The Bears' Den--Shirogorov Showcase

t4XG5Y1.mp4
 
Just pointing out that it is, in fact, a feeling, and one that I find genuinely outlandish. Anyone who dismisses a knife as "garbage" because it might be too small or light for them is just grousing. And I find the Astrum to be one of Shirogorov's best, sleekest designs. Not really for me because I top out around the 3.75" blade length/8" OAL size category. But I don't believe I'm in the minority for saying either model is great as they both sell out within minutes and resell for higher than retail. The market has spoken for me. :p
 
TheManInBlack said:
Just pointing out that it is, in fact, a feeling, and one that I find genuinely outlandish. Anyone who dismisses a knife as "garbage" because it might be too small or light for them is just grousing. And I find the Astrum to be one of Shirogorov's best, sleekest designs. Not really for me because I top out around the 3.75" blade length/8" OAL size category. But I don't believe I'm in the minority for saying either model is great as they both sell out within minutes and resell for higher than retail. The market has spoken for me. :p
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Actually.. An Astrum is next on my Shiro hit list. :) lol
 
A little bit bummed at the recycling of the elements theme for the 111 - both for the lack of creativity of using the same theme again but also because the 111 seems like such an odd choice. I guess they have the statistics/sales numbers for the various models but anecdotally I see the 111 cited as being too big for the vast majority of collectors/users very often wehn discussing Shiro - so I would think moving down to Stellar or Neon size would have had more broad appeal.

Oh well - looking forward to seeing what the CCKS Show special Shirogorov is instead.
 
Pompous said:
A little bit bummed at the recycling of the elements theme for the 111 - both for the lack of creativity of using the same theme again but also because the 111 seems like such an odd choice. I guess they have the statistics/sales numbers for the various models but anecdotally I see the 111 cited as being too big for the vast majority of collectors/users very often wehn discussing Shiro - so I would think moving down to Stellar or Neon size would have had more broad appeal.

Oh well - looking forward to seeing what the CCKS Show special Shirogorov is instead.
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I see your point 🙃 It seems that "Elemental Set" was a pretty successful project for F3, and they decided to repeat the trick with 111.

And they were not quite wrong judging by the sales of 111 Terrus on my side of the pond: sold out within 1 minute, according to the rumors there were 30-40 pieces. Surprisingly, 48 pieces are still available for US customers you-know-where :cool:

Maybe the total volume for both markets was close to 100... Or maybe the demand in the US is limited due to the recent batch of 111 Purple S90V...

Anyway, I'm inclined to sell my 111 CF Gen5.1, replacing it either with 111 Terrus or with 111 Aerum in case they decide to use MagnaCut instead of Elmax, which is not likely to happen.

P.S. I thank God they did not choose Quantium for the project this time!..
 
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Bacchus said:
I see your point 🙃 It seems that "Elemental Set" was a pretty successful project for F3, and they decided to repeat the trick with 111.

And they were not quite wrong judging by the sales of 111 Terrus on my side of the pond: sold out within 1 minute, according to the rumors there were 30-40 pieces. Surprisingly, 48 pieces are still available for US customers you-know-where :cool:

Maybe the total volume for both markets was close to 100... Or maybe the demand in the US is limited due to the recent batch of 111 Purple S90V...

Anyway, I'm inclined to sell my 111 CF Gen5.1, replacing it with 111 Terrus or may be with 111 Aerum in case they decide to use MagnaCut instead of Elmax, which is not likely to happen.

P.S. I thank God they did not choose Quantium for the project this time!..
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The mention about the US sales rate is why I'm surprised really. The 111s always sell eventually - but it takes a lot of time. Surprised they wouldnt hold more for RU if that's the case
 
Pompous said:
The mention about the US sales rate is why I'm surprised really. The 111s always sell eventually - but it takes a lot of time. Surprised they wouldnt hold more for RU if that's the case
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It is not uncommon, at least for the last decade. According to my observations a dominant share of Shiro production used to be targeted for the US market which has a considerable greater capacity, regardless the tighter competition.

And they might have taken into account a consistently growing stock: 25+ folder variations available on the domestic web-site for the last 2 quarters, I have never seen such abundance before.

Another reason could be the continuous growth of RUB / USD exchange rate, the domestic currency is getting weaker recently while the base interest rate is almost 20%. People tend to prefer deposits over purchases.
 
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TheManInBlack said:
Just pointing out that it is, in fact, a feeling, and one that I find genuinely outlandish. Anyone who dismisses a knife as "garbage" because it might be too small or light for them is just grousing. And I find the Astrum to be one of Shirogorov's best, sleekest designs. Not really for me because I top out around the 3.75" blade length/8" OAL size category. But I don't believe I'm in the minority for saying either model is great as they both sell out within minutes and resell for higher than retail. The market has spoken for me. :p
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I can close it by hand when locked up, been able to reproduce this in 2 others and have the lock slip and a few others. Blade was not very sharp, grind was wavy and uneven on mine. Clip is milled so thin that it springs out easily and no longer touches the scale so it does not hold well. 60-61 hrc blade. I have other nitpicks with the knife but those are more just my opinion on things so not worth going into.
 
