Shirogorov F95 - "Banner"

Nothing quite like highly anticipated mail calls these days... Aaahhh the world of knives, knives and nothing but more knives.

Another F95 today.  S30V Nudie.

Doesn't sound quite that exciting and palate tingling?

Yea, I know, it's just the basic configuration for one of the most common Shirogorov knife. Nothing wrong, as they still stand out as really good knives. I'm not moving into the realm of discussing production vs midtech and custom, pricing or which super duper steel today. Only on the basis of a knife as a knife. Form follows function.

Of course as one moves from basic factory production, there is always a growing acquired taste for the exquisite exotica brought on by the psychedelic assault of things edged in various social media and the internet realm.

Oh wait... something looks different already. No other Shiro I seen is ever packaged up this way... 

Inside the nice canvas bag is the familiar black box from which, out comes....... 

...HOLY EDGE!

"Banner" Project F95,  1#70.   by Vadim (Nasgul) that turns 70 pieces of factory Nudist into what's seen here.

For those unfamiliar but had seen a couple of other strange looking F95 called the "Golf" or "Dragon", these are two other past projects. Each with only 10 and 30 pieces respectively (I think).

Why the 70 pieces this time...

That being the 70th anniversary of Victory Day marking the end of WWII in Russia and Europe with the raising of Victory banners over the Reichstag.

Some of us maybe more familiar with the iconic photograph of US Marines raising the Stars and Stripes in Iwo Jima but equally iconic is Yevgeny Khaldei's photograph (on the right) of this momentous day.

Sure it would be a nice knife to have with all the significance attached to it. But how are these linked to me? Nothing in a direct way I'm afraid.  But as a die hard Shiro fan, coupled to being a life time avid reader of all thing military and being a soldier once myself....

Ok Shut up, Enough justification... Alright, 'fess time.  I'm just a knife junkie experiencing withdrawal. Need fix :)

There were a couple of flag designs to choose from but of course nothing could have dissuaded me from the option of the sickle, hammer and star version.

It all started when reading about the project on guns.ru (ok I can't read Cyrillic but if you are as fanatic as me, spending a couple of hours each time using online translator and further deciphering the nuances and syntax of a foreign language to acquire info would be a small price to pay).

Next, a Banner 95 pops up on Instagram. For the next few days I bypass pics of almost every other knife, only returning each time to the Banner pics and videos as I checked into Instagram. Something kept calling out to me... Obsession? Like all those other Shiro I owned to date?  Maybe.

Fired up an email...

Long story short... a month plus of exchanges later where one  speaks no Russian and the other speaks no English are now happily chatting away. Things involved some shuffling around for help on formal translating of important bits. Aided by Suspects [ you guys- if you are reading this... Thanks :)  ] who are fluent in both languages...

With the last few nerve wrecking days of "postage tracker-no-update", the anxiety is a thing of the past as excitement takes over with the un-boxing lasting up till this write-up...   Enjoy the pics.

It's been awhile.. guess it's show time for Yawny and Grinny.
The ano gold over the diamond scales changes hue under different lighting condition. By and large it is a nice bronzy shade. The smooth matt periphery looks very much to have the anodization removed afterwards yet has been left with an ever slight tinge behind, creating a "now-you-see-it-now-you-don't" effect. Making it into a soft blending with the original factory smooth ti grey finish.. hence it can look grey or "brown" depending on the lighting cast. A good contrast of matt and reflective surface play for a two tone finish.

...and the usual array of left, right, center and oblique shots..

Gold ano standoff.

Not the oldest nor the latest but this is still my favorite clip design on Shiros

Classic blade pose: "The Guillotine". No writeup would be complete without one of these :)

"V" for Victory...
sans photoshop. took quite a few shots to find two that aligns up nicely.

 Now the details...

Not too sure if the stock factory handle camewith the logo but was removed during the anodization and engraving process. Whatever the case, it's definitely put back on, together with the "1#70" and the engraver's own logo as a trio on the inside. Of course not to be missed are all those millings too... much like what's found on Custom Divison Shiros these days. This is a totally transformed knife, customized from inside to out that bears little or no resemblance to original factory stock.

