Micarta Shaman 2nd Sprint Run

[Evil D]

I know lots of folks like the hassle and chase of sprints, but why not just make the Micarta and [high end steel] Shaman a regular production knife, like the S110V/Blurple ones. Demand is clearly through the roof, and it seems silly to keep a great material and great tool away from people who might find it awesome.

There is a lot of psychology behind how exclusivity creates even more demand. IMHO The worse thing Spyderco could do is make it a regular production knife as it would greatly lower the demand. When is the last time you saw people get this excited for a blurple anything?

When they first brought the Military and Para 2 out in blurple and S110V you couldn't find them in stock anywhere. Demand always drops after people buy. "Satisfaction is the death of desire". Making them standard production would definitely drop the craze down but I still think at $208 this knife would continue to be a strong seller.

[standy99]

I know lots of folks like the hassle and chase of sprints, but why not just make the Micarta and [high end steel] Shaman a regular production knife, like the S110V/Blurple ones. Demand is clearly through the roof, and it seems silly to keep a great material and great tool away from people who might find it awesome.

There is a lot of psychology behind how exclusivity creates even more demand. IMHO The worse thing Spyderco could do is make it a regular production knife as it would greatly lower the demand. When is the last time you saw people get this excited for a blurple anything?

Demand only stops when everyone that wants one has one.....

[sok]

I know lots of folks like the hassle and chase of sprints, but why not just make the Micarta and [high end steel] Shaman a regular production knife, like the S110V/Blurple ones. Demand is clearly through the roof, and it seems silly to keep a great material and great tool away from people who might find it awesome.

There is a lot of psychology behind how exclusivity creates even more demand. IMHO The worse thing Spyderco could do is make it a regular production knife as it would greatly lower the demand. When is the last time you saw people get this excited for a blurple anything?

Demand only stops when everyone that wants one has one.....

Yep, Sal and the dealers have to figure out if that is one more or five hundred more.

[NickShabazz]

What's silly is that you dont understand the economics of this. There may be huge demand for this particular item right now. But it will not last forever. The market for this specification is limited.

Don't get me wrong I like this knife, but it shouldn't be a production piece. If anything, just keep the micarta handle and change up the color and steel like they would normally.

Exactly. The demand is through the roof - but for how many pcs.? The loud irate people on internet forums doesn't add up to much in the grand scheme of things. I am quite convinced making the Crucarta regular production would have resulted in shelf warmers evenutally going at discount.

That's a nice argument against making 100,000 of them at once. But I'm yet to see a compelling argument against doing some of these configurations not as sprints, but as an ongoing series, something like "Yeah, we made a batch of these, and if this sells out, we'll make more batches until demand is met, just give us a bit of time". Yeah, the collectors wouldn't have rarity for this particular model, and the flippers couldn't profit as well off selling them if there are more coming, but this seems like a nice way to get them out there, but with less risk of somebody getting stuck holding the bag.

I argue for this because it bugs me when a *great* configuration like this one, which could be a wonderful choice for a lot of people, is done as a single-batch-then-dead sprint run, because at the end of the day, these are meant to be good tools for good use, and a tool that nobody can buy is, by definition, a bad tool.

[bearfacedkiller]

Regular production denim micarta is the only answer!

[blues]

Not to mention that many folks, (myself included), got along for decades in the wilds, climbing, backpacking, paddling, x-c skiing with lightweight folders and fixed blades just fine. Sometimes a bit of technique, know-how and care go a long way. Not everything is manhandling your way through a task.

That said, who doesn't like a lifted off-road vehicle?

I did those things for many years and never carried a knife of any kind -- and did just fine frankly.
I had my stock Tacoma in 4WD just yesterday and made it over a nasty patch where I risked hearing a scrape. It is all about knowing limitations. Being lifted would have added a factor of safety or allowed something even nastier -- but I am not into things that nasty.

So no, I am not into lifted vehicles. As was said, most of those are just for show. It is usually obvious those that aren't (scratches, dents, missing paint along with the lift are indicators). But back to the topic of knives -- I am more than happy to have more than I need. That is why I bought the Province Bowie.

