The Bears' Den--Shirogorov Showcase

Bacchus said:
Congratulations!.. Alutex is a very attractive option, AFAIK relatively new for F3.

BTW, it's $775 vs $1250, a much more comfortable price tag for an actual user.
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I was thinking the Astrum was about $1100 - whoops!
 
DocJekl said:
This one incoming today was about $300 or more cheaper than the Astrum, and I don't regret getting it one bit!

It even came gift wrapped with a personal note from the dealer! Pictures do NOT do it justice 😍
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Astrum is a big miss for me. Excellent choice over the Astrum imo. Enjoy
 
The Astrum has a similar profile to the 111, do the two share similar specs?
 
I am happy to say I’m back in the Bear’s Den with this emerald micarta F3.

Pics. (After cleanup… The micarta scales and g10 backspacer were pretty grimy. Soapy water cleaned them up, then just a light coat of bees wax to bring the color out.)
20241205_203840_compress93.jpg20241205_203850_compress34.jpg


It was pretty gritty and un-Shiro-like, and upon opening it up it was obvious it needed some TLC.

Pics…

20241205_191841_compress50.jpg
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After cleanup and oiling the action is very much what I remember my previous Shiro’s to be, smooth and snappy. This may be the budget end of the line, but it is an exceptional knife in every way. It’s within a price range I won’t have any qualms really using it, so I’m interested in seeing how this Elmax holds up compared to my Magnacut Sebenza for example.

One small issue - I lost a ball bearing! That is a first for me in all the years of tinkering, so I suppose it was inevitable. $6 on Amazon has a lifetime supply of bearings coming my way, and in the meantime it will run fine with 15 out of 16 balls on 1 side. Oh well.
 
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Thanks for the inside pics TRfromMT TRfromMT , I see that these have fewer balls than other MRBS knives, it has 2 balls stacked around the perimeter vs 3 in the pricier knives. I dont believe I knew MRBS had different variations!
 
Down one and up one. I traded the new MEFP Qauntum Ursus that I just got. Not a bad knife at all, just not right for me.

Went back on the Qauntum hunt. Picked this one up and it's a much better fit. Detent is perfect, extremely lightweight but still feels solid. Probably the best performing pocket clip I've experienced to date. Love the look.

Still working on deployment using reverse flick in the fuller. We'll see.

 
scorpnsnake said:
Went back on the Qauntum hunt. Picked this one up and it's a much better fit. Detent is perfect, extremely lightweight but still feels solid. Probably the best performing pocket clip I've experienced to date. Love the look.
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Congratulations!

I really hope they are going to make Zero edition of 3M Quantum next year.
 
Pompous said:
View attachment 2623840

Astrum landed today. It is... definitely big. It is JUST on the border of being TOO big. But the amount of blade that is packed into a handle that fits perfectly into my hand is pretty outstanding. I'm curious how everyone is finding the flipping action? I think I have some technique adjustments along with some break-in time to do, but moreso than any flipper i've purchased over the last few years (Save the Kami....) this one is tearing my finger up. Going to give it plenty of time to check the break-in, oil the detent ball, try some different techniques on opening, etc. No need to rush it for the time being.

View attachment 2623841

Shiro always kills the clip game, but the Astrum is an incredible example. Perfect depth, great retention, 0 hotspots, fantastic details, perfect chamfers on every single angle/edge. So many makers/companies under-develop the clip - this might not be the full Mini Quantum active/rotational clip, but DAMN does it just.. work. Very well.
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I'm really late chipping in here but yeah I had a lot of trouble flipping the Astrum 1st Production. I was flipping it with the center of the palmar side of the 2nd digit and it wouldn't flip half the time. I spoke with the vendor (you know who) and they advised me to try flipping with the lateral (thumb side) aspect of the palmar surface of the 2nd digit and this works all the time except if I have recently applied lotion to my hands or if the knife has any residue on it. Really disappointing. This finding, for me, limits the use cases for the knife. I would not carry the knife in any application where one's hands/the knife are not pristine (hunting, camping, etc.) because it will not reliably flip.

Of course this level of fussiness is really annoying considering the price-point and when one advantage of a knife with a tab-lock is that it should flip without fail (no worries of finger pressure on the lockbar like with framelocks). Speaking of framelocks, my 4mm blade-stock F95's will flip no matter what.

So for me this limits the Astrum's carry options to dress/formal carry or safe queen status.
rockman0 rockman0
 
I was considering a Neon Lite from a local retailer but it had sold by the time I had decided.

The thing that holds me up on Shiros is, having never seen one in person, I can't really tell what the finish is like. Does it wear well?
 
TacTiFrameLock said:
I'm really late chipping in here but yeah I had a lot of trouble flipping the Astrum 1st Production. I was flipping it with the center of the palmar side of the 2nd digit and it wouldn't flip half the time. I spoke with the vendor (you know who) and they advised me to try flipping with the lateral (thumb side) aspect of the palmar surface of the 2nd digit and this works all the time except if I have recently applied lotion to my hands or if the knife has any residue on it. Really disappointing. This finding, for me, limits the use cases for the knife. I would not carry the knife in any application where one's hands/the knife are not pristine (hunting, camping, etc.) because it will not reliably flip.

Of course this level of fussiness is really annoying considering the price-point and when one advantage of a knife with a tab-lock is that it should flip without fail (no worries of finger pressure on the lockbar like with framelocks). Speaking of framelocks, my 4mm blade-stock F95's will flip no matter what.

So for me this limits the Astrum's carry options to dress/formal carry or safe queen status.
rockman0 rockman0
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Probably a dumb question but have you removed the packing grease and lubricanted with something you like?
 
OK, possibly a couple dumb questions for the folks here, but this seems the best place to ask. I searched a bit and couldn’t find the answers.

Is there a way to figure out birthday of a Shiro based upon the serial number?

Also, what does “Zero” specifically mean relative to a particular model? Is it just a thicker blade?
 
scorpnsnake said:
Probably a dumb question but have you removed the packing grease and lubricanted with something you like?
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Not a dumb question and no I have not. I like a "float-home"/"glide-home" action and not a "drop-shut"/"guillotine". One of them (I have 2 Astrum 1st Pro's) has the "glide-home" action...the other is more "drop-shut" (blade can even bounce a bit at closure). I have not disassembled either but I may at some point.
 
TRfromMT said:
I am happy to say I’m back in the Bear’s Den with this emerald micarta F3.

Pics. (After cleanup… The micarta scales and g10 backspacer were pretty grimy. Soapy water cleaned them up, then just a light coat of bees wax to bring the color out.)
View attachment 2728135View attachment 2728136


It was pretty gritty and un-Shiro-like, and upon opening it up it was obvious it needed some TLC.

Pics…

View attachment 2728137
View attachment 2728138

After cleanup and oiling the action is very much what I remember my previous Shiro’s to be, smooth and snappy. This may be the budget end of the line, but it is an exceptional knife in every way. It’s within a price range I won’t have any qualms really using it, so I’m interested in seeing how this Elmax holds up compared to my Magnacut Sebenza for example.

One small issue - I lost a ball bearing! That is a first for me in all the years of tinkering, so I suppose it was inevitable. $6 on Amazon has a lifetime supply of bearings coming my way, and in the meantime it will run fine with 15 out of 16 balls on 1 side. Oh well.
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Yes- you can live without a bearing or 2, but I ordered a bunch as well. I find the "entry-level" shiros to be a great ownership experience 1000041902.jpg
 
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