This little guy that came along is most appreciated... 

Neat little surprise. One of Vadim's little bear bead with glow inserts on each side.
A nice little addition to my small collection of beads

This has been quite an epic two months....what started out ordinarily enough as a quest for a nice knife became a journey that has build up into a friendship with someone in a faraway land. Adding on more significance than when I first started out with just the hunt for a nice blade.  Quite sure I would be seeing a few of these on the secondary market later on but I know none will ever quite compare in the same way as the one that just made it's way to me...

Been a long day.. need those 40 winks now. Gonna close it with a last shot. One that captures the tranquility of the moment as I reach out to switch off the lights. Good night.

... as I drift into dreams, a Sevastopol in my hands next?  :)

A tale of two 95s

Well, sort of.. Never thought I would be seeing "Cammie" so soon after trading it off.

Ever since getting the 95 CF-inlay, it just somehow felt different but I could never really figure out why...

With 2 in hand I was able to do a close up comparison allowing to find out where are the differences.

Without putting them side by side, those differences aren't obvious as its mostly hidden away around the pivot area. Its all in the tang and the recess on the stop-pin on the blade. Now it's easy to understand. Knife pics usually just show the full open full close, lock and those "oooh and ahhh" details of any Shiro.. but here as I see how one generation evolve to another and they tell a lot more.

A casual glance and it would never have looked as if it would cause all the differences... I think the angular tang on the left somehow imparts a stiffer feel and gives a different feel to the "throw" when the knife is flipped open.  but I may be wrong.

A second observation is on the recess for the stop pin. Not too apparent from the picture but the "drop-in" on the Camo 95 is a little deeper making the blade sit more snugly. It also creates a more positive feel when the blade is snapped into a fully locked up position right at the end f the action.

The pic below shows a different angle where the stop pin has a slightly longer distance to roll in before engaging the end of the recess area. All in, these subtle differences create the different distinct "clicks" when snapping a blade open and delivering a difference in both knives, with a better feel favoring the Camo 95.

Overall the Camo 95 seems stiffer as well. Compressing both sides of the handle with the hand (like squeezing a sandwich), the 95 CF-inlay definitely flexes more.

Prior to this non-scientific squeeze test, both knives has been tightened to about the same torque. basically at the point for both where blade is centered but has little or no lateral play when pushed in both the open and folded positions.

I attribute maybe a slight difference due to the shape of the tang (update: yes this last part seems to  hold true after comparing these 2 with a colleague's F95 with cf inlay but has the angular tang... action wise that one falls right in between these two).

I'm past the stage of looking at how knives can drop down on its own weight. For that Shiro has always been known to be smooth.  But for anyone who is still fascinated, I'll say go for the angular tang Shiros..it makes adjusting the tension relative to the centering and lateral play for smooth drop down a lot less to fidget.

In typical bike-wrenching-geek speak-- we are talking about bearing pre-load here and I suspect that might have something to do with the weight distribution of the various area of the angular tang which favors this over the (older?) rounded ones.

Both has the same deign with the lockbar extending slightly over the insert but on the Cf-inlay the very  tip of extended lock seemed to be "beveled" off just a tiny tiny tad. I could not tell if that is because there is some wear to the area or intentional.

Well, all the above observations came about as I took the Camo 95 back for a take-down like the last round I did for the 95 CF-inlay. So to the gritty bits of it now....

ahh.. the dirty little culprits causing my friend all his sleepless nites while fondling Cammie :)

Cleaned up...

Race looks good. No sign of being worn.

Checked the retainer for levelness...  Looks good.

The key to finding the "right" grease/ oil is still on... Ok till the next time. Yes-- if any of you wrenchheads read me mind... will be trying a light dab of Torco RSF Med 55wt gear/ machine prep oil which I stupidly bought as expensive Fox Float eons ago  :)

Shirogorov F95 S90V CF inlay

originally posted on my other blog. 5th Mar 2015

It started off with a bit of a "WTF did I just get!" and then came the take down when I got home to clean things up.

