Thanks for the kind words, Edge. Your post reminds me of a String of Strizhness in this thread from back in July involving
@TenShun705 at Post 36,462,
@grybsh7 at 36,495, our lamentably still MIA
@Fullflat at 36,506 whose friends understand how he feels but miss him regardless, myself at 36610, and back to TenShun at 36,618. The Small Strizh both carries smaller and cuts bigger than its size and is indeed an excellent knife.
You mentioned eyeing the Scout which falls right between the two I pictured earlier. It's essentially the Cheburkov equivalent to the justly celebrated Shiro F95 Turtle and is a helluva value at less than half the price. Here's a pic of the two from my
Scout review of April 2018. Just know that they come both with and without interior milling and if weight is a factor, make sure you inquire of the seller which it is as many descriptions and weights are boilerplate.
Back on topic and despite the mentions above, this became not Strizh, Scout, or Shiro but instead Starbenza Saturday, done in one of my favorite handle patterns--Wilson Combat Starburst. I tend to think of the 25 as a prototype Inkosi as the latter is really just a renamed and improved Sebenza 25. This one is the freest and smoothest out-of-the-box of my numerous CRKs and went right from being the seller's BNIB safe queen to a work user the day I got it.