Al Mar "Shrike" ; opinion(s)

A

Allen E. Treat

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Oct 4, 2001
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498
I'm looking into acquiring one of these ; I KNOW Al Mar ( R.I.P. :()
makes/made the BEST, but was just wondering what you forumite(s) "take" was on this one.
( I'm gonna but the damn thing anyway! ;))


AET ;)
 
I like

Pro's:
smooth action( a flick of the stud and it's open)

great ergos( much like an AFCK without the finger groove)

thin flat ground blade with just a small false edge on the spine

construction seems solid although I don't abuse my knives so I can't tell you how it compares to a Busse

grippy thumb ramp

thick handle( fills your hand pretty fair for a folder)

looks cool

fit and finish on mine are excellent

Con's
thick handle( what fits the hand may be a little much for some peoples preference in their pockets)

long thumb studs( they need to be long to be accessable with the thick handle but they do tend to snag on things)

set's high in the pocket( there's twice as much sticking out of the pocket as an AFCK)
 
A couple more cons to add to the list.

G10 scales are way too smoothe. They are very slippery when wet

No notch for index finger to prevent hand from sliding to blade.

Personally, I don't care for shiney blades that show fingerprints bad. But, that's just personal.

Mike
 
I really like Shrike. The scale could be a little grippier but then it might snag on the draw. Besides, I'm using my "Captains of Crush" grip trainer and should be able to hold on to it :D. The thumbstuds are big and the knife doesn't sit well in the pocket but I easily solved these latter two problems with an excellent belt sheath from G2 leather. All in all, it is a great knife. Very smooth, even more than the SERE 2000.
 
Hey Mike

I think you meant micarta not G10, but you are very correct in that they are very smooth. I haven't used it in the wet but it only stands to reason that it would be quite slippery.

As for the lack of finger notch, I don't really miss it because of the thumb ramp and the fact that I can palm the butt of the handle pretty well(fairly large hands help). Although that is certainly something to think about when it come's time to stab something in the wet.

:)
 
Originally posted by BigDeeeeeeee
Hey Mike

I think you meant micarta not G10, but you are very correct in that they are very smooth. I haven't used it in the wet but it only stands to reason that it would be quite slippery.

:)
Click to expand...

You are correct. Must have had VG 10 on my mind, but they are still too slick IMHO.

Mike
 
Agreed.., the scales are slickwith the micarta.., very nice knife though. I sold one last year and I'm sort of sorry I let it go :(


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
Yes Micarta scales are what is on it, 1st thoughts when I picked one up:

1. Action is smooth as silk
2. Feels great in hand
3. Looks wicked
4. Needs grippy G-10 scales instead of Micarta

All around it a great knife I prefer the SERE 2000 over it though, but if the scales would change I think it would be sweet. It is not quite as thickand heavy as a SERE but would be a great EDC if you like the size of the knife.
 
Excellent cutter/slicer. Feels good in the hand and is very fast in terms of opening quickness. As stated above, the micarta scales are a bit slick, but otherwise, they feel OK.

Overall--I like it.
 
There appear to be lot's of pro's. I'll give one con: Lousy customer service form Al Mar, it has taken them FOREVER to fix our passaround knife!! and they've still got it
 
I think Al Mar has had the passaround for about 3 weeks. Not forever, but a while.
 
Yeah, but to fix something that only requires replacing one liner, 3 weeks is a bit much. Sent my EKI Mini Commander in for a lock issue, and they replaced the liner, screws, and clip. It only spent one day in their shop before it was headed home. 3 wks--too long.

Mike
 
Sounds like a minor repair but I bet the reality is something like this:

Knife sits in big pile of received boxes for a week or two.

Box gets opened and knife placed in pile of knives to be looked at.

Someone looks at knife at some point and decides, Yeah we need to fix and it goes into a new "need to fix" pile. Or goes into it would be cheaper to send a new knife pile.

Sits in the to be fixed pile, or the replaced when we get some new knives in pile.

etc.

Multiply that by the likelyhood people are on vacation and staff is short.

And I don't mean to be picking on Al Mar with this just that if they sell a lot of knives, they probably get a correspondingly large pile of returns to do something about.
 
Be that as it may, it's still too long. If other companies can do it, no reason they can't.;) Benchmade and Emerson fans wouldn't give these companies' warranty depts high marks if they took that long.

Mike
 
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