SHOT 2015 previews

CryoGuy5272

CryoGuy5272

Joined
Jan 2, 2015
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So I've watched several YouTube videos showing new products from Kai, Spyderco, and Benchmade to name a few. Am I the only one who is unimpressed? The only Kai knives that even peaked interest was the Kershaw Link and a new Hinderer collab. But both are made with steels I am trying to upgrade from 8cr and 420hc. And Spyperco and Bench made showed nothing I would like(don't really find most BM's to be aesthetically pleasing anyway). Am I alone here?
 
CryoGuy5272 said:
So I've watched several YouTube videos showing new products from Kai, Spyderco, and Benchmade to name a few. Am I the only one who is unimpressed? The only Kai knives that even peaked interest was the Kershaw Link and a new Hinderer collab. But both are made with steels I am trying to upgrade from 8cr and 420hc. And Spyperco and Bench made showed nothing I would like(don't really find most BM's to be aesthetically pleasing anyway). Am I alone here?
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sure are.
 
What did you expect to see? New locking mechanisms? Ball bearing pivots? Titanium framelocks? A pocket light saber?
 
No just nothing that was aesthetically pleasing to me. Sure they probably all are great knives and serve their purpose well but half of carrying a knife is it is attractive to you and you think its cool. Plus seemed like everything was very high priced msrp wise
 
CryoGuy5272 said:
No just nothing that was aesthetically pleasing to me. Sure they probably all are great knives and serve their purpose well but half of carrying a knife is it is attractive to you and you think its cool. Plus seemed like everything was very high priced msrp wise
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I thought a several of the ZT's were very good-looking, particularly the Sinkevich collabs. Plus, the little Sinkevich is quite reasonably priced at $160 street for a full Ti framelock bearing flipper, and ZT knows how to heat treat their S35VN right. While there weren't any knives this year that grabbed me like the 0562CF did last year, it was definitely a solid showing. You'll hear no complaints from me.

Can't say I was enthused about any of the new Spyderco or BM offerings, but that's usually the case for me. I haven't seen any "new" designs (just older models or limited runs of them) from BM or Spyderco that got me excited since I started collecting two years ago.
 
And I will take back that I wasn't impressed I did like the zt0452 and 0450 as well as the Spyderco collab with some maker from Denmark just price points were high. Would've like to see more offerings in the $100-$150 range
 
Honestly, I would say compared to the previous few years this years Shot show was pretty underwhelming all the way around when it came to new designs. Most companies had a lot more "tweaks/updates" to current products than they actually did 100% newly designed products. There were very few new optics, guns, etc. unveiled compared to previous years. There was a ton of "Look we now make it in a new color, or a different caliber, or lighter, or less options at a lower price" type of stuff.

I didn't think the knife offerings were that bad. ZT while some will complain about S35VN, really rounded out their lineup a lot and it should attract a lot of new customers that were not into 3.5-4" overbuilt stuff. BM and Spyderco had some interesting offerings as well, but I think also more "niche/round-out the lineup" type stuff. You are right though, if you look at BM/Spyderco/ZT new releases I don't see any of them being a "home run/game changer" like say the Paramilitary, Griptilian, 0560 is/was. BM did have their new ambidextrous lock/release for an assisted/auto knife, probably a bigger deal to leftys than anyone else.

If anything I think Cold Steel (who I didn't even see at Shot, but I could have missed their booth) has the most interesting 2015 knife news in that they are finally stepping into higher end folders with much better blade steel and G10 etc. How successful that will be I think depends a lot on their street prices because to me the MSRP prices look really high for what you get.
 
Didn't see a ton at SHOT that made me jump up and take notice, but there were definitely things announced for 2015 through various outlets that I'm excited about. And there will be more from Spyderco after IWA and the Amsterdam Meet unless I'm sadly mistaken.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Didn't see a ton at SHOT that made me jump up and take notice, but there were definitely things announced for 2015 through various outlets that I'm excited about. And there will be more from Spyderco after IWA and the Amsterdam Meet unless I'm sadly mistaken.
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There's supposed to be a lot shown at the Amsterdam Meet, that's usually where Spyderco shows their new stuff. I'm most excited about the production Rassenti Nirvana Integral I keep hearing people talk about.

The problem is the waiting. What was it, three years for the Foundry?
 
