Mine is now in-route back to Spyderco for up and down blade play. The compression lock doesn’t seat fully... Let’s see what they do. Edited 5 years later, Spyderco fixed it and sent it back within a week. I now have 3 Shamans and I feel I wouldn’t sell them. I just carried over 20 knives in the last month and put a shaman in my pocket this morning. I have to say this is my favorite. Keep up the good work!
Excellent review as always! Similar conclusions to what I had in my review! Excellent point about the holes directly over the pivot bushings. Nevertheless, I absolutely adore mine. Can’t wait for the sprint runs!
Got mine sent to me here in the UK from DLT Trading last week and I couldn't be more delighted. This is, without any doubt at all, the best folder I've ever owned...bar none. I've had no need to adjust it at all. No blade play in any direction and the blade grind and sharpness are both excellent straight from the box. The PM2 is dead - long live the Shaman!!!
Thanks for the excellent review. I've had my Shaman for a while now and like it very much. One bother is the small bump that comes into the lock area when closing. I trimmed it down just a little and the problem was solved.
Good call moving the choil back, I’ve been thinking that for years. The native I think would benefit from that treatment, give a better blade to handle ratio. This needs a 2.0 version for that and the holes in the scales by the pivot. Good review.
I like how they've chamfered the handle edges . It looks very comfortable . Now if they'd do this on their other knives (Native 5 G10 , PM2 , Manix etc) that would be awesome . I laughed out loud when you said people had asked if you were selling it as I'd had the same thought .
This is a definite Cleary knife. As a PM2 owner, I'm not sure this is on my list at this point. But if I didn't own it already, I think I may pick this up first. Really like that blade. Nice video Kevin.
Excellent point about less choil and a longer cutting edge. The cutting edge is 3.12. Additionally, I prefer the Spyderco’s ball-bearing lock as opposed to the compression lock. I do own the black blade version of this knife, plain and spydie edge. I prefer my Manix 2XL over the Shaman, and thank you for adding the ZT909, Recon 1, and Manix 2XL to the mix. This is the best Shaman review I have seen; the one review that I have desired that included the large aforementioned folders. There are many videos comparing the Shaman to the PM2 and Manix 2, but never the larger folders. The Shaman is not a large or heavy folder IMO (larger and heavier than other Spydercos), possibly because I have been carrying ZTs for three years or more. I find it is a nice size to EDC and I carry the Spydie edge version with my Manix 2XL. Thank you for the proper pronunciation of the Shaman as well. AWESOME REVIEW!!! You provide great reviews that stick to the topic; informative; entertaining, and not excessively long.
True. I was very disappointed when my Shaman first arrived. The blade didn't want to drop and there was some blade play. I took it apart, cleaned and lubricated the pivot and used blue Loc-Tite on the pivot screws. I got the action I'm looking for.
The action on mine out of the box is pretty bad. Not really looking to do knife surgery on a $200 knife just to get decent action, think I’ll just sell it instead.
Kevin, are you going to do a vid where you go through the spyderco 2018 product catalog? It's out now. Seems kinda... underwhelming. I'll be interested in their cold steel finn wolf knockoff, a folding puuko called the wolf spyder (not kidding). There's also an ok sprint run series in laminated 310 stainless over V2 steel (a budget version of the 410/hap 40).
Shaman ($180) vs Ultimate Hunter ($95) vs Manix 2 XL ($125) comparison would be great. I want one of these. Hard to justify the new Shaman price, though.
Got it, carry it, love it. Very high on the Smile factor. It does something that none of the others do and that is that it has some heft. Not typical for Spyderco's. I also recall that I read on BladeForums that if all goes as planned they are thinking about going larger and I think the name was Chief. Don't quote me but I am pretty sure
Kevin are you at all concerned when carrying this knife, or any other that can be opened by centrifugal force (ie: depressing the compression lock and then flicking the blade out without touching the blade) in Canada? This is one of the reasons why I don't carry my Para 2 or most of my Benchmades (without tightening the pivot) as the blades can be deployed without touching the blade itself.
You bet! The only reason I am concerned about it is on that rare (extremely rare?) occasion a police officer may find a knife on you that can be opened by centrifugal force (a prohibited weapon in Canada). I know you are well aware of Canada's (questionable) knife laws and it sucks something as simple as a loose pivot screw or locking mechanism can make a knife prohibited in Canada and make a person vulnerable to a criminal charge. This is one of the thoughts that goes through my mind when I consider purchasing a knife. Am I going to have to tighten the pivot to the point the knife is not enjoyable to use? If so, the chance of buying that knife goes down considerably.
No I won't be getting one, it lost out to the ultimate hunter (because of the steel, weight and price differences, $150 vs $85 at the time). With that price difference I was also able to afford the spyderco chaparral lightweight ( $165 for both). The chaparral has beautiful blade thickness, one I won't be afraid to put to the toughest knife work (not abuse tho).
The big problem: It's just a stupidly heavy PM2.And to be honest, the PM2 is over hyped to start with. Folders in the kitchen, why? The regular kitchen knives are way better, fixed blade for no dirt in the system and goes in the dishwasher. I really don't see the point from a practical purpose. Oh, and you use your knife for cutting anything, so it doesn't belong in your food.
Common Matthew, just get a regular chefs knife for pretty much nothing. The huge cutting edge, slim steel and usually ergonomics thwarts pretty much any folder. When have you seen a chef using a folder? There's a reason for that missing picture ;)
I know, right tool for the job. But chef Knives in zdp are super expensive. Plus I don’t cook much at all haha. Outlying slicing up fruit or stuff for salad. Not prepi g chicken or anything.
Compared to decent folders, a regular kitchen knife costs nothing, so even if your theory was true, it would be void and null. I have a 10 year old $20 knife chef size, where just a little sharpening keeps it fresh for every cut. As long as there's no wood handle, they'll work like a charm.
