A few mods this weekend and brief reviews

PM2 Cruwear/Micarta

• AWT anodized Flat Dark Earth scales. AWT Ti lanyard plug. AustonOutdoors Ti backspacer. LynchNW "Fade" deep carry clip.
• Don't know why I waited so long to try AWT scales on the PM2 Crucarta. Every set of AWT scales I've had have been great. These are the anodized "Flat Dark Earth" colorway. The coloring isn't rendered very accurately on their website, although they do appear different in different light, and never quite as gold as they appear in this photo. I was hoping for a color that comes close to the micarta after bit of patina has developed, and I think it works well. I really like that the liners go all the way to the edges and show between the scales. I just gives it that extra satin pop.

Manix 2 Cruwear/Micarta

• AWT anodized Black scales. Flytanium stonewash Ti ball cage. AWT light spring and ceramic ball. LynchNW Smock clip in Service Black. Blade mod by Tactical Pterodactyl.
• I've posted this one before here and here. Previously wore bog oak scales by Nickabrack on Etsy. Those scales looked and felt great, but between them and the liners, access to the lock was a little challenging. So I decided to give trusty 'ol AWT a try and I think I might keep it this way. If you really liked the look of those bog oak scales, hit me up. I may be willing to sell them.
• The standard spring wasn't too bad on this one, but I was curious about the light spring. It certainly makes it easier to operate, and the lockup doesn't seem to suffer in any way. However, the ball cage is a little wiggly now, and I'm not sure if it has to do with the liners no longer being present with the AWT linerless scales, or due to the light spring. It doesn't rattle, and again, the lockup is still solid. Not sure that I'd do a light spring again, and I might swap it back out with the standard to see if helps the ball cage sit a little more solidly.
• The blade mod was discussed extensively in the previous posts linked to above. Briefly, I saw a photo of a modded Shaman that Frankie at Tactical Pterodactyl had done and reached out asking if he could do it on a Cruwear Manix. He was all game for it, and was a great guy to work with!

Strider SnG Hybrid

• Cuscadi Aero Carbon with Slot scale and backspacer.
• Please don't flood the post with tired Strider stolen valor commentary. Look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about. I won't respond to comments beating that long-dead horse.
• Got this one on the secondary market ages ago and didn't really care for the aggressiveness of the Tire Tread G10. Figured I'd at least attempt a scale swap before deciding to sell it off. I wouldn't pick up another Strider for too many reasons to list.
• Cuscadi scales… First off, they look and feel great. After I finally got them installed! They came with body screw holes that were too small. I reached out about it and they replied quickly with an apology and suggested that perhaps I had a "thick" version of the SnG with smaller hole diameter, and that with good tools it wouldn't be that hard to manage. They asked my opinion on that last point. I feel pretty certain that if I'd pressed it, they would have taken them back and either modded them or sent a new workable scale. However, I'd waited quite a while to receive them after ordering and really just wanted to get on with the scale swap, so I enlarged the holes myself with a dremel, and it came out just fine. 30 minutes of work felt more rational than another month, two, or longer to wait for a replacement. And if I screwed it up, well then the knife would be headed off to the swap.
• It's a helluva lot more comfortable in hand, and this example is pretty free from lock stick. It's a decent knife, and certainly robust, so I might hold onto it for a while. I have a cheapie deep carry clip on the way which will complete the mod and make me more likely to actually carry it.

Thanks for looking and reading!