Al Mar Shrike Passaround

I'll be awaiting its arrival. I'm looking forward to giving this knife a try. I'll let everyone know when I receive it.
 
slide13, the knife has been shipped I'll email you the confirmation#, now onto my thoughts about the Al Mar:

I compared it to my Benchmade AFCK for a few reasons, I felt they were similar in design, and size, and the BM is my EDC, which is what I was thinking of replacing with the Al Mar.

First some Specs.(keep in mind I measured with a ruler)

Al Mar Shrike Benchmade AFCK

Length closed: 5" 5 1/4"

OAL open 8 5/8" 9"

Blade length 3 1/2" 3 3/4"
Cutting area

Blade thickness 1/8" 1/8"

Handle thickness 9/16" 7/16"
without the clip

What I liked about the Al Mar:

This knife was quick, quick to open, quick to slash, this knife just flew open with a touch of my thumb. The handle heavy, blade light configuration, makes for a great defensive knife.

The subdued black Micarta scales drew little attention, (although a black clip would be nice)and fit my hand nicely, the thick scale really give you something to grab onto.

I liked the thin blade, the primary bevel is ground very high, which makes for a thin sharp blade, and the swedge/false edge makes this a wickedly pointy knife. I used this knife at evey meal, it cut through everything turkey to tomatoes, and it cut with ease.

I liked the fact, that you can also roll the blade open like your lighting a Bic lighter, multiple opening methods.

I didn't really compare the VG10 steel to the ATS 34 as far a cutting ability, I feel most of the production knives made from todays supersteels should be comparatively close as far as edge holding and ease of sharpening.

Now for the things I didn't like:

The clip allows the knife to ride to high in the pocket for my tastes, I prefer the knife to sit as low as possible for security, and low visibility,(I also mentioned above that the clip should be black so it doesn't stick out like a shiney flag telling everyone "I got a knife in my pocket").

The thumbstud should be smoother, this knife flys open so easily the thumbstud could be smoother, it doesn't take much force to open it. The thumbstud also kept scratching my hand, everytime I put my hand in my pocket, this really pis*ed me off, my hand looked like I was playing with crazed a cat from the scratches.

I wasn't very fond of the open spine, unlike many people on this forum I carry more than just a knife in my pocket, and things do get in there and ding up the blade edge. I just like the protection the full back spacer offers the edge.

I would have also liked the liner to be Titanium, nothing locks up like Ti on steel.

One last thing, the handle could have been a little longer to make for a nice Skull Crusher, like the BM AFCK.

My BM was faster in grip changes, the blade on the BM is heavier so it snaps open with more force, transalating to faster a time opening it.

The BM is balanced better, the knife flips, pivots, and handles faster because of that balance, I didn't get this with the Al Mar.

If the BM AFCK was never invented, I would probably have an Al Mar Shrike as an EDC, but for now I'll stick with my BM.

I will however look into other Al Mar knives, as they are definately a quality knife mnfgr.
 
Well, the Shrike just arrived. First impressions, a little smaller then I expected, an amazingly smooth opening and great feel in the hand. I really like the micarta handles a lot better then G10 which so many knives of this style seem to come with. Knife looks brand new. I'll give it a run through for the next few days and also try to get some pics of it. I plan to ship it out on Monday (Post Offices are closed, but other locations to drop off packages are open and they will go out that day) I'll post more after I've used it.
 
Oh, and I can now be added to the list of people who cut their thumb while opening the knife.

I was opening and closing it while trying to do my Calculus homework and I sliced it pretty good. It's really fast!
 
Knife was shipped off today USPS Priority. I'll try to get some more pics and a reveiw up sometime tomorrow.
 
I guess that means I'm next, right? I'm looking forward to seeing this one.
 
This is a bout the slickest opening production knife I've handled. Real close with the BM 940. I think all of my observations about the knife have already been posted. Since most everything was good about it, I'll just list the two things I did not like.
1-The lack of some kind of guard like apparatus.
2-The scales were slick. They need to be a little grippier texture.
I need to be confident that I can stab into something hard. The slick handles and lack of guard do not inspire confidence in me. Even with these two things wrong (IMO), I still like this knife a lot. It just has style.
 
Got the knife this morning! I'm in the middle of a re-modeling job so will put it to use immediately. Will keep y'all up-to-date and get it shipped out by Monday at the latest.
 
