The Bears' Den--Shirogorov Showcase

Thanks for sharing the breakdown pic of your 100KS, mikomonday mikomonday , and for posting your vid. Well done, there. The Shiro/Williams collaboration is indeed a very cool knife with a lot of great details, but I must admit I've also always been taken with the original 110 and particularly the 110B. My first Tabargan was a real beauty and I enjoyed having a Shiro with an axis-type lock. After I sold it I picked up an old school 100NS in 2D G10 and 440C that makes a great work user. Someday I'd like to get my hands on an older 110 as well.

Your thoughts in your video about what makes for a good flipper are interesting, as I hadn't given any particular thought to the placement of the tab relative to how "strong" the blade comes out. For me, the measure of a good flipper is not "flying out like a rocket" or with a "mighty thwack", but how easily (read, with little effort) and fool proof it flips. I'd just as soon the knife didn't put on a forceful show when opening, which is why I'm not the biggest fan of ZTs or super-stiff detents. Not to make an argument of it, but your characterization of the RDD as weak flipper runs contrary to my impression of the knife--I think my new-to-me Doctor one of my best flippers as it comes out smoothly, discreetly, and with little fanfare.

I've really been enjoying the RDD and had it in pocket today for its first real out-and-about running errands. I really like that it's a full-sized knife in a more compact and super-light package. It makes a great EDC and is much too nice to leave home in the drawer.

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BTW, I'm glad I now have two Shiros in Vanax 37. It's an excellent and somewhat unusual steel, and I like having a broad variety of alloys. Just in Russians, I have M390, Vanax 37, S30V, and 440C in Shiros; M390 and Vanadis 8 in Cheburkov's; S90V and S125V in Biryukovs; and M390 in my CKF MILK and Olamic 247, those two being knives of somewhat mixed heritage ;).
 
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Of course, its not like the RDD is objectively a horrible flipper, Sergey would be very reluctant to put out a design who doesn't do so, its just that I think for the majority of people, it requires a bit more finesse and technique. I think I also mentioned the Jeans which also has a flipper tab that resides a fair bit behind the pivot as well.

Of course, I think we can find some common ground here and I do agree that it is easy to open the RDD as the flipper tab behind the pivot allows the detent to break early with less pressure. However in my experience there are quite a few people who have a little difficulty opening it fully and I think that style of flipper requires a bit of finesse. I have a firm belief of this however and another knife that has a reputation for a difficult flip, the Hinderer XM18/24, also has a flipper tab that is pretty far behind the tab.

Of course, this is all given that the detent/lockbar strength remains constant with different flipper tab placement and I've handled some RDD's that have a good flip but they usually tend to have a stiffer (relative to other Shirogorovs, not crazy stiff) detents which means they aren't as drop-shut. I would argue that a good flip is more important than a drop shut action however. The newer Arctic RDD with the external lockbar relief cutout in general I've found to have better mix of lockbar tension/drop shut but that's just my own subjective opinion.

Like all fine things I think there's a lot of different tastes :)
 
I had read some here and there earlier describing the RDD as a reluctant flipper, though mine seemed fine from the moment it came to me. I'm the third owner and the knife had been apart at least twice before I got it, though it was really not broken in at all. I've had it open twice now, cleaned and re-lubed with NanoOil, and it's gotten even smoother, flipping easily and with sufficient authority. It's hard to judge detent stiffness as my usual method is to gauge difficulty opening the blade by pinching with thumb and forefinger, but there's nowhere near enough above the handle to do so. My forefinger on the tab judges it a medium detent and the knife almost free-drops, falling with an easy upward wrist motion of the handle.

I agree that good flipping action trumps drop-shuttiness, which is a cool fidget feature but not all that useful a closing method. There's always variation from knife to knife no matter how exactingly they're produced, individual use/adjustment wears each in differently, and personal taste would have one user describe the same knife quite differently than another.

There's "your mileage may vary" and there's also what one finds to be acceptable performance within that range. :D
 
Sergei stands behind his knives, but getting them to and from him is the big problem. Recon1 can help if you got it from them. Otherwise, I’d fix it myself.
 
Two tools made for working. The Shindawa is over 15 years old. Power broom, roto tiller and string trimmer. Use it all the time, haven't spent any money on it in repairs since new. I'm sure the Shiro will do the same. Not today though...to cold!
 
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I like the old blade shape better. Even like the zero, I prefer the older style with the arched back. I wonder if that’s the style of all to come now?
 
SVTFreak said:
I like the old blade shape better. Even like the zero, I prefer the older style with the arched back. I wonder if that’s the style of all to come now?
Click to expand...

I thought the same way. I won a Recon1 lottery for a NeOn Retro but opted for a HatiOn Lite instead due to the different blade geometry. Although I haven't had one in hand I've seen from videos that the newer blade has the same profile but has a swedge at the top in the middle. From certain angles it appears to have a belly across the spine. But actually doesn't?

I'd love to see a side-by-side bird's-eye view of the spine of each.
 
A liner lock NeOn would offer the chance for a slightly wider handle. Say 12 or 13mm, instead of 10mm on my HatiOn Lite.

It also opens the opportunity to contour the scales in CF or Micarta.
 
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