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Pompous said:
This is a pretty wild take, to me. What about the Astrum do you not like? I understand thinking it's too big, but "worst design yet" feels over the top imo. Genuinely curious.
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This is more opinion but I find the the knife promotions to we quite weird, it is way too long for its height. The flipper tab is sub optimal for me and it just does not flip as well as any f95 or Stellar. The knife has lots of hot spots/ sharp points on it. To me the product feels less refined and needs a few more iterations of refinement. Once I had one it was just very underwhelming and an immediate catch and release for me. It is hard to explain it all but when you hold a knife you just know if it feels right and has the special sauce and to me this is the least of that from any modern Shiro I have owned. I think the biggest thing is just the proportions, it is an ugly knife.
 
severedthumbs said:
I can close it by hand when locked up, been able to reproduce this in 2 others and have the lock slip and a few others. Blade was not very sharp, grind was wavy and uneven on mine. Clip is milled so thin that it springs out easily and no longer touches the scale so it does not hold well. 60-61 hrc blade. I have other nitpicks with the knife but those are more just my opinion on things so not worth going into.
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These, to me, sound like primarily QC issues - which is totally fair. I think anyone who has paid attention to the last several releases would say at least from the public impression, the QC seems to be going downhill or at least has slid a bit from where it used to be over the last 1-2-3 years or so. There are knives leaving the workshop which I am not sure would have left previously. The Soft Overkill detents falling out, for example. My F95 Icebreaker developed detent play and had to go back, and I've heard several others have issues across a variety of models.
severedthumbs said:
This is more opinion but I find the the knife promotions to we quite weird, it is way too long for its height. The flipper tab is sub optimal for me and it just does not flip as well as any f95 or Stellar. The knife has lots of hot spots/ sharp points on it. To me the product feels less refined and needs a few more iterations of refinement. Once I had one it was just very underwhelming and an immediate catch and release for me. It is hard to explain it all but when you hold a knife you just know if it feels right and has the special sauce and to me this is the least of that from any modern Shiro I have owned. I think the biggest thing is just the proportions, it is an ugly knife.
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Totally get not liking the proportions. I think for me and the others that like it, the sleekness is a big part of the appeal. I will happily admit I would be happy with the knife as a 3.5-3.75" blade, I personally did not need it to be so large, but I have surprisingly not minded in the same way that carrying a 111 bothered me. The flipper tab is definitely one that takes getting used to - and I know some folks would say that alone means it's sub-par. I do think the ultra low profile flipper tabs have been going the wrong direction especially on the Sinkevich collabs which are just... borderline unusable sometimes.

I have not had the experience with hot spots at all when holding the knife, I find the Astrum to be super comfortable in my hands - definitely could see a wider release version/revision 2 having some of the rough/pokey edges cleaned up.
 
I accept your personal experiences and I'd definitely be pretty cheesed shelling out that amount of cash and being disappointed twice by things that should be basic for any accomplished knifemaker. Mine is not only flawless and has none of the issues you described, it's beyond what I expected and instantly became one of my favorite pieces.

T

Post in thread 'Everyone's latest acquisitions!'

53986016350_52000dafb2_o.jpg

Ecstatic to get one of these! The hype is real!
  • Like
  • Love
  • Wow

I've had one, maybe two, duds that I've had to go after makers for to correct flaws and bad execution. I consider that part of the experience when dealing with small batch midtech knifemakers. The makers I've dealt with have always been kind and accommodating, especially Craig when picking the ano colors for my Cortex XL. Actually, if I could muster one complaint about the guy it's that once I received the knife, I sent him an email praising it and stating how glad I was and he never responded. 😅 Can't handle fans, I guess...

I also get your take on the Astrum. It is very narrow and if it was proportionally sized more for EDC carry, say in the 3.5"±.25" blade length range, it'd probably be way too narrow; more like a pen knife. On a closer look, the flipper tab does look pretty shallow to produce the kind of leverage necessary to throw out a 4" blade but yours is the first complaint I've seen about that actually being a problem. I have that problem, in general, with a lot of flippers, because I prefer to 'push button' them but the majority seem designed for 'light switching'. That just comes down to owner preference/operator error and I don't think that qualifies it as a bad design. I don't feel like Shiro is yet the kind of maker to rubber stamp designs or phone it in without rigorous design iteration and testing. But that's also just my opinion.
 
TheManInBlack said:
I accept your personal experiences and I'd definitely be pretty cheesed shelling out that amount of cash and being disappointed twice by things that should be basic for any accomplished knifemaker. Mine is not only flawless and has none of the issues you described, it's beyond what I expected and instantly became one of my favorite pieces.

T

Post in thread 'Everyone's latest acquisitions!'

53986016350_52000dafb2_o.jpg

Ecstatic to get one of these! The hype is real!
  • Like
  • Love
  • Wow

I've had one, maybe two, duds that I've had to go after makers for to correct flaws and bad execution. I consider that part of the experience when dealing with small batch midtech knifemakers. The makers I've dealt with have always been kind and accommodating, especially Craig when picking the ano colors for my Cortex XL. Actually, if I could muster one complaint about the guy it's that once I received the knife, I sent him an email praising it and stating how glad I was and he never responded. 😅 Can't handle fans, I guess...

I also get your take on the Astrum. It is very narrow and if it was proportionally sized more for EDC carry, say in the 3.5"±.25" blade length range, it'd probably be way too narrow; more like a pen knife. On a closer look, the flipper tab does look pretty shallow to produce the kind of leverage necessary to throw out a 4" blade but yours is the first complaint I've seen about that actually being a problem. I have that problem, in general, with a lot of flippers, because I prefer to 'push button' them but the majority seem designed for 'light switching'. That just comes down to owner preference/operator error and I don't think that qualifies it as a bad design. I don't feel like Shiro is yet the kind of maker to rubber stamp designs or phone it in without rigorous design iteration and testing. But that's also just my opinion.
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Well.. Great.. Now I have to get some of those. RIP wallet. What a looker she is.
 
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