- Spyderco Shaman · Leaf3.58″ blade · 0.145″ spine · 5.2 oz · ~1.56″ tall
Spyderco Shaman
The Spyderco Shaman is a 3.58" leaf folder in CPM-S30V, full flat ground. The handle is G-10, secured by a compression lock. Its blade is 77% of its closed length, the 9th-highest of the 76 folders here — it carries shorter than its blade suggests.
- Blade
- 3.58″
- Weight
- 5.2 oz
- Steel
- CPM-S30V
- Price band
- Premium
Everyday carry and general utility
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Specifications
Manufacturer-published figures, cross-checked against knifecenter, knifeworks.
- Blade length
- 3.58″
- Cutting edge
- 3.12″
- Spine thickness
- 0.145″
- Blade shape
- Leaf
- Grind
- Full Flat
- Steel
- CPM-S30V
- Closed length
- 4.625″
- Weight
- 5.2 oz
- Lock
- Compression
- Deployment
- Manual
- Handle material
- G-10
- Country of origin
- USA
Why a leaf
Spyderco's signature: belly on both the edge and the spine, meeting at a tip near the centreline. It gives a lot of cutting edge in a short blade, which is why it dominates short-blade EDC.
Every leaf here →About CPM-S30V
The long-time American benchmark. Holds an edge far longer than 420HC and still sharpens on ordinary stones. Chippy if you pry with it.
1-5 is a relative ranking drawn from published composition and hardness, not a lab measurement. Higher is better on every axis, and no steel is a 5 across the board — edge retention and toughness pull against each other. All CPM-S30V knives
What owners say
Drawn from 461 owner discussions of the Spyderco Shaman since 2024. The opinions are theirs. The specifications above come from the maker.
What owners like
- The contoured scales are the standout: one fan says they lift the Shaman above most other Spydercos and feel far nicer than other models, even in plain G10, and an owner wants to keep one stock because the blade and handle size are so comfortable.
- Some buyers know on first grip: one picked it up at a dealer and says it was immediately clear it was their knife, unlike anything they had held.
- Owners stay attached to it: one calls it one of the best built Spydercos they have bought, a tank that is still carry friendly, and another who got the same version a year earlier says it is still their favourite knife.
- It works as a daily work knife: one owner has used it with a G-Shock as their go-to work combo for more than a year, and a new Shaman Salt owner calls theirs a weighty, solid slicer.
- Scale swaps can fix a fussy pivot; one owner had slight wiggle on the stock scales once tuned to drop shut and got drop-shut action with no play on aftermarket G10 scales, and another found skinny G10 scales made the pivot setup almost perfect.
- The aftermarket support is deep: owners fit titanium, skinny aluminium and micarta scales, backspacers and deep-carry clips, and one who disliked the standard knife made a chopped, rescaled version one of their most carried.
- Factory seconds bring the S30V model down: one buyer got an S30V Shaman and an S30V Yojimbo 2 as seconds for $275 together in 2026, with only scuffs on the Shaman's scales.
What owners flag
- Size and weight are the trade at 5.2 oz: one new owner says it is a bit big, another finds it too bulbous next to other knives, and one Salt owner says it almost makes their PM2 feel small.
- Weight pushes it out of the pocket for one owner of both knives, who says their PM2 gets carried more because it is noticeably lighter, and that they would carry the Shaman more if it were an ounce lighter.
- The stock scales can make pivot tuning awkward: one owner says every Shaman they have had felt off when tightening the pivot, with poor action once it was tight enough for no play.
- Blade play can appear early; one new Shaman Salt owner noticed slight play after a few days of light use and worried that tightening it would make one-handed opening too hard.
- Price climbs are a sore point: one owner says the price kept them away for years, does not think it is worth what Spyderco now asks, and bought on Black Friday to beat another $70-plus rise, and a clone buyer says a real one is too expensive.
- Counterfeit worry follows the price; one buyer who paid $150 on eBay asked whether their Shaman was fake, and clones sell for about $30.
More than a year as their go-to work knife, paired with a G-Shock, is how one owner describes their Shaman. It is a large, 5.2 oz, 3.58 in folder with a compression lock, and a new Shaman Salt owner calls theirs a weighty, solid slicer. For two owners it was a grail or bucket-list knife they wanted for a long time before buying, and one says they knew it was their knife the moment they picked it up.
Contoured scales are its signature, and one fan says they feel nicer than those on most other Spydercos. The stock scales can make the pivot fussy, though: one owner never found a stock Shaman that ran well with zero play, and another fixed slight wiggle with aftermarket scales. Owners show it with titanium, skinny aluminium and micarta scales, backspacers and deep-carry clips, and one who hates the standard knife chopped theirs and made it one of their most carried.
PM2 or Shaman is a comparison owners discuss: one owner of both carries the PM2 more because it is lighter, while still loving the Shaman, and a PM2 owner who finds theirs caught between small and large knives is asking whether to sell it to fund a Shaman. Price is the friction, after increases that one owner says turned it into a grail, and factory seconds are one way in: an S30V Shaman and Yojimbo 2 cost one buyer $275 together.
Is the Shaman too big to carry every day?
It depends on the owner. One calls it a tank that is still carry friendly and another wants to keep theirs stock because the size is so comfortable, while others find it a bit big or too bulbous. At 5.2 oz it is heavy enough that one PM2 owner carries the lighter knife more.
Shaman or Para Military 2?
People are split rather than decisive. One owner of both carries their PM2 more because it is lighter, the owner who raised the question calls the PM2 more sensible but the Shaman incredible in its own right, and another fan prefers the PM2 for sentimental reasons. One PM2 owner who finds it caught between sizes is asking whether to sell it to buy a Shaman.
How do I get rid of blade play without ruining the action?
Owners say the stock scales can make this hard: one found the action poor once the pivot was tight enough for no play, and fixed it with skinny G10 scales. Another got drop-shut action with no play after fitting aftermarket G10 scales.
Why are Shamans so expensive, and where are the deals?
Owners point to price increases that put it out of easy reach; one bought on Black Friday to avoid another $70-plus jump. Deals do appear: one buyer paid $238 for an exclusive in 2025, the original price from a few years earlier, and another got S30V factory seconds of a Shaman and a Yojimbo 2 for $275 together.
Features
- Compression lock
- Full Flat grind
- Made in USA
- Stainless blade
