Carbon Fiber Nautilus Clone Shootout: Armed Shark VS Baliplus

As always, you can also read this review on Reddit!

tl;dr

AS is pretty much strictly better.

Weight

The AS Naut weighs a little bit less than the B+ version, surprisingly (3.42 vs 3.47 oz). These are both the CF variant as well. As far as the weight impacts the flipping, I do think the AS flips a bit better with its weight and/or weight distribution. I'm not sure which one weighs closer to a genuine CF Naut, but I would guess the AS is closer.

Dimensions / Build / "Feel"

I was worried that the AS Naut would be slippery, as I'd heard multiple reports that the G10 version is not textured/sanded. As far as the CF version goes, it feels very similar to the B+ CF in terms of grip. Both are quite nice and grippy, and I didn't have any issues with slipperiness. From what I can tell, it seems like CF is naturally just smoother and not quite as grippy as G10, but I vastly prefer how it feels against my skin compared to G10. Either way, it is worlds grippier than aluminum.

You can see this in the video, but the AS handles are quite a different shape than the B+ handles. Having owned multiple genuine Nautili, the AS is way closer to the original design. The scales are much more rounded, and overall the handles are less thick in the Z dimension (lending them a _very slightly_ rectangular feel which is my preference). The additional rounding makes it quite a bit more comfy than the B+, and the reduced Z thickness generally makes it more nimble and easier to grip for most tricks.

Also, the bite indicator on the AS clone is quite a bit closer to a real Naut. The B+ bite indicator is a little too deeply cut and angular.

The AS Naut also has a _noticeably_ bigger handle gap in both open and closed positions. IIRC it is quite similar to a genuine Nautilus V2 in that regard. The B+ clone has a disconcertingly tiny _stock_ handle gap that I am worried will eventually close entirely.

Should also mention that the B+ clone is the V1 Naut version, so it lacks the jimping that the AS "V2" clone has.

Sound

Note that my B+ Naut has been broken in a good bit, whereas the AS is brand new. This impacts the sound, as the more broken in unit will have the tang pins impacting more metal than CF, causing a louder sound.

It's kind of hard to get across in a phone video, but IMO the AS Naut sounds _way_ better and _much_ closer to a real Naut. Most importantly, the AS Naut is **much** bouncier than the B+. Again, it's hard to hear/see in the video, but when doing the icepick sound test the AS bounces much more readily than the B+.

The B+ also just has this weird metallic ping-y tone to it that I don't find pleasing. The AS has a very slight ring to it when closed hard but the B+ rings really loudly when closing.

The B+ was also surprisingly loud even out of the box and has only gotten louder over time. The AS is quieter, which is, again, more similar to the real Nautilus.

Tolerances

I'm now realizing that I forgot to do the play test on the B+ Naut, but just imagine that it's slightly more play than the AS lol. Both of them have no tap when fully cranked anyways.

Tolerances-wise these two are overall quite similar. I would say the AS has slightly tighter tolerances (IIRC it has about as much play as my real Nautili did) but the B+ tolerances are still solid anyways. Both of them have great swing on both handles, and the pivots can be fully tightened without binding up.

Note that the AS uses T10 hardware vs the B+ which uses T8, and the AS also replicates Squid's hardware by putting screw faces on the sexbolts (whereas the B+ uses standard screwless sexbolts).

My B+ Naut's pivot screws will back out after getting dropped enough, at which point tap can develop, but fixing it is as simple as cranking the pivots down again. They don't seem to back out particularly easily either, so I don't have to do this very often, which is nice.

I haven't noticed the screws backing out of the AS yet at all, but I've also only had it for a couple hours so I imagine that may change. Either way, I prefer the tuning/tolerances experience of either of these to the real Naut because they aren't factory loctited lol.

EDIT: Should mention that after some time, I've realized my AS Naut came with an undersized bushing on the bite handle (binds pretty badly if cranked hard). This is kind of a bummer, as AS doesn't include spare bushings with their products.

Conclusion

Armed Shark makes the better Nautilus, hands down. I would pretty much go as far as to say that there is almost no reason to buy a real Nautilus over the Armed Shark clone. The lack of factory loctite makes tuning a much less stressful/risky/annoying experience, and flipping-wise it is pretty much identical. The dimensions are scarily similar to a real Nautilus across the board, and it even sounds very close (which is something you usually just have to concede with clones).

Ever since dipping my toes into the clone world I have continually been impressed at the quality that these manufacturers pump out, and a large part of that has been Armed Shark's frightening dedication to replicating designs.

My next (and hopefully last, at least for awhile lol) purchase coming in is the TheOne Tsunami, so look forward to reading about that in my next review :) Hope everyone had a merry Christmas, and wishing y'all a happy New Year as well!

EDIT: Did just notice a small quirk about my AS unit; for some reason one of the pivot screws appears to be a T8. Thankfully, Armed Shark includes extra hardware with their products so I was able to swap it out for one of the replacement screws (which were both T10) and we're all good. But that was pretty strange lol.