F95

Overview

The F95 is the knife the workshop is built on: a 95 mm drop point on a titanium frame lock, on sale since September 2010 and never out of production. Most of the workshop’s later lines answer a question the F95 posed first, and F95s of every generation turn up on the used market. That’s the first thing to settle on any listing: which generation, and which variant.

The blade is a full flat grind with a distal taper, the point a little below the spine line, with jimping behind the flipper tab. The finish is bead blast as standard, stonewashed or satin on some editions. The handle is 3D-milled 6Al-4V titanium with a steel insert on the lock face since January 2011. On the serial F95 the hardened insert is press-fit into a milled pocket in the lock bar, with no screw holding it.

The pivot went from bronze washers to a single row of balls to the multi-row bearing system (MRBS) most current serial F95s run on. Five generations and seven named variants (Standard, F95T, Nudist, Slim, Zero, NL and R) cover it. Factory specifications for every model in the line are on the F95 record.

At a glance:

• Designer: Sergey Shirogorov
• First release: September 2010
• Generations: five; Gen 5 configurations from January 2022 (F95 Zero) to February 2024 (F95NL Gen.5)
• Related lines: the Hati (the F95 blade on an asymmetric handle), the F3 (the same size on a liner lock under scales), the F95 Ursus on the working line

Variants comparison

Every model in the line: kind, release, blade, steel, bearing system, lock, handle, weight and run size.

Production history

• 29 September 2010: the F95 goes on sale in Elmax on bronze phosphor washers, with simple geometric milling.
• January 2011: steel insert added to the lock face.
• Gen 2: single-row ball bearings (SRBS) replace the washers.
• Gen 3: the multi-row bearing system (MRBS), the serial pivot since, with three exceptions: the May 2023 F95NL on SRBS, and the 10th Anniversary and the Braces editions on washers.
• Around 2015: M390 replaces Elmax as the standard steel; S90V, Cromax PM and Vanax 37 appear on particular variants. The steels page has the factory’s hardness bands.
• September 2016: F95 Nudist, the first knife in the Three Bears category, in Vanax 37 on a three-row bearing over a hardened washer.
• February 2017: F95T (T-pattern), on sale March 2017.
• November 2020: F95 10th Anniversary edition; February 2021: F95NL 3M, the last knife to carry the 3M label.
• Gen 4: revised ergonomics.
• Gen 5, from January 2022: blade stock thinned from 4.0 mm to 3.5 mm. The Gen 5 configurations arrived one at a time, from the F95 Zero (January 2022) to the F95NL Gen.5 with CPS (February 2024); the F95T Gen.4 of November 2022 brought the thinner blade and the CPS pivot under its own label.
• Also in that window, as dated releases: F95 Lefty (February 2022); F95NL on Cromax PM and Micarta, on SRBS (May 2023).
• April 2025: F95 BearPattern. September 2025 to April 2026: the Braces series, 150 pieces plus three runs of 50, on washers, with CPS on the three 2026 runs. May 2026: F95 Ursus, the first F95 on a liner lock.

Variants

F95 Standard

The original: 3D-milled titanium scales whose pattern grew more complex over the five generations, a drop point in Elmax on the early knives and M390 from around 2015. On a Standard the generation matters more than the name.

F95T (T-pattern)

Hexagonal milling that looks like a turtle’s shell, offered in place of the standard 3D milling since March 2017; its nickname is the Turtle. The cells are cut for grip without an aggressive texture. The F95T Gen.4 of November 2022 brought the thinner blade and the CPS pivot, and it trades as a line of its own in the price record. M390 or S90V; 127 g on the 2017 release, 133 g on the F95T Gen.4.

F95 Nudist

Smooth titanium scales with no milling at all, so the handle contour does the gripping and the scales leave no marks on a pocket. Introduced September 2016 in Vanax 37; an M390 Nudist followed in 2022, and a Slim Nudist in Vanax 37 was made on the Custom Division Slim handle (below). 132 g on the 2016 release. The Nudist opened the Three Bears category; How the designs evolved has that story.

F95 Slim

A Custom Division configuration: the same blade and lock on a thinner handle, S90V on single-row rollers (SRRBS). Also made as the Slim Nudist. Custom Division runs are covered on the Custom Division FAQ.

F95 Zero

The Gen 5 configuration of January 2022 in plain titanium, stonewashed blade in M390, 136 g; dealers list it under names such as F95ZL. It has a following of its own and its own line in the price record.

