2018 BF Traditional Knife

Status
Not open for further replies.
draggat draggat

I am willing to volunteer and help out as are a lot of us I am sure. But we need to have a plan to avoid running in different directions or duplicating each other's efforts.

I took a look at the Oregon Knife Collector's website. They had a tremendous club knife this year. It was probably the best looking GEC 43 of the run. They had 100 made. It appears they did it this way:

1. They had their interested members download an order form,
2. Those who chose to buy a knife filled out the form and mailed it in including a check for the full price of the knife plus shipping,
3. After the money was in hand, they ordered the knives,
4. When the knives were received, they shipped them or made them available to members at their annual show.

That does not seem too difficult or risky to me. It is something we should be able to manage. The missing piece is for someone to contact GEC to see which pattern they could offer to us this year. It is preferable for a GEC dealer to call them. However, if none are willing to do it, one of us should. Rather than continue speculating, I would love to hear something direct from them. The question is, who should make the call? We need one designated person.

No doubt the process has much more complexity than I am aware of, but, my point is, we should be able to figure this out. Then, if skblades is able to work out an arrangement with Spark on a Buck, we could put it to a vote.

@meako here we go. I am sure I will be pitchforked for this, but I am just trying to help.
 
Last edited:
Grateful said:
I would really like to get a form knife this year so im down for about anything. Having said that if Buck is chosen imho the thing they do really well is lockbacks. A 110 or 112 or something from the 500 series could be really nice. My 2 cents.

Jim
Click to expand...
The 55 is another excellent lockback by Buck. At three and one half inches closed it is a pocketknife, whereas the 110 and 112 are much bigger and really should be carried in their belt sheath. I just mentioned it because we have never had a BF knife as large as a the classic 110.
 
Now this is the line of thinking that will get the ball rolling!
Leslie Tomville said:
draggat draggat

I am willing to volunteer and help out as are a lot of us I am sure. But we need to have a plan to avoid running in different directions or duplicating each other's efforts.

I took a look at the Oregon Knife Collector's website. They had a tremendous club knife this year. It was probably the best looking GEC 43 of the run. They had 100 made. It appears they did it this way:

1. They had their interested members download an order form,
2. Those who chose to buy a knife filled out the form and mailed it in including a check for the full price of the knife plus shipping,
3. After the money was in hand, they ordered the knives,
4. When the knives were received, they shipped them or made them available to members at their annual show.

That does not seem too difficult or risky to me. It is something we should be able to manage. The missing piece is for someone to contact GEC to see which pattern they could offer to us this year. It is preferable for a GEC dealer to call them. However, if none are willing to do it, one of us should. Rather than continue speculating, I would love to hear something direct from them. The question is, who should make the call? We need one designated person.

No doubt the process has much more complexity than I am aware of, but, my point is, we should be able to figure this out. Then, if skblades is able to work out an arrangement with Spark on a Buck, we could put it to a vote.

@meako here we go. I am sure I will be pitchforked for this, but I am just trying to help.
Click to expand...
 
You guys are killing me. It's like sitting on the beach, one wave is Buck, one wave is GEC, one wave is neither. Rinse, repeat, try to stay up for air. :confused:

If you want to go the Buck route, SK is set up to handle all pre-orders. It's easy, send us an email, we send you an invoice. Pre-collected payment done. Polling will be extensive and will offer a plethora of options for both blade and handle material. 1 week of polling for the model, one week for blade material, one week for handle material. Buck makes a working sample, I show the photos. We vote Yay or Nay for a week. (one month in now) If all systems are a go, we get the order in to Buck with an expected ship date 8 weeks from the order. Bada-bing.

As for the "less than favorable" opinions of Buck Knives, I'll be sure to ask some people at Buck to take a look at this thread. Maybe it'll light a fire under them.

P.S. Buck can make attractive knives. I'll leave you with exhibit A. The first 110 in S90V and Blue Linen Micarta. This is what SK does. Take one boring Buck Knife, make it awesome.

20170830_074933-01.jpeg
 
Travman said:
The 55 is another excellent lockback by Buck. At three and one half inches closed it is a pocketknife, whereas the 110 and 112 are much bigger and really should be carried in their belt sheath. I just mentioned it because we have never had a BF knife as large as a the classic 110.
Click to expand...

The 55 is a nice knife, I really prefer the 503 but would definitely buy into a 55. Im not sure how traditional some might consider it but my aluminum framed 110 is a real beauty. It has that awesome 110 feel without the weight.
 
Skblades, I certainly have no problem with Buck. They are an amazing company and make great knives. My goal is to find out which pattern GEC could offer to provide a choice and allow the Forum members to decide. I believe that is the only hesitation a lot of people are having. Lots of people are following this discussion without commenting in the hope that more than one option will emerge. We simply do not know which GEC pattern is possible.

Have you reached an arrangement with Spark?

I will buy a Forum knife whether it is made by Buck or GEC. If it is Buck, I would agree with Travman Travman that we should include the 55 in the poll as an option.
 