Well, sometimes we'd be out for weeks at a time in the Wind Rivers or Alaska or the Sierras etc and it's tough to clean fish without a knife. And sometimes we needed the knives for other mundane tasks like trimming bark or kindling, fire sticks etc. Also, we've come across some medical emergencies, so it was handy to have one whether it was needed or not. Basic back country gear.

And as I mentioned above, my vehicles are (and have been) stock. Though I do like the look of some lifted vehicles even if I've never owned one. To each his own. I don't off-road for sport. So I try to keep it to the necessary off-road in the area where I live, including the surrounding state and national forests.

A Shaman seems like it would be a nice knife to have along for most tasks one might encounter...or just as a trusted companion even if the need for it never arose.

[steelcity16]

I know lots of folks like the hassle and chase of sprints, but why not just make the Micarta and [high end steel] Shaman a regular production knife, like the S110V/Blurple ones. Demand is clearly through the roof, and it seems silly to keep a great material and great tool away from people who might find it awesome.

What's silly is that you dont understand the economics of this. There may be huge demand for this particular item right now. But it will not last forever. The market for this specification is limited.

Don't get me wrong I like this knife, but it shouldn't be a production piece. If anything, just keep the micarta handle and change up the color and steel like they would normally.

Exactly. The demand is through the roof - but for how many pcs.? The loud irate people on internet forums doesn't add up to much in the grand scheme of things. I am quite convinced making the Crucarta regular production would have resulted in shelf warmers evenutally going at discount.

This can be said for ANY production model. Eventually demand will be met and sales will slow down. But this is a unique knife with no alternatives in the market place. There are no other tough steel Micarta folders out there. Certainly not at $208 with a compression lock made in Golden, CO. This hits it on so many levels and there are zero alternatives in the market place. This absolutely should go full production in some combo of Micarta and Cruwear or possibly 3V if they want to hit the market of tens of thousands of Bark River (and LT Wright, CPK, Adventure Sworn, etx) 3V Micarta fixed blade owners. There are 7+ BILLION people in the world compared to probably less than 1,200 of what in my opinion in easily the best $200 production folder ever made. Even if all 1,200 were kept in the USA, that is only 24 knives per state. Think about that. In all of California only 24 people own this knife. In all of Texas, only 24 people own this knife. In all of Colorado, only 24 people own this knife. Demand hasn't even been touched yet.

This knife would also stand out from the crowd in a retail setting. It looks GREAT in a sea of black plastic folders and everyone browsing knives would want to pick it up and play with it. Then you get the warm feeling and beauty of the unbuffed Micarta, the loud thwack of the that rock solid lockup of that mean looking stout blade, the fun fidget factor of the easy spydie flick and one handed close, the Golden, CO, USA, Earth on the blade, the CPM-CRUWEAR on the blade, the beautiful satin finish, and all for a very good price. These would sell like hot cakes at a place like the huge knife counters at the Mast General Store(s) in the NC mountains where tons of tourist with cash are looking for gift for a loved one or a mountain vacation impulse buy to make a city slicker charlotte banker or an app state trust fund frat boy feel like a real mountain man. They could easily sell a few per day at these stores alone.

This knife hasn't left my pocket and I plan on buying any future Micarta Shamans in Cruwear/PD1/3V/4V.

[GarageBoy]

Steelcity16 - I know you feel very strongly about micarta and tougher steel combos (we should call you 3vsteelcity16 at this point ) - but I'm really not sure in the grand scheme of things how popular they really are - especially outside of forums like this on

I also noticed how collectors are always onto the next thing - now that M4/HAP40 aren't the hot things anymore, eBay has a bunch of m4 blade hq exclusives that sold out immediately at actually reasonable prices, along with the HAP runs - hell, fradon lock and St Nick's had to fire sale their hap40 delicas

[GiftedMisfit]

$208 sounds nice. More like $350 in Canada.

[curlyhairedboy]

Sal, we definitely appreciate the announcement of additional micarta models. Though the community is contentious at times, we wouldn't be here talking/complaining if it wasn't for you!

[steelcity16]

Steelcity16 - I know you feel very strongly about micarta and tougher steel combos (we should call you 3vsteelcity16 at this point ) - but I'm really not sure in the grand scheme of things how popular they really are - especially outside of forums like this on

I also noticed how collectors are always onto the next thing - now that M4/HAP40 aren't the hot things anymore, eBay has a bunch of m4 blade hq exclusives that sold out immediately at actually reasonable prices, along with the HAP runs - hell, fradon lock and St Nick's had to fire sale their hap40 delicas

I like to think people are selling their M4 Shamans to get Cruwear Shamans. Lol. The thing with Cruwear is that there is a ton to love and little to hate. It is such a well balanced steel. M4 is very rust prone and diffficult to sharpen. Hap40 is laminated, which many people don't like. The St. Nicks Delica was very expensive for what it was. Maxamet has slowed because it is expensive, hard to sharpen, and now has a reputation for being chippy and brittle, and the number of users who are obsessed with wear resistance is likely a tiny fraction of market compared to the market for hard use folders and crossover from fixed blade owners. I think Cruwear (and PD1} will continue to become more and more popular once we see some production knives and it gets into more hands. It is very corrosion resistant, very tough, easy to sharpen, and holds an edge longer than 99% of knife owners need in a hard use folder like the Shaman, especially when it can be touched up in seconds. And Micarta is well established as a very popular scale material with millions of fixed blade knives with Micarta handles having been made. Whats not to love about this combo??

If this goes full production, sure, the noise will die down on the forums and people will move on to discussing the Siren, the Dodo, the Dodofly and Cricketfly (lets make these happen!!), the Sage LW, the Seki City K390 Sprint series, etc. But that doesn't mean a production Cruwear Micarta Shaman won't have steady sales and be one of their top selling models year after year.

[JuPaul]

Steelcity16 - I know you feel very strongly about micarta and tougher steel combos (we should call you 3vsteelcity16 at this point ) - but I'm really not sure in the grand scheme of things how popular they really are - especially outside of forums like this on

I also noticed how collectors are always onto the next thing - now that M4/HAP40 aren't the hot things anymore, eBay has a bunch of m4 blade hq exclusives that sold out immediately at actually reasonable prices, along with the HAP runs - hell, fradon lock and St Nick's had to fire sale their hap40 delicas

I like to think people are selling their M4 Shamans to get Cruwear Shamans. Lol. The thing with Cruwear is that there is a ton to love and little to hate. It is such a well balanced steel. M4 is very rust prone and diffficult to sharpen. Hap40 is laminated, which many people don't like. The St. Nicks Delica was very expensive for what it was. Maxamet has slowed because it is expensive, hard to sharpen, and now has a reputation for being chippy and brittle, and the number of users who are obsessed with wear resistance is likely a tiny fraction of market compared to the market for hard use folders and crossover from fixed blade owners. I think Cruwear (and PD1} will continue to become more and more popular once we see some production knives and it gets into more hands. It is very corrosion resistant, very tough, easy to sharpen, and holds an edge longer than 99% of knife owners need in a hard use folder like the Shaman, especially when it can be touched up in seconds. And Micarta is well established as a very popular scale material with millions of fixed blade knives with Micarta handles having been made. Whats not to love about this combo??

If this goes full production, sure, the noise will die down on the forums and people will move on to discussing the Siren, the Dodo, the Dodofly and Cricketfly (lets make these happen!!), the Sage LW, the Seki City K390 Sprint series, etc. But that doesn't mean a production Cruwear Micarta Shaman won't have steady sales and be one of their top selling models year after year.

I've gotta agree with this. And hap40/rex45 are still on my radar for sure, although I did sell my m4 native to buy the cruwear one. I'm eagerly awaiting a rex45 manix, and I reeealy hope the speculated RexWood shaman is a reality. As for the Fradon delica - there were quite a few negative reviews out there concerning fit and finish on that model. That, and the fact that I already had two hap40 delicas (burnt orange wc and pakkawood) kept me from getting it. And the St. Nick's delica released when they weren't big on lots of people's radar - I'd never heard of them before joining the forum. Had I known about them at the time, you bet I'd have a third hap40 delica. Now that their rep has grown, though, have you seen the secondary prices on their delicas??