I just ordered this Shirogorov knife - anyone else have experience?
QUOTE=P4GTR;2238226]Sure, yes the Shirogorov. the review follows...
The gen.
Long winded review and more pics of mother Russia's most prideful knife maker, Shirogorov:
You can't order one.. And you can't even look at their website- It's Russian only (I know. google translate). Enter Aliexpress... :sconehead:
I purchased this from Kevin John, arguably one of the most reputed knife makers in the far east. This particular clone comes with a lot of claims boasting "highest performance cost ratio in China, real D2 we welcome you to test". I had to try one.
ayup: But, I digress like a thread about dry lube. :sigh:
Link to seller/knife-
http://www.aliexpres...2278966656.html
Interesting to note is this knife shipped from Amsterdam, not China. :joint: Strange. Interesting. Wish they would've sent a 1/4 along with it.
The steel is not poor quality. The heat treat is well done and there are no defects in the material. There are a small imperfection or two in the full flat grind, however no more than you would find on a brand new Spyderco. Yeah, I said it Sal.
The knife arrived after a few weeks and right out of the box was well adjusted. There was not too much oil, nor was there any need to adjust for blade play. The blade was perfectly centered and I was immediately comfortable flicking it open with my thumb as well as single handed axis lock operation/closing. The blade was not razor sharp from the factory, however the grinds again were of top quality. I was able to bring the blade to hair splitting sharpness with just a few passes on the Spyderco sharpmaker.
The axis lock has ambidextrous screw down thumb studs. One of the few gripes I have with this knife is that these stud "caps" get loose. This is a big deal. I keep borrowing my thumbnail to check they are tight. A good knife is one you do not have to constantly mind after, that sort of temperament is one I abhor above just about any other. Thankfully, a little blue locktite will remedy this. Before you do yours, break it in before using loctite so you can locate the sweet spot for the screws. The metal screws and nuts themselves are of high quality. Everything is done to the level I would expect of a high end production knife maker. There is even a tiny, sandblasted ring around the thumb stud where it meets the blade. High quality fit/finish is everywhere. The liners end in a protruding lip around the entire circumference of the scales. The scales need a better finish such as sand blasting or light brushing. I think the gen blade rides on ceramic roller bearings? Quite ridiculous. This clone has the proven and familiar feel of copper washers which I am fine with. I would expect an assisted opener or an auto for the added complications the gen action brings.
Overall I would say the knife delivers as promised. I am 100% happy with the purchase and would have to agree that the performance/cost is probably the highest I have ever seen. The overall quality of the knife is excellent, on par with low/mid range offerings from high end production brands. Since this was a positive experience, I will be ordering another knife soon. I plan to test something against one of my gens.. I have my eye on "high quality version" DLC/carbon fiber Paramilitary as well as others.
Thanks for reading the spiel.. here's the pics.
backspacer jimping
tang/lock area finish..
next to current gen Endura
Blade finish compared to 2014 Spyderco Bob Lum fixed blade sprint run
Paramilitary has some carry grime, apologies.
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