Then I thought... well it wasn't so bad. First I opened it up.. played with the all the loose innards and see the working of the whole knife. Finally. It's always something I wanted to do and see for myself. Open up a Shiro.

With expensive knives, somehow I just fell into the same mindset like most people - try to keep them as clean and pristine and hope never have to dissect and sharpen. Its a little ridiculous really. Just strike me as a little funny since bikes I've built up cost hell of a lot more than a knife. Of course in the process I have no qualms whatsoever to rip apart brand new bearings, hubs and suspension and tune according to my liking.

Right off the bat, of each new build, tuned and spec to my standards,  first thing  is to ride it out and slap some mud on it. Inevitably a couple of scratch and nicks would accompany the first ride somehow. Never thought much about it except for how good they rode or what I might need to re-tune on the way home...

"Mint, never carried, never sharpened..." It always makes me wonder... why the hell do we even buy knives then? Ok I have a few like that myself but at some point or another, I'm sure they will be carried. Maybe not heavy usage but certainly some light duties. Sooner or later there's just gonna be nicks somewhere on those blades too.

For now a workhorse Shiro EDC that is not mint, carried and most probably been sharpened before it even reach me suits just fine. Really. Like my bikes that gets taken apart more often than I care to remember... it must have been 3-4 rounds of tuning by this week to get the action to almost how I want it to be.

This F95 version with CF inlay was never really my cuppa. Yet I think this is now the perfect one in my hands... My previous F95 was essentially just a Nudie version dressed in digital camo. Length and broadness is nice but it felt a little thin when I held and not much of a grip purchase on the handle, especially when flipping it open.  This is where the in lay comes in, getting the whole handle nicely snug when i hold the open knife in a close hand..

An ever black-silver-grey world in all my worldly possessions.. Well one can't go really wrong with such color or the lack of combo

Next? Gonna measure those loose balls and maybe change them up.. Bearing retainer looks like it could take a tad bigger bearings. Testing the results should be interesting....

Ah yes yes ... adding a few manly scars and scratches.
Hopefuly in time to come it really does turn into some BNIB (Bloody Nicked Interesting Blade) with stories to tell like some of my other users.

Another (dirty) F95

Well... life sure seems a little empty without Cammie... there's just something about that knife. The smoothness is pretty unparalleled in all things grasped between my greasy digits. But life's too short to keep lusting  over what's left the hands.

So....

Nope, this didn't look mint even on photos... Reading between the lines of the "full disclosure description" of the ad says it's been used or at least heavily carried. Still, it didn't prepare me on what's expected when it finally came....

First flip-- Damn! I swear images from the movie Jumanji came leaping out of my mind... I wonder if the next moment was gonna see a stampede from a million wildebeest gushing out of the pivot. Shut! Back in pocket and that's when I knew a take down is inevitable. No flicking way I'm gonna live with such sloppy actions. Yes yes, Shiros are expensive and most people I know will be wincing but hey... Me Am Wrencher. Bikes aren't rocket science and definitely not knife pivots and bearings. Taken down enough of my cheap user knives to know that as well... ok maybe just need exercising a little more care with not mauling the screws yadda yadda...

Holy Mother of Gunk!

Yes, that's right my friends! That's twigs or whatever organic vegetation that defied decomposition....

Some real old rancid grease... not sure if its factory stock packing but going by the marks and nicks left, albeit tiny, on the knife--this definitely has been opened up before and likely was a regreased job.. Ok looks like I'm never gonna sell this knife with all the things disclosed here. I'll just re-pack it as a user. That's life! We win some we lose some...

Ok that's just the bearing gunk. Pretty mild in compasion to say the bb of my bikes but in a small little knife-- that transaltes to a lot of rough action. With the retainer it's more than double of what's seen... The tooth of the retainers actually had to be flossed with a dental pick. Sure wish I had one of those sonic cleaners around.  Anyway...

The miniscule size balls, at least they were magnetic.. Didn't know for sure initially so I use my magnetic bits just in case... 17 per side.

