#35 Beer and Sausage Bar Tool Knife

Well maybe, but look at it another way - Queen was providing more variety and more variation eg in knife steel than GEC was. Since Queen’s demise, GEC has been making more plain jack knives than they did previously. Whether that is to keep up with demand, or to keep costs down, the fact is that choice is decreasing.

So you could say that Queen’s quality was poor, or you could look at the degree of difficulty they faced making the kinds of knives that many customers wanted.

(Probably best for another thread, sorry for my part in derailing this one)
 
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sitflyer said:
Bill Howard is an entrepreneur, he markets stuff and folks will either buy it or not. It really doesn't matter if "he" likes it, it matters whether his customers like it, and apparently, a lot of them do, so a win for him and his employees. Hopefully this one off diversion is a fun experiment for him and his company, I don't think I am the only one scratching my head wondering...why...? If this was an offering by Case, Boker, Buck, insert other MFG's...it would be a laughing stock. Just shaking my head at the absurdity of the fawning over anything new GEC...
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I feel like we may be selling Mr. Howard short a little. I agree with the general sentiment that companies are in business to sell stuff. But this is a small company with a lot of heart and soul in it. I think it's clear that Howard is motivated by more than just chasing a buck. He wants to bring back these old patterns and give as many as he can a chance, even if they may not all sell like crazy. Consider that he could have made thousands of #15 barlows rather than bail + chain #15s.

I think Mr. Howard wanted to make the Beer & Sausage, so he did.

Moreover, I predict that we will see some truly interesting knives from him over the next 4 years.

I think this is exactly why he's put SFOs on a hiatus of sorts. He's got quirky knives he wants to produce. Now that he's built up a customer base that will basically scoop up whatever he makes, now is the time to cash in, so-to-speak. He can make some really doozies that perhaps would have been hard to move 10 years ago, but now.....he's got the reputation and customer base to dabble in what his passions really are.

I think these next few years are going to be a fun ride (with a lot of people whining that knives are pointless, but with drops simultaneously selling out in minutes! LOL).
 
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Camillus said:
The comparison with Queen is interesting. Great company with a long tradition, (1) forced out of business by GEC.

There are a lot of qualities of Queen knives that we are now missing, (2) such as using better steel, constant (3) changes in the lineup to meet customer’s interest, a good balance between progress and traditional features, Keeping traditional knives affordable through competition (TSA knives Toppers etc). All things we have lost, sadly.

GEC’s decision to end SFOs could also limit the availability of some highly regarded patterns and variations.

So sorry if there is a strong counter reaction to this B&S knife, but some of that can be explained by the changes of GECs position in the market now as opposed to when the first beerscouts were released, because at the moment we are kind of stuck with whatever GEC chooses to make, which wasn’t the case a couple of years back.
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(1) This is one of the largest exaggerations of fact I have seen on this forum in a long time. Bill left Queen because their decline in quality had fallen below what he felt comfortable putting his name on. Then there was supposedly some embezzling by the new manager. Then the Daniels took over and put the nail in the coffin as absentee owners by a complete inability to improve quality.

(2) Why does Bill not use D2 or ATS? Because he learned his lesson at Queen. He was spending so much time replacing wore out components due to the hardness; that he realized it was not a profitable undertaking. But the major portion of their production went thru as the keystone series; which pre-DFC was 420HC - I doubt that was the reason for their success up to the time Bill left.

(3) Queen ran exactly the same patterns with the same slabs for years at a time. Yes, they had yearly premium sets - but new patterns were very rare. The only reason this changed in the later years was because they were trying to find a market for what had become very sub-par knives.

We can revise history and build Queen up all we want - but the fact is that they NEVER had the following GEC has; even during their heyday before anyone had even thought of GEC. So, using a run like the Bar Tool to argue that GEC should do things more like Queen is ludicrous.
 
Camillus said:
The comparison with Queen is interesting. Great company with a long tradition, forced out of business by GEC.

There are a lot of qualities of Queen knives that we are now missing, such as using better steel, constant changes in the lineup to meet customer’s interest, a good balance between progress and traditional features, Keeping traditional knives affordable through competition (TSA knives Toppers etc). All things we have lost, sadly.

GEC’s decision to end SFOs could also limit the availability of some highly regarded patterns and variations.

So sorry if there is a strong counter reaction to this B&S knife, but some of that can be explained by the changes of GECs position in the market now as opposed to when the first beerscouts were released, because at the moment we are kind of stuck with whatever GEC chooses to make, which wasn’t the case a couple of years back.
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There were other reasons as well as GEC Quality that forced Queen out of business . One of them being their unpredictable quality .

Harry
 
knifeswapper knifeswapper I think you missed or misunderstood many of my points, and wasn’t it you that made the connection with Queen? but that’s online forums eh. I don’t engage in these types of online wars. Sincerely hope that all these posts get removed.
 
Camillus said:
knifeswapper knifeswapper I think you missed or misunderstood many of my points, and wasn’t it you that made the connection with Queen? but that’s online forums eh. I don’t engage in these types of online wars. Sincerely hope that all these posts get removed.
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This is conversation between birds of a feather - this is no war. My apologies if that is the way you feel. Some times I get too comfortable on BF; and treat it like family at Christmas. I may not have understood your points, I will agree. I was paying a bit more attention to the words.

The cockfighter was the most recent "niche purpose" knife I could think of; had nothing particular to do with Queen. Matter of fact, I still can't think of another example of such a "unique" pattern..
 
Pull on blade and fork/bottle opener is medium (~5). The BRR Tool pull is very light. BRR tool might have slight rub, TBD. Overall, I...do...digit!

xDYi9b3.jpg


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SPAcXw7.jpg


Q15v8Wt.jpg


OSLl1VZ.jpg


ft5Msyb.jpg
 
JOELSM said:
Pull on blade and fork/bottle opener is medium (~5). The BRR Tool pull is very light. BRR tool might have slight rub, TBD. Overall, I...do...digit!

xDYi9b3.jpg


ZdDq5QV.jpg


SPAcXw7.jpg


Q15v8Wt.jpg


OSLl1VZ.jpg


ft5Msyb.jpg
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Looks nice. I wondered if the BRR etch in the mock up was a joke and it would be changed to BAR tool on the final product. Apparently not. It is indeed a beard tool. I hope my standby comes through and I hope the BRR works as a Mustache Refuse Removal tool. :D
 
These things are gonna fly off every shelf. There won't be any stock sitting for more than 20 minutes. This is crazy.
 
May get better with some flushing. The main blade and fork/bottle opener have decent walk and talk. The Beer Scouts walk and talk is much more snappy than my example of the Beer & Sausage. Just an observation...it’s a cool and funky knife. Not disappointed.
 
JOELSM said:
May get better with some flushing. The main blade and fork/bottle opener have decent walk and talk. The Beer Scouts walk and talk is much more snappy than my example of the Beer & Sausage. Just an observation...it’s a cool and funky knife. Not disappointed.
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Good thing I got some Octoberfest brew for when mine shows up. ;)
 
JOELSM said:
Pull on blade and fork/bottle opener is medium (~5). The BRR Tool pull is very light. BRR tool might have slight rub, TBD. Overall, I...do...digit!

xDYi9b3.jpg


ZdDq5QV.jpg


SPAcXw7.jpg


Q15v8Wt.jpg


OSLl1VZ.jpg


ft5Msyb.jpg
Click to expand...
Congrats. I think you are the first one to it. So what do you think the "intended" purpose is for the beard tool?
 
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