Leslie Tomville said:
Skblades, I certainly have no problem with Buck. They are an amazing company and make great knives. My goal is to find out which pattern GEC could offer to provide a choice and allow the Forum members to decide. I believe that is the only hesitation a lot of people are having. Lots of people are following this discussion without commenting in the hope that more than one option will emerge. We simply do not know which GEC pattern is possible.

Have you reached an arrangement with Spark?

I will buy a Forum knife whether it is made by Buck or GEC. If it is Buck, I would agree with Travman Travman that we should include the 55 in the poll as an option.
Click to expand...

I am still working on actually connecting with Spark. Charlie and I have plans to chat soon. I know I'll learn a ton then. However, I'm with you on one very important thing. If the majority of the forum wants GEC, then that is the route this thing needs to go. So I'm a bit stuck on how quickly to move forward with Spark when we actually do connect. I cannot assume that Buck is a go, until somehow the manufacturer can be determined here.
 
Leslie Tomville said:
draggat draggat

I am willing to volunteer and help out as are a lot of us I am sure. But we need to have a plan to avoid running in different directions or duplicating each other's efforts.

I took a look at the Oregon Knife Collector's website. They had a tremendous club knife this year. It was probably the best looking GEC 43 of the run. They had 100 made. It appears they did it this way:

1. They had their interested members download an order form,
2. Those who chose to buy a knife filled out the form and mailed it in including a check for the full price of the knife plus shipping,
3. After the money was in hand, they ordered the knives,
4. When the knives were received, they shipped them or made them available to members at their annual show.

That does not seem too difficult or risky to me. It is something we should be able to manage. The missing piece is for someone to contact GEC to see which pattern they could offer to us this year. It is preferable for a GEC dealer to call them. However, if none are willing to do it, one of us should. Rather than continue speculating, I would love to hear something direct from them. The question is, who should make the call? We need one designated person.

No doubt the process has much more complexity than I am aware of, but, my point is, we should be able to figure this out. Then, if skblades is able to work out an arrangement with Spark on a Buck, we could put it to a vote.

@meako here we go. I am sure I will be pitchforked for this, but I am just trying to help.
Click to expand...
Thanks for stepping up to the blade. That’s s the spirit! I am very grateful for SK Blades and would also be interested in a Buck but IMHO we owe GEC at least a call. I am new to the forum but it is obvious that GEC has delivered very specieal forum knives repeatedly in the past. It would be a bit rude to just pass on them without giving them a chance. So I applaud the effort to get in touch. Doesn’t mean it can’t be a Buck knive in the end but we need to hear from GEC. That’s my $0.02.
 
rdave said:
Will a Buck knife create enough demand among BF members to place an order with them?
Click to expand...
Yes. There would be enough demand.

Even at the $100 price point for the previous GEC Blade Forums knives they were still out of reach for a lot of folk on the porch who are on a fixed income or don't have a high paying job. (for example, after paying the bills, I have roughly $320 a month for food, Skoal, knives, and bicycle repairs/component upgrades. (thankfully I don't have a motor vehicle, so I can avoid those costs.)

If the Buck is less expensive, those who could not afford the prevoius Forum knives might be able to order one this year, making it less "exclusive" for the people who hang out here in the porch; it won't be just the "rich" folk that can get one.
 
skblades said:
You guys are killing me. It's like sitting on the beach, one wave is Buck, one wave is GEC, one wave is neither. Rinse, repeat, try to stay up for air. :confused:

If you want to go the Buck route, SK is set up to handle all pre-orders. It's easy, send us an email, we send you an invoice. Pre-collected payment done. Polling will be extensive and will offer a plethora of options for both blade and handle material. 1 week of polling for the model, one week for blade material, one week for handle material. Buck makes a working sample, I show the photos. We vote Yay or Nay for a week. (one month in now) If all systems are a go, we get the order in to Buck with an expected ship date 8 weeks from the order. Bada-bing.

As for the "less than favorable" opinions of Buck Knives, I'll be sure to ask some people at Buck to take a look at this thread. Maybe it'll light a fire under them.

P.S. Buck can make attractive knives. I'll leave you with exhibit A. The first 110 in S90V and Blue Linen Micarta. This is what SK does. Take one boring Buck Knife, make it awesome.

View attachment 892013
Click to expand...
For those that haven't followed the entire thread, posts like this from SK are the reason you are reading about more Buck options than GEC. He is only minutes away from Buck, he has been in talks with them already and has given us custom options. We're not just talking the off the shelf 301 so it will be unique to traditional BF'ers. :thumbsup:

As far as GEC, you don't need to tag Charlie or Barry because they are aware we are anxious to hear from them. Let's give them some time, Charlie's last post seemed like he is up to something. :)

- Kevin
 
SKblades, You certainly should have that discussion with Spark. If the two of you reach an agreement, then it will be up to GEC to offer something. Then, if GEC makes a proposal, it will still be up to Forum member volunteers to arrange the logistics to be able to bring their offer to fruition. Only then would we actually have a choice. So, by all means, please get an answer from Spark, because it is still possible that you will not be able to work out an arrangement with him. What we all need here is solid information.
 
