The Bears' Den--Shirogorov Showcase

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This year is a significant milestone year. 50. 25. One is a birthday. Other one is an anniversary (which resulted in a small shopping spree for my bride for some nice pieces to her collection). This was my takehome :D

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I am instantly enamored with this knife! Perfect gentlman's carry size; not the typical shop EDC size I normally go with. The sheepsfoot called to me the very first time I saw it. This knife is really an extravagance for me and my bride is just amazing to let me have this.

The lockbar is very sensitive to any finger pressure on opening. As small is it is, for my M/L hands takes very careful grip to keep off the lockbar. I will NOT be flipping this with wet hands, lest my weird grip fails and it sails.

Sharpening will be... interesting. It didn't come all that particularly sharp (wouldn't shave arm hair). Now, maybe my standards are higher. I've worked on my sharpening game, and getting a hair-whittling edge, freehand, is now a decent effort for me. This was not that, in spite of reviewer's claims that this knife is 'screaming/razor sharp'. So I thought I'd start with just some stropping, as there was no obvious edge damage, dings or flat spots. That got it hair shaving, but the assymmetric bevel is just weird. It lays almost flat on the right side and raised up extra high on the left side. I can see the stropping already starting to polish the very fine bead blast on the right side, so I will need to be extremely carful not to scratch it if (when) I do put it on the stones. A little strop-induced polish is one thing, but a scratch will break my heart.

Overall this knife produces a massive grin on my face.
 
Congrats on your personal milestones, TRfromMT TRfromMT , and your extra special treat in celebration. The Kami is an interesting piece and one I've followed a bit over at the USN Shiro pages. Your pic really shows off the nice offset between the sheepsfoot blade and handle which yields a very advantageous draw cutting angle. It's also that oft yearned-for by many mid-sized knife which is absent from the Shirogorov lineup. As Shiro generally introduces new features in their Collaboration or Custom Division knives which later show up in their serial knives, I wonder if there's a mid-sized series in the offing for future introduction.

Hope you continue to enjoy your new prize as you head toward your next milestone.
 
Nuuskamuikku said:
Oh, what a knife!
Had to look into it. With a fear that I need to break into a bank to get one.
But pocket clip is omitted. That's a show stopper to me, phew...
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You're right - no pocket clip...something I didn't realize until after I ordered it. Comes with a scout carry leather pouch, but that doesn't work for me. So for now I'm using the lanyard to be able to access it in my pocket, but I have a clip slip coming from Grommet's Leather.
 
I recently acquired my first Shirogorov; a Neon Lite and love it! What would be a larger Shirogorov in carbon fiber to get next? I am leaning towards the F3, but it seems a little chunky. Is it fairly light and pocketable?
 
TRfromMT said:
Sharpening will be... interesting. It didn't come all that particularly sharp (wouldn't shave arm hair). Now, maybe my standards are higher. I've worked on my sharpening game, and getting a hair-whittling edge, freehand, is now a decent effort for me. This was not that, in spite of reviewer's claims that this knife is 'screaming/razor sharp'. So I thought I'd start with just some stropping, as there was no obvious edge damage, dings or flat spots. That got it hair shaving, but the assymmetric bevel is just weird. It lays almost flat on the right side and raised up extra high on the left side. I can see the stropping already starting to polish the very fine bead blast on the right side, so I will need to be extremely carful not to scratch it if (when) I do put it on the stones. A little strop-induced polish is one thing, but a scratch will break my heart.

Overall this knife produces a massive grin on my face.
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The knife has something similar to the one sided grind you find on Emersons.

You sharpen it on one side (the side that looks normal), and then only strop the other side. The side with the double bevels should't touch a stone, just a strop.
 
Adamas said:
I recently acquired my first Shirogorov; a Neon Lite and love it! What would be a larger Shirogorov in carbon fiber to get next? I am leaning towards the F3, but it seems a little chunky. Is it fairly light and pocketable?
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It is bigger than your neon but not really enough to make a difference for me. I'm not bothered by weight in my pocket though as I carry two knives,a flashlight and a pair of pliers. LOL!
 
Mr.sig239 said:
It is bigger than your neon but not really enough to make a difference for me. I'm not bothered by weight in my pocket though as I carry two knives,a flashlight and a pair of pliers. LOL!
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Thank you for the feedback. Head to head specs:

Neon Lite - blade 3.25” overall 7.5”
F3 - blade 3.75” overall 8.75”

The F3 is a little heavier and the handle is thicker.

Additionally, Neon Lite = frame lock and F3 = liner lock.

Minimal carry for me...slim cardholder, key fob for my car and knife.

The F3 should be a nice compliment to my Neon Lite.
 
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I want a Shiro but that ball bearing system worries me as I stated before. I use my knives and don't know how the bearings will hold up when I'm in the woods or fishing or out on a boat etc.. Has anyone used a Shiro in any of those Conditions? Can I get feedback on how well they hold up under actual use?
 
I use my neon all the time. When it gets dirty I run it under the tap and then blow it out with canned air. The tolerances tend to keep the big stuff from getting into the bearings. I have had it so gunked up it wouldn't lock open before. (stuffed with tree sap and pocket lint)Hosed it off and blew it out and kept going. No oil used either I run it dry. They aren't that hard to take apart and clean either, just need patience.
Never did blood though so can't help with that issue.
 
Mr.sig239 said:
I use my neon all the time. When it gets dirty I run it under the tap and then blow it out with canned air. The tolerances tend to keep the big stuff from getting into the bearings. I have had it so gunked up it wouldn't lock open before. (stuffed with tree sap and pocket lint)Hosed it off and blew it out and kept going. No oil used either I run it dry. They aren't that hard to take apart and clean either, just need patience.
Never did blood though so can't help with that issue.
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Thank you for the reply. I'm really wanting a hation or Neon. I cant decide as they both have pretty much the same blade length.
 
Eliteone2383 said:
Thank you for the reply. I'm really wanting a hation or Neon. I cant decide as they both have pretty much the same blade length.
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Chuck_Nunface Chuck_Nunface is correct about the relationship between the NeOn and the HatiOn. If you go back to my post of March 27 you'll see that the older NeOn Lite and NeOn UltraLites (the original models) had blades of 80 mm while the newer NeOn Zero and HatiOn (which is indeed based on the Zero but with the show side non-Ti) are slightly longer-bladed at 85 mm, making those models about a 5th of an inch larger.
 
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