IMO. At $300 I would have been very interested as a CRK alternative.

[@PlantDaddy1991]

I'm seeing a lot of things that make me wonder how it commands a $400+ price tag.

[@jaysgood10]

If you’re seeing alot of things I guess it’s better than seeing nothing.

[@SuperSteelSteve]

A big Mac costs $18 in California, take a guess how much it costs to pay machinists to run CNC, QC guys, assembly guys. It's a 200 peice minimum for bevel grinding ect. Because these are being made in California is why it costs $400 for everyone to get paid a fair wage. People whine and complain about having to tip servers, and how low the minimum wage is ..."people deserve a living wage" But then refuse to pay the prices necessary because you can get the same of better products made in china specifically because the Chinese workers DONT get paid a "living wage"

[@Blueski888]

@@SuperSteelSteveA Big Mac costs $5 in California. Nice propaganda.

[@SuperSteelSteve]

@@Blueski888 The meal costs $18. Try again.

[@vincentferreira1135]

@@SuperSteelSteveno, the $18 Big Mac Meal was an exception. The meal, on average, is $15.47. Idk if you’re aware, but $15 is less than $18. Good try, though. Also, it’s “etc” for etcetera. Not “ect.”

[@CrowManyClouds]

Hey knife manufactures? It's 2024, could you possibly start cutting the relief for the lock bar on the inside of the frame? Ya know, where I won't feel it every time I use the knife.

[@kennedyx8]

Amen. How is the is so hard for them to do?

[@DanielReyes-hz1qk]

At that price it needs a captive pivot, shouldered standoffs, and a lock bar insert at bare minimum. US made or not.

[@jayr526]

.....and fetch your slippers,?

[@ix8750]

​@@jayr526No, Ilike MBK but he has a point. At least the lock bar and captive pivot...

[@emesser7087]

Allways happy to see a new video from you. Love your content. Hope you're fine.

[@timtitus2532]

Always enjoy your reviews, Nick.

[@anthonyd6881]

Great review Nick. Everything you said is spot on. I was lucky enough to score a MBK Sea lion. Despite the price to feature drawbacks in comparison to similarly priced overseas knives, there's just some intangible quality to the US made MBKs that give them a certain charm or "soul". You can tell that Sanford, Ray etc. put a lot of love into producing the knife, and that intangible quality is apparent when holding/ flipping/ using it. I thought about selling it a few times, but I know I would regret it. It's a special knife in a sea of mass produced products.

[@mstuehler]

@Nick - thank you for another great review! I'm always grateful for a new Shabazz video! I know your time is precious these days, but I've got my fingers crossed that you'll do a review of the TRM Bulldog! Either way, I hope all's well!

[@franksalem8580]

I bought one and like it. It is a bit pricey but worth it. Good honest review.

[@agquagwisvquwgavwj]

Figured I’d drop my testimonial here, I’ve had a sea otter for the last two odd years - and have carried it daily since. It’s a pocket sized tank. I work outdoors 5 days a week and it’s taken some serious abuse, though you have a hard time telling that by looking at it. I think that’s its real selling point, it’s a high end american made user. If you like shiny knives and or prefer to use cheaper knives for tough tasks maybe the otter doesn’t belong in your collection. For me though, it’s perfect.

[@jamesR1990]

Nick, please drop all other knives and get ahold of the new Fox/Terzola Original Gangster to review. The comedy gold this would provide would be monumental

[@zachstuff]

Thanks for the breakdown and walkthrough! This one and the Sea Otter evade me, but not for long! Enjoy the MBK products!

[@bawhite125]

Love MBK Knives. Just picked up the Mini Rosalinda. …. Verrrry niiice

[@heavyweightsound]

Love to see your videos!

[@TBEDC]

You know..At first I just thought you were a pretentious bastard..a knife Karen..but over time I realize you’re on another level with knives..a aficionado..you tell it how it is..I appreciate that..great video..Thank you for sharing..not that you’ll ever see this comment lol

[@jayr526]

I was highly impressed the very first video that I saw from Nick. I continue to enjoy them

[@clintonlewis1261]

I like the gray color.

[@FinickyVoid]

Shabazz posts, i upvote

[@greglipsit1866]

Nice review. Are you going to review the mini-Rosalinda? And what brand of ruler are you using? Machinist’s ruler?

[@ExamonLyf]

Excellent review Nick. Not my style @ $425, but obviously a nicely made piece. I certainly “get it”, the production costs run higher here, but still feel like this price point is high. Thanks as always.

[@matthuck378]

Do they make a left handed one like CRK does?

[@azraelsblade]

Nick, did metal complex contact you to review his knife with Kunwu?

[@OverCowboy]

Hi Nick! Thanks for the review. I've been wondering what do you think of cheap Scandinavian knives.. I know that's not your thing, but classic fixed blade Hultafors is very good at what a knife needs to be good at, and Mora is getting better recently, too. And there are a lot of traditional knives with a long history of craftsmanship, like the Finnish Puukkos from Kauhava and other towns as well.

