Review Anyone else's M4 DLC Shaman seem off?

[Julian Williams]

Was excited for my first Shaman, but the more I look over my example the more its apparent this should've been a "seconds".
Came with an inch long (light thankfully) scratch on the blade. Heard most DLC scratches can be rubbed off, but after much cleaning, this one won't go away. Don't mind scratches but I like to be the one that puts them there.

The action is super stiff despite loosening the pivot and opening/ closing it to break in. Appears that its detent was set overly strong.

Appears some mishap happened while assembling it? The "nub" on the blade has DLC slightly scrapped where it looks like it was rubbing on the compression lock tab. The tab itself also has an indentation of where it looks like the nub scrapped over it.
I don't know what happened during the assembly of the knife, and perhaps I'm just a picky jerk, but for the price I wanted better. I'd expect this on a $40 RAT 1. Tried to get it good in pictures, but my phone wasn't cooperating too well with the close up shots. (If I need to move this thread, Ill gladly to do so).

 

[edge13]

I haven't gotten mine yet. Was supposed to be in on Saturday and USPS decided to not show up and now I'm stuck waiting till tomorrow due to presidents day. I will update when it gets in.

-EG

 

[Julian Williams]

I haven't gotten mine yet. Was supposed to be in on Saturday and USPS decided to not show up and now I'm stuck waiting till tomorrow due to presidents day. I will update when it gets in.

-EG

I hate when stuff like that happens, but I'd def appreciate an update. I'm sure most of them are fine, but some feedback from other owners would be nice.

 

[edge13]

I hate when stuff like that happens, but I'd def appreciate an update. I'm sure most of them are fine, but some feedback from other owners would be nice.

Just picked it up from my house while I was on lunch. Detent is strong, but not obnoxiously strong. After flicking it and starting to break it in its starting to feel better. Its not a drop closer like my Para 3, but I don't mind. It will break in over time.

-EG

 

[DocJD]

If you paid Spyderco MAPP , I wouldn't hesitate to return it for replacement or something else .

 

[edge13]

If you paid Spyderco MAPP , I wouldn't hesitate to return it for replacement or something else .

They were like $240 if i remember correctly.

 

[TheFactor]

You might of got a return but not likely unless it was a quick turn around. I’ve had a few spyderco’s that had some scratches on the blade out of the box but under a bright light turning the blade to capture them. That was Stone washed though not DLC and it was many years ago. Since then I’ve got nothing but first class examples and I’ve had many.
As far as the Shaman mine came tight with no blade play but wasn’t drop free either. I normally like to break mine in a little before adjusting the pivot even if it’s tight out of the box. So after a day or two of opening and closing off and on I adjusted the pivot and now it’s at the sweet spot being free falling and no side to side play what so ever or up and down of course. Some take longer to break in some seem like they never will like a Strider lol.

 

[tyyreaun]

You might of got a return but not likely unless it was a quick turn around.

These sold out within a few hours of listing, so it's probably not possible.

Sorry, I think you just got one where the guy at the factory wasn't as careful as he should have been.

For this exact reason, I've gotten into the habit of ordering two knives whenever I'm buying a drop that'll sell out quickly, then just re-selling one of them if they're both fine. In this case, both my Shamans were in great condition. The pivot was stiff on both out of the box, but for the one I kept, after disassembly and lubrication, it's smooth as butter.

The pivot/detent issue can probably be fixed with lubrication, maybe disassembly, and just letting it break in. For the scratches, not much you can do - I doubt Spyderco would re-DLC it. Either live with it, or return it, I guess?

Sorry for the bad luck

 

[Julian Williams]

Just picked it up from my house while I was on lunch. Detent is strong, but not obnoxiously strong. After flicking it and starting to break it in its starting to feel better. Its not a drop closer like my Para 3, but I don't mind. It will break in over time.
-EG

Glad it arrived okay! From what I hear on Reddit, most of them don't seem like drop closers.

If you paid Spyderco MAPP , I wouldn't hesitate to return it for replacement or something else .

Thanks, it was bought new by me and I think I'll see if Spyderco can at least fix the absurd detent.

You might of got a return but not likely unless it was a quick turn around. I’ve had a few spyderco’s that had some scratches on the blade out of the box but under a bright light turning the blade to capture them. That was Stone washed though not DLC and it was many years ago. Since then I’ve got nothing but first class examples and I’ve had many.
As far as the Shaman mine came tight with no blade play but wasn’t drop free either. I normally like to break mine in a little before adjusting the pivot even if it’s tight out of the box. So after a day or two of opening and closing off and on I adjusted the pivot and now it’s at the sweet spot being free falling and no side to side play what so ever or up and down of course. Some take longer to break in some seem like they never will like a Strider lol.

Gotcha, I was curious as to if I was just expecting too much from them lol. I'm hoping Spyderco can fix it to be like your example. Adding some Nano oil to the dent ball and path helped a lot.

These sold out within a few hours of listing, so it's probably not possible.

Sorry, I think you just got one where the guy at the factory wasn't as careful as he should have been.

For this exact reason, I've gotten into the habit of ordering two knives whenever I'm buying a drop that'll sell out quickly, then just re-selling one of them if they're both fine. In this case, both my Shamans were in great condition. The pivot was stiff on both out of the box, but for the one I kept, after disassembly and lubrication, it's smooth as butter.

The pivot/detent issue can probably be fixed with lubrication, maybe disassembly, and just letting it break in. For the scratches, not much you can do - I doubt Spyderco would re-DLC it. Either live with it, or return it, I guess?

Sorry for the bad luck

Thanks for the sentiment. The more I look at it the more it does seem like the factory may have just slipped up on this one. Opened it up and found it was quite dirty, along with having a burr/ gash near the dent. Hoping Spyderco can help me out. But next time a limited release happens I'll definitely take your advice and get two for safety!

 

[Julian Williams]

Burr? on the lockbar near the detent ball. Seems like the lock side was just jacked up from the factory, resulting in an overly strong detent and whatever is going on near the detent ball. I really want to like this knife, so Im planning on seeing if Spyderco can do something.

 

[tyyreaun]

Burr? on the lockbar near the detent ball. Seems like the lock side was just jacked up from the factory, resulting in an overly strong detent and whatever is going on near the detent ball. I really want to like this knife, so Im planning on seeing if Spyderco can do something.

Incidentally, there was a Nick Shabazz video the other day where he called out some other maker for burr on the lockbar, too. I forget which video it was in, but I'm pretty sure it was a relatively high-end maker. It happens.