Saw a vid on Youtube on another SRBS takedown... looking at what I had here and basically the blade is rotating on balls that's in turn rotating on a "fixed position and lateral movement capped by the race channel on either side of the ti handles.. Yup its a polished race- I wouldn't expect anything less from a Shiro blade. However looking at the individual steel balls, I would think it makes a difference. All SRBS I have handled so far felt a little different from each other. Grease and lube aside, it would be logical to say the roundness and uniformity in ball diameter would make an overall difference.

No idea what kind of super duper goo others use but move past marketing hype... practically a good bearing grease should work but like mixing up my own salad dressing, it usually involves more than 1 ingredient for all my lubing mixture.

Mix of Shimano Durace bearing grease and a dab of Eezox to reduce the viscosity. Shall see if I like the gliding action, else will change to something else in a few days time.

Oh to keep those screw pristine? Still milling a couple of "DIY -screwdrivers" for the long run but for now... yea good old tape over a 7-8mm flat bit does the trick...


Alright time for some action...

and compared to my old Cammie?

Shirogorov F95- Lazer Digi Camo

F95: My 2nd entry

Typing away on email to close another deal... the mail man came a knocking with the much awaited package from Russia.

To be honest all the versions of the F95 are still confusing the hell outta me... so last week when I chanced upon the piece, I had no idea which version/ generation it was. All it appeared to clueless me was again something that is not usually seen, like the double logo 110b.

Not the Nudie, Not the T-scales or even  the lesser seen G10 T- scales. Nothing on Shiro F95 gallery had anything like it either.

It was described as "Lazer etched digital camo on Ti handles"

With the label on the box I was hoping it would lead to a little more.....

Typing it out in a translator.. Нож Флиппер 95, Elmax, подшипники all it's saying is just..  

Flipper knife 95, Elmax, bearings

 Well so much for my amateur probing...

Stop wasting time.. Un-box and let's see what we got here. Ok first 2 flips, there is a bit of stiction and that got me going "Hmmmm... but another 10-15 flicks later, the warmth returnedthat put a big sh!t eating grin on my face. Hell yea! Now this is a flipper that scores high on my scale. No not like that early gen  LSCF Bodega that's still imprinted on my mind... but in it's own way its so eermm "flipping" good, I'm still flicking and closing it as I type here... Must be what? 300 times since this morning?

Action wise, detent is just right. I'm not a fan of hard detent for certain reasons. Shaking it hard when closed, the blade doesn't drop out. Checked#

Woes of  South Paws, for we know from handling most knives made for the righties. Yea, you know what I mean. Our thumb sometimes gets in the way and leave enough pressure on the locking side of a framelock that impedes when firing the blade. Though most time my preference has always been to leave the thumb around the pivot for better purchase of grip...occasionally it still does rest less than optimal.

A lesser made folder would certainly see me swearing. I intentionally lower the thumb to see how the action would be interrupted on firing. No problem.. fires away completely till lock up. Each time, everytime. Must have done that for 50 rounds before it occurred that its picture taking session.... Yes yes the SBW Holiday Contest is still ongoing at Shirogorov_Club. I am gonna send only 1 shot per knife. No multiple ones.. If its good, it's good. Let the public decide...

Here it is joining the earlier entry on 28th Dec


As I still don't deem myself capable to review anything while spidering up this learning curve of things edged..... will just leave a few more pics for the viewing

Minimalist: 1 beefy standoff. Backspacer-less design.

No I'm not too worried about lateral stiffness. Handles are solid titanium here. Doubt I would be putting any kind of silly pressure in wiggling the blade so much so that I can actually feel lateral flex. Those kind of situations will probably see my hard use workhorses like the CS Rajah II or CS Spartan at work instead of this beauty here.

Centering

Shirogorov blade centering. Self explanatory

Getting my cheapo point-and-shoot with good lighting to see the SRBS, ball, symbol was not easy. This is the best shot gotten

Size comparison to the 110B

Quick  vid... first was a forceful intentional firing. Check out the purrrrrrr...
Second was a lack lustre flick just to see how it goes on those greasy fingers "oops I miss my flipper tab" days.. No problem. Lock and loaded all the same.

Now, just have to wait out for this soggy weather to brighten up, hit the trails on the bike and get some more natural shots.... :)