Leslie Tomville said:
SKblades, You certainly should have that discussion with Spark. If the two of you reach an agreement, then it will be up to GEC to offer something. Then, if GEC makes a proposal, it will still be up to Forum member volunteers to arrange the logistics to be able to bring their offer to fruition. Only then would we actually have a choice. So, by all means, please get an answer from Spark, because it is still possible that you will not be able to work out an arrangement with him. What we all need here is solid information.
Click to expand...

Now that I can do! Thanks for the guidance.
 
Travman said:
Thanks for summary. I fell off after the first few days. The Buck 301 can be admired as a hardworking and practical stockman. I have no problem carrying and using one. I respect it for what it is. However...

Are we seriously considering a Buck 301? The blade forum knife should be attractive, but there is nothing particularly beautiful about this knife which typically comes with plastic handles. Clip point blades are naturally attractive, but somehow none of the clip points used on the 301 have ever had any style. The shields used have never been attractive. The springs are on the weak side. Upgraded steel is interesting, but it doesn’t make a knife attractive to look at or hold.

This is not an attractive blade.View attachment 891965

So what are we doing? Let’s just enjoy the Buck 301 for what it is. But for a forum knife let’s look to the past and strive for something as desirable as the 2011 or 2014 knife. Let’s put some emotion into this knife.
Click to expand...

The knife that SK has offered us (if we went the 301/3 route) is not a standard plastic handles saber ground Buck stockman. He has confirmed that Buck will do a full flat grind, and the three handle materials he posted (actual samples from Buck no less!) are really good looking:
skblades said:
Had Buck actually make up some samples of the 301. Like I said, access isn't a problem! ;)

Top is Stag.
Middle is Burlap Micarta.
Bottom is Poplar Burl

View attachment 886494
Click to expand...

I understand if people on the forum just don't want a Buck, or if they really want another GEC, but the knife options we have are not just plain Jane 301s. I can understand if you didn't read all 50 pages that there might have been messages you missed, but I think that if you look a SK Blades' website you can see that they have a pretty impressive record of getting very special knives made by Buck. And the 301/3 are not patterns that are typically available in the custom shop.

I am certainly biased toward Buck right now myself, because I would really like another forum knife that I can actually use (like the 2015). I really don't like 1095 at all, and GEC doesn't ever seem to want to offer their 440C. Buck offers a chance to get a really nice steel in a workhorse frame with high quality materials, and that is a very attractive offer to me. While I would (as always) immediately change my tune for a 46 Whaler in 440C, I don't see any GEC offerings coming down the pipe that interest me. But then again, I don't really quite get the GEC love. I own a few, but they have not made me feel like other brands are undesirable.
 
In the past, after all the polls were done, both GEC and CSC were contacted, given the specs for the knife, and then they provided either a mock-up or a drawing and we voted on the one we wanted.
 
Well, for a while it looked like this was going to die on the vine. Maybe there still is some life in the idea of a forum knife.

I know that in the past it has been a traditional pattern knife but, surely we can come up with something that works for those of us that can't use nail nicks. Something like a stockman just won't work for many of us. Is the Buck 500 series completely off the table?
 
1066vik 1066vik
We never decided on a knife before contacting the manufacturer.
We voted after GEC and the late CSC told us what pattern(s) they would make and what materials they had available for it.
We voted on which choices they gave us that we wanted.
Neither GEC nor the late CSC were willing to take tooling out of storage for a knife they were not making a run of.

As I understand it*, Buck is willing to do the SK Blade Forums SFO (Presuming Spark gives his OK for a 2018 Blade Forums knife) in any of the traditional and lock backs, or fixed blade they make that we want.

*I may be mistaken in my understanding.
 
Last edited:
sabre cat said:
Well, for a while it looked like this was going to die on the vine. Maybe there still is some life in the idea of a forum knife.

I know that in the past it has been a traditional pattern knife but, surely we can come up with something that works for those of us that can't use nail nicks. Something like a stockman just won't work for many of us. Is the Buck 500 series completely off the table?
Click to expand...

I am sure that would be up for voting. I, personally would prefer a stockman (because I have quite a few single blade knives of the type we don't discuss here and my traditionals are usually a complimentary knife for me), but I would not turn my nose up at a 500, or a nice 110. Especially a nice bareheaded version of the 500/112/110. They are classic looking knives.
 
abbydaddy said:
I am sure that would be up for voting. I, personally would prefer a stockman (because I have quite a few single blade knives of the type we don't discuss here and my traditionals are usually a complimentary knife for me), but I would not turn my nose up at a 500, or a nice 110. Especially a nice bareheaded version of the 500/112/110. They are classic looking knives.
Click to expand...
Something with at least a 2 1/2 inch blade would be nice. I would love to get a forum knife of some sort but, have not in the past because they did not meet my needs or I found out about them too late.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top