[@kathleensmith370]

cool knife

[@yankee2yankee]

I like the River/Sea Otter knives, of course (they’re beautiful knives), but I can’t quite get over the price (over $600 now), or the lack of a steel lock bar insert. I have several MBK knives, including a couple of Mini Old Guards, and an EZC Makers Choice (the one with the thumb studs), in ZDP-189 or M-390, and guess what? They are all almost exactly the same knife, and very similar to the Sea/River Otter knives, in size and shape, for about 1/3-1/2 the price! Yes, Magnicut is in fact my favorite blade steel, however, the close similarity with the Otter knives, of the several other MBK knives can’t be ignored. I too prefer American manufacture, but I shouldn’t have to spend hundreds more to get it. Luckily, or craftily for MBK, they are their own worst competitor! I absolutely LOVE the “lesser” (i.e. less costly) MBK knives.

[@sloanNYC]

Have wanted a Sea Otter for a long time... hope they decide to do another large batch. Would definitely pick MBK over CRK.

[@albertchen7603]

I had been interested in this knife, and tried to get one on a couple of the drops but wasn't successful. Now after watching this review, I am sort of glad that I didn't get one.

[@Capin91]

I love the sillouette, but that’s about it.. Price talk is often tiresome, but I’m truly struggling to see the value here. I guess as you suggest it’s closer to a custom. The brutal simplicity is super attractive, but I would expect that to be paired with perfection

[@danielsorrell1168]

The blade is a little thicker than the Cerbenza? Am I the only one who thinks the blade looked demonstrably thinner than the Cerbenza in that comparison?

[@PeterS-r4o]

One day CRK will catch up and figure out that it's sometimes very useful to be able to open your knife with the 'wrong' hand.

[@jayr526]

Your review is way better than the knife.

[@OneMinuteKnifeReview]

nice, Thanks!

[@JROTCBALL]

This looks like a lovely lil knife, but geez for $400 I feel like it should have an over travel.. would still think about it over the Sebenza 21

[@SteelAddicted]

Is that a fifty fathoms on ur wrist I see or what is that?

[@Youtube-Censorship-Police]

i like the knife, but honestly, after buying an all us made ti-framelock with a magnacut blade from sharps bros. for 220 bucks this feels...very steep.

[@CNYKnifeNut]

Twosun shows how cheap knives can be when you throw testing and warranty out the window, Sharps Bros shows how cheap knives can be when your throw skilled designing out the window, and just machine as simplistic as possible to minimize material loss.

[@Youtube-Censorship-Police]

@@CNYKnifeNuthave you even tried the knife? bet you haven't, cause it's very well made, easily on par with a zt and better than my $450 spartan harsey any day of the week. btw: the machining on the monterey bay is much more simplistic than on the sharps bros. you have no clue what you're talking about, buddy.

[@ix8750]

​@@KZbin-Censorship-Police spartan harseys are meh for 450$. I don't think they even have steel lock bar inserts...

[@Youtube-Censorship-Police]

@@ix8750 you are right, there was no inlay on mine. i sold it 2 days later, detent was horrible (kinda nonexistent but still very sluggish and slow) and they didn't chamfer the edges on the handle at all. all in all it felt very clumsy and chunky, every spyderco, zt or hogue has much better fit'n'finish lol.

[@kh1188ish]

Wanted to get the river otter but now after the review, I. Rethinking that. the shortcomings in quality are hard to ignore. I'd pay an extra $50 bucks if they put a lock bar insert and made the stand offs more secure. Lack of a lock bar insert is a deal breaker.

[@CNYKnifeNut]

Good lock geometry makes a steel insert unnecessary, and a ton of makers use steel inserts as a replacement for good geometry.

[@micgalovic]

Most laconic Laconico knife

[@FreddyNietzsche.]

I absolutely love this knife, but they are rarer than hen's teeth over this side of the pond. No-one seems to sell them here.

[@hristo.bogdanov]

Is there is way to get this in Bulgaria?

[@ed21x]

No Lockbar insert, no countersunk screws, mediocre finishing, no bearing. Why would anyone pay extra money for a knife of this spec just because it's made here? In the US, the idea is that people are being paid more to make a better knife, which is not the case here.

[@pauljosephbuggle3722]

Seeing as I live in Ireland the knife is being made overseas respective to my angle and so I can laugh about the price without hinderence. 600 miles down the road is not considered "local" on our little island.

[@PaulZabo]

Support USA !!!

[@craigmiller8654]

400 plus = CRK. Not this !!!

[@destro6971]

A Cheesy Haiku for No Reason: 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀. 🧀🧀🧀, 🧀🧀🧀🧀. 🧀🧀, 🧀🧀🧀.

[@pannan80]

I really wanted one of these,unfortunately you can't buy one.

[@DanielReyes-hz1qk]

They're not available anymore? I was just in store a month or so ago and they had them

[@mangobadger]

@@DanielReyes-hz1qk it comes down to timing, the high demand models tend not to sit in the store too long.

[@fredfinger7092]

I must be ignorant, I can't see what makes this worth the price or what makes the Sebenza worth its price. If you have one and love it, that's great, but I just don't get it. If I'm spending $400 on a knife like this, I would feel like the majority of that is me "tipping" the maker for keeping their business in the US.

[@jackroy9094]

NIIIIIIIIIIIICK

[@dionflorio9249]

If you need to defend a knife's price point that much it's probably overpriced. The components are probably like 60 bucks, as you saw assembly probably takes 10 minutes and grinding the blade $300?? Even being American made way overpriced for what you get.