What Makes Shirogorov Knives So Good?

[Feca10ne]

I like the sebenzas but they just seem hard to open to me. I have owned 5-6 and all great knives but would not open like a flipper or spyderco. I wish I had keep the first one I had in Bg-42 steel. Talk about a razor!

I agree, the CRK's have never been fast opening knives for me either. But some dudes can flip em open faster than a SB! I just cant. ..matter of fact I've never been able to open a umnumzaan at all!
I think the CRKs are still a superior knife though, just a different animal. I think a CRK is going to last longer in the long run due to a few problems that exists with the Shiro's, namely the bearings and lockbar insert on some of the model's. Some of the Shiro's have a steel LB insert that is lower than the titanium bar there screwed into. Eventually the LB interface will run out of travel before it hits the titanium bar. Ill try to find a picture but its one thing to look for when buying a Shiro second hand.

 

[Feca10ne]

What Makes Shirogorov Knives So Good? Your imagination and perception of it!

...expensive? Your perception of value (thus creating customer demand) and willingness to pay for it!

In my opinion no, not at all. Shirogorov's ARE really that good of a knife.

 

[Feca10ne]

Here we go,.. Ill call it the "Shiro shelf". Ive seen a few Shiro's that have traveled past the lock-bar wear and now rest on this "shelf".
Why is it there?
Is it Shiro's way of saying "hey you need a new lock-bar insert"?

 

[jp9mm]

Here we go,.. Ill call it the "Shiro shelf". Ive seen a few Shiro's that have traveled past the lock-bar wear and now rest on this "shelf".
Why is it there?
Is it Shiro's way of saying "hey you need a new lock-bar insert"?

I've seen this on other knives... isn't this 'shelf' just to hide the different lock bar insert steel and have a cleaner face?

 

[Feca10ne]

I've seen this on other knives... isn't this 'shelf' just to hide the different lock bar insert steel and have a cleaner face?

Very good question Sir but I haven't a clue. You'd think if they just brought up the titanium to the same level it would hide the insert?
But when you run out of lock-bar you get lock-rock. Someone here is bound to know the answer, but Im betting on the worn lock-bar indicator hypothesis.

 

[sharp_edge]

I agree, the CRK's have never been fast opening knives for me either. But some dudes can flip em open faster than a SB! I just cant. ..matter of fact I've never been able to open a umnumzaan at all!
I think the CRKs are still a superior knife though, just a different animal. I think a CRK is going to last longer in the long run due to a few problems that exists with the Shiro's, namely the bearings and lockbar insert on some of the model's. Some of the Shiro's have a steel LB insert that is lower than the titanium bar there screwed into. Eventually the LB interface will run out of travel before it hits the titanium bar. Ill try to find a picture but its one thing to look for when buying a Shiro second hand.

Not meaning anything bad about CRK as I just bought two of them recently but I think that Chris Reeve adviced against excessive opening and closing knives and more importantly against flipping open knives helps significantly the longevity of CRK folding knives. Flipping open a knife results in MUCH more impact on the lock face (and stop pin) than slowly opening it.

 

[Razor]

I wonder why CRK's don't use better steel in their knives? Nothing wrong with S35V but a lot of companies using M390, Elmax, CPM20V.

 

[ridnovir]

I wonder why CRK's don't use better steel in their knives? Nothing wrong with S35V but a lot of companies using M390, Elmax, CPM20V.

it boggles my mind, to be honest. CRK is in the best position to produce a flipper with a nice steel and killer design so we can stick it to the ruskies. For now, though I enjoy the shit out of shiros.

 

[John Dough]

Shiros are good knives. Their price though is hype.

Compare a $170 Real Steel 2017 Megalodon (M390, titanium) to a $800 Shirogorov F95 with the same features, you're gonna see they're practically identical with regards to fit and finish, action, overall build quality. If anything the design on the Megalodon is even more elaborate. I think both would be great if they'd cost $350.

 

[SVTFreak]

I wonder why CRK's don't use better steel in their knives? Nothing wrong with S35V but a lot of companies using M390, Elmax, CPM20V.

it boggles my mind, to be honest. CRK is in the best position to produce a flipper with a nice steel and killer design so we can stick it to the ruskies. For now, though I enjoy the shit out of shiros.

A little off the shiro topic, but the reason is quite simple. It provides the attributes that reeves knives wants in their product. They run it to a point wheee it’s decently tough, holds a working edge quite well (albeit won’t maintain that screaming sharp, freshly honed edge as long) and is not a pain in the behind to resharpen. They’ve actually quite nailed the target. It’s a great all around steel the way they use it. They should know, they helped develop it.

 

[Feca10ne]

Shiros are good knives. Their price though is hype.