F95NL

Inlays set into the titanium frame in place of milling: TechnoCarbo, carbon fiber weaves, colored G10, and on the May 2023 update Micarta over a Cromax PM blade on SRBS. The F95NL Gen.5 of February 2024 runs M390 on MRBS with CPS. Some inlay combinations were made once and never again, which is why an NL listing needs the configuration named, not just the suffix. 127 to 134 g by configuration.

F95R

The revised F95: a slightly changed blade profile, refined handle contours and a reworked flipper tab on the same steel, lock and MRBS pivot.

Editions on the F95 platform

The 10th Anniversary of November 2020 is on Anniversary editions, beside the IceBreaker of 2021 and the two F95 commemoratives. The Braces series of 2025 to 2026 is a serial-tier special edition with its four runs in the table above, and the Sinkevich Touch F95 sets are show editions of the serial knife. The Custom Division F95s (Slim, NL, T-pattern, Antique, 3D Silk) sit in the table above; the F95 PivotOnly Design of June 2026 is one of Sergey Shirogorov’s full customs, on Sergey Shirogorov’s full customs.

Authentication

What to check on an F95, in the order a buyer can check it.

The box and the certificate carry the serial. Most F95s have no engraved serial; the original box and the certificate of authenticity (COA) are the record. A serial F95 without them is a knife you’re buying on the physical checks alone. A Custom Division F95 also carries its markings inside, on the scales and/or the backspacer, with a CD mark beside the bear head.

The pivot tells the tier. A serial F95 runs MRBS: 42 loose 1.5 mm balls in three rows, visible with the pivot open; the May 2023 F95NL on SRBS is the exception. A Custom Division F95 runs SRRBS, a single row of 17 loose rollers per side. The F95 3D Silk, an early Custom Division piece, is on double-row rollers (DRRBS). A duck foot pivot belongs only to Sergey’s full customs; on a listing that says “CD”, it’s a reason to stop.

The Braces editions of 2025 and 2026 run on washers, with CPS on the 2026 runs. The 10th Anniversary of November 2020 runs on bronze washers too. A washer pivot on a recent F95 is right for those two and wrong for anything else after Gen 1.

Slotted screws only. A factory F95 takes the workshop’s slotted screws, except the F95 Ursus, which takes hex bits; the Sinkevich Touch sets carry Sinkevich hardware. Torx screws mean someone has replaced the hardware, or the knife isn’t what it says.

The bear head is crisp and evenly deep. A shallow or uneven etch is the most common tell on a counterfeit. It grades the mark, not the serial.

The scales name the variant. Hexagonal cells mean the F95T; no milling at all the Nudist; a bear motif the BearPattern of April 2025; inlays the NL, whose configuration should match a dated release in the table. For a Zero, match the listing to the January 2022 release in the table. A “Nudist” with milling, or a “T” with the wrong cell pattern, is a listing error at best.

Blade thickness and the CPS screw date the knife. A 3.5 mm blade means Gen 5; 4.0 mm is earlier. The F95T Gen.4 of November 2022 has the thinner blade too, under its own label. A CPS pivot screw on an F95 means the F95T Gen.4, the F95NL Gen.5 of February 2024, a 2026 Braces edition or a recent Custom Division piece.

The BladeForums thread “Spotting a fake Shirogorov 95″ shows a counterfeit F95 beside a real one. The per-tier checklist, the photographs to ask for and the remote-buying rules are on the authentication guide.

Telling the generations apart

The pivot and the blade do most of the work. Bronze washers mean Gen 1, unless the knife is the 10th Anniversary of 2020 or a Braces edition of 2025 or 2026. A single row of balls (SRBS) means Gen 2, unless it’s the May 2023 F95NL. MRBS means Gen 3 or later. A 3.5 mm blade means Gen 5, or the F95T Gen.4; earlier generations are 4.0 mm. Gen 4 changed the ergonomics rather than anything a caliper reads, so between Gen 3 and Gen 4 the factory listing and the dated release are the guide.

Pricing and collecting

Prices are in the price record; the questions a buyer asks before paying are on the Buying FAQ. On any F95 listing the generation is the first question. Among the variants, the F95T Gen.4, the F95 Slim and the F95 Zero are the ones with their own trading histories.

Questions answered: Models FAQ.