Recommendation? Curtiss F3 or Shirogorov Nano Lite

B

bluelighthawaii

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Aug 29, 2011
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For those who have both knives, what are some of the characteristics of each that you like? If you had a preference for one, which one would it be and why? Here in Hawaii, we don't have the luxury of being able to drive to a shop that would carry these. One day hope to own one, or both! That would be so nice.
 
Live in CA, been to a number of Pacific islands including Guam, Palau and all over HI. Assuming you are referring to the F3 Medium...Without a doubt I would prefer to rock the NeOn Lite in board shorts with its more stainless blade. Even with the F3 clad in OvalTac scales, you give up almost two ounces to the NeOn Lite. Choose the F3 if you want to crack open coconuts and want to baton local driftwood into a makeshift shelter. For everything else, the NeOn Lite would be my choice (I have an F95T in V37 and no longer own the F3 Medium Ball Mill).
 
Thanks for the reply Adam. I do tend to prefer more corrosion resistance as the weather here is rather humid, and of course we are never far from the beach (and the corrosion causing salt spray). Always wanted to try M390 as lot here on the forum talk about how great it is. Not sure if I would be able to sharpen something with that much wear resistance. Don't even know what to think of XHP on the Curtiss either. That could be difficult to sharpen for me as well. Regardless, I hear lots of good things about both knives.
 
You may wish to consider after-the-sale customer service and support.

I know nothing about Shirogorov's service and support -- in part because I can find nothing about it on Google. The firm has no web presence that I can see, and nothing I've found points towards how I would get help with a Shirogorov knife after the retailer's return period expired.

I can vouch first-hand for the excellent support provided by David Curtiss, both before and after the sale.

You can send a Curtiss knife to David any time for sharpening -- it's always free, and always under warranty.
 
I assume your title is a "typo"... I am not familiar with a Shiro "Nano", but I am a "Neon" so I am going to respond with that in mind...

This is an interesting pair of knives to compare... why? Because they are SO DIFFERENT. I own a Curtiss F3 medium and A regular "non-light" Neon and love them both, but for entirely different reasons.

The Neon is so light, so sleek and disappears in the pocket. It closes effortlessly even under its tiny blade weight, flips open so smoothly and it's a great slice thanks to its FFF and otherwise slim blade stock.

The Curtiss on the other hand is a freaking tank with big thick Ti handles and a beefy thick blade. It's a hard use knife, cuts well and slices fairly well for the grind, but nothing like the Neon will. Even the medium F3 is heavy, and a lot in the pocket.

I guess I would call the Curtiss a hard work/hard use tank sort of knife, whereas the Neon is almost a gentleman's folder, elegant sort of knife. Both are GREAT examples of knife design and manufacturing at its very best.
I would recommend that you consider how you intend to use the knife and decide from there as they are in fact such very different knives.

Good luck!
 
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Cyrano and rexbo, thank you. I am towards the Curtiss after considering a couple of things.

First is that the knife can be purchased directly from the maker, who it was easy to communicate with. The Neon (error on my part with the Nano in the title) was being sold on a Russian blade dealer on the internet that I am not sure can be trusted. Was also thinking how it may be more difficult to get support from Shirogorov should it be needed.

Second is that if the knife ever needs a cleaning, caged bearings would be easier to deal with than loose ones. If there is someone that would somehow lose those bearings, it would likely be me.

Do not care for too much weight though. Carried a beefy/heavy XM-18 in the pocket before and it was not a comfortable experience. Cannot remember why I ran a short distance, but the thing almost swung and hit my jewels. Clipped it to waistline and it was better. Would be interesting to have a similar style knife to the XM-18 that was on bearings though.

Also caught glimpse of a Rod Olson JV Gemini 3 with full sculpted titanium scales. Maybe that will be a happy medium? Keep finding new knives that I put on my wish list, but many are unobtainable, for me at least. This can be a costly hobby, especially in wanting to try different knives in order to to discover what one likes! My wife feels I bought enough knives, just to try them out, only to later sell them at a bit of a loss.
 
Got the Curtiss F3 in Medium with Compound Grind. Very impressed with it! Unfortunately, now I have my sights on getting a Shirogorov Neon Lite. Hoping that it will be as impressive as the Curtiss, just like you suggested. Thanks again!
 
Ahhhh - the old Buy'em Both scheme...always a good option when one is struggling to decide between two good knives
 
Wishing I could just be content with what I have. Even sold most of my other knives to try the process of "letting go". Now, I am back to just wanting so much new stuff. First a Curtiss F3, now a Shirogorov Neon Lite. Plus, I always admired the Randall Model 16 Dive Knife too. Those videos of guys claiming how smooth a Shirogorov flips makes me just crave one even more.
 
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