Compare a $170 Real Steel 2017 Megalodon (M390, titanium) to a $800 Shirogorov F95 with the same features, you're gonna see they're practically identical with regards to fit and finish, action, overall build quality. If anything the design on the Megalodon is even more elaborate. I think both would be great if they'd cost $350.

.....said the person who has never owned a Shirogorov
Comparing a Real Steel 2017 Megalodon to a F95 is blatantly the same as comparing a fake Sebenza to a real one. And good for them for "trying" to imitate perfection because in doing so they'er raising the bar for what you get when you spend your hard earned $170

 

[DJC72]

I’ve owned/collected close to 150 folders over the years but finally tried a Shiro last year. It’s a great knife! Fit and finish are top shelf. The detent, washers and flipper tab work perfectly together to smoothly fire the blade into the open position. It’s a keeper! The cost however, at a touch of 1K, makes it a luxury item for me. While I prefer the Shiro over my CRK knives, I don’t believe the Shirogorov is $450 “better” than my Wilson combat Startac Zaan. That being said, I might have to add another to the stable.

 

[John Dough]

.....said the person who has never owned a Shirogorov
Comparing a Real Steel 2017 Megalodon to a F95 is blatantly the same as comparing a fake Sebenza to a real one. And good for them for "trying" to imitate perfection because in doing so they'er raising the bar for what you get when you spend your hard earned $170

That's just nonsense.
I've owned that F95 I was talking about and handled enough other 95s to be pretty sure about what I'm stating here.

You may as well listen these opinions:

My guess is either you never handled a 2017 Megalodon or you just can't handle a comparably well-made product... which makes you either what you called me or just a fanboyish kinda snob

 

[Feca10ne]

That's just nonsense.
I've owned that F95 I was talking about and handled enough other 95s to be pretty sure about what I'm stating here.

You may as well listen these opinions:

My guess is either you never handled a 2017 Megalodon or you just can't handle a comparably well-made product... which makes you either what you called me or just a fanboyish kinda snob

Well your either a troll or you have a distorted perception of reality.
Just because your @ss cant tell the difference in the ride quality of a Rolls-Royce compared to Kia Carnival doesn't mean others cannot.
But Ill admit that lately, It does take a increasingly perceptive posterior to tell the difference...
The Chinese made knives discussion belongs elsewhere, but if they did make a knife that was on par with Shirogorov it wouldn't be a 2017 Megalodon.

Enjoy your Chinese knife bro.

 

[halden.doerge]

Honestly, I don't feel like Shiros are actually that amazing in terms of material quality and tolerances. I owned an F95T and tried to love it, but there were just too many problems. The bearing races are fragile, with loose bearings that are easily lost if the knife is disassembled. The issue of "Shiro shelf" on the lockbar has already been brought up, and I've always found it disturbing that on any of them you can push the lock bar over to 100% engagement with the lockbar insert, right up against the "shelf" with ease.

None of that screams tight tolerances to me. Certainly not on the level of CRK, or more comparable makers like Koenig or Holt. And when they start around $700, wheew boy. Hard pass for me.

 

[Grandmaster]

There’s at least one post a month about shiro’s where the trolls start bashing it, you dont think its worth it, buy the real steel. If I were gonna to compare another knife to shiro, real steel is way at the bottom. I choose Shiro over Koenig everyday, but Holt, yeah they are above Shiro IMO, especially the new v4

 

[marchone]

Shiro quality is generally highly praised, and sometimes criticized for taking shortcuts, but for me their appeal starts with superlative designs. They are not flashy, oversized, highly polished beasts with complex blade geometries. They are useful, versatile, everyday cutting tools.

When I see comparisons to other maker's knives with regard only to production tolerances and machining expertise, say to an Arius, I see apples to oranges. Keep the comparisons to similar designs and you'll see names like Cheburkov, Holt Spector, Anso, Burger, Bull, Grimsmo, and others.

 

[goldie]

Benchmade has two models w the shelf, one is the 761 mono lock and the subrosa.I had that one but I worried about that shelf eventually hitting its end.Didnt seem at least on that model there wasn't too much room for error.Wound up selling it.Not a fan of that kind of design, nor am I willing to spend 750 for one of these knives. Those days are over I no longer see the value of spending that much money for any knife.My Thorburn is the last of that era for me...

 

[Razor]

If you have to ask, you don't need one. Lol I just bought a Neon and think it and the 95T are a great pair! They are the best knives that I have owned and I have owned a few expensive customs. It is what ever you like. It would be bad if we all liked blondes.

 

[GatorFlash1]

There are so many good knife manufacturers and custom knife makers in the US I would never think about buying a knife made in Russia. I'll just keep EDC'ingj my good old Spyderco Gayle Bradley 1.