Shrike is on its way to Steve. I wasn't really to impressed. It's nothing specifically wrong with the knife. It cut well. I used it in the kitchen, to open some boxes and to cut some rope. In the kitchen it performed flawlessly cutting everything from steaks to vegetables. The blade shape really enhanced this use. When cutting boxes, the blade had no problem but the handle being so slick with no real grip to it made me feel real insecure about it. When it came to nylon rope it didn't do too good. It would cut, but with a lot of effort. Overall this knife, in my opinion, just didn't stand out the way the Tempest did. Not a bad knife, just something that I wouldn't go out of my way to get. Thanks for the chance to try it out.
 
Got it today! I agree with the handle not being "grippy" enough, but I think the handle shape helps with the grip.

The knife came fairly sharp, but a couple passes on the buffing wheel and now it is scary sharp! :eek:

I'll post more as I use the knife.
 
It is on it's way, USPS DC# 0302 1790 0001 0387 5756.

I liked the Shrike, but I'd have to honestly say I wouldn't buy one for myself. I just don't care all too much for the blade shape and smooth handle. However, I loved the fit and finish on the knife, and I'm sure I'll look into other Al Mar knives!
 
Your item was delivered at 1:10 pm on February 15, 2003 in ALAMEDA, CA 94501

Doesn't she have more than one passaround right now???
 
From USPS DC #0302 1790 0001 0387 5756:

Your item was delivered at 1:10 pm on February 15, 2003 in ALAMEDA, CA 94501.
Click to expand...

She should have had it and sent it on already...who was after her? Has anyone else recieved it?

EDIT: Doh! Beaten by mere moments! :p
 
i just received the knife today, i'll post a first impression later one today probably and another analysis after I get to use/carry it a bit
 
Originally posted by Manji
i just received the knife today, i'll post a first impression later one today probably and another analysis after I get to use/carry it a bit
Click to expand...

Good to know you have it. When was the box postmarked?
 
In a different passaround thread it was mentioned LC had been sick, I just saw it the other day.
 
It was a nice bright spot in an otherwise dreary week. My first impressions are that the handle is both longer and thicker than anything I currently EDC, but after a comparison with my Socom E plain edge clip, the knives are almost the same thickness and length when closed. The Blade on the Shrike seems delicate as compared to the Socom and closely resembled the Benchmade 941, but with a little more belly. Looks like it ought to be a great slicer. The grip is very comfortable to me with my medium large hands. I find the handle to offer a more secure with a thumb on top and while I'm no fan of rough grips like on a 710, I think the Shrike could use a little something. Even just a medium bead blast would help, but of course would change the look. I find that like the SERE 2000, the blade to handle length seems a little off, but here it is an optical illusion as the Shrike measures very close to the Socom Elite yet again in critical dimensions.

I also like my knives to ride low in the pocket and this is too high profile for carry while working for me. The blade doesn't seem to offer much more than a Benchmade 941, yet the handle is much bulkier. Even so, I think this knife looks sweet and is pretty slick.

Fit and finish are typical Al Mar in my experience; very well done.

I'll carry it for a couple days over the weekend and then send it back as it seems I'm at the end of the list!

Thanks to Mike Dye and newgrahamknives.com for sponsering this pass around and giving me the chance to try this knife out.

jmx

PS: Did I mention that I really like the way this knife looks in person a lot more than the pictures I've seen?
 
The Fedex man gets it tomorrow to take it home to NGK.

All in all, I like the knife quite a bit. As I suspected, it is quite a good slicer. It does a wonderful job dismembering packing cartons and generally opening what needs to be opened. I really like the action and have great confidence in the lock. It's perhaps the strongest liner lock I've seen. It survived a couple moderate spine whacks that would have caused my Delta Z High Tech folder to close.

The blade and lock alignment remain nice and tight even after being used by a dozen knife knuts for a few days each.

While the scales might be a bit smooth for outdoors survival scenerios, in the urban jungles I travel in I think the grip would be sufficient for pretty much anything I would ask of it.

I had no problem with the thumbstud like some others did, and I never managed to cut myself with it, but I did find that the thumb serrations at the end of the blade would dig into the back of my hand when I'd reach in my right front pocket for money. Never hard enough to really get me, but I could see how some folks might dislike that aspect of the design.

I would probably like it better if it were tip up carry with a low ride clip like the SERE 2000. The Shrike does ride a bit high in the pocket. If it were tip up with the low ride clip, it would give you a full sized knife that looked like a tiny one to anyone who would look at the clip and tiny part of the handle and it would keep teh thumb serrations from digging into the back of my hand.

Once my wife gets back to work, I might have to add a Shrike to my collection, just to have something a little different.

Thanks to Mike Dye and Gary Fadden for making this passaround possible.

jmx
 
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