Our contestants: 1)Trevor Burger LEXK CFL 2) Koenig Arius 3) Grimsmo Norseman 4) Shirogorov Hati R. What is your vote for best knife action? I go over the OCD, the Open, Close, and Disengage of each knife to find out my favorite.
This was a really cool vid and idea, i love these fun knife videos, and there was alot of realy cool knife handling that shows you things that you might not have known or seen befor unless you have handled that knife. Thats why i like comparison videos it gives you a better idea on how the knife feels.
That shiro stick is from the lockbar being so thin. Like on the paysan when you go to disengage the lockbar, you apply pressure to the left and inward (edge facing straight at you). Imagine pulling a square peg out of a perfect square hole. Pulling it straight out will lack resistance, but twisting it and pulling will increase friction. You can get around this "stick" by eliminating the inward pressure. Disengaging the lockbar by wedging your index finger and pulling out does the trick for me
Shiros have lock geometry issues in a few of their models (F95, etc.). They have lock -push (you can push the lockbar over to the non-lock side with thumb pressure, which contributes to "shiro stick." The lock should not move when engaged. Especially for a knife that expensive. When confronted about it, Recon1got defensive and told me there was nothing wrong with the knife and that I was banned from buying any more Shiros from them. Sold all of mine Shiros and bought CRKs, Striders, etc, from a dealer who deserves my patronage. The Shiro F3 and the 111 don't seem to have the problem--probably because they are liner locks. I do love Grimsmo knives. I own two Norsemans (much thinner and narrower than an Arius) and a Rask. Plus John and Erik personally respond to emails and seem to be really nice. Owned an Arius Gen 4 in M390, and I sold it. Just didn't do anything for me.
Really enjoyed this video as I'm kind of an action junkie myself. I really like the Trevor Burger front flippers! I'd be interested to see a CKF compared also with these awesome choices.
I think you would really like the Olamic Whippersnapper. The particular model I have is a front flipper too. Pricey knives with a bright future. It is sooo hard to find any of these knives. Frustrating!!!
I have arius on order very nice knife. I returned shiro on mrbs 95T because of lock stick. Knife is great, deployment is excellent but closing the knife is dissapointing for me
This was a fun video man, thanks for all the cool comparisons and info. I don't know if you've ever handled a Koenig Mini Goblin, but holy crap does that thing have nice action. I dare say it's better than the Arius, it just has these wicked metallic acoustics on close and open that you just have to hear in person and feel as well. I mean it is just unbelievable glassy drop shut smooth. Also, I wanted to ask how the Holt Specter compares to these others in your experience?
@@MetalEffort dang man that's pretty wild, never would've guessed! I had a guy wanting to trade me one of his custom knives for a custom Millit Torrent I had, never had heard of the maker til recently, now I feel kinda dumb about it haha.
Fun video. My Burger is really nice. I think that the newer Norseman knives have a better detent ramp, but you still need to get them a bit further closed or it will slide open, that said, the amount of free drop without any play is a fairly incredible feat. I don't have a Shiro, and for the price I probably won't. I'm watching for a style 55 Arius and a Holt. Those probably have to wait though as I was able to snag a Brown exponent today, looking forward to that. Lastly, I think you should have included a PM2. As a budget comparison. My s110v version is perfectly centered. It flies open. It drops like a guillotine. There is no blade play and it does all of that on washers. When you really think about it, it's pretty amazing for US made mass production knife at that price.
I didn't know about a new detent ramp on the Norsemans. That is good to hear. The PM2 made a cameo in this video. I agree that the PM2 can have great action. You have to get lucky to have one as good as ours, but it happens.
@@MetalEffort I think they kind of do CQI stuff. Shabazz has a good video on older vs newer Norseman. I think they originally didn't have one. I could be wrong about them improving it. I do agree the bounce is a bit annoying though.
Absolutely amazing video. Love the details you elaborated on each knife. I appreciate your efforts and honest opinions in regards to all factors of great knife criteria. Keep up the great work. 💯🙌🏻♥️🔪♥️
I'm disappointed in myself for being so shallow as to really like a video all about action. How important is great action, anyway? Color me shallow, I guess. I recommend you do more comparisons - maybe most comfortable handle; easiest to pocket; best EDC slicer? Different and entertaining. If I extrapolate from my smaller EXK CFL and EXK Plus, the LEXK Plus, with IKBS instead of caged bearings, may have an even freer closing action than the CFL version. My favorite way to open these knives is facing the blade toward me and pushing straight back with the pad of my thumb. Try it! Regarding the detent, my Arius seems perfectly balanced between blade hole opening and using the flipper tab. On it the Spydieflick is as good as with the PM2 I owned. But I'm with you in not wanting a flipper delete model. No reason to forgo that great flipping action. I actually love the Gen2 flipper tab. My index finger rests directly on top without catching the tip at all. I don't own a Hati, but I have a Shiro F3R. The action isn't quite as good as that of my Arius. The detent is a little weak, but it flips reliably. No stick at all. It needs just slightly more coaxing to close, but overall a great action - maybe edged out by my Sander Barbus, which has the best closing action I've experienced, once past the detent ball. I have other knives with great action: Holt Specter, Boos Smoke (my CM1's closing action is quite a bit better than that of my former TM1), and a Thorburn L51 Compact. But I think the Arius has the best overall action. Thanks for the great video!
Don't feel shallow, anything beyond the bare minimum of needed knives is all for funzies anyways. This hobby is about personal taste and expression. It also happens to be a tool, so it is really easy for us to justify it and make the cognitive dissonance fairies go away. 🧚♀️
I absolutely loved the action on my Arius (sold it though). I will say that the JG Scout and my Shamwari both bested the Burger I had. It’s really hard to beat the action on a Shamwari. My Specter is damn good too, but the Arius was better.
Which burger model did you have? I would agree if it was the base model, but this CFL one is amazing. I liked it better than the sham I had, but it was a 3" sham, maybe that isn't as good as the 3.3 or 3.5" shams? The scout I reviewed had a really weak detent so I don't think it was a good example.
Metal Effort my Burger was a base model on washers. Haven’t tried a CFL version yet. But the Shamwari I have is 3” and it drops shut on its own. The Scout I have is phenomenal. The detent is great on this one, flips open really hard, and will shut with a slight shake. Can’t believe it’s on Teflon washers.
You can’t disqualify the arius just because the spidey flick isn’t as good as the flipper tab! The flipper is the main method of deployment! The other knife doesn’t even have a spidey hole or thumb stud to use so since it doesn’t have two methods of opening IT should be disqualified! Idk... Koenig fanboy I am. Lol
Metal Effort haha I do agree! A spidey flick is a VERY satisfying form of deployment! In all seriousness, A++ video! Thanks for all your great content! (Even if my beloved Arius lost)
That’s one of the older Norseman’s due to the blade not having a sharpening choil. Something else must be different because I can release the lock and the blade will close without me touching the blade.