The thing I found most surprising this year was the amount of sloppiness with the prototypes being shown off. I understand that this is an industry show and not open to the public, but don't you want to impress your peers and not have to use the "oh it's just a prototype" excuse every time someone checks out your knife?

Examples: SOG fixed blade where the presenter actually said "ouch" in reference to how unexpectedly sharp the jimping was. At the TOPS booth, the liner lock failed entirely on one of their new knives. The presenter casually closed the knife like a slipjoint at the end, as if he didn't even realize it wasn't supposed to work that way. And then 2 out of 3 liner locks that Buck showed off were at 100% lockup, and a flipper that was described as "flying right out" came out maybe 25% of the way when it was flipped.
 
Much of SHOT is a blur by the time I get home.
Had a great visit at their booth with Phil Wilson, Ed Schempp, and a friendly guy named Sal something or other.

Should have written it's name down, didn't, but late this summer the fixed blade I've hoped for should be out.
A full flat grind version of the Bushcraft, same handle.

Saw a pre-pro sample in their display case & they were kind enough to let me touch it.
Unfortunately, the nice gal who handed it to me was about 30 years younger & could easily have caught up with me before I could make it to the nearest door, so I had to give it back.

Not a huge fan of the Scandi grind (have two of their Bushcrafts anyway), but that handle is the best fit in my hand of any knife, anywhere, and the blade profile & length are near ideal for what I'd want a knife like that to do.

I'd damn near fly to Colorado to get in line for that new blade with that handle. :)
Denis
 
Lost Cosmonaut said:
There's supposed to be a lot shown at the Amsterdam Meet, that's usually where Spyderco shows their new stuff. I'm most excited about the production Rassenti Nirvana Integral I keep hearing people talk about.

The problem is the waiting. What was it, three years for the Foundry?
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Personally, I'm hoping to see a prototype of the Chinook 4 that Mr. Glesser said was in the works.
 
The stuff I liked to see where (in no order):

Emerson stretching his legs with framelocks, bearing pivots and flippers.

The Terzuola collab and GSD pieces from CRKT (Though they both desperately need the Hi-Jinx treatment).

Pretty much everything from KAI, Kershaw autos, the Link, and the three new sleek ZTs specifically.

The Pro-Tech scale release auto, very slick.


Other than that, not much. I'm assuming Spyderco is keeping their powder dry for their own event in March because they didn't bring anything worth note. Benchmade is suffering from a bad case of sameness. Everything seems to be a drop point, axis lock knife with g10 scales in the 3.25-3.5in range. I don't know who is designing them but unless it's a Sibert, it's really hard to see the designers personality come through. The Valet was the only knife that looked interesting and it just looks like a dressier 707 or 531.
 
There's at least three ZT's coming out this year that I'll try to get. 450 is a must have though, I could use another utility size folder in Ti.

New BM's have underwhelmed me for years now. Im a big BM fan... Because of the classics and the Axis lock. I tend to just buy their LE's or bumped up variations such as the M390 710, 940-1, M4 mini Grip etc etc you get the idea.

I keep tabs on Spydercos releases through their website forum so to me, everything shown at SHOT is "old news". Many of the models from last years Adam meet has already been out. The ones shown are the last to trickle out from last year. How A'dam works though, there are various categories such as production samples (coming soon), prototypes, and concepts. A lot is shown, some are mere ideas or are waaay ahead.
 
There's at least three ZT's coming out this year that I'll try to get. 450 is a must have though, I could use another utility size folder in Ti.

New BM's have underwhelmed me for years now. Im a big BM fan... Because of the classics and the Axis lock. I tend to just buy their LE's or bumped up variations such as the M390 710, 940-1, M4 mini Grip etc etc you get the idea.

Everything shown at SHOT is actually "old news". Many of the models from last years Adam meet has already been out. The ones shown are the last to trickle out from last year. How A'dam works though, there are various categories such as production samples (coming soon), prototypes, and concepts. A lot is shown, some are mere ideas or are waaay ahead. So if you are looking for "new" you are either a year late (a bunch came out already, Rubicon, Slysz Bowie etc) or a little early (for the next meet).
 
Ok, no new light sabers... That aside, I did see a Benchmade HK Mini-Axis 14716 in D2 which should go really well with my existing full size HK Axis folder.
 
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