Smith & Sons Shrew Thoughts

I've never been a fan of fixed blades/neck knives in my EDC. I've tried various ones over the years, but nothing beats the compactness of a folder for day to day stuff. For outdoorsy tasks, a fixed blade is the obvious choice though. I've had this Smith & Sons Shrew on loan from someone that watches my videos. Huge thanks to him for letting me try out some of his gear! While it's a very nice knife, it honestly never stood a chance in my carry. I hate wearing anything bulky around my neck. The Shrew seems better size wise than some of the other ones I've tried. If you want a nicer fixed blade, you can't go wrong with this one. I don't believe I have any many complaints about it. I can see it working out well in an EDC.

I absolutely love the look of this knife! I'm normally against knives with weird blade-to-handle ratios, but this one looks fine in my eyes. The stonewashed finish looks awesome in combination with the green and black G10. At one point, there were a few different color options available on Blade HQ. I think now there's only one or two to pick between. Smith & Sons makes their blades here in the US too which is always nice to support. I'd never heard of them as a company before, so it was neat to try one of their knives out. The quality has been great as well. You're definitely getting what you paid for.

Getting onto the blade, the Shrew has a 2" 1095 blade. I haven't had any problems with its performance. It's cut everything I've needed to and seems as sharp as any other knife I own. A 2" blade is probably my ideal size for any EDC knife at this point in my life. I don't do many intensive cutting tasks these days, so 2" generally gets it done for me. As a neck knife, 2" is also probably the biggest I'd want to go. 

The ergos are great. This is a smaller knife (3.75" handle), but I still can fit a full four-finger grip. I like how there's the one finger groove for your pointer finger and that's it. The rest of your hand rests very naturally along the rest of the handle. The G10 handles are comfortable in the hand as well. There's no jimping anywhere on the knife, though the G10 has some nice texturing to it. I've never once felt like it'd slip out of my hand during use. It's probably not the most compact neck knife out there. Honestly, I'd rather have the extra handle length than put out something that has cramped ergos.

Here's a photo to show the thickness overall. It's about what I'd expect in a neck knife.

I do like how the handles are slightly contoured.

The kydex sheath is very well done. It has great retention, no rattle, and the carbon fiber pattern looks very classy. I've go no complaints about it at all. When I've carried it with a paracord lanyard, it's been fine, but again, I hate having things around my neck. 

Price wise, the Shrew goes for about $95 on Blade HQ. That seems like a fair price for the quality and materials you're getting. 

Though I wouldn't want to add this knife to my own EDC, I do like it a lot more than the few CRKT and Boker fixed blades I've tried, like the Folts Minimalist, SPEW, and Lil' Friend. It looks great, cuts well, has fantastic ergos, and is such an improvement over those cheaper options I just mentioned. If you want a nicer, less mainstream blade to add to your collection, I think this is a good option. I'm not going to miss it once I send it back to its owner, yet it was at least nice to try. Check it out if it interests you